Disclaimer: I own nothing of value, characters created by me are mine, but the rest is Eva and whomever holds rights to that. This Fic does whatever it wants, including but not limited to: screw with the character's age, character's personality, Eva timeline, and whatever else comes up. If you see any major goofs please leave a scalding review.
N E O N G E N E S I S E V A N G E L I O N
-An Obvious Tangent-
"So you saw that sketch with the girl and her dog last night?"
I was thinking of something completely different, but his interjection wasn't unwelcome. He was talking about something random just to pass the time. These long shifts were murder on the body and the brain. My fellow officer had a name, but everyone called him Mr. Black or Sir Black. Something to that effect; his dark hair and beard gave him a gentlemen's air.
Mr. Black was giving me something to talk about in the middle of our drawn out speeder watch. I stretched out of the open driver's side window, speed gun still in hand. We talked on through the night usually; sometimes receiving a friendly salutation over the radio from a passing patrol car.
"Nakada, you ever see the big ass robots when they show 'em on the news?"
So close to Tokyo III such a thing was unavoidable. I had actually gone south into the area once, only to be stopped by the fact that the road was missing. A giant foot fall had scorched the earth. The sole of a colossus had been brought upon the dirt and construct. We were routed through a detour. I did get to my special firearms class that day. However the rest of my waking hours I thought of that huge indent in the earth.
I relayed this story to Mr. Black and he filed it away for some other time. He responded with all he knew about the gigantic beasts. Things like the way they were transported, how they were armed, or even type of energy fed the engines that run the joints. Having said that he confided his doubt the things were mechanical. I did not have anything to add.
The speed gun suddenly made three sharp clicks. The most I had ever really heard from it was two. 250kph was definitely not right. Even the burliest of tuned vehicles rarely broke outside of 195kph range on the highway around this area. It was suicide on the sharper turns of this small 4 lane country way. I immediately signaled to Mr. Black and he readied the engine to follow after the offending car.
The car in question blurred past our position. It had the nerve to down shift as it hit the straight portion in front of us. Already Mr. Black was trailing the delinquent driver, as we pulled closer I automatically typed in the license plate number that I saw.
"Ikari, Shinji?" As I said this, Mr. Black fidgeted as he pulled closely behind the dark car onto the side of the road. He placed the cruiser into park and pushed the screen on its hinge to look towards the driver.
"It might not be wise to mess with these guys."
I ask him why and the significance of the plate number becomes apparent.
"What could they do to us? They were breaking the law after all; who the hell do they think they are?"
I was fairly sure a speeding ticket of massive proportions was in order. The vehicle was co-registered under the Nerv fleet of vehicles. To either Ikari Gendo or Ikari Shinji, whoever the hell they were. Mr. Black looked at the back of the car with a thoughtful sneer.
"You're a good cop, kid; don't step on anyone's toes. That's all I've got to say."
Advice I'll take, but I still want to meet the asshat driving this fancy sedan. I mustered my confidence and pulled my weight from the passenger seat. Every step towards the driver's window was a long and intimidating process. I knocked on the window. When it glided down into the car I was met with the face of a young man. Surely he was this Ikari person, but not nearly as old as one would expect.
He explained with no lack of embarrassment that the car's driver seat was on the opposite side. I nodded and went to the other, already opening, window. Here there sat a lovely young woman. Foreign features and a deadly smile planted on her face.
"Good evening officer Nakada." She looked at my badge I suppose. Courtesy will get you anywhere with the exception of breaking the law.
She produced no insurance or license when I asked. She responded that she did not possess proper identification at the moment. I just requested that she give me anything she had, the boy as well. They handed several cards to my open palm. I indicated that I would be right back. I didn't need to tell them that they had fucked up. They just sat somber not saying anything. The girl far more relaxed than the boy, but from what I saw they were both fairly collected.
I walked back to the cruiser and sat down in my seat. Both cards were Nerv IDs. We had been briefed on how to pull information from these. Half of the long serial number on the back was actually the same as a Japanese driver's license and was built into the public database.
"Sohryu, Asuka Langely. Jailbait extraordinaire I bet. That one is a real cutie." Mr. Black joked when he saw her face shot within the profile that our cruiser's small computer displayed. She had no actual driver's license, but her profile displayed several other vague and misplaced permits.
"Since when does a fourteen year old have the authority to carry automatic firearms?" I asked in disbelief, not a hint of humor in my voice. Mr. Black laughed jovially, knowing this was going to be a hell of a story back at the station.
"Nakada, look at that, not fourteen. Rather today is her birthday!" He laughed more and slapped the steering column with his palm. "Hell I wish I was driving that thing around and firing machine guns at that age."
He was right, December 4th. Regardless, when we tried to contact their guardians, we were met with simple voice mail messages. This girl had committed any number of moving violations and was not permitted to drive a vehicle; much less a foreign car that had such specifications.
"Nakada, if we are taking them into the station, I get to drive that thing there." Mr. Black called rights to test driving the beast. I felt kind of disgusted with his easy take on the situation, but maybe that was jealousy. Mr. Black's reputation in our precinct was second to none. I tallied the charges against the teenage girl after which Mr. Black and I stepped out of the car.
The girl and the boy had already lifted themselves out of the car and were waiting near its trunk. I explained the laws that she had broken. She simply listened and nodded occasionally. The boy was tense and worried at this point. Mr. Black smiled at the two and they responded by calming at his presence; funny how he could do that to people. They probably should not be relaxed. There was a huge fee at the end of the girl's tally.
"Because we cannot reach a guardian or custodian for either of you at the moment, you will have to come to the station and hang around a bit until we have you sorted out." I said with some trepidation, expecting the red head to curse and break the asphalt under us with her wraith.
"Fair, one of you will have to bring the car along however, it is not to be left here or towed. Understood?" The girl sung out in a demure voice, unbefitting her young and fiery appearance.
"Ma'am, unfortunately that will not be an option, we…" I was cut off as Mr. Black raised his hand. He extended his palm. She turned her neck to look at him and nodded. She fished the keys from her jacket pocket and brought her hand over his open palm.
"Take care you don't screw up anything." In his special way, Mr. Black stood straight and saluted her. I balked and shook my head. The girl chuckled and took the several tickets in my hand. "Well, let us be on our way." She walked toward the cruiser, I was going to handcuff her for the audacious way she was handling this. In that same thought however, who the hell was this girl anyways?
"Officer Nakada, if you wouldn't mind?" She indicated the holding portion of the cruiser, locked doors needed a special switch to open. I clicked the button on my key fob and the door unlocked. "Ikari, move it!" Before lowering herself down into the seat, she yelled out to the boy. He skittishly moved for the opposite door.
I started the cruiser and watched the BMW slowly pull out onto the road. In the rear view mirror, her eyelids closed some, scrutinizing the handling of the car she apparently owned. Mr. Black shouted a yahoo into our radio and the car raced off into the dark. She grimaced and closed her eyes and laid her head back against the hard plastic rest.
We arrived at the station long before Mr. Black did, but I wasn't about to drop a hint about that. The two of them were both silent at this point. Their faces were masks that gave away nothing. I herded them into one of the glass windowed offices and indicated they could sit, but were not permitted to leave.
I went to the locker room to wash my face. When I stepped out Mr. Black was speaking with his circle of followers, indicating the amazing thing he had out in the parking lot. I went to my own personal desk and started making some calls. The more systems I looked through the more I found myself confused.
Most everything in files related to their social security numbers was in order. Birth Certificates, heath cards, and addresses were all lined up nicely. They were just the framework however. There were no notes at all as to why these children were carrying around Nerv identification. To top that, the girl apparently had a college degree. I threw my hands back up and behind my neck. This is really fucked up. Maybe Mr. Black was right, just let them pass.
From my desk I looked at the office they were "locked up" in. The windows began at waist high, so I only saw the head of the sitting boy. They had been in there for almost a half an hour now. I got up and walked in. Shinji Ikari was stuck in an upright position in the chair and the red head he followed around was napping on his shoulder, drooling ever so slightly. The boy was fiercely afraid of this girl. His body language relayed that he feared even making a peep at this point.
"Do either of you need to use the bathroom?" When I asked the girl sort of numbly woke and stretched her arms above her head. The boy visibly relieved that she didn't seem to notice where she was sleeping. He seemed to be taking her seriously, but what a laughable scene the two made. Never mind the fact that they were some kind of spies or something. She got up and I directed her toward the women's bathroom on one side of the large outer office.
"What do you two do at Nerv?" I just asked the boy upfront. He clammed up and just shook his head. "I really shouldn't talk about it." He just ended the conversation then and there.
Mr. Black came to the window and gave a shallow knock. A large man followed behind him in a black suit. The guy was nondescript to the letter, but it looked as though he had given up. His tie was loosened, his ear piece dangled from his collar on its wire, and his large black sunglasses were tucked askew in the middle of his button down shirt.
I excused myself and went outside the private office. "Can I help you sir?" I asked the disheveled man. "Do you have both Shinji Ikari and Asuka Sohryu here at this station?" He asked without delay. Mr. Black responded yes and detailed the situation to the man. After that the man brought a radio out of his jacket and signaled into it, "Both second and third children are safe and unharmed, 3-4 signing out." A laugh came out of the radio to which he responded, "I know it, I'm canned."
"Those fucking kids," He sighed and dropped the radio and earpiece in a nearby garbage can. Mr. Black offered the man a cigarette which he gladly took and accepted a light. The man was in a daze and Mr. Black began to extract information via his uncanny ability to BS with others.
"Those fucking kids bought a goddamn super car and HQ expects me to keep an eye on them? What the hell?" The man was despairing and bleeding his heart out to us. "Just because they pilot the big fucking robots they think they can do whatever they want, an' of course, big brother lets 'em get away with it."
The glee on Mr. Black's face was unmistakable. We had apprehended the pilots of the giant robots. They were just children though; our lives were in their hands? Nonsense.
The girl came out of the bathroom and made for the glass office again. As she came near us, the man suddenly went over to her and started letting his anger verbally assault her. He apparently had kids to feed and she had really just ruined his day. I looked at the girl, standing silent as the barrage slowly wore out. She brought her chin high to meet at least the shoulders of the tall man.
"A spook?" she asked indignant, "Piss off."
The low growl from the girl angered the man deeply. When she said nothing else and continued standing there, the man seethed and mirrored her a moment. The man sighed out and grabbed the girl and squeezed her shoulder tightly before turning away.
"Best of luck girl." The man just walked off, his anger somehow dissipated without violence. She watched him walk away and out the station's main entrance. Her humor drained for the moment she turned to us.
"Well gentlemen, what is keeping us from my friend and me from leaving?" She asked darkly.
"Ms. Sohryu, the violations committed by you are strong offenses, and your records lead us to heavy suspicion." Mr. Black responded in kind, the smile on his face permanent, but it did not reach his voice.
"What is so suspicious, I'm the pilot of Production model Evangelion Unit 2." She said it out at length.
"That is rather hard to believe miss." I finally cut into the conversation.
"What about it is so difficult I wonder?" She wasn't even trying now. She went back into the glass office and spoke some unheard words to the Ikari boy. Mr. Black and I looked at one another. This was a cookie, so to speak.
"Chief" we both spoke at once and nodded. We briskly cruised to the office. We caught the Chief right as he was taking off for the night.
We filled him in on the situation and he made some calls, he apparently had a hotline to a Nerv representative. I watched the situation get slowly swept under the rug. I scoffed as Chief hung up the phone and intertwined his fingers on his desk.
"Yup, not the first time, not the last time." Chief just shrugged. "Let's go meet these kids before we let them off the hook though. I've had a few of these lately, people with Nerv IDs just pushing their weight around." The chief was a respectable man, but I guess he had seen these things before. He took a moment extra to mock Nerv employees acting important.
"Nakada, Black," He indicated us, "Show me to them."
Chief and Mr. Black followed me back to the office were the two teens were left. Chief walked in first and we went in after him. Chief introduced himself to the boy. Shinji Ikari looked shocked at our entrance but waved with his left hand and meekly smiled a hello.
The girl, he was afraid of the girl. She was laid out on the bench, using his thigh as a pillow. His expression and posture was stiff and strained. The red mop of hair covered her face and she appeared to nap soundly.
"She is kind of tired I guess." The boy said very quietly. Surely if he were to disturb her nothing good would come of it. She must have him strung up like a puppet. Poor kid makes me wonder if maybe he likes it that way.
"Miss Sohryu," Chief cleared his throat and got her attention. Just like earlier, she slowly awakened. She threw her hair back and brought her self up from the bench they both sat on. "You've been cleared by your association with Nerv of any transgressions, but I suggest that you not go about thinking that you are allowed to do such things."
"Right, so where does one get a driver's license this late in the evening, in where ever this place might be?" Again, despite the comment being rather grazing, her expression was neutral.
"You are in no way certified to drive a car." Chief was a little pissed at her response.
"Oh, alright," her trite sarcasm evident might have boiled Chief's anger if it weren't for Mr. Black stepping in.
"Really though! Do you guys pilot the Evas?" He inserted that question over everyone's voices. Asuka brought her arms across her front and spread her feet on the ground. "He runs the purple one; I pilot the red and superior model." She brought out a practiced voice of pride. The boy looked up at the ceiling with a roll of his eyes. Without looking the red head kicked him in the shin with the back of one foot.
Chief just brought his palm over his eyes. "Fuck it, I didn't see this. Nakada, Black, get them out of here." Chief went home for the night. Mr. Black drained more information out of the two and we gradually worked our way outside. Which is to, we finally walked out to the parking lot after Black introduced the pair to the entire station.
By the look of the moon, it was almost tomorrow. Asuka, as everyone now knew her, walked to the car. Ikari turned to us and announced that he was sorry for the trouble. I said nothing but Mr. Black casually blew it off. "Don't worry about it."
Asuka opened the door to and looked back to Shinji and brought her thumb over her shoulder, signing that he should hurry up. Shinji walked down the steps and over to the luxury sports car.
"Asuka! Happy Birthday!" Mr. Black called out to her as she closed the door. She rolled down the window and smiled back at him. Then she waved as the car silently rumbled back to the street.
I'm not exactly old or anything, but this stunt was making me think I was getting on in my years. Mr. Black was thoroughly pleased with himself. I'm thinking I'll follow him to the bar after our shift gets done.
Damn kids these days.
Notes: Sweet. Short, but I try. More if I feel obligated enough to finish. The night isn't quite over. A reviewer pointed out the birthday thing, had to look that up again. Thank you!