~Someone else is here.~
Her eye opened, glancing to the right. Nothing.
Her head rolled to the left, compensating for the patch covering her left eye.
In the cot next to her, a brown-haired lump softly snored, arms hanging from casts.
Rei Ayanami tilted her head.
~The Fifth Child? An interesting development.~
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
(Not) the End
Chapter 006: Very (Ir)Reisponsible
Five-ish minutes after waking up, Rei was nearing the end of her first recovery exercise session. After a week, she'd completely memorized the routine, no longer hindered in performing it by her arm or her still-regenerating eye. As such, the First Child was able to dedicate a portion of her mental faculties to contemplation. Yesterday, Doctor Akagi had told her that it should only take six more days for her to be healed enough to rejoin school. However, now that the school was undergoing repairs, Rei had four days with no planned activities other than necessities, perhaps three- if Sunday featured a Synchro Test for her.
~Although, that is unlikely,~ Rei thought to herself. ~Unit-01's recent… malfunction will not make Doctor Akagi or Commander Ikari particularly inclined to reactivate her for quite some time. Perhaps that is why the Fifth is here; to serve as a replacement for me, until Unit-01 becomes safe for piloting.~
Rei rolled her neck and stretched, each stiffened joint popping and cracking loudly. That was the last of it.
Shrinking back from the stretch, the girl walked back to her cot, and sat down. Automatically, Rei checked the atomic clock; fifteen minutes until lunch would be delivered.
And so, Rei sat. And waited.
Fifteen minutes passed remarkably quickly. Or at least they did for Rei.
The doorbell chimed, warning anyone inside that someone was going to enter. Rei sat up, and turned towards the door, perfectly calm and expectant. Soon after, the doors slid open, a member of NERV staff wheeling in the lunch cart.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Ayanami," he cheerfully said, picking up one of the trays. "How are we today?"
"...Adequate," Rei answered coolly. "If somewhat curious."
"That's nice. Here you go," replied the staff member, setting the tray down on a stand that arched across Rei's lap. "One meal for the First Child. Enjoy."
The girl gave a quick nod of thanks, before turning to the tray. Investigating the Fifth Child can wait. For now, there's food to deal with.
Mari stirred, eyelids flickering.
The brunette groaned, sinking down into the bed.
God, my arms hurt. F***in' Angel,~ Mari thought, blowing a chunk of hair out of her eyes- and noticing something else. The ceiling was… incredibly blurry. And while her arms were probably immobilized, Mari didn't need them to feel the lack of a familiar weight on the bridge of her nose.
The Briton rolled her eyes.
~...and they took my glasses, so I'm half blind. Good job NERV, good job.~
Mari's ears perked up at the sound of movement to her right.
"Mm? Anybody there?" she asked, worming her way upright, blue eyes glinting with curiosity.
She didn't have to wait long.
"Yes," replied a soft, calm voice- if she had to say, Mari'd guess the owner to be a girl, probably one around her age.
Mari looked over, only to be greeted by shortly cut silver-blue hair- not something one sees on normal people.
"...'n that case, Blue, mind getting my glasses? I can't exactly see without them."
The blur nodded, bending forwards.
A few seconds later, the world finally cleared up, the familiar weight of her glasses on her nose. Mari blinks, watching as the blue-haired girl leans back upright. Other than the unusual hair colour, there's quite a few things that pop out to her. The girl's smaller than Mari, her build slim and sleek, her skin pale where Mari can spot it- almost unnaturally so. The plain white cast on the girl's arm and the grey patch over her left eye clearly point out just why this girl's in the hospital- though they certainly don't detract from her-
"You are staring."
Mari blinks, snapping out of her in-depth examination of the girl.
"..Heh, sorry," the brunette chuckles. "Got a bit distracted. It's just that you're quite the eye-catcher, you know?"
"Mari Makinami-Illustrious, Fifth Child. Pilot of Unit-05," Mari states, introducing herself. "I'd shake your hand, but it looks like neither of us'd be able to accomplish much of that."
The other girl nods.
"I am Rei Ayanami, the First Child. I piloted Unit-01."
Mari grins, sitting fully upright.
"Well, nice to meet you, Rei."
A day had passed, and the sun was beginning to peak.
Mari was bored.
Due to her arms being basically immobilized, there wasn't anything physical the girl could do, and talking by herself had lost its appeal after a while.
"Say… Rei," Mari started.
Rei turned her head.
"What is it, Pilot Illustrious?"
"... I was thinking… how about we swap stories?"
Rei blinked.
"Stories?"
"Yeah, stories!" Mari nodded, grinning. "I'm pretty bored, and I bet you're also kinda bored."
The blue-haired girl paused…
… and nodded.
"I… suppose that I would enjoy stimulation…"
"Right then, it's settled!" Mari replied. "Now, all we've gotta do is figure who goes first!"
"... I would prefer to listen. You may begin, Fifth Child."
Mari shrugged.
"Eh, fine with me. Now… hm. How does the story of my fight with the Third Angel sound?"
"That would be… adequate," replied Rei.
"Alrighty then," Mari grinned. "Here goes."
"It was a cold and snowy morning in January. The Third Angel- Hofniel, we called it- had just been discovered, asleep in the Arctic ice. They'd just gotten it to the nearest NERV branch in order to study the thing, when… well, let's say it wasn't as asleep as had been expected."
The dragon ripped apart its steel cage, blue blood dripping from between the plates of frost-bitten chitin.
More armour stood between it and its goal. This was not acceptable.
A pair of apple-green eyes sparked, and the armour vapourized.
Hofniel, Fighter of God, Angel of The Sons of God, was f***ing pissed off.
"As you can guess, nothing really slowed it down. The Cocytus Anti-Angel Containment system wasn't fully completed, and the Russians' tanks couldn't pierce the Angel's AT Field. Unless something crazy happened, we were pretty much screwed."
"Luckily for everyone, I happen to have an Eva."
"EAT THIS!"
At the last second, Hofniel whipped to the side, two hundred meters of bone and chitin sliding aside from the main shaft. Unit-05 barreled past, momentum betraying it.
"God f***ing dammit!" Mari cursed, yanking on the controls. Unit-05's wheels shifted, the Eva spinning a hundred-eighty degrees in an instant.
"Shock anchors, FIRE!"
The Eva's pylons snapped open, exposing racks of metal spikes. With a roar, the spikes shot out, trailing heavy metal cables behind them!
The cables wrapped around Hofniel's hind legs, the Angel letting out a squawk of surprise as its own momentum cancelled out the runaway Eva's, bringing them both to a halt!
"DISCHARGE!"
Moments later, the entirety of Bethany Base's pantograph wire grid was shot down through Unit-05's pylons and cables. Hofniel's hind legs cooked and burst at the joints, blue ichor spraying across the concrete walls.
"-Unfortunately, I cooked the entire power grid with that attack, leaving me with only six and a half minutes of battery power."
"...I am beginning to doubt your tactical intelligence."
"You and half the other Children in the world."
The lance tore Hofniel's body- ribs, exoskeleton, and AT Field all shredding before the weapon ripped out the other side.
Unit-05's fist swung around, landing a ringing blow into the side of the Angel's head.
Hofniel snarled, and struck back, driving its claws into Unit-05's breastplate. Snarling, the serpentine monster ripped the armour plate in two, the Eva screaming in pain.
"No! Don't you f***ing quit on me!" Mari snapped, yanking on the grips, despite her burning ribs.
"I don't give up, you don't give in! That's how this works!"
Hofniel's eyes flashed, vapourizing Unit-05's left shoulder, and punching a hole through the outer wall. The tail swung around, knocking Unit-05 off her feet.
The Eva crashed to the ground, Hofniel planting a taloned hand on the bio-robot's chest.
"Fight!"
The Angel's eyes flickered, the beams beginning to charge up.
"FIGHT BACK!"
Unit-05 shook, power bleeding from the sparking wounds.
"FIGHT B-"
Hofniel fired.
Right into Unit-05's face.
That elicited an emotional response. Rei actually winces- granted, it's more like a muscle twitch, but it's the most Mari's gotten out of the girl.
"Yeah… it wasn't fun."
Unit-05 screamed, jaw no longer held tight. The upper half of her helmet had melted, the molten metal sizzling into the raw, scarred flesh of the Eva.
In the plug, Mari could barely focus. Everything hurt- her chest, her arms, her head…
This damn Angel… just…
Why.
Wouldn't.
It.
Just.
Fucking.
DIE.
Unit-05's eyes ignited.
"Impossible! Unit-05's artificial synapses are locking!"
"Neural interface offline! We can't read the plug interior!"
"The Eva's acting on its own! Sir, Unit-05's been confirmed!"
"It's gone berserk!"
Roaring, the burnt and bloodied Eva lunged, slamming Hofniel into the concrete ceiling. The Angel screeched, voice spiking in octaves as soon as the berserker locked her jaws around its throat!
Metal teeth crushed the Angel's windpipe and armour in a spray of ichor, the Eva's eyes still glowing like spotlights.
With a mighty heave, Hofniel was thrown into the snow, throwing up a spray of powder.
Unit-05's jaw unhinged, the battered Eva stomping out after it.
Hofniel hissed, eyes flashing again. Unit-05 just raised a hand. The beam splintered against a purple octagon.
Unit-05 bared her teeth, and lunged.
"-the end." Mari finished.
"Well? Thoughts?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at Rei.
"... On the event, or your rendition of it?"
Mari blinked.
"... Both, I guess."
Rei took a breath.
"On the event; I… am intrigued. Unit-05's berserker incident… is interesting. I had thought Unit-01 to be the only berserker of the Units. Apparently, I was wrong."
"However, I do think that you embellished your story too much."
"Hey, I was half-conscious at the time!" Mari playfully complained. "Cut me some slack!"