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EDIT: This is a revision of this chapter. Here's a helpful hint. Never publish a chapter you've edited while having a migraine. You'll only have to edit it again later. No changes in content if you've already read it, just a fix here and there.
MM: Cruel Angel Thesis
"Zankoku na tenshi no te-ze
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu
Hotobashiru atsui patosu de
Omoide wo uragiru nara
O-zora wo daite kagayaku
Shonen yo, shinwa ni nare"
The room was dark.
The only light illuminating anything was the slight white ambiance emitting from a stone throne.
The throne itself was rather simple. It was set only on a two-step high square platform against a wall.
However beyond just lighting, other parts of the room conspired to make the throne its most important aspect.
The design on the wall, for instance, behind the throne started at its peak, very high above the floor, with two lines going diagonally down both left and right from its starting point; this starting point being in the very center of where the throne lied below.
They continued for a few meters, before stopping and going straight down, a longer distance than they had been going diagonally. They stopped, and went diagonally again, the left side continuing its journey left, and the right side, continuing its journey right, both perfectly symmetrical from one another.
After several more meters, they stopped as they finally hit the floor, where they continuing creating a mirror image of the design, in which the two lines joined into one point once more.
This design was repeated within itself, with each one having a unique appearance, either with arches within the shape, or diagonal lines connecting one outer design to the inner, and so on. The colors that made up this design were different light shades of white, grey, and brown.
However, none of these designs were worthy enough to actually touch the throne.
Behind the throne directly was a red shape. At the top of it, roughly three meters above the throne, it was a half circle, where the lines, instead of completing a circular shape, went down into the floor. The design repeated itself once unlike the other lines upon the wall. Inside the red shape at about a third of the size, laid a red copy with a slight black outline, and a larger white boarder beyond that. Connecting both shapes' peaks was an even smaller version of the shape.
Under all of these pretentious lines and shapes, in the midst of the only lighting in the room, on the throne itself, a wizened white-bearded man sat. He was clothed in a red robe outlined in gold, with a red vest and a white lower garment underneath it.
While he was on the throne, and illuminated from the unknown source of the ambiance, the way he sat prevented anyone from seeing his eyes or the lower half of his face, as they were swallowed in darkness.
Several robed figures stood in two rows facing each other, each made up with four persons. Between them, a path to the throne and the man who sat on it existed. They were all wearing dark grey robes, which connected to tall, simple mitres of the same color.
The mitres main distinguishing feature was the white line in the very center of the hat that went down and connected to the horizontal white border which touched those who wore its forehead, obscuring their hair from the world, and prevented the small amount of light from displaying their eyes.
There was an extra robed figure, kneeling directly across from the man on the throne, at the far end of the two walls of anonymous men and women. Their head was bowed.
While their eyes could not see it, the obscured eyes of everyone else in the room scanned the image of a bloody purple giant, in their midst.
"What kind of Seikijin is that?"
"Obviously, one that isn't. It had no Ahou reactors. The piloting sphere was smaller and red. It was several meters taller than the tallest Seikijin on record. It had a mouth. It even breathed. It may have come from a Seikijin cocoon, but whatever this…this thing is; it is not a Holy Machine."
"What else could it be? When its Seikishi became unconscious, it reverted back into a Seikijin Cocoon."
"You mean a cocoon filled with flesh and blood? The base Seikijin was there, but it only was in looks, it wasn't normal anymore! It was bleeding, and its metal became flesh! The limbs were snapped in several places from the strain, and the head was liquefied! It was only a basic model, whatever happened to it to make it become that…thing…was solely the pilot's fault!"
An old, mature voice spoke from the throne. "Where is the Seikijin cocoon currently?"
A female voice answered. "It's only a two days' travel away, on a vessel from the Holy Land for analysis and repair here, your eminence."
"And the boy, is he still asleep at the Academy hospital?"
"Yes, your grace, but he's in a stable condition."
Another robed voice spoke. "It's been two days...shouldn't we induce consciousness?"
"No. The boy's life isn't in immediate danger yet. Let him recover naturally."
"But what about his night terrors? Won't those cause damage in the long term?"
"We will let the Holy Land's physicians come to a decision on that." He sighed. "Anymore thoughts on what he…conjured?"
"…Could it be a Seikishin? Could he have created one?" A younger man asked.
There was a laugh from another robed man. "A Sacred Mechalord? Those are built…not," he looked at the image with a slightly frightened and pale face, "…not birthed, and it definitely isn't a Seikijin, not a typical one at least, yet it was hatched as all Seikijin are…formed by the soul and genetics of its Seikishi."
"It doesn't have a tail. It couldn't be very powerful. It's just an oddity gaining more attention than it should rightfully deserve." An old man's voice spoke.
"I believe you're mistaken. This obviously doesn't conform to the standard rules. This is not a Seikijin. Who knows what it could do? If those energy fields the cocoon deployed are a part of its capabilities…" She slowly stopped speaking. "What kind of boy can make a Seikijin bleed human blood? What kind of lineage can turn a Sacred Mechanoid intosuch a creature?" An older woman's voice asked rhetorically.
For a minute, silence filled the room.
"How many people are aware of this event?" The man on the throne asked.
"The "Birth of the Sacred Beast," as it has been labeled, practically everyone in the world knows." Beside the clear image of the bloody purple humanoid, a slightly fuzzier image appeared. It was from a higher angle, and it was clear from the slight shaking, that this was a hand-held recorder. It stopped playing only after the mechanoid deactivated and the unconscious boy was pulled free from the cocoon, easily getting a clean shot of his face.
"Two students, who broke quarantine, recorded the event and spread copies amongst the student body." He paused and took a slow breath. "The students showed their friends and family, and the video just kept spreading." He shook his head. "The boy has already garnered so much attention…"
"What country has his allegiance?" The voice from the throne asked.
"Unknown."
"We've already received dozens of envoys on the clarification on where his allegiance lies…"
"Yes, your grace, but given what we know from the investigation, our current hypothesis is that the boy is from another world…"
A few murmurs filled the room.
"Impossible." A crotchety voice spoke after a long pause. "He's obviously too young to have been summoned."
"The boy wasn't summoned. It is more likely he was sent here."
The murmuring grew in sound.
The man on the throne spoke in surprise. "How did you come to that conclusion?"
"The scanning data from two days ago; the campus sensors detected him simply appearing into existence on board the ship responsible for delivering the selected male candidates for this year's activation test."
The image of the vessel in a holographic representation replaced the images of the purple giant, along with a paused timestamp.
There were six yellow dots around the ship.
As the timestamp started, the yellow dots started to scurry around the ship in different directions.
After a few seconds, a new yellow dot came into existence in the empty back cabin.
A few other panels of information sprung into life, showing a decrease in temperature, an increase in static electricity, the slightest change of gravity, and even the slight change of the light speed constant.
"Accompanying his appearance were the tell-tale signs of a summoning, just with the lack of a ceremony, build-up, and incubation period."
"…Sensors can be fooled, just as those girls with the recorder fooled them." The crotchety voice hesitantly replied.
"Yes, with devices created by the child of a Barrier Workshop engineer. No such device or anything similar was found on the boy, or on the vessel after it was searched. In fact, the one piece of technology found on him is clearly an otherworld design."
The image of a small black rectangular box connected to something likened to thin black rope ending in odd half-sphere objects wrapped around it appeared. It had a few ineligible symbols on it.
"What does it do?"
"It only plays music."
There was silence in the room for a few seconds.
"Verify the data." The red robed man stated.
"My grace, the data has already been verified, by myself and others."
"There's nothing wrong with absolute certainty. Send the data to the Barrier Workshop. Have them confirm it."
There was the slightest tinge of reluctance in one of the robed figure's face, before he obliged. "Yes, your grace."
"If the boy was sent here…then he is the master of his own destiny. There is no legal precedence for this. If no country summoned him, then no country has any right to him." He smiled slightly. "If the data is correct, the choice of the future is his alone."
There were a few quiet whispers and fewer slow nods at that comment.
"What is next on the agenda?"
"An event taking place during King Lashara's pilgrimage, your eminence." A female voice spoke.
A holographic image of a landmass flying through the sky, consisting of a mansion, a few trees, and a river, replaced all the former images.
It displayed several Seikijin in combat. What was of specific note was the white one armed with a katana.
Soon, the combat died down after the white one gained the upper hand over a pink Seikijin, after it overloaded its Ahou reactors and partially turned black.
After a few minutes, after the white mechanoid claimed victory, the hologram shut down.
"Our informant aboard the Swan sent us this, along with a confirmation that the assassination attempt failed, along with something unsettling. The Seikishin aboard the vessel moved."
There was an awkward silence.
"So Lord Babalun has finally made his move. Who do you think will win?"
"Don't sound so nonchalant! He is too dangerous!" The crusty voice from earlier replied.
"It will merely be a civil war if no one contacts the other countries." There was a pause. "It's hardly uncommon when there is a shift in power. More importantly…"
The voice from the throne spoke. "Yes, the problem lies with the Sacred Mechalord. Several hundred years have passed since we excavated it, yet it has never shown the slightest movement until now."
He looked up and stared at the silent kneeling figure directly ahead of him.
"Your role has become quite grave."
The figure stood up, revealing the lower half of her feminine face and some of her pink hair.
"You know what to do?"
"Yes, your grace." She answered.
"And beyond that, keep an eye on this new one, will you?"
"Yes, your grace."
He nodded. "You're dismissed."
She bowed, turned around, and slowly walked out of the room.
"Shinji?"
Can you hear me Shinji?
Shinji? Shinji!?"
Yui Ikari could see nothing, feel nothing, and hear nothing. She knew that somehow, she was now within her son's mind, no longer within Eva's core. Yet unlike with Eva, this time she was lucid, but unlike earlier, Shinji wasn't here.
She was by herself, and luckily, still herself.
Suffice to say, she was immensely glad to be out of that red orb, but also immensely worried at the same time
Before this unique situation, she had just managed to complete her goals.
The 14th angel actually was very helpful in that regard. Without it, Eva Unit 01 would only become the catalyst under Seele's direction, most likely after they had disposed of all unnecessary elements.
Which in their eyes, she knew, included Shinji…
Now that Eva was awakened from its bonds and now that it had a super solenoid organ from an Angel itself, Eva Unit 01 was ready.
For Shinji's sake.
….Then some alien business man waves his hands and everything comes grinding to a halt.
Yui actually thought it was hilarious, absolutely and entirely comical. If she had a body, she's pretty sure she'd rupture an artery from how much she would laugh. Eva Unit 01 suddenly disappearing? The primary catalyst that all their dreams were placed on? Seele must have collectively shat their pants at the news. Sure, they could probably carry on with the other Evas using Lilith, but she knew Eva Unit 01 was the most precious of the Evangelions for their plans and that her husband was already in the prime position to sabotage those plans.
This will teach them to completely rely on their beloved scrolls.
She took a moment of wistful contemplation.
…She really wished she could have seen their faces. Imagining it alone was entertaining enough but...
Yui calmed herself down and focused.
What to do now? This wasn't a permanent vacation, but how long would it last? Whatever the case may be, she did know one thing. There was nothing to impede it anymore. Shinji deserved to know, and he deserved to know everything. It was his right.
But how to do that? She still didn't understand why she was like this.
She should have melded with Shinji completely, as that should have occurred from her understanding of the metaphysical biology involved. They should have become an amalgam being, neither Shinji nor Yui, but the product of the two. She was grateful that didn't happen, but Shinji was reduced to LCL and was flowing around in Eva's core. Both his soul and hers, for a brief time, were connected, yet the intimate existence, the one desired by the human instrumentality project, didn't occur. They were still their individual beings, even as their LCL freely mixed.
The only thing that was new besides Shinji's soul was the S2 organ that she had integrated into Unit 01's core. Could an S2 engine keep individual souls from coalescing into one being in that state?
Then again, what could it not do? It was capable of ignoring the conservation of mass and energy. It was a bottomless well of power, limited only by the rate which the Eva could draw upon that power.
"Damn…" Yui missed her equipment. In her current form, she could only theorize, but even if she did, the S2 was something that Dr. Katsuragi would understand more than her…and that mind was gone forever…for now at least.
She did the mental equivalent of a sigh.
The fact of the matter, Shinji and herself were kept separated, somehow, before and after that…business man, meddled with everything.
Perhaps he did it? He managed to easily manipulate Shinji, herself, and the Eva's matter and souls in such an intricate way, without using any form of AT field…
But if he…or, well, it would probably be more correct, could keep them separate, why only do so when Shinji entered Eva's Core? Why not whisk them away as soon as Eva finished devouring the angel a month earlier?
In any matter, that entity did something beyond even what Seele wanted.
Eva Unit 01 and Shinji were now one being.
He managed to manipulate not only Shinji's body from its LCL state and his soul while it was in the core, but he also managed to reduce the Evangelion's particle-wave matter and the S2 engine as well into Shinji, somehow, without damaging anything.
The precision was amazing. Absolutely unbelievable…
Even an Anti-AT field couldn't reduce any piece of particle-wave matter into something like that.
Ironically enough, Shinji was now the epitome of what Seele wanted…well, even beyond that. They merely wanted a body…an existence that would allow them to thwart death, a way to exist forever more, no matter what the cost.
They would take either living within the Evas, using their new immortal bodies as their own, or the complementation of humanity into one being. Either way, they would get what they want.
Shinji managed to gain that…while keeping his own body as well, while keeping his individuality, and the best part, without the cost that Third Impact would demand of all other life.
Her son now had the body of god and the mindset of man fused into one.
Yet, while Eva and Shinji were one, she and Shinji were separate. While she was relieved by that….she didn't know how it was possible.
Then again, she didn't think beings like that…entity, could exist either.
If she could frown, she would.
This entity wasn't interested solely in Eva. It was interested in Shinji foremost. With its abilities, it could easily find any person to meld with an Eva, but it, by its choice, melded it with Shinji.
What did this thing want with her son, and why?
She pushed her thoughts away from her internal musing, and focused them back on finding Shinji.
"Shinji! Shinji!"
MM: Neon Genesis Evangelion OST 1- Marking Time Waiting for Death
Ahead of her, a small light appeared, as if there was a crack in this void.
Just like the last time.
She didn't know how, but by her desire, she came closer and closer to it, and when reached it, the black void parted. All of her senses rushed back to her, and what she saw immediately alarmed her.
Around her was an orange soaked landscape, and the setting sun was hanging in the sky in front of her.
However, she was mainly focused on what was coming towards her. Small trickles of her own hazy memory of this event confirmed what she feared.
A black Evangelion was slowly stepping towards her.
Then she noticed that her field of vision was being slightly obscured by metal frames and a transparent orange HUD here and there in the corners of her vision.
If she had eyes, they would have widened.
She wasn't reliving her foggy memory of this tragedy, she wasn't seeing directly through Eva's eyes. She was seeing the world through the camera feed in the Entry Plug. She was seeing this from Shinji's perspective.
"Shinji! Shinji! Can you hear me Shinji? Can you hear me!?"
He didn't respond. He couldn't hear her.
"Unit Zero is heavily damaged. The pilot is wounded."
"Oh no…" Shinji quietly muttered.
She then heard her husband's voice.
"The target is approaching you Unit 01. Contact in twenty seconds. You must destroy it."
"But this target isn't just an angel."
The black giant kept advancing, step by thunderous step.
"There's somebody inside it, isn't there…"
Step. Step. Step. Step. Step.
"Another kid, just like me…"
Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. Step. The Angel stood still.
Yui could feel her son's hand twitching around the controls, she could feel his apprehensiveness, and she could feel his unsteady breathing leaving his throat.
Then something rather surreal happened. Unit 03's head became liquid, folded in on itself, and slowly morphed into a more human visage.
It became the face of Toji Suzahara. She recognized him as the boy that Shinji saved during the Fourth Angel attack, and she would discover just who the pilot of the Eva was when Shinji did. She could still remember her son's scream…
That's when Yui realized this wasn't just a memory. She was a silent passenger to Shinji's nightmares.
Toji's face melted back into the form of Unit 03's head. It reared back and screamed.
The angel controlled giant bent down and leapt towards Unit 01. In the air, it flipped over, with its feet extended to greet Unit 01. With a heavy slam as the kick connected, Unit 01 was sent to the ground.
Unit 03 landed in a crouch, all of its limbs on the ground.
Shinji groaned and looked back at Unit 03. "An entry plug! I knew it! I knew there was someone in there!"
Unit 03 threw its arms towards Unit 01's throat. The arms extended over twice their length, making a sickening stretching noise. As the hands reach their destination, they began to squeeze.
Shinji's airway was being closed off. Yui could feel actual hands around her son's throat, squeezing and crushing it. It felt as if it was her throat.
Unit 03 pushed Unit 01 back into a hill, and pinned it there as it tried to choke the life out of the purple titan.
"Unit 01's life support system is failing!"
"Unit life functions are in danger!"
"Damn it! Cut our pilot's synch ratio down to sixty percent!"
"Belay that."
"But-but Ikari? If we don't, the pilot could be killed."
"Shinji, why aren't you fighting?"
"I can't…there's still a person inside that thing."
The burning pain increased as the grip became stronger.
"Irrelevant. It's an angel. Destroy our enemy."
"I can't…if he's alive; we've got to help him! I can't kill another human being!"
"It's him or you."
"No! I'd rather die!"
After that, the strength of the hold had completely shut off Shinji's throat. He couldn't breathe. Yui couldn't breathe.
"Damn it. Shut down all of Unit 01's synchronization circuits immediately."
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Shut them down?!"
"Correct. Switch all control to the Dummy Plug System."
"But sir, the Dummy Plug isn't fully operational yet! Dr. Akagi hasn't approved its use!"
"It's still better than the current pilot! Do it!"
"…Yes sir."
Suddenly, Yui felt relief as her son's throat was no longer constricted. Shinji fell forward, and gasped for breath. The entire viewport of the entry plug shut down replacing the landscape and the angry visage of the angel controlled Eva with darkness. The only illumination was the green emergency light hanging directly above Shinji. He took in a few more breaths. After only a few seconds, the viewport powered back on, and the entire Entry plug was bathed in red lighting, an audible thrum filled Shinji's ears, coming from behind him. He turned towards it.
Yui saw what it was through Shinji's eyes. The glowing words "OPERATION DUMMY SYSTEM REI."
"What's going on?"
Shinji turned back to the front.
"What the hell are you doing Father!?"
Voices creaked through the Entry Plug's speakers.
"Signal reception is green."
"Control system switching is complete."
"All nerves linked to the dummy system."
"Thirty two point eight percent of emotional elements are unclear. It can't be monitored."
"Sir?"
Yui heard her husband's cold voice.
"Irrelevant. Engage the system. Commence attack."
-MM: Evangelion 2.0 SoundTracks 11 - Kyou no Hi wa Sayounara
Eva Unit-01's eyes glowed red.
Its hands opened, and Unit One slowly began to stand. Eva Unit 03 tried to keep the Test-Type down, but couldn't stop it.
Unit 01 raised its arms. Its purple hands then surged towards the black giant's throat.
Cracking… Crunching...Cracking.
"My god, is this what the dummy plug is for?"
"Gain is still increasing."
Crunching...Cracking…Crunching. SNAAAAAAP. Black arms slowly fell as they went limp.
Unit 01 kept squeezing, before it lifted the dead weight into the air.
A hard thunderous thud echoed, as a body was thrown to the ground by the hands gripping its broken neck.
A purple fist reared back, and was let loose. Eva Unit 03's head, in that instant, morphed again into Toji's image. Blood was slightly leaking out of his mouth.
His face disappeared in a wet crimson explosion as the punch ruptured Eva Unit 03's skull. An eyeball and part of a jaw were sent flying off into the distance.
The voice of a boy overlapped all other sounds. The other boy Shinji saved from the 4th Angel. "Toji was real sorry about everything…."
A purple hand gripped the black giant's rib-cage armor and began to tug. Creaking. Creaking. Creaking. Riiiiip! A piece of the black giant's torso armor was torn free and thrown aside like trash.
"…His kid sister really tore him a new one…"
Flesh ripping. Bones snapping. Flesh tearing. Bones breaking. Blood splattering. Flesh splitting. Bones chipping. Flesh flaying. Blood spraying. The purple giant raked and clawed its hands repeatedly into its prey. Blood, organs, bones, and flesh were scattered in all directions.
"…She said it was the robot that saved our lives."
A harsh grip and a quick jerk. A loud "snap!" echoed as an arm was torn loose from its elbow, and was tossed aside, a warm red spray spurted from the bloody stump.
Flesh ripping. Bones snapping. Blood spraying. Flesh tearing. Bones breaking. Organs spilling. Flesh splitting. Organs flying. Blood draining. The purple titan ripped and tore into its victim, content only with full eradication.
Yui kept trying to get her son's attention, to snap out of this dream, to wake him up…but the nightmare continued.
Fluids, meat, and bones were scattered across the road. Blood dripped from traffic lights and painted both cars and buildings alike.
"STOP IT! FATHER! STOP THIS GODDAMNED THING FOR GODSAKE!"
Shinji fruitlessly kept trying to work the controls, pushing and pulling the handles over and over again.
"PLEASE, PLEASE, JUST STOP IT, MAKE IT STOP, DEAR GOD MAKE IT STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!"
But it didn't stop. It kept tearing into the carcass. Eva Unit 03 was already dead, its own core already in pieces, but the angel's…
Bloody hands clawed through an eviscerated and sloppy corpse, relentlessly searching for their target.
Eva Unit 01, with red eyes, continued to desecrate the corpse of what was meant to be a fellow soldier. Now, all that Unit 03 amounted to was garbage to be disposed of.
Suddenly, Unit 01 did stop. It found what it wanted.
It pulled the tube into its sight, and its fingers began to furl.
"MAKE IT STOP!"
Scrunch. The entry plug cracked and shattered as it was crushed. LCL splattered and leaked from the fissures.
"NO!"
He screamed for several long agonizing seconds, until he had no more air in his lungs.
The purple titan ceased moving, freshly coated in the red blood of its latest kill, a crushed entry plug within its hand, and its maw left hanging open.
And then, everything was calm, tranquil, and quiet.
A large dead hand, a short distance away, laid in a nearby river, the current of water carrying the blood downstream.
"Eva Unit 03…I mean…the target has gone completely silent sir."
A black void swallowed everything, and Yui was once again left by herself.
Two white horizontal slits of light appeared.
A boy opened his eyes as wide as possible, immediately sat up, and gasped for air. He was sticky, dirty, and drowning in sweat.
After a few seconds, he put his head back down on the soft pillow.
As the fog of sleep left him, he realized he was in a bed, and above him was…
"Another unfamiliar ceiling." Shinji uttered with a morose voice. "And the same nightmare…"
He remembered, right before he went unconscious, staring at Shougoki's bloody hand, his bloody hand. He had no idea where Unit 01 came from, he had no idea how he had synchronized with it to the point Eva's body was actually his own, and he had no idea how he was laying here in this bed as a human after that.
...This was all that business man's fault.
Several seconds passed as Shinji stared at the decorated triangle panels that made up the ceiling. Sunlight was streaking into the room. It wasn't the filtered light used in the Geofront, so everything wasn't overcast with a white hue.
Somehow, that made this room uncomfortable to him. He had just gotten used to the old hospital…
From what he could tell, it was afternoon.
Slowly, he sat back up.
He looked down at himself. He was wearing some sort of hospital gown. There were a few differences between it and Nerv's, but for all purposes, it was the same.
Feeling something on his neck, he reached back with his left hand. There was a small plastic disc at the base of his neck. Something was also touching his temples, and when he explored with his fingers, he found more discs there as well.
Not wanting to anger anyone, he left them be.
Continuing his self examination, he found he also had an IV sticking into his arm, and some kind of medical bracelet around his wrist, which was lit up with several symbols he didn't understand by several different colors. Overall, it was mostly glowing blue and green, but there were a few yellow symbols, and even fewer red symbols. The red symbols were pulsating rather quickly though. He wondered what that meant.
He thought he felt fine if that was the problem. This was normal for him.
Putting thoughts about his health out of his mind, he slowly brought his right hand in front of him, and turned his palm to his face.
For several agonizing minutes he studied his hand.
He was still tense. His heart was beating at an accelerated rate.
Before whatever happened in the coliseum, the last time Unit 01 had blood on its hands…the last time he could feel the blood and liquid on Unit 01's hands…was when the dummy plug forced Eva to slaughter Unit 03 and the 13th angel. The memories were vivid as they were painful.
He kept staring at his hand.
His heart hadn't slowed down.
Even though it was currently dry, he could still describe the feeling of fresh, hot blood dripping off it perfectly.
He brought it to his nose and took a sniff.
"And it still smells like…blood."
His darkened mood slowly started to dissipate when he then thought of recent events.
Slowly, he put his hand down to his side.
His mother…
He thought she was in the Eva…
No. He knew she was in the Eva.
And now, Eva was with him.
Did that mean his mother was…trapped in him like with Eva?
And if that was true, could he bring her back to the real world?
The only person he knew loved him.
…She did love him.
Didn't she?
Sunlight streamed through the windows of Dr. Mizuni's office. She, a woman defined by her black curly hair and her rectangular glasses, was at her desk looking over the data from a holographic screen on her newest patient.
She leaned back in her chair and yawned. She looked back at her brown sludge in a cup distastefully, before bringing up the resolve to ingest the "stay awake" glob.
She wrinkled her noise as she swallowed, and shivered.
"I need to get the premium stuff…"
She stared at the image of her new patient. Shinji Ikari.
He was her only student patient right now given it was only the beginning of the semester. Sure, a few of the workers were in for the occasional accident, but those were small stuff. This kid…was different.
Boy, was he different.
The nerve centers in his brain responsible for motor control and feeling were, very recently and periodically for the past few months, suffering from periods of intense prolonged hyperactivity. They were under such duress and strain…. she didn't know how they weren't "burnt out" by now. The rest of his nervous system also suffered from this problem, but to a lesser degree.
It was similar to a few cases she had before, when a few of the upperclassmen at the academy used illegal stimulants, but whatever stimulated her patient…it didn't affect any other of his cognitive functions. He was at a baseline state in terms of awareness, alertness, and so on. Only specific areas were suffering from this trauma.
There were no drugs in his system she recognized at all to cause this, but there was a liquid substance, one that he was absolutely drenched in when he was brought to the medical center. The orange clear liquid was…odd. It roughly had the density of water and was heavily oxygenated. From what she could tell, she guessed it was some form of amniotic fluid, considering his lungs were full of it and it allowed liquid breathing. It also…smelled exactly like blood…
Fortunately, most of the substance dissolved into his bloodstream, while a smaller portion simply broke down into Carbon Dioxide once the Oxygen was removed from the former liquid by his lungs, so he didn't have to cough it all up to breathe air again, and given the amount of liquid involved…that would have been practically lethal, or such a damaging influence on his lungs, that he would need a new pair, pronto.
But that liquid didn't cause anything to him mentally, yet when it was in his system, the hyperactivity in his nerve centers was also present. There definitely was some kind of link between the two.
And why would he be in the stuff? What purpose did it serve? Is it tied to his "Seikijin?"
Beyond that, when he started to suffer from night terrors in his sleep, the hyperactivity in those areas of the brain would flare up again, quite massively. The mental probes on the sides of his noggin and the back of his head were meant to induce a state of consciousness if he slipped into a coma. That was her intent. She didn't intend for them to monitor his dreams or nightmares...
And she knew what uncomfortable hurdle she would have to cross later because of that….
"Damn policy…"
She turned her thoughts to the recent past.
She saw the vid that went viral, and it honestly scared her.
…Besides all the oddities of his physical health, there was also the whole Seikijin thing. That was the primary reason why she was drinking the crummy beverage on her desk right now, and why he was in her care to begin with.
Considering the roar scared her right out of sitting on her bed onto her bedroom floor face first (which she couldn't even begin to understand how that happened) while she was reading her favorite horror series, and seeing what you thought was a prank actually confirmed to be something else...a monster that looked like it came right out of her, coincidentally, favorite horror series, she thought she had a reasonable excuse for why she didn't sleep much.
Especially when her mind started to crank out ideas, which actually proceeded to scare her more than the monster did.
For example, she expected the patient to be even more frightening then the purple horror. It was quite understood that a Seikijin was modeled after the person who touched it, in both overt and subtle ways. So when she was told that blood covered abomination was a Seikijin, the unfortunate implications formed in her mind.
To her pleasant surprise, the Seikishi that was pulled from the inactive monstrosity of a Sacred Mechanoid was…ordinary, and she was relaxed by his fact.
'Well if he looks ordinary, and his Seikijin looks like that, he could always be a sociopathic serial killer hiding behind a well-crafted facade.'
Then her brain had to fuck everything up.
A sudden wash of shame went over her for cussing even in her thoughts. Mother wouldn't have liked her thinking like that.
She shook her head.
….That's the secondary reason why she had recently knocked back a few…dozen cups of caffeinated brown sludge to hold off the invasion force of fatigue.
Her friends kept telling her, read those kinds of novels and your imagination will take the ideas and run with them every chance they get.
Which in this case were sociopathic homicidal kids and giant horrifying beasts from other dimensions.
She sighed. She was getting worked up over nothing. The kid looked normal for a Seikishi. Sure his Seikijin was…spooky, and he had a few medical abnormalities, but that doesn't mean she should be afraid of the kid, right?
…Right?
She took a deep breath. "He's my patient. He's my patient. He's my patient. He is not an eldritch horror or a sociopathic murderer. He is not an eldritch horror or a sociopathic murderer. He is not an eldritch horror or a sociopathic murderer."
Her eyebrow sort of twitched. "So, he summoned an eldritch horror but that doesn't mean-"
She cut herself off by slapping her right cheek hard.
"No! None of that! He's my patient. He's my patient. He's my patient. He's not an eldritch horror. Not an eldritch-"
"Ahem."
Her face became crimson. Nuclear blush detected.
Dr. Mizuni turned towards the face of her head nurse on her holographic screen, who had her arms crossed.
"...You didn't hear anything, Barnette."
"No, no, I didn't hear you trying to convince yourself your fourteen year old patient isn't a tentacle monster from outer space. Not at all." She laughed. "He might be an otherworlder Ma'am, but I don't think he's that kind of otherworldly."
Mizuni's eyebrows twitched. "So…what do you need me for, Head Nurse?"
"You're "not-an-eldritch-horror" is awake."
She blinked. "Why didn't my bracer…" She looked at the band on her arm, which was blinking. "Whoops." She looked back to her nurse sheepishly.
The nurse just ignored the blunder. "I've also informed the Headmistress. In fact, she's on her way to visit the patient herself."
Mizuni nodded, "I expected as much. Well, how is he?"
The nurse sighed. "He suffered from another night terror, that's actually what woke him up, and it was the most severe out of all of them. He was hyperventilating in his sleep, his blood pressure skyrocketed, and his heart was beating as if he was running some kind of marathon, much worse than the last few times." Barnette, stated with worry. "I haven't seen anything like this from someone his age in person. What could cause this?"
"Considering what happened a few days ago, I wouldn't exactly blame him, but this is quite an overreaction…did the sedative in his IV calm him down?"
The nurse shook her head negatively.
She sighed. "I guess that means I have to look at the recorded dreams then. The mental probes caught everything responsible, right?
"Yes, ma'am."
Uncertainty consumed her face. "I don't really like doing this, breaking someone's intimate privacy. It's hard to stay professional at that point…"
"The kid has no legal guardians present or even accounted for, and he's still a child. He has no say over something that could be this detrimental to his health. If this continues, his heart will surely wear itself out, knocking years if not decades out of his life. Considering his position," Barnette furrowed her brows, "besides his obvious oddity, you know very well how you are supposed to proceed."
"Yes, 'anything that can reduce the life span of a male Seikishi, no matter how trivial, is a top priority'."
That sentiment had been drilled into the entire medical staffs' heads over and over for years and years.
The Head Nurse gained a sympathetic face. "You're going to be working with the counselor to help the kid. You're not doing it by yourself. Besides, I doubt it's anything monumental. It won't be like last time… "
The doctor took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll do it. While I'm busy, get him something to eat. He's probably starving. You also have seniority while I'm busy. Only use the backdoor code if there's an emergency."
"Sure thing ma'am." The nurse placed a fist into her flat palm. "Oh, and one more thing, the Heamistress requested if he can move to the dorms today?"
"If I'm still occupied…sure, you've got my blessing…but keep one of the probes on him for overnight observation, the one on his spine, and have him report here tomorrow."
"Yes, Ma'am." The image of the nurse folded in on itself and disappeared in a point of light.
Mizuni took another swig of the horrible liquid keeping her awake.
'Well, I better get through this. Whatever it is, I'm sure both I and Professor Ulyte can help the kid with it.'
She pressed a few more buttons that were in her desk. The doors to the room were locked, the windows became tinted, allowing only her to see out of them, but no one to see through them, and her terminal blocked all incoming communications even to her bracer. The standard "In session" message was stated to greet anyone who would try to access the room or contact her.
She sighed, as she pressed a few buttons that were built into her desk. A transparent diagram of her patient's brain popped up. Several different sections of it were flared up in bright lights.
She adopted a serious expression. "I best just dive right in."
The image shifted as it displayed the brain during the first nightmare Shinji had in their care.
What she saw in the midst of her patient's vision surprised her.
It was a creature that had two mask-like faces, one in the middle, and one hanging off the other to the side. Two black holes, which must have been eyes, were present on both, but only the left face had a feature besides that. It was a sort of mouth-less beak, giving it a sort of bird quality. The faces themselves were on the things' upper torso. There was no head. It had giant white bony shoulders also with black holes. Maybe they were eyes too. There was a red orb on its chest, below the "faces", with a rib cage actually protruding out of the thing's flesh surrounding it. It had long dangly arms with bony protrusions coming out of the elbow, preventing the creature from ever having its arms straight.
Besides all of those details, she saw that this thing was a giant within a city, dwarfing several buildings with over a dozen stories. This thing was larger than a Seikijin, roughly twice the height.
"Well…that's imaginative." She took a swig of her beverage.
She quickly looked back at the diagram…and almost spat out the hot liquid in her mouth.
'This isn't a nightmare…' She forced the liquid down as she swallowed.
She stared back at the window into her patient's mind. A female voice started to speak.
"Are you ready Shinji?"
Her patient responded apprehensively. "Um…yeah…"
'….it's a memory.'
The woman's voice started to shout. "Final safety locks, release!"
The sound of shifting metal came from somewhere behind her patient
"Evangelion Unit 01, move out!"
More metal shifted, and her patient's perspective slowly lurched forward and slightly down.
"Shinji, just concentrate on walking for now…"
Footsteps echoed down the hallway as Lithia and the Holy Land's Administrator walked through the hospital.
"What's going to become of him?" Lithia asked.
"He's going to be enrolled, of course, if he says yes. The Church has already paid for his tuition."
"I know that, I've already spoken to Grandfather about the incident. Will he be enrolled as a normal student, or as a Seikishi?"
"A Seikishi."
"Even after the coliseum?"
"Yes."
Lithia raised an eyebrow. "Are you actually considering letting that "Seishishi" out again?"
"Divine beast?" She chuckled. "I didn't think you would be one to use that nickname."
"It does best describe it." Lithia stated.
"It does indeed. As for your question, we will see what happens with Shinji in a more…controlled setting. The Church has given me full discretion over that. "
Lithia frowned. She then scoffed. "I don't think the workers would like having to clean up another small lake of blood again."
"We will see if his first activation will repeat itself, or if it was an isolated incident. It could have been his first activation." She smiled fondly. "When I was young, my first activation caused my home village's entire valley of flowers to bloom a season early."
"There's quite a difference between that and raining blood. One is merely pretty. The other is clearly an omen."
"An omen?" The Headmistress sighed. "That's one way to look at it. Isn't that a bit, superstitious?"
"What other way is there to look at something like that? This is something that fits within the old fables my Grandfather told me as a small child. Something like this should not belong in actual reality. Fear and caution, I believe, are an appropriate response." The edge of Lithia's lips slightly shifted down. "Besides, are you going to put him at further physical risk like this?"
"If we don't experiment with this, won't other parties try to do the same, without caring for his well-being? He has become very famous to some, and to others infamous, but they are all still equally scared. He is an unknown, and not in a small way. We will take our time to uncover what we know about his Seikijin, and will do it for his reputations betterment. The more curiosity we kill with our own hands, the more likely the cat can go on living peacefully, as well as keeping Shinji safe."
Lithia laughed slightly. "Going by that metaphor, while the cat will live, we will be the ones to die."
"Not quite. A cat is rather blunt in its investigation. We will be more careful."
"I think you're taking the metaphor too literally."
"As are you, but I'm sure you understand what I mean."
Lithia sighed. "I guess I do."
"Besides, we aren't forcing him to do anything. We will leave the decision ultimately to him."
They both continued walking in silence, as they approached a room tagged with the number twenty-one.
The door opened, and a brown haired woman, with a slightly freckled face and green eyes walked out. As she closed the door behind her, she saw the two newcomers. "Oh, you're already here. I just gave him his lunch, but he can see you now."
"How is he?" The oldest woman in the room asked with a smile.
"Well, right now he's fine physically, his heart rate was a bit high, but I gave him a minor sedative and it's finally calmed it down now. He's also a bit on the smelly side given how much he sweated" Barnett pursed her lips. "Besides that, there was something odd."
"Odd?" Lithia asked.
"Yes. He-" She looked down, as her bracer kept blinking. She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm needed elsewhere pronto." She curtsied towards the two. "He's eating still, but you can go on ahead and start the interview. If you want to discuss the exact details, you can speak with Dr. Mizuni, but she's busy for the time being." With that, she started a brisk walk down the hallway.
Lithia and the Headmistress shared a curious look, before turning to the door.
Shinji stared at the plate of hot food in front of him.
It absolutely reeked of fanciness. Shinji was fairly certain this meal was far too extravagant for someone like him to eat.
He could tell the food was crafted by someone who knew what they were doing, and loved doing it.
Strangely, he didn't feel hungry, but that wasn't going to make him waste food that someone prepared for him, especially something like this. He didn't want to slight anyone after all.
He lifted a piece of meat with a fork, and brought it to his mouth…
There was a knock on the door.
Shinji slowly placed his occupied fork down on the tray in front of him.
"You can come in?" Shinji meekly stated.
The door opened, and two people slowly walked in. It wasn't someone walking carefully, but a more of a dignified stroll saying "I am important" but not in such a way that it was overly pompous.
There was an older woman with short grey hair and a plump face, and a younger woman with long strawberry blond hair wearing glasses. Both stopped walking a few meters away from the foot of his bed.
"Hello." The older woman said with a smile.
"H-hello."
The younger woman just stared at Shinji as if he was a practical joke. "You're Shinji Ikari? "
The Headmistress slightly frowned at Lithia's direction, though Shinji didn't notice.
Shinji blinked. "Yes…"
She crossed her arms. "More specifically, you're the Seikishi for the Seishishi?"
"S-Seishishi? Sacred Beast? Ano...you mean am I the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01?"
"Evangelion Unit 01?" The older woman asked. "You named your Seikijin?"
"No, I didn't. I think my Father did…or maybe Dr. Akagi."
Both of the women just stared at him in confusion.
"In the coliseum—"
Shinji visibly winced.
"-was that the first time you activated a Seikijin?" The older woman asked.
"Yes."
"But it wasn't the first time you…"piloted" it?"
Shinji nodded.
Lithia and the Headmistress looked at each other.
The older woman looked towards Shinji, and kindly asked, "I apologize. We haven't introduced ourselves."
"You don't have to apologize."Shinji said sincerely.
"I believe I do." She continued. "I'm the Headmistress of this Academy," She gestured towards the younger woman. "This is Lithia, head of the student council, and the church's appointed representative. Would you mind answering a few questions for us, like about this…Evangelion?"
"…You're in charge of this place?"
She nodded.
Shinji looked down. "I'm not supposed to talk about it…" but he looked back up with an unreadable expression. "…but I guess it doesn't matter anymore."
The stars slowly filled the sky as the light of the Sun beyond the horizon dimmed.
The Headmistress slowly entered her office, with Lithia behind her.
Step by step, she made her away around the ornate furniture to her desk.
After sitting down, she started to rub her eyes.
Both she and Lithia had tired expressions.
"Is…Is there any way we can…verify what he told us?" Lithia asked.
"Maybe, but we will leave that for tomorrow. I'm…rather…tired…"
"After hearing that…I understand perfectly. I need to read something…much more cheerful." She shook her head. "While his Seikijin does fit with his story, far beyond anyone could falsely construct that quickly, but…it can't be that bad. Can it? We now know he's from earth, but its situation was never that bad from what we've heard from those summoned from there…"
"The youngest person from earth on this world, besides Shinji, last lived on their world over thirty years ago, and that was when they were a child. No one but Shinji knows what has recently happened there."
"…but he can't be right. I can't believe what he says is true…I just can't."
"Whether if you or I believe it or not, he definitely believes what he is saying." She sighed. "Did you see the way he told us?"
"…No…what do you mean?"
"If he were lying, why would you suppose he tell us what he did?"
"…To inflate his own ego, but that—"
"-Doesn't fit his demeanor at all. He told us a great deal without us digging any information out of him. He also spoke in a very…lethargic manner."
"Is it possible he is just seeking attention?"
The Headmistress laughed. "His Seikijin did that for him." Her mirth dissolved into seriousness. "No. He didn't speak of any personal details. He didn't talk about his parents. He didn't talk about how he felt about it. He didn't plead for anything. He didn't ask for anything. We asked him a question about his Seikijin, Evangelion Unit 01, and he answered it."
"A few hours to answer a few simple questions seem quite overboard to me."
"Simple?" She shook her head. "He confirmed both our and the Church's hypothesis. He told us what his Seikijin is. He told us its purpose. He told us he's "piloted" it multiple times as its designated pilot. He told us why he was the pilot, a soldier, in the first place. He told us who sent him here. The questions may be simple, but the answers obviously aren't."
Lithia shifted slightly. Her glasses reflected the light off a nearby lamp, blocking someone from seeing her eyes. "He only raised further questions."
The Headmistress slightly smiled. "That he did." Her smile faded. "That…he did, but, I believe we are done asking questions, for now." She looked toward Lithia. "Did you see the way he accepted our offer?"
"Yes." Lithia cocked her head. "He answered it…oddly."
"I have seen something like this before."
"Like what?"
"He has a broken spirit."
Lithia slightly laughed. "What did you say about superstition earlier?"
The Headmistress ignored her question "Tell me, child. Have you ever seen a person without any will?"
Lithia blinked. "…What do you mean?"
The Headmistress leaned back. "What do you want?"
"…pardon?"
"In life, what do you want? Why do you exist?"
"That's quite personal."
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
There was a short moment of silence.
"…I exist, merely because I exist. I am. There is no deep reason to it. There is no fate involved in the matter. I am alive simply because my mother and father wanted a child. I am the result of their love. I didn't choose to exist, so asking why I do seems rather redundant, and as for why I continue to exist, it is simple, because I find joy in living. As for what I want? I want to achieve what I am fully capable of, constructively for the benefit of myself and others."
"An interesting answer. Many people answer that question differently, and while there are many answers, none of them are false, for the answer is as true as the belief put into them, as the answer ultimately only benefits the one answering it." "
Lithia raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do wit-" She slowly stopped speaking as understanding filled her face.
"That boy, Shinji Ikari, is still searching for an answer to that question."
Near the borders of the Holy Land, a dark ship hung in the air, in the same way bricks don't.
And on board that vessel, there was a discussion between a masked man and a hologram.
"Honestly, I can't believe you tried to kill him. You jumped the gun." A gruff voice from the hologram spoke.
"It's too dangerous to let him live!" The masked man angrily yelled.
"Humph! Jealous of someone better than you?"
The masked man ignored the jab. "If we let him leave, he'll reveal our identities!"
"We're dealing with that princess. She probably already knows."
"Then that's all the more reason to destroy all the evidence!"
"That no longer concerns me."
"…What? What do you mean!? If we let her go—"
"Silence! If she no longer concerns me, she no longer concerns you. We will deal with her later. For now, I have a more important task for you."
"What could be more important than this?"
The hologram's visage smiled darkly. "You do remember what happened in the Holy Land during the coronation?"
"…That odd Seikijin. What does that have to do with me?"
"The cargo ship containing the very same Sacred Mechanoid is near your location. In fact, it is closer to you than even the Swan is. This is providence. They are on their way to the Heart of the Church, and I want you to…relieve them of their burden."
"…Why?"
"It has garnered my interest. The death of a little girl can wait, as well as the prize aboard the Swan."
The masked individual looked down.
The image of the man simply laughed. "You will get your chance at the other eventually. Just do what I tell you," He glared at the masked individual "or you may not get that chance."
The masked person slowly nodded. "I understand."
"Good. Your ship already has the data. Now go, and claim my prize."
"What about Doll?"
"She will remain asleep for now. You must fulfill your own duties."
"Yes, Sir!"
With that, the hologram shut off.
The mask man turned around, and started speaking out loud.
"Prepare to launch the Sacred Mechanoids as soon as possible!
Move the ship before the pilgrimage route guards get here!"
Jozzy didn't think about the students most of the time. She focused mainly on her work. When she did think about the students, it was mostly out of aggravation: The underclassmen, for causing unnecessary messes, and the upperclassmen, for stealing all her best maids as their own personal servants...after the Holy Academy paid for their training. She had never felt physically ill when thinking of a student…until now.
"Is something wrong?"
"NO! No. No. No. No." Jozzy said with her hands up. "Nothing's wrong at all!" She lied through her teeth.
Her charge, Shinji Ikari, had gained quite the reputation with the servants in the Holy Land, specifically those responsible for cleaning.
Jozzy used to work for the Janitorial Division. It's rare for them to have to clean up blood, but when they do, it takes a heap of work. Blood is messy, very messy. When it stains, that stain loves to stay there and proclaim to the world that it exists. Even if you got rid of it visibly, the stain would most likely still remain if you didn't use the more powerful cleaners.
The smell, the consistency, the very sight of it, it just disgusted her.
It's fairly one of the main reasons why she left the janitorial division. An odd reason to most, she knew, but while she could clean vomit, urine, and feces, the whole human filth trinity, with no problems, blood was just her personal breaking point, even though it was rare.
So, when a Seikijin leaves over ten million gallons of blood, and the Janitorial Division has to draft the entirety of the Maid Division and the Construction Division for help…it leaves quite an influence.
Specifically the quickly spreading nick-name, Blood Boy.
She involuntarily shivered.
'Why did I have to be the closest person on hand to act as the kids guide…'
She didn't hate the kid. She didn't even dislike him. He seemed nice too. But after you indirectly cause her to have to clean up that much blood, you've ended in her "you creep me out" book.
She couldn't even watch the video that everyone spread around. As soon as that egg started chunking crimson, she was chunking something that wasn't crimson.
And then she had to clean that mess up too…
Oh well, at least it will only happen once.
She quickened her pace.
His face just kept reminding her...and she was starting to get sick.
"Is that all?"
"For now, yes your grace." The Headmistress replied. "That is all I know about his past."
"Where is he now?"
"On his way to his new dormitory. The head nurse told us it was alright for him to leave the hospital."
"So…he accepted our offer. Anything else?"
"I am…concerned about his mental state."
"What does the physician have to say?"
"His leading doctor is currently occupied. I will update you as needed. The activation test is tomorrow."
"He even agreed to that?"
"That's what was strange."
"What?"
"While he seemed…lethargic and subdued about everything else, when we asked him that…he was absolutely sure he wanted to do that. It was almost like he was another person."
"Hmm, that will be all for now."
"Alright, here's your dorm! You'll learn the specifics inside. Bye!"
Shinji was left there staring blankly as the very thin woman with short light-brown hair left him at the entrance of the Boys Dormitory. She seemed kind of….green. She must feel sick.
"Uh…Thank You?" He yelled after her.
"You're Welcome!" She yelled at him with a cheerful green face, before she quickly covered her mouth as her cheeks bloated, and she darted away.
Shinji just raised an eyebrow. "I hope you feel better!" He yelled after her, but she was already gone.
Shinji slowly turned to stare at the building in front of him.
It was rather intricate for a boy's dorm. It looked more like a cathedral spliced with a castle.
'…So this is where my new "home" is.'
He smiled.
'At least there won't be any attacking angels…"
His smile slowly crumbled into a frown.
'…there won't be any attacking angels.'
Shame slammed into him. His eyes widened slightly, and then slowly contracted back to normal.
'…I truly am pathetic.'
"This thing gives me the creeps."
"I know what you mean…"
Two shipmates on a metal deck, underneath a starry canopy, stared at their cargo.
"It stinks like something just died..."
The other laughed. "It's funny. It actually reminds me of the time I used to be on fishing boat. Looked kind of like this ship too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, smell was similar, but here, it's worse."
"How so?"
"Simple, back then, we could eat the smelly little bastards."
The other man guffawed. "Yeah, that would improve things a lot."
"So, you got the graveyard shift too, huh."
"Yup, another week with a screwed up sleep schedule." He looked down at his wrist watch. "Hey, I've got to go back under and use the radio. I've got to say goodnight to my daughter."
"Aww, what a good father you are!."
"Shut up!" He turned around and started for the stairs leading to under the deck.
"Hey! Shall we gather for whiskey and cigars later tonight?" The man left on the deck asked.
The other man stood for a second. "Yes, I believe so." Then he made his way into the bowels of the ship.
The man left alone under the stars turned back around and stared at the blood filled Seikijin cocoon; pieces of flesh were still floating around. He just looked at it in disgust.
Something immediately tugged him back from behind, and he felt something cold touch his throat.
A quick yank later, and he started to choke on his blood, as it spilled into his trachea and the slit through his neck.
Within moments, he was dead.
The black figure who murdered him put the top of her left wrist to her mouth. "The deck is secure. Proceeding to clean the bottom levels. Is the escort down?"
"Affirmative. Radar and particle sensors are being jammed as we speak. Proceed with the sanitation. Be quick and thorough."
"Acknowledged. Estimated time of completion will be three minutes." The black figure pressed a button on her wrist and slowly faded from visible sight, and made her way to the stairs.
Shinji stared at the paper in his hands. He had room 18. Apparently, while the Boys dormitory had larger rooms due to less male students, they were still stuck with roommates.
And someone had…requested hm.
Shinji didn't like to disappoint people, so he didn't refuse it.
He shook his head, and kept walking.
The rooms were spaced out quite a bit more then you would expect from a dormitory. There would be a door, and then over a dozen meters of wall until the next door appeared, and each door had another door on the opposite side of the hallway. There was also the fact the hallways were so…tall. It was strange.
'Room 13 and Room 14.'
Who would request him after what happened?
'Room 15 and 16.'
…and why?
'Room 17…and 18.'
He stared at the door to his room.
And stared.
Shinji raised his right hand which was trembling, and balled it into a loose fist.
He opened his left hand and closed it tightly. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open….
He knocked on the door.
Close.
He took short shallow breaths, as seconds agonizingly passed.
A minute went by.
Then two.
Shinji took a deep breath. He didn't knock loud enough. He raised his hand again, with more determination this time…and stopped as he saw the button right by the door.
"…A…door bell?"
Shinji had no idea why a dormitory room needed a door bell, but he pressed it nonetheless.
Shinji didn't hear anything, except for light footsteps making their way to the door.
His shallow breathing returned.
The door opened.
Shinji blinked. "C-C-Ceres-san?"
He was then engulfed into a bear hug, and was being constricted in grip. "Shinji! You're okay!"
"C-c-can't breathe." Shinji choked out.
"Oh!" Ceres stepped back quickly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was just worried, and you're still here, and I thought you would be stuck at the hospital, or worse, that you wouldn't stay at the school, but you're here, and that's great, and..and…" Ceres took a deep breath. "I'm just really glad you're okay."
Shinji just blinked again. "You…worried about me, Ceres-san?"
"Of course I did. We are friends after all."
Shinji just slowly smiled. "Yeah…we are."
"Well come on in." Shinji was yanked inside Room 18.
As the door was closed behind him, Shinji realized why Ceres couldn't hear him.
"This isn't a dorm room...this is an apartment!"
Shinji stared around the hallways, seeing one jut off into a kitchen, one into a dining room, one into a living room, and even stairs leading upwards.
"I guess that's one way to look at it Shinji."
"…Why is it so…big?"
"Male Seikishi are kind of a big deal like that."
"…but, this place is even bigger then Misato's apartment!"
"Misato?"
Shinji turned to look at Ceres . "She is-" and slowly, he frowned "-was my guardian."
Ceres let out a breath. "So...you really are from another world?"
Shinji tilted his head. "You know about that?" He frowned. "They told me the interview was confidential."
Ceres shook his head. "No. No. It was just a guess. Everyone is talking about it, and that's the most popular theory right now."
Shinji just looked confused. "What do you mean by that?"
Ceres eyes widened. "You mean you don't know?!"
"Know what?"
Ceres grabbed Shinji's arm. "I'll show you!"
Dead bodies are heavy. Anyone can tell you that.
But as the person dragging the actual…former person, it hurt.
As she moved, the corpse in her hands left a bloody smear as it was dragged across the deck. His body and his blood were still warm.
She kept her face and movements professional, but inside, she was a mess. She kept thinking over and over in her head, something, anything to help her get over it, to justify it, but nothing helped.
Today, she learned killing is breathtakingly easy. Living with it on the other-hand….
'I did it for king and country. I did it for king and country. I did it for king and country. I did it for king and country…'
Over and over, she kept thinking that, but the guilt and pain never dulled.
'No…I didn't do it for them. I did it for…for him.'
But it still hurt.
'This is the last one. This is the last one. This is the last one…'
She neared the edge of the deck and lifted the former living person. When she reached the guardrails, she looked down at the corpse. His dead eyes were staring right through her. This was the man she killed first…and the last she would dump over.
'Someone used to cradle him, and kissed him when he cried.'
A lone tear splashed on his forehead.
"I'm…sorry. I'm so sorry."
She lifted the corpse over the guardrail, and pushed him over.
He fell to the wilderness, hurtling hundreds of meters below to the ground. For a few seconds, she just stared down to the earth with empty eyes.
She then slowly turned back to the deck of the ship, and brought her wrist to her mouth once more.
"The crew…the bodies…have been dealt with, and the ship's heading has been changed. Awaiting further orders."
A voice crackled through. "Stand by."
She hated that her CO said that.
Now, nothing would distract her from her thoughts…
"-and currently, the video of your Seikijin has over two billion views!"
Shinji just slowly twitched. "…Two…b-billion?
Both of them were currently sitting on a couch viewing the holographic screen on the wall.
"Yeah, it's become the most watched video on the Net since…" Ceres poked Shinji. "Uh, Shinji?" Ceres waved his hand in front of the still form of the Third Child. "Is anyone there?"
"It really was just like the Twelfth Angel all over again…" Shinji mutter.
"Uh…Twelfth Apostle? What does that mean?"
Shinji shook his head. "It's nothing…"
Ceres crossed his arms. "You do know, people say that generally when it's not nothing."
Shinji looked down to the floor. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Ceres cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"
"I…I caused that, and you aren't afraid of me…why? Shouldn't you be afraid of me?"
"Well…it's odd, sure," Ceres looked at Shinji. "…but that doesn't mean it should be something to be afraid of. Besides, what kind of friend would I be if I abandoned you?" 'You're the only commoner like me here.'
"T-Thank you."
"…you're welcome."
There was a moment of silence.
"Remember when you said if you didn't know any better, you would think I fell right out of the sky on that boat."
"Yeah?"
"You don't know any better."
Ceres blinked. "You mean…well that explains a lot. I don't want to be…rude, but for a few minutes after that, I kind of thought you were just a bit..." Ceres braced as if he were about to get hurt. ".of an idiot. I'm sorry."
Shinji just stared at Ceres. He slowly snorted, then sniggered, and then was all out laughing.
Ceres face adorned a fake smile. "Was it…really that funny?"
Shinji slowly brought down his laughter."By itself? Not at all."
Ceres adopted a sweat drop.
"It's just…I had a friend who called me stupid all the time. Having someone say it…like you just did…is so…weird. It's just funny I guess."
"Well, I didn't want to offend you…"
Shinji was now on the floor, and could hardly breathe.
Ceres fake smile came back, and slowly chuckled. "Heh..heh..heh?"
Shinji slowly stood up, and smiled brightly. "Ceres-san…I haven't laughed like that….in a long time. Thank you."
Ceres fake smile slowly faded. "You're welcome?"
"What time is it?"
Ceres looked lost in contemplation and turned towards the holo-screen. "It's eleven-thirty PM."
"I really need to take a shower, so…"
"Oh, well, there's one upstairs."
Shinji's eyes widened. "Oh right…we have an upstairs." He shook his head. "This place is so weird."
As Shinji went upstairs, Ceres turned back to the holo-screen.
He quietly muttered. "Shinji…isn't normal." He stared at the image of Shinji's Seikijin. "In more ways than one…."
'I killed five people today. I'm a murderer. I killed five people today. I'm a murderer…'
She took a few deep breathes.
'This is what he wanted…this will help him, and that will help the world…won't it? That can't be wrong, can it? He's a good man. They were the enemy…weren't they? Members of the Church...'
Her wrist buzzed.
She raised it to her mouth.
"Hai."
"We've successfully placed a false ship on the original voyage. Hopefully, they won't realize it's a decoy until you've safely reached the border. If that doesn't work…you'll have to use the target as an escape vessel."
Her eyes widened. "The cocoon that the Seishishi used?!"
"…Even you are using that term…" The voice on the other end sighed. "Yes, that one, but we don't know if it can still activate. We want you to see if it will and then report back to us as soon as you can."
"…I understand."
With that, her wrist went silent. She turned toward the cocoon in question. She took a deep breath and approached it.
From a distance, you couldn't see through the cocoon. It was red and murky, and chunks of black…stuff floated around, obscuring sight here and there. Up close, she could see what was inside.
The humanoid shape was in the standard deactivation pose, its knees held close to its chest but angled outwards to let a pilot have room inwards. Its arms dangled behind those legs.
Brown dark skin covered the bones of the Sacred Mechanoid. It actually had bones now… She could tell, from where they jutted from the skin here and there. It wasn't metal anymore, like normal. It was still quite thin, which was normal, but in a way to make her think of anorexia, rather than a slim machine.
And then there was its head. It had a mouth, closed eyes, nostrils…and…
'Oh my god….'
She just remembered. When it deactivated…it no longer had a head.
'It's…regenerating; no wonder why the Regent is interested in it.'
She shook her head.
'I…have a mission, and I have to do it.'
She slowly placed her hand on the sphere.
Nothing happened.
Slowly she drew back her hand to her side.
She brought her wrist up to her mouth.
"It's not-"
A giant hand surged forth from the cocoon and grasped her as if she was a toy, and lifted her upwards to greet a face with open eyes staring at her. Green eyes. She could also see a small red glow coming from the chest
"…It's not what, Emera?"
She was too afraid to speak.
She felt something dig into her, and snake over her, under her skin. It felt painful, odd, and…even pleasurable, which made it even worse. Then, she heard a feminine voice speak inside her head.
"You feel pain. Your heart is drowning in sorrow. I can make it all go away, if you want."
Her eyes widened as she slowly could feel the giant as an extension of herself.
"Emera, do you want to become one with me? To be of one mind and body and soul?"
Shinji slowly put his head to his bed.
His…new bed.
He stared at an unfamiliar ceiling above him.
…but it wasn't scary. It was actually pleasant.
'I'm no longer in Tokyo 3…
I don't have to fight angels anymore.
Eva won't hurt me anymore.
Father…won't hurt me anymore.
…and mother…mother is alive…somehow.
…and I have a friend here.
Misato…Asuka…Rei…Toji…Kensuke…
I miss them….
..but maybe…this place won't be so bad after all.'
Although he wasn't tired, he drifted to sleep, a slight smile on his face.
The Headmistress of the Holy Land yawned. She was tired, yet couldn't sleep. She kept working at her desk. Maybe, she would try retiring to her room again within a few hours, but for now?
She kept on going through documents. Signing here and there. Evaluating what to do with this or that. On and on. Tomorrow was the day students would be finishing the final preparations for school. There was much on her plate.
Her mind drifted towards today's events...
She refocused on her work. She did what she could today. She'll focus on that tomorrow.
A panel of light opened up on her desk, the face of a very distressed Dr. Mizuni greeted her. There were heavy bags under her bloodshot eyes.
"Headmistress…I…I need to show you something, as soon as possible, but…first, when is Professor Ulyte going to be here…when? "
The old woman blinked. "Tomorrow, that's when Princess-King Lashara's pilgrimage ends."
Mizuni's eyes darted around, hectically. "Alright…Alright..I…I can wait until then. You both…must see-"
The Headmistress put her hands out in a placating manner. "It's okay, calm down. What's wrong?"
Mizuni took a few deep breathes. "You know Shinji Ikari's night terrors. Shinji has PTSD. They weren't nightmares….they were traumatic memories."
The Headmistress sighed. 'Looks like I won't be getting much work done tonight...'
Emera was screaming. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"
"Shhhhh. Everything's going to be okay. Everything is going to be fine. It's time for rest. Relax, and release your soul."
She tried to struggle, but no matter how much she thrashed she couldn't get free.
A hand slowly caressed her cheek.
She looked up.
A smiling young man, with short blond hair and blue eyes, floated in the air above her.
She immediately stopped struggling.
"Lord Dagmeyr…" She slowly smiled, and closed her eyes. Tears of happiness leaked from her eyes.
The figure came closer and closed his eyes.
What she couldn't hear was the voice emitting from her wrist. "Emera, I'm right here, what's wrong? Talk to me!"
She lifted her head, ready to accept him.
As their lips touched, one of them disappeared, and one of them melted away into orange fluid.
The giant turned it hand over. A feminine slit opened in the middle of its hand, and the LCL that made up the individual known as Emera completely drained into it, not a single drop of it was spilt on the deck below.
However, the black clothing she was wearing fell to the ground, and a voice on its wrist screamed her name over and over.
The giant's hand slowly returned to the cocoon. It closed its eyes, and it slept once more.
The ship continued on its pre-programmed route, straight towards the capital of the Shtrayu Empire.
Author's Notes:
And that's Chapter Two.
Hope you enjoyed it.
Time to reply to reviews:
Jon Cook:
"How is this a Tenchi Muyo! crossover? I'm not seeing anything remotely familiar in here, and I've seen the series."
Ah, I already sent you a PM, but this is a great question to answer here for anyone else. This is using the War on Geminar setting, which is a Spin-off like GXP. The physical setting is either an alternate universe split from the main Tenchi Universe (with certain methods of travel back and forth existing) or just some planet in the Tenchi universe. To be clear, I'm using the latter idea. The protagonist from that setting isn't in the story yet, but he does exist in the fanfiction, so while there won't be any Tenchi, there will be his half-brother, Kenshi.
cookie:
"I love where this story is going, keep it up. I am looking forward to future chapter and see where it's going. I wonder who G-man employer is here, I'm guessing one of the 3 Goddesses. Hoping to see at least Ryo-ohki in here at the very least."
Thanks. Since I'm not going to really spell it out too well later, I'll just say it now. The Gman is not working for or with the Chousin.
As for Ryo-Ohki…eh, she's not going to pop up in this story. Maybe in a sequel, but that's a long way down the roads. She will be mentioned, but only in the context of Kenshi's Pendant.
Glint Of Madness:
"SO COOOOOLLLLLL! I can say this, this story got me to watch the War on Geminar! and I have to say its was FUCKING AWESOME! HOLY SHIT WAS IT AWESOME! Keep up the good work man I can't wait to read more of this!
Oh, a question, is Kenshi going to appear in this story? I don't think you made a mention to him at all in this..."
Thanks for your support!
As you can probably see in this chapter, there are non-overt mentions of Kenshi. It should also lock down where the timeline is in the War on Geminar setting. He will become a major character, don't worry about that, but he will be this story's deuteragonist. Shinji's the protagonist here.
Rc1212:
Awesome chapter!
Looking forward to seeing what happens next! How does the Eva compare to local meacha size wise?"
Thanks for the support!
As for size…oh boy. Evangelion and War on Geminar both suffer from a little syndrome known as "Your Size May Vary" which means, they are not consistent. For a clear example, in the Rebuilds of Evangelion, the "official" size range for an Evangelion is 80 to 200 meters in height. They change size for the drama depending upon the scene, and the same thing applies in the original series as well. Evas can sometimes climb up skyscrapers, and other times are comparably the same size as skyscrapers. Sometimes they completely dwarf the skyscrapers nearby completely, and in concept art, they are stated to be ten meters tall….which is absolutely bogus.
The Seikijin suffer from this as well. In one scene, they tower over people, where the top of a person's head is just barely as tall as one of their feet. In other scenes, where you can see the pilot, the things are about the size of the Seikijin's foot in the sentence before this one. It's…a mess.
So, after doing some scaling based on Kenshi's activation later on, I figured Seikijin are roughly 28 meters tall, so that's where the figure came from when Ceres activated his in Chapter 1. Seikijin aren't all the same height though. They have slight differences based on who's piloting them, but it isn't anything major in terms of height. Evas in this fic will be fifty meters tall, but there is a specific issue with that which will be addressed in the next chapter.
OMAKE:
Shinji raised his right hand, which was trembling, and balled it into a loose fist.
He opened his left hand and closed it tightly. Open. Close. Open. Close. Open….
He knocked on the door.
The door slowly creaked open. It wasn't even closed.
Slowly, Shinji walked in.
The sound of piano notes drifted into his ears through the hallway.
As Shinji followed the notes, he saw a pale boy with silver hair playing the piano and humming "Ode to Joy."
He stopped humming, and continued to play the notes on the piano. "The song is good. Singing brings joy and revitalization to the human soul. I think that song is the highest achievement of the Lilim culture. Don't you agree," He turned towards Shinji, and stared at him with his red eyes. "Shinji Ikari?"
Shinji immediately face palmed. "Kaworu…you're not even in this story. I haven't even met you yet! Didn't you read the script!?"
"Of course I did. I didn't like being resigned to the sequel." He turned back to the piano. "Why would I stay away from you, Shinji, if I could be here?"
Shinji sighed. "What did you do to Ceres?"
"Hmm?"
"What did you do to Ceres? This is his scene, not yours."
"Do you really want him over me, Shinji?"
"Kaworu, will you please stop that! You're not in this story yet. You're not supposed to be here. Now, please just leave! I'll see you in the sequel! "
"But that's such a long time to wait…" Kaworu whined.
"Now Kaworu!"
The Vessel of Adam's soul sighed. "Fine. Fine. You win." He spoke a bit more quietly and bitterly. "Like you always do…"
A circular Dirac Sea a few meters in diameter opened up, dropping a blond boy on the floor.
He was currently hog-tied with….
"Uh…Kaworu, why is Ceres tied with…lingerie?"
"I had to use a substitute when I couldn't find rope."
"…and that substitute was…underwear?"
"It was everywhere on the floor of Major Misato's apartment. When I couldn't find you there…and I found Ceres here…I merely improvised."
Shinji slapped is forehead again. "He's my roommate Kaworu, not my boyfriend. Just…just untie him and leave."
"As you wish, Shinji." Kaworu slowly made his way to Ceres. He bent down, and removed the ball of stocking from his mouth. He then spoke directly in his ear. "While you may befriend the Third Child, make no mistake. Shinji Ikari is mine."
"…but…but, I already have a girlfriend." Ceres whimpered.
Kaworu blinked. "Oh….Oh…" Then he let out a long. "Ohhhhh..." He then slowly scratched the back of his head. "I believe this is when you Lilim use the term "My bad."
"You know what Kaworu. I'll untie Ceres myself." Shinji quickly dragged Kaworu to the front door and pushed him out. "Now, stay out!"
"But, but Shinji…I did this because I love you."
Shinji slammed the door in his face.
After a few seconds, Shinji sighed, and cracked the door open.
"I love you too."
Slam.
OMAKE 2:
"Relax, and release your soul."
She tried to struggle, but no matter how much she thrashed she couldn't get free.
A hand slowly caressed her cheek.
In the background, a slight "Ahem" could be heard.
She looked up.
A smiling young man, with short blond hair and blue eyes, floated in the air above her.
She immediately stopped struggling.
The "Ahem" was louder this time.
"Lord Dagmeyr…" She slowly smiled, and closed her eyes. Tears of happiness leaked from her eyes.
The figure came closer and closed his eyes.
"HEY, SHIT-NOZZEL."
All eyes turned to the voice: The giant's, the girl's in its hand, and the phantasm's.
A blue-haired girl wearing a school uniform stared at them with red eyes in full contempt. In her hand was a red bident. No, I do not mean trident. It only had two pointy ends, so it was a bident. Get your facts straight Triton. It was specifically red like blood and had a somewhat spiral design on it.
In a much more dignified voice then compared to earlier, the girl known as Rei Ayanami spoke. "I believe this is one of those moments where this phrase is appropriate." Then in the voice just like earlier. "YOU TOOK MAH JAHB."
With that, she chucked the tuning fork of death right at the brown giant's red glowing sphere. It really shouldn't glow like that. That's just screaming "HIT THIS POINT FOR MAXIMUM DAMAGE."
The Lance of Longinus morphed into a solid rod, and pierced right through the creature's AT field and immediately slammed into its core. It suddenly went limp, and immediately dropped Emura to the floor.
Emura took a few deep breathes, before slowly turning towards her savior. "Thank yo-"
A pale finger was placed on her lips. "Shhh…" The form of Rei shifted into that of a familiar blonde with blue eyes. "Now, where were we?"
