After Evangelion
Chapter 10
A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.
Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar
Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.
This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.
The past couple of days had been quiet and uneventful. News of what happened to Nene had spread fast among the personnel at Yokota and at the Impact Zone. It had been three days since the accident and rumors of weather she was dead or alive were all that people were going on about. Out of respect for their colleague, Markus and Kelly decided to cancel their date and instead go to Yokota and meet with Gabriel to see if she was in fact still alive or not.
Speaking of those two, the night Kelly and Albrecht carried him to bed Kelly decided to stay with him despite the shock given to her by the sight of the I.D. card. She started to realize that if she could stay with him even after discovering such a secret then she must have been developing feelings for him after all. She stayed with him all night and was their sleeping on the floor next to his bed wrapped up in a sheet she managed to steal from him while he was sleeping. It wasn't long after he found her that there phones delivered the news about Nene.
Their plans would have to wait however. After two days of pleasant whether a storm had hit the region and hit hard. All personnel were asked to stay off the roads and remain indoors. It wasn't a typhoon or anything just a random summer storm that was a little more dramatic than usual. Heavy rains, lighting, and some hail was reported. So with that everyone hunkered down for the day and evening to ride out the storm.
This gave Markus and Kelly an opportunity to have dinner together if not in their dorm. Each dorm room had a full and working kitchen so they decided to cook. Nothing fancy, just some pasta and some side vegetables. Neither of them had any wine so they settled on some high-end grape juice. Of coarse when I mean high end I mean some juice that was actually one hundred percent juice.
Meanwhile at Lake Kisaki the storm was just as bad prompting Hikari to close the restaurant early. As she did an unexpected visitor showed up at the door.
"Kensuke? What are you doing here and in this god forsaken whether?" She asked as she allowed him in.
"I'm sorry to drop in like this Hikari but I had to see Touji. Is he here?" He asked as he put up his raincoat and umbrella.
"He's in the back putting some things away. Please come in let's get you somewhere warm and dry. I'd hate for you to catch cold after coming all this way just for a visit." She said as she led him to the house portion of the building.
"That's very kind of you Hikari, but then you've always been like that." He said with a smile.
"Well some things you just can't change I guess. So how have you been Mr. Network reporter?" She teased.
"Well I'm not a full on reporter yet, I'm still just a camera man but I have done some reporting. Nothing really major or anything I'm particularly proud of." He explained.
"Kensuke, this is a surprise I didn't expect to see you. What brings you all the way out here man?" Touji said as he walked out of the office.
"I came to talk to you. Hikari is it okay if I speak with your husband in private?" He asked.
"Oh don't mind me. Hey I'll whip you up some nice hot miso soup and rice to warm you right up." She smiled as she went into the kitchen.
"So did you change your mind?" Touji asked as they sat at the dinner table.
"I have given it some serious thought. Look can we talk about something else at least until after I try some of your wife's cooking?" He asked.
"Of course. I mean it would be a crime for me to not let you enjoy some of Hikari's cooking." Touji said with a grin.
As the storm raged on outside the two talked about other things for a while in a scene similar to the one they had only three days prior. Only this time Kensuke seemed to be trying harder to avoid the main reason why he came. It wasn't long till Hikari came out with the soup and rice. She happily served it to them and went off to tend to the children.
"You know you are doing a good job at avoiding the reason you came." Touji pointed out as he finished his meal.
"Your wife is a good cook I'm glad I got to enjoy it. Okay look, the reason I came is to ask you to not go ahead with those pictures. I realize that you are hell bent on having those hauled off but I implore you not to go through with it. You're a father yourself imagine what it would be like if all of a sudden federal agents burst in and separated your family." Kensuke said looking him dead in the eyes.
Touji didn't answer; he just sat there as if contemplating what was revealed to him. He wanted badly to dismiss what Kensuke had just said but he couldn't deny it was the truth.
"I agree with Kensuke on this Touji. Shinji and Asuka had nothing to do with the death of your sister. Please for the sake of their daughter, whom is totally innocent in all this by the way, stop this and leave them be." Hikari pleaded as she stepped into the dinning room.
"How much did you hear?" Touji asked in a somber tone. At this point he wished he could just excuse himself and go for a long walk alone to be with his thoughts but that was out of the question as the storm still raged outside.
"Everything. Tell me what did their daughter ever do to you? Like I said she is innocent in all this and from what I gather she is being treated well and I have no doubt that she is loved. Please Touji don't go through with this." She pleaded as she took his hand into hers.
He took a deep breath and stood up from the table.
"I need to be alone for awhile." He said as he excused himself and staggered to the bedroom.
"Hikari, I'm sorry somehow I feel that this is partially my fault. I should probably be going now. The storm seems to be letting up." Kensuke said as he stood up.
"Be careful going home. I'm confident that he'll do the right thing." She assured him as he walked toward the door.
They said their goodbyes and exchanged a quick hug before Kensuke went out to his car and drove off. Hikari then proceeded to lock the door and turn out the lights as she made her way back to the house. On her way to the bedroom she noticed her husband standing in the doorway of their children's room watching them sleep. She walked up to him hugging him from behind and burying her head between his shoulder blades.
"I won't publish those pictures, but I need to confront them. I need to have Shinji look me in the eyes and tell me that it wasn't his fault, that is was all out of his hands, that he had nothing to do with it." He said as he turned around and returned the embrace.
The next day everyone was back to work at their respective jobs. Markus had hunkered down inside another one of the MAGI to determine what repairs and parts it needed. The first one was quite the job. Three hard drives had to be taken out and repaired along with two processors and a whole host of other devices. But the team was enthusiastic enough and made the necessary repairs in almost no time at all. For now the first MAGI was going through a final diagnostics check before they turned it on.
The second one however was starting to prove to be a chore. No real significant or unfixable damage was seen but it was like crawling through thick vines as the contents had shifted wildly at some point. Crawling in was proving to be a futile venture. Markus, after going just a few feet, decided to pull himself out and contemplate the team's next move.
"Okay people you guys wanted a challenge well here you go. I don't think anything important was damaged but then again with all the stuff that came loose in there… I want a thorough check of this thing done and if you have to take this thing a part let me know." Markus instructed. He then turned his attention to the final unit.
"Okay with any luck this one will be in the same if not better condition than the first unit. Worst case scenario it's like that one or worse." He explained has he removed the side panel from the large server.
Upon first inspection everything seemed okay except for the dank moldy smell that was found in all three of them. Everything seemed to be in its original spot so at first glance everything seemed fine. As he crawled in he began shining his pocket flashlight on all the connection ports, the processing chips, the hard drives and other sensitive material. As expected a lot of the connection ports had corroded from time, and there was no sign of water intrusion. There was dust and the occasional cob web but nothing anymore significant than was found in the first one.
He soon made his way to the brain core. Upon inspection he noticed the core had been opened. This must have been the MAGI that Dr. Akagi was in when the angel infected the system. He got over his admiration and continued with the inspection. Everything seemed to be in order however there was one thing a bit out of place. Next to the core was a lone floppy disk, a small black floppy with no label. Markus then finished up his inspection and wrote down his recommendations before picking up the floppy and heading out.
As he crawled out of the server he handed his notes and findings to one of his assistants and proceeded to his office to start on the weekly progress report and later to analyze the floppy. After pointing out his findings and complaining about the condition of the second unit he sent the report up to Gabriel and turned to one of his research computers. He decided to use the one computer that was not connected to the network on the off chance that this was a virus program.
His suspicions were correct when he discovered that this was in fact a virus program. The odd thing was that it was developed by Dr. Akagi herself. He began to analyze the data and learned that it was an extremely powerful virus developed for one purpose; to destroy the MAGI. Fearing what a powerful virus like this could do to his one computer he began closing out the program. Just as he was about to eject the disk he noticed there was a text file placed on the disk. It was a confession from Ritsuko addressed to whom ever did find the disk. As he read it his face turned pale as Markus Garrett the eleventh child learned the truth about third impact.
Later that day Touji made his way up to the shrine Shinji and Asuka once frequented. It was now taped off as a crime scene with two local police officers standing guard. Touji made his way to the side of the house and managed to climb in through an open window. Once inside he began to look for some clue pertaining to where Shinji and Asuka fled to. The house was almost completely empty; he couldn't help but be amazed by how thorough they were about removing any evidence that suggested that they once lived there.
He carefully made his way to the master bedroom upstairs and started looking through and around the dresser. He figured if there was so much of a picture that could lead him to them it would be there of all places. He was mindful to wear gloves as he easily removed each drawer and examined it. One by one nothing could be found. He then went to look behind the dresser. As quietly as possible he lifted the dresser a bit and moved it so that he could easily take a look. As he did, something fell to the ground. It was a small picture of Shinji and Asuka.
The picture seemed old maybe a few years but he knew it was them. In the picture Asuka still had her red hair and from the looked about five to six months pregnant. The picture was taken in what looked like maybe late summer/early fall. Shinji was wearing an orange shirt over a black long sleeved shirt and Asuka wore a light green almost blue long sleeved shirt with a black fleece vest. So it was obviously cold but not very which suggested that maybe it was taken sometime in October. However with the way the weather was since Second Impact it only ever got that cold in Hokkaido. The moment he thought that he took a look at the mountain in the background. He soon recognized it as a mountain he and Hikari saw on their last trip up there. He put the dresser back in it's original spot, pocketed the picture and made his way out of the house back down the side of the mountain to the spot he parked his car.
It was nine o' clock in the evening, thanks to the train, when Touji arrived at his home in Lake Kisaki.
"Where the hell were you Touji?" Hikari asked angrily.
"You know I don't mind you coming home late as long as you call but I haven't heard from you since this morning. Considering how you've been since your visit with Kensuke I started to worry. What is going on Touji, talk to me." She pleaded.
"I went up to the shrine where I found Shinji and Asuka. I went there to look for any clue as to where they might be now." He explained as he took the picture out of his pocket.
"I found this, it's pretty old but I can tell it was taken in Hokkaido. I want to go up there myself and see if they may have fled to that island." He said as he handed her the picture.
Hikari looked at the picture and she too recognized the location. She then began to study Shinji and Asuka, their body language, their facial expressions. She smiled as she noticed that Asuka was midway through her pregnancy and chuckled at the lame forced smile Shinji had, that he always had.
"I'm going with you." She announced as she put her hand on his shoulder.
"I doubt you remember but Asuka was a good friend of mine, I want to see her again. We can leave the children with my sister and this time of year it shouldn't be hard to get a room at the last minute." She suggested as she went to get on of her suitcases.
"Hikari, this is something I have to do alone." He protested but it was too late. Her mind was set and she was already packing her things.
"Touji we have been married along time and you should know by now that, that macho lone wolf attitude does not work on me." She said as she continued to pack. She then proceeded to call her sisters and one of them happily agreed to watch the kids for a few days. The next morning they dropped off their kids and were on their way to Hokkaido.
"So you finally decided to come for a visit?" Albrecht said as he waited outside of a hospital.
"I've been swamped at work plus I just found out she was here." Markus said as he walked up the drive.
"I am shocked she is still alive, I heard her neck almost broke." Albrecht said as they both walked in.
"I had heard that it did but she still managed to survive." Markus responded.
"Either way she is in pretty bad shape, word is she is still in a coma." Albrecht informed.
The two talked with the receptionist and was pointed in the direction of Nene's room. As they entered the room was silent except for the hiss of a breathing machine and the beep of a heart monitor. As they drew closer all they could see was a thing that barely looked human. She seemed less like a human and more like a connection point for many different wires and tubes.
"What could have caused this? Gabriel has spoken so highly of her and said she was a safe driver." Markus pointed out.
"Even so she is still in this condition. Didn't you say that Dr. Hurwitz had mentioned she was working on the skull and that lately she had been seeing things?" Albrecht asked.
"Yeah at first he contributed it to fatigue, but when she described what she had been seeing he started to speculate that something more was going on." Markus explained.
"I am inclined to ask, what was his theory?" Albrecht pondered.
"The person she described was Ayanami Rei, the first child." Markus answered as a cold shiver went down his spine.
"Why would the geist of Ayanami Rei be haunting her?" Albrecht asked as he leaned up against the wall stroking his chin.
"I found a floppy drive with a virus on it strong enough to take down the MAGI; it was made by Dr. Akagi. She made it after she learned the full truth. You may want to sit down." Markus suggested as he too took a seat.
"Ayanami Rei was a clone of sorts of Commander Ikari's wife Yui. Her primary purpose however was to be a vessel for the Adam embryo, however she didn't say how he would be applied. She goes on to talk about her 'romance' with Gendo and a bunch of other ramblings. She then says she is infecting the MAGI with the virus in order to stop Gendo from implanting Adam into Rei thus causing Third Impact." Markus explained as he leaned forward in his chair.
"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe." Albrecht said as he turned his chair around and rested his head on the back.
"I know what you mean but between what Shinji told me and what I read in that confession the puzzle pieces are starting to turn over. I just wish I had the outline to work with." Markus said as he rubbed his head.
"I know what you mean. Where is Shinji by the way?" Albrecht asked.
"I don't know, they didn't tell me where they were going and I'm glad they didn't." Markus replied.
"So what do we do now?" Albrecht asked as he turned his chair back around and leaned back in it.
"We keep doing our jobs until we find answers. I mean hell once we get all three of the MAGI servers up and running the video surveillance alone will tell us what we need to know." Markus responded optimistically.
With that the two left some flowers by Nene's bed and walked back out to the parking lot. As they did someone flashed their high beams as they walked by.
"Okay you have our attention may I ask who's blinding us?" Markus said as he tried to shield himself from the lights.
"So it is you two. I thought I saw your cars." The woman said as she turned down the lights and stepped out of her car
"Ah Frauline Nakamori how are you this fine evening." Albrecht said as he rubbed his eyes.
"What's going on Markus? Why didn't you tell me you were visiting Nene?" Kelly asked with growing rage.
"You were busy and I needed to talk to Al alone. Al suggested that we meet here." Markus answered.
"Why couldn't you talk to him at the Impact Site?" She continued.
"We had to meet somewhere away from the U.N." Albrecht answered.
"I guess you would have to considering you two are members of NERV." Kelly proclaimed slightly disgusted at the notion.
"How did you know we were with NERV?" Markus asked stunned.
"That night I helped you to bed your wallet fell and I saw your I.D. card First Lieutenant Markus Garrett, NERV Special Forces Intel Division." She said remembering the card word for word.
"You finally made First Lieutenant?" Albrecht asked slightly surprised.
"Excuse me but why the hell didn't you tell me and why the fuck would you work for that god forsaken organization again?" She asked trying not to scream.
"Look, I'll tell you everything you need to know…"
TO BE CONTINUED.
Sorry about the long wait between chapters this one seemed a bit long winded but I did try to make it a Touji heavy chapter for all the people who may have felt I didn't use enough of the original cast. Well ten more chapters to go and everything should even itself out. I would like to open up to some suggestions and even a possible collaboration on a chapter or two if anyone is interested. So till next time please keep reading and keep reviewing.