[Neon Genesis Evangelion/Rebuild of Evangelion and all of its canon characters are property of Hideaki Anno, Studio Gainax, and Studio Khara. They are not owned by me. Some of the locations, Evas, Angels, and characters in this story are my own creations though]
NERV- Stone Grotto, IL Facility; 2015 AD
Sneakers squeaked along the floor as she continued down the hallway towards the office of Project E's lead scientist.
Claire Braddock smiled. Ever since the facility at Stone Grotto had been reassigned as NERV's headquarters a few months before, the work on the special Beast-type Evangelion being developed there had progressed exponentially under the direction of Ritsuko Akagi.
Braddock subconsciously brushed a strand of her light brown hair back as she came to the door, rapping her knuckles on the window next to it soon after. This action caused the doctor to look up from her laptop and notice her.
"Hey Doc, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"No, not at all, did you need something, Claire?"
The twenty-four year old took a seat across from Dr. Akagi. "Yeah, it's about the Evas' synchronization."
"What about it?"
"Well, I've been doing some thinking, and I have a theory."
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
College Of Chaos
Chapter 1: Welcome to NERV
Stone Grotto, IL; 2019 AD. Present Day
What the hell was going on here?
Eric Braddock had expected new experiences as a freshman at Nevelson College, but being dragged to the headquarters of an organization that was part of the UN by his roommate and said roommate's friend was not one he had considered.
Yet, here he was, barely over a week into the semester, and that's precisely what was happening.
His kelly green eyes darted between the two in front of him, completely bamboozled. His expression obviously caught his roommate's attention. Shinji Ikari sighed, "Like Rei said, Dr. Akagi will explain everything when we get there."
"Yup, yup!" Rei Ayanami chimed in cheerfully.
As they neared the giant pyramid structure that sat at the edge of Stone Grotto, Eric began to get an idea of just how big the thing was. He had seen the sleek, black building from afar, but distance always seems to distort one's perception of size.
As the afternoon sun beat down on them from above, the giant shadow finally got near. The three students walked up the steps and entered the massive building.
In the center of the building's entrance hall floor was a logo that read "NERV: God's in his heaven, all is right with the world."
Rei skipped ahead of them, making her way over to an elevator. "They're waiting for us down on B20"
"B20?! This place has twenty basement floors? What do they need all that room for?" Eric pondered as the three of them filed into the metal box.
The ride down to B20 seemed to take forever, but finally the doors parted. "Dr. Akagi, Misato, we're here." Rei called out.
The two women turned to greet them. "Good," Ritsuko said.
"About time you got here, you idiots!" A voice called out to them from off to the side. Eric recognized the girl from his general biology class. She was propped against the right wall, arms folded and looking at the three new arrivals with piercing blue eyes.
"Oh, hi Asuka." Shinji smirked. Dealing with Asuka Langley Soryu would be something Eric would need to get used to, or he'd never make it as an Eva pilot.
The redhead turned her gaze to Eric. "So you're supposed to be the Fourth Child, huh? You don't look that impressive. I don't see why we need another pilot anyway, we can take the angels down with just the three of us."
"Uhh, Fourth Child? Pilot? Angels? I'm lost."
Ritsuko laughed, "Eric Braddock, I presume? I'm Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, head of Project E here at NERV. Your questions are about to be answered."
Braddock raised an eyebrow expectantly, waiting for said answers.
"Where to begin?" Ritsuko pondered. She adjusted her glasses, "I suppose it's best to just show you. Alright, everyone back in the elevator."
The four teenagers and both women filed into the small box, which became somewhat crowded with six people in it. Dr. Akagi pressed the button for "CG" and the elevator whirred to life, beginning its descent.
The purple haired woman turned to Eric and smiled at him. "I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi, by the way. It's nice to meet you."
Eric nodded. "Likewise."
Finally, the elevator slowed and the doors parted with a chirp.
"All right, this way." Ritsuko took the lead, turning to the right and leading them down the same hallway she and Misato had traversed yesterday, coming to a stop before the door for cage four.
"Evangelion?" Eric read off the first word printed on the door.
"After the Second Impact, it was revealed that beings known as Angels would arrive in nineteen years to finish off what was left of humanity." Akagi began, "so, mankind devised the most advanced weapons of all time in order to combat the Angels when they arrive."
She swiped her ID and the door opened, the group following her inside. "These weapons are what we call the synthetic life forms, the Evangelions."
The lights in the cage fired up, revealing its dormant occupant to all.
Eight teenage eyes scanned the massive creature, all almost immediately noticing the size of the head, particularly the massive, toothy jaws that seemed to be grinning at them in some sort of demonic smile.
"Wow, so this is it, huh?!" Rei finally managed to squeal, clearly impressed with it.
Asuka huffed, "Please, it's not that impressive, wondergirl."
Eric found his gaze fixed upon the faint, green glow emanating from the black cavities that served as the eyes. He felt a shiver go down his spine, as it seemed to be staring at him. "This is Evangelion Unit 17." Dr. Akagi announced.
Braddock finally seemed to regain his ability to speak, tearing his gaze away from the thing's eyes. "Why did you bring me here? Why are you showing me this?"
"I'm showing you this because," Ritsuko stared directly at him, "Eric Braddock, you have been chosen as its pilot."
Suddenly, the room seemed to spin as he stumbled backwards, Shinji and Rei catching him.
"Really? This was your pick for Unit 17's pilot, Dr. Akagi? He's pathetic!" Asuka jeered.
"Hey, it's a lot to take in at once!" came the retort, Braddock finally having regained his bearings. Soryu merely rolled her eyes at him.
Eric sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You're serious then? You want me to pilot this, this thing, and use it to fight what you're calling Angels?"
There were nods from both Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi.
"I suppose I don't have a choice in the matter?"
"Well, unless you want to be monitored twenty-four seven and your actions heavily restricted since you're now in possession of classified information, no you really don't" came Akagi's reply.
His face contorted with disdain at the presentation of his alternative. But maybe piloting the thing wouldn't be so bad. Not many boys his age could say they piloted a giant robot to protect mankind. A slight smirk crossed his face. "Alright, looks like I have no other choice. I'll do it."
"I thought so," The scientist beamed, "Welcome aboard, Fourth Child."
"Fourth Child?"
"It's our numbering system for the Eva pilots. Rei is the First Child, Asuka's the Second, Shinji's the Third, and now you're the Fourth." Captain Katsuragi explained. "It's basically a code name."
"I . . . see."
Eric looked down at what he was now wearing; something that Dr. Akagi had called a plugsuit. The top section was very bulky, with various vent and port like objects in it, a black "17" emblazoned on the chest. The top half was the same color blue as Unit 17's armor, while the suit was primarily silver from the abdomen down. "Is this really necessary?"
It was in no way uncomfortable, but the fact that it was skintight embarrassed him. It felt like he was wearing practically nothing. He could deal with the interface headset, two blue nodes that rested on his head and were connected together by a band that ran around behind the back of his head.
"The plugsuit isn't really required, but it does help with your synchronization with the Eva, and it has various life support functions." Dr. Akagi explained via the two-way communications link with the cockpit.
With him agreeing to pilot the Eva, an activation test was the next step, which was how Eric had arrived at this current predicament: inside the Eva's entry plug, as the cockpit was called, and wearing a form-fitting suit.
Ritsuko, Misato, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka watched from the observation box that overlooked Unit 17's cage. Lieutenant Maya Ibuki was in charge of running the test as Dr. Akagi supervised.
"Now flooding entry plug." Maya announced, flicking a switch. Back in the plug, a dark amber liquid began to flood the cylindrical space.
"What the hell?! Are you trying to drown me?!"
Ritsuko sighed, "Relax, Eric, the LCL is breathable and will oxygenate your blood directly."
He was skeptical, but as the liquid-which smelled a lot like blood- engulfed him, he found that he was indeed, able to breathe. "Couldn't you have told me about that before you went and did it?!"
Asuka's eyes narrowed with irritation, "That guy complains too much." She muttered under her breath.
"Initiating secondary contact."
The inside of the plug began to pulse a variety of colors before the walls finally became transparent and Eric could see the cage before him.
"A-10 neuro connections nominal; LCL charge complete." He could hear Maya say."Synapse synchronization rate: 48.27 percent."
"Hmm, that's the lowest of all four pilots, but it's definitely workable." Ritsuko stared over the Lieutenant's shoulder at the data.
The neon green glow from within the Eva's eyes intensified and it let out a low growl, while inside the plug, Eric could feel a sense of . . . . . familiarity from the beast.
"Everything is nominal. Unit 17 has activated."
Eric rotated the black NERV ID card around in his hand, his picture staring back at him. "So, I'm now the pilot of two hundred foot tall cyborg tyrannosaur, huh?" He asked from the back seat of Misato's car as she gave the pilots a ride back to the dorm. Rei giggled from the other end of the back seat, Shinji between the two of them and Asuka silent in the passenger seat.
"I'm sure you'll get used to the thought soon enough." Misato said over her shoulder.
"Maybe I will. But one thing's for sure: life just got a whole lot more interesting."