Chapter 3: The Angel And The Devil
Ritsuko Akagi's expression was calm as she typed upon the Magi's main keyboard, but as Else reemerged in the bay, her heart was racing. No one could have piloted Unit 5 as Else had just done...it was against all calculations. But he had done it...and achieved an impossible 100 sync ratio, to boot. 100!!!! There was no way an ordinary child could have done that. But Else wasn't ordinary, and Ritsuko was one of three people who knew it. She only hoped no one would ask questions...a shadow passed across the console, and she flinched. But it was only Commander Ikari, who stood silently behind her, looking at the results. "So--the fourth child may not have turned out as badly as we thought..." Gendo mused.
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Else held his hand to his head. For some reason, he was now facing a horrible headache that threatened to split his head in half with pain. Misato noticed, and smiled at him trying to cheer him up. "Don't worry--the first piloting is always the hardest, I've heard. You'll feel a little bit better after the cleansing." "Cleansing?" Else was puzzled. "What's that?" "Well, after you get out of a "situation" like your first piloting, you're chemically showered to remove bacteria and other things you may have picked up during the piloting. Don't worry, though; the chemicals aren't harmful to humans." "Okay," Else agreed. It didn't sound too bad.
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Just as Else entered the shower cubicle, Misato's cell phone rang. "Hello? Wow, already? Okay, I'll be there." Walking to the door, she swiped her own keycard, and then Asuka entered, wearing her usual yellow dress. "Hello, Misato-san," Asuka said, smiling. "Asuka? My, how you've grown!" "In more ways than one," Asuka joked, giving a coy wink. "Well, I suppose you should get in there now." "In where?" "No one told you? Since you just entered Tokyo-3, you have to be cleansed to remove impurities. The only way to do this is to be chemically showered." (You see where this is going, don't you?) "Why's everything got to be so damn complicated...oh, all right." With that, Asuka headed off to the locker room.
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As Else entered the shower cubicle and shut the door, he took in his surroundings silently. He was inside a small cubicle formed by a small barrier that came up to his neck on both sides. In front of him and above was a shower head that, as he approached it, began to shower him with a chemical that looked like water even though he knew it couldn't be. To his left, there was another shower cubicle that was now empty. But to his right...he looked and Else's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. To his right was the red-eyed girl he had seen at the junior high school! He had known there was something unusual about her, but the fact that she was here...was she a pilot like himself? She certainly looked it.
Feeling his gaze, Rei turned to face him. For some reason, Else's face immediately turned red, though it was irrational...the barrier prevented either of them from showing anything they didn't want others to see. Else suddenly felt something well up from deep within him...a consciousness that was totally unfamiliar to him, that was not his own. "Sssssisssterrrrr..." the voice whispered inside his mind, and Else was frightened because...he knew that voice, but couldn't remember the name. Rei didn't seem fazed by his presence, just looked into his eyes for a while longer, then turned back so she was facing forward. Else was strangely drawn to this girl...and he didn't even know her name...oh well. He resumed idly washing himself...and the next second there was a scream.
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Spluttering incoherently, Asuka slammed the door to the shower cubicle behind her and, wrapping a towel around herself, ran to Misato. "What kind of sick joke is this?" she shouted. "What's wrong, Asuka?" "There's a guy in there, that's what's wrong!" "What's wrong with that?" "Misato!" "I don't know what you're so uptight about, It's not like he can see anything, and if I know Else, he wouldn't try anything." "Just how well do you know him?" "Get in there!" Against her will, Asuka slid back into the shower room and shut the door behind her. Else barely gave her any sign that he had seen her enter, only looking out of the corner of his eye. Well, that's fine, but he'd better not try anything funny or there will be blood...Asuka thought, leaning against the barrier. And that's how it may have ended, had not fate decided to take an unexpected turn.
One second, Asuka was just leaning on the barrier between her and Else, the next it gave way beneath her. Else, taken by surprise, was knocked down, and they ended up on the floor, Else plastered under Asuka and the barrier, and Asuka on top with her face turning beet-red. "H-How could you do that?" she suddenly shouted out. "ME?! How could you blame me for that? You did that!" "You loosened the barrier, didn't you?" "Oh, sure, I have a screwdriver on me right now! I'm naked, for pete's sake!" As if realizing this for the first time, Asuka quickly got back up, covering herself with her hands. We were that close to touching...naked! Thank goodness we didn't...I guess I'm glad that was there after all. Else, closing his eyes, got back up and handed her the barrier to hide herself behind. "Th-thank you," she replied, too flustered to speak. As Asuka and Else went back to their separate locker rooms to get dressed, Asuka couldn't help but notice that he didn't try to look at her once. Which meant that he wasn't a perv...but that couldn't be...could it?
Hope you liked that, and I apologize for the delay.