Already nearly halfway through the book at noon next day, Rei got distracted by the clanging sounds coming from her father's workshop. She thought of the magic in the book, one of wands and incantations, and then she thought of the way her father tinkered with his machines, bolts and tools and metal and no magic at all- at least until his projects were finished, when to her they seemed like the most fanciful and magical things in existence.
The sounds persisted, shifting from the thumps and creaks of things being moved into place to the steady beat of a hammer. "I suppose I might as well…" Rei looked down at the book, and spoke to it. "Just remember that you can trust him, Harry." Marking her place, Rei swept up and off of her bed- pausing briefly to straighten out her sheets- and stalked off to her father's workshop.
It was a small barn just beside the house, painted red and with a large white "X" on the doors. Rei pulled one open and peeked in, then silently walked over to where her father was hammering away at something large and metal partially covered by a cloth.
"You village kids better piss off, I-"
"It's me, father-"
"You better get out, Rei."
A good mood, then. "What are you working today?" Rei couldn't quite guess at the form beneath the drape, and edged around to stand beside her father.
Gendo stopped hammering and rolled the toothpick around in his mouth. "The same thing as always, kid. You've just never seen it all together. But I'm close, I'm close…" Rei almost opened her mouth to ask again, but Gendo caught her eye and sighed. "...It's a second skin, a glorious suit. Here-" Finishing a last bit of hammering, Gendo tossed his mallet away and then walked around to the front and yanked the cloth off.
At first glance Rei thought it was like a large metallic stick figure. Upon further inspection, there were small embellishments and curves in the design that jumped out at her. "I still don't get it."
"Of course you don't, there's never been anything like it. This isn't just a suit, Rei. It's an armor that'll let man walk with the angels." Gendo said grandly, huffing and crossing his arms as he looked up in admiration.
"'And as the angels walked with man, so too will one day man walk amongst the angels.' I know that. But… The Awakening won't happen. The angels are all asleep, and they aren't human. They won't know what love is, ever."
"No, they love. They love like monsters, with the sacrificial blood of virgins dripping from their lips." Rei looked up at the suit of armor, wondering what exactly her father meant when he called her an angel.
"...So what are you going to call it?"
"Lillith. I thought about calling it an evangelion, but that sounded too religious and pretentious." Rei nodded; Lillith was a pleasing and relatively normal name for something invented by her father. "Now it's time to test this sucker out." A small pad with a few buttons inexplicably appeared in Gendo's hand, and, after pressing one of the buttons, the front of the suit opened up and lowered in a vaguely sexual way. "Come on, up you go." Motioned Gendo. Rei glanced between him and Lillith for a second, then shrugged and jumped, landing on the front and walking up. Once in, the front closed by itself, and Rei took a seat on the horse-like leather structure that she guessed was the seat. The whirr and rhythms of an engine started, and a luminous golden mist quickly filled up the cabin. She found she was able to breathe and see through it easily enough, and moments afterwards, Lillith turned slightly to the left. Just to make sure she pulled on the handle again, and once more Lillith turned left. The right handle worked in a similar manner, and by rolling the handles forwards Rei felt Lillith take a step.
"This… Lillith is amazing, father."
"Of course, my little angel. Now come on out, now that I know that it works I want to hurry up and show it off at the village fair." The front opened up, and from the inside Rei decided her father had had that in mind when designing Lillith. She deftly walked down and hopped off, tendrils of sparkling mist clinging to her. Gendo nodded and patted her on the shoulder, then pressed another button on his strange pad. Lillith lowered down and shrank in on itself slightly, until it was a rectangular shape a third its original size. It was just small to fit in the large cart Gendo used for hauling supplies, though the frame groaned under the weight. "Phillipe! Get your ass over here!" Her father's horse came as commanded, and with a practiced efficiency Gendo got Phillipe harnessed and on the move.