Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.
Chapter Eleven: Contamination/Of Weddings, Death, and Music
Shinji decided that the decontamination process reminded him of a car wash. The giant circular brushes were fortunately absent, as was the giant cloth at the end; these had been replaced by blasts of soapy water and warm air. The hot wax had also mercifully been left out, but the whole automated cleaning process still made him feel very much like NERV regarded the pilots as just one more component needed to make Evangelion work, which could be treated more or less like any other machine. It was a depressing thought.
Then, the doors to the little elevator car like room that he was inside slid open with a hiss, leaving only a pane of frosted glass that didn't reach above his neck or below his knees separating him from a very long, very white hallway that led to the Evangelion dummy bodies, and Shinji found his thoughts shifting away from such philosophical issues under the weight of his embarrassment at what was happening.
"I don't see why we have to do this naked!" Asuka snapped testily from a similar room next to his.
Shinji normally found Asuka's complaints annoying, but at the moment he was thinking about making her his official spokeswoman.
"We need the data for this auto-pilot system to be as clear as possible, which means eliminating any interference caused by both clothes and microbes," Ritsuko explained over an intercom. "Just showering and wearing your plug suits aren't enough."
"I won't do it!" Asuka proclaimed. "I won't parade around naked in front of all of you!"
"We do respect your privacy as much as possible," Maya spoke up, also over the intercom. "We're switching off all the cameras."
"Oh, so all I have to worry about is the baka hentai, then," Asuka growled.
From her own little stall, Misao rolled her eyes. "Asuka, calling Shinji a pervert is like…is like…" she trailed off, seemingly unable to find an appropriate analogy. Apparently she couldn't even imagine anything equally absurd.
Shinji cleared his throat. "Uh, if it'll make you feel better, I can go first, then the rest of you can go after I'm in the plug," he offered. "If you'll, um, close your eyes that is."
The three female EVA pilots gave their agreement, and Shinji reached out to hit the button that would move the frosted glass barrier aside. His hand paused right before he pressed it as he was hit by a wave of self-consciousness. Suddenly, Shinji was extremely aware of how scrawny he was, which was unusual, since he rarely worried over his appearance much.
"Promise you won't look?" he asked meekly.
"Like you have anything worth looking at," Asuka growled. "Move it, baka!"
"Well, since you asked twice…" Misao said.
"I promise, Ikari," Rei said in her typical soft voice.
Taking a deep breath, Shinji pressed the button and walked out into the hall at a quick pace, barely able to keep himself from sprinting to the privacy of the simulation plug.
"Wow, Shinji-kun, have you been working out?" Misao called.
"What?!" Shinji squawked, whirling around without thinking about it, even as he broke out into a full body blush.
He saw the three female pilots, all of whom still had their eyes firmly shut. Shinji groaned, unable to believe how easily she'd tricked him.
Misao laughed. "I can't believe you fell for that, Shinji-kun! Besides, there was no need to freak out so much. It's not like I haven't seen everything you've got already."
"What?!" Asuka snapped.
"What have you been doing in that apartment of yours?" Ritsuko demanded.
"Maybe you'd know if you weren't such a deadbeat guardian," Misao sassed back, evicting a groan from Akagi.
"…nothing happened," Shinji spoke up, just before breaking into a run and then sealing himself into the simulation plug.
"All the pilots are ready for entry," Sakura reported from the Pribnow box's control room, bringing up an image from heat monitors in the plug, showing the forms of the four Children sitting in their command chairs.
"Thank goodness," Akagi sighed. "Insert the simulation plugs and commence data recording."
"Yes, ma'am," Sakura said, typing in the appropriate commands.
Inside the Pribnow box, the four plugs smoothly entered the headless Evangelion torsos.
"Connect system to the dummy bodies," Akagi ordered.
"Hai," Sakura said, "Simulation program has handed over control to the MAGI."
Standing off to the side a bit, Maya looked at the main screen, where data was streaming by far too quickly for a mere human to hope to be able to read. "It never ceases to amaze me," the former technician commented.
Ritsuko gave Maya a small smile before she continued overseeing the experiment. "How does it feel?" she asked the pilots.
"Different," was Rei's succinct response.
"Yeah, it's hard to describe," Shinji agreed. "It's definitely not the same as piloting a real EVA."
"The right arm feel clear, but everything else is fuzzy," Asuka added.
"I don't even have that," Misao put in. "The whole body feels fuzzy to me."
Ritsuko had the pilots do or attempt to do various things with their simulation bodies before she declared herself satisfied, and everyone sat back for another long and boring test. Despite the change in venue, it looked very much like there would be little difference between this experiment and the average harmonics test.
Appearances, of course, could be deceiving.
"It looks like corrosion on the 87th protein wall," Aoba said as Vice Commander Fuyutski looked over his shoulder, gazing at his screen. "See, if I zoom in here, you can see a color change has taken place."
Fuyutski nodded as he observed the brownish stain on the wall. "That area was updated only recently," he commented.
"Yes, sir," Aoba agreed, "but construction was done very hastily, and as a result some air bubbles got in."
"It was right after the Third Angel arrived that that was built," Makoto added. "Everyone was so exhausted with the avalanche of work that came after that, I'm not surprised things were done sloppily around here."
"Well, have it fixed by Tuesday or Ikari will chew my ass off," Fuyutski said.
"Yes, sir."
Back in the Pribnow box control room, the ominous sound of slowly buckling metal filled the ears of the personnel there. Ritsuko looked around worriedly.
"Is there another water leak?" she asked, exasperation tinting her voice.
"No," Sakura answered after briefly conferring with someone over her omnipresent headset. "There's corrosion in the 87th protein wall."
"Will it interrupt this test?" Ritsuko asked.
"Not at present, no," Sakura answered.
"Good," Ritsuko said. "Let's proceed, then. Ikari will chew my ass off if I don't get this data on schedule."
Satisfied that everything was fine, at least for the moment, Ritsuko turned back to the main screen.
Just before klaxons and warning messages began blaring everywhere.
"What's happening?!" the blond scientist demanded.
"A contamination alert has gone off for Sigma Unit!" Sakura announced, her voice betraying more than a hint of fear.
The Pribnow box was inside Sigma Unit, after all.
"The 87th protein wall has degraded," another technician announced. "Temperature is increasing rapidly."
"There's a problem in the number six pipeline," Sakura added. "The corroded area's expanding rapidly!"
"Abort the experiment!" Akagi barked. "Disconnect the number six pipeline!"
"Hai!" Sakura replied at once, practically punching the appropriate buttons.
They could hear the heavy machinery around them working to isolate the contaminated area. Everyone looked anxiously at Sakura, wanting to know whether it had worked.
"Contamination is still spreading!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's moving from wall to wall!"
"Ready the polysome," Ritsuko commanded. "Set the lasers at maximum. Fire as soon as the contaminant reaches here."
"Hai."
Several small doors inside the Pribnow opened, allowed robots that looked almost like miniature VTOLs to enter. The swarm of machines swam over to where the corrosion was likely to first appear and waited, looking as predatory as a faceless robot possibly could.
Then there was nothing to do but wait.
"It's coming," Sakura said as she anxiously stared at her screen.
A small, dark smile made its way onto Maya's face as she remembered a line from an old horror movie she'd seen once. They're here…
A scream suddenly split the tense silence in the control room, as if the universe itself had picked up on Maya's frame of mind. The petite brunette started.
"Rei," Ritsuko breathed.
"The First Child's simulation body is moving by itself!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Impossible!" Ritsuko said.
But, impossible or not, it was happening. Rei's dummy body, which was bolted to the wall like all the others, looked like it was trying to pull itself free. Fortunately, the thick bolt's holding it had been drilled into several of the very vertebrae of the body, and it failed to liberate itself from its restraints. Giving up, it lifted one arm and reached out toward the control room.
Sakura smashed the thin layer of glass in front of a large switch marked "forced shutdown" and pulled it. Small but powerful explosive charges located in the dummy body's elbow went off, blowing the headless beast's forearm off and stopping its assault before it could begin.
"What about Rei?" Maya asked.
"She's alive," Sakura replied.
"Eject all the plugs!" Ritsuko commanded. "Fire the lasers! Now!"
"Hai!"
A series of small rockets in each plug flared, sending the metal containers soaring out of the dummy bodies and upwards toward the ceiling. A large door opened up to allow them to escape and the plugs had soon journeyed out of the base, heading to the safety of the Geofront floor.
Beams of deadly red light shot out from the weapon barrels of the polysomes, striking the rogue simulation body. For a few seconds, no one had any idea what was happening as the water bubbled furiously and hid any effect the lasers might be having.
Then the bubbles cleared up just enough for Maya to spot a cluster of hexagonal shields of light protecting the dummy body from the lasers.
"Impossible! It's an AT field!" Maya exclaimed, just as some red, luminescent substance began to grow all over the dummy bodies like an out of control fungus.
"The pattern's blue! It's an Angel!" Sakura said grimly.
"We have to isolate the box!" Maya announced. "All personnel, evacuate!"
The various technicians in the room didn't need to be told twice and quickly got up from their chairs and fled toward the exit. Ritsuko was another matter, however. The blonde just stared darkly at the Angel, even as the glass that separated the control room from the Pribnow box began to crack, tiny jets of water starting to spurt in.
"Sempai!" Maya said. "We have to go!"
Ritsuko didn't say anything, but she did begin running, and the two just managed to escape and shut the door behind them just before the window shattered and allowed a tidal wave of water to pour into the control room.
Over an hour and a failed attempt to kill the Eleventh Angel with ozone later, the senior staff of NERV stood around a table in the command center, observing images and readouts on the Angel on the monitor that was part of the tabletop.
Any way one looked at it, their situation was grim. Not only had the Angel evolved to be able to thrive off of what they'd tried to kill it with, but it had transformed itself into what was essentially a living computer that could hack and code faster than any human could ever hope to. The Angel had immediately used its incredible new abilities to invade the MAGI. Melchior had already been completely taken over. The Angel had then moved onto Balthasar, but some quick thinking on Akagi's part had managed to buy NERV some time.
And as if all of that wasn't bad enough, the Angel had already tried to initiate the base's self-destruct sequence, right after it reprogrammed the first MAGI unit. Casper and Balthasar had overridden Melchior, but if the Angel gained complete control of the triumvirate of supercomputers, it was certain that they were all doomed.
In addition to all these worries, Maya found herself puzzled by several of the actions Commander Ikari had taken in response to the Angel. Gendo had ordered the alarm to be called off in an attempt to make the Human Instrumentality Committee and the Japanese government believe that there was no attack. He had also ordered that the EVA Units be launched without pilots in order to keep them from being contaminated. This seemed logical enough, but he had commanded that Unit One, not the more modern Unit Two, be launched first.
"The only method of destroying this Angel that I can think of is destroying the MAGI," Maya softly, "but…"
She trailed off, seeing the way Ritsuko's eyes hardened at her suggestion. The identity of the MAGI's true creator was a surprisingly well kept secret among the rank and file NERV personnel, but Maya had written her senior thesis on the supercomputers and knew very well whose personality they contained.
"Destroying the MAGI means abandoning headquarters," Ritsuko said sharply.
"It should be a method of last resort," Maya said, hating herself for not taking the idea off the table entirely. However, she knew it would be a dereliction of her duty to do so. "If you've got another idea, I'd be more than willing to hear it."
"I do have an idea," Ritsuko said. "I believe that if the Angel continues to evolve, we can promote said evolution in a way that will lead to its own destruction."
"But how?" Maya asked. "Organisms evolve for the sole purpose of survival. There are no stimuli we can expose it to that will promote it toward a self-destructive evolutionary path."
Despite the direness of the situation, the corners of Ritsuko's mouth turned upwards. "Maya, I'm surprised at you; I would think that you'd be the first to realize what my plan is," she commented. "The Angel evolved into a living computer so it could hack the MAGI, but such a transformation creates a weakness as well. Since it's essentially a computer, we can reprogram it and force it to evolve in a way that will result in death."
Maya was momentarily stunned by her former mentor's brilliance, but a potential flaw in the plan suddenly occurred to the brunette. "But in order for you to do that, you'll need to disable the firewalls between Casper and the other MAGI."
"It's a gamble on what's faster: Casper or the Angel," Gendo observed.
"Hai," Ritsuko acknowledged.
"Do you really believe that you can do this, Dr. Akagi?" Maya asked.
It felt strange to call Ritsuko anything other than "sempai" but Maya didn't think it would be appropriate to address her as such at the moment.
"Yes," Ritsuko said firmly. "You have my word."
Maya nodded. "All right. The tactical section will allow Technical Division One to run things…on one condition."
Ritsuko arched an eyebrow. "And what is that?"
Maya favored the bottle blonde with a small, sly smile. "That you consider me a part of Tech Division One again until the crisis is resolved."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Ritsuko replied warmly.
Maya felt a quiet sense of awe washing over her as Ritsuko raised Casper out of the floor, the sight of the ugly, grimy pipes and other machinery that was usually hidden not phasing her in the least. Contained within Casper's casing was more computing power than existed in some of Japan's prefectures, Maya knew.
Ritsuko opened up a panel on the side of the computer, revealing a tunnel just large enough for an adult to crawl through. Maya frowned as she saw post-it notes without number stuck all over the guts of the machine.
"What're those?" she asked.
Ritsuko didn't answer her at first, crawling into the tunnel. "These are notes made by the developer."
Maya's eyes widened. "Incredible!" she exclaimed, grabbing one and examining it. She felt her confidence in their ability to reprogram the Angel increase as she studied it. "These are the secret codes and backdoors of the MAGI!"
"Thanks, Mom," Ritsuko said softly. "We can definitely make it."
Maya followed Ritsuko inside, the two of them leaving Sakura waiting outside with her laptop in hand. She looked around at the endless notes, unable to believe that such a treasure trove of information had been consigned to post-its and left in the dark of years and years.
She spotted several that had large characters written across them in bold, thick kanji. They said, "Ikari, you jerk!"
Maya smirked. I guess the Commander hasn't changed since Dr. Naoko Akagi's time.
Working in concert, the two women went about the task of partially dismantling Casper, peeling away nonessential and backup hardware to get at the more vital components beneath. Mechanical entrails were soon scattered all over the floor outside the MAGI unit.
It was hard work, disassembling so much with so little time, and doing it from the cramped, stuffy confines of Casper, but Maya didn't mind it a bit. The former technician felt like she was back on her own turf for the first time since her promotion, and it was good to be back, if only for a little while.
Ritsuko stuck her hand out. "I need a—"
Maya placed the wrench in Ritsuko's hand before she could complete her request. She always had been able to predict what Ritsuko would need or want next, at least when it came to computers.
This is so much more efficient than any of my interactions with the pilots, she mused.
"Arigato," Ritsuko said. "Board number 25, please."
Maya handed her the desired item, and Ritsuko connected it to Casper and began to type away at it.
"So," Ritsuko said, breaking the easy silence, "remind you of your college days?"
Maya smiled. "No," she answered. "Now if we could get my old roommate to have sex with a man she barely knows on top of Casper, then it would feel like college all over again."
Ritsuko chuckled. "That bad, huh?"
"Yes," Maya said. "I was always expecting her to flunk out, too, but somehow she always managed to just barely pass."
Silence descended again for a few seconds. This time it was Maya who broke it.
"Kami-sama, but I've missed this," she said abruptly, her voice quiet but vehement.
Ritsuko grinned. "So have I, actually," she said.
Maya blushed slightly. "Thanks, sempai."
Intent as she was on what she was doing, Ritsuko didn't really notice her former protégé's reaction. "I'm just telling the truth," the scientist said.
There was yet another lull in their conversation, and again Maya was the one to speak up and end it. "So…" she began, "what was it like? To have someone as brilliant as the MAGI's creator for a mother, I mean."
Ritsuko laughed bitterly. "Terrible. Naoko Akagi excelled as scientist, but as mother, she was a failure."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Maya said guiltily, wishing she'd just kept her mouth shut.
"Don't be," Ritsuko said. "I've made my peace with it. My mother didn't feel like being a mother very often. She was too busy with being a scientist most of the time, and at college, her reputation always preceded me."
"It was that bad?" Maya asked quietly.
"Everybody there was afraid of me, except for Misato and Kaji," Ritsuko replied.
Like just about everyone, Maya had fought with her parents on more than one occasion, especially during her teenage years. However, she couldn't imagine feeling such bitterness toward either her mother or her father. She felt a stab of sympathy for Ritsuko.
"I'm sorry, sempai," Maya said.
"Not your fault, and like I said, I've made my peace with it," Ritsuko said. "Balthasar, Naoko Akagi as a mother, might have equal say among the MAGI units, but that wasn't true of the woman herself. To her, being a scientist always came before mother. The same is true about being a woman."
"A woman?" Maya asked.
"After my father left, she...had relations with younger men," Ritsuko said. "Some of which she really should have steered clear of."
"I see," Maya said, not knowing how else to reply. "You seemed rather keen to save the MAGI, for someone who didn't even like the person whose personality was transcribed onto them."
"I made that decision as a scientist," Ritsuko said.
Before Maya could say anything else, Ritsuko turned on a power saw and began cutting into the metal casing that covered the cloned brain which was the core of Casper. The noise effectively stifled further conversation on the topic, and Maya shook her head.
Humans are more complicated than any computer could ever hope to be, she decided, strongly doubting that Ritsuko had made her decision to save the MAGI just as a scientist.
Having cut a diamond shaped hole in the brain case, Ritsuko carefully inserted long needles that were part of an I/O system created just for the MAGI into the gray matter of the computer's brain. Maya considered broaching the topic of Naoko Akagi now that Ritsuko had turned off the saw, but she decided against it.
Alarm klaxons suddenly began blaring all over again, and Maya was barely able to restrain the impulse to jump in fright, knowing that the result would be a rather painful bump on the head.
"It's taken over Balthasar!" they heard Makoto shout.
"Artificial intelligence has proposed self-destruction," announced the calm, digitized voice of the MAGI themselves. "Self destruction will commence in thirty seconds if all three MAGI units unanimously approve."
"The Angel's invading Casper!" Aoba called.
"Twenty seconds until self-destruct," the MAGI announced.
"Casper will be taken over in eighteen seconds!" Aoba added.
If we lose, we'll only have three seconds to feel bad about it, Maya thought grimly.
"Ten," the MAGI began to count down. "Nine…eight…"
"Hurry, sempai!"
"Don't worry," Ritsuko said as she typed furiously, "I should have one whole second to spare."
Most people would have responded to that statement with incredulousness, but Maya wasn't most people. The former technician's faith in the scientist was so powerful that the blonde's words actually comforted her.
"Six…five…four…"
"Sakura!" Ritsuko shouted. "Now!"
Both women stabbed the enter key on their respective keyboards at once, just as the countdown reached two seconds.
There was a long, terrible pause in the command center as everyone waited to see whether Ritsuko had succeeded or not. Everyone held their breath, as though afraid to make the slightest sound.
"Self destruct was cancelled by the artificial intelligence," the MAGI announced. "All systems returning to normal modes."
Cheers erupted from the command center, while Ritsuko simply leaned her head back and sighed in relief.
"You did it, sempai!" Maya exclaimed joyously. "I knew you would!"
Ritsuko managed to smile back at her former assistant and nod. "Looks like I did," she said, "with a little help from mother."
Maya arched an eyebrow, and Ritsuko smiled.
"I hated my mother as a woman, which is what Casper is," Ritsuko said, placing a hand against once of the panels near the exposed brain. "But…I have to admit, her usual unwillingness to surrender no matter what served us well today."
Meanwhile, out on the Geofront floor, three naked and miserable Children sat in their plugs, waiting for rescue.
Three weeks later…
It was a fortunate thing that Shinji Ikari could be so oblivious, especially when he was listening to music with his SDAT. If he hadn't been so dead to the world, he would have noticed that Misao had been staring at him for the last twenty minutes or so.
She was worried about him. He had had to endure Unit Zero going berserk on him only a few days ago, during a cross compatibility experiment gone terribly wrong, and now the anniversary of his mother's death was the next day. It seemed as if fate was intent on kicking Shinji in the face lately, even more so than usual.
She wanted to accompany him to Yui's grave, since she suspected Gendo would provide as much emotional support to his son on the upcoming somber occasion as a rabid wolverine.
Yet Misao was acutely aware of the fact that going with someone to visit their ancestor's grave was a very significant thing in Japanese culture. She didn't want to cajole Shinji into taking her along if he didn't want her there.
If she found herself in such a situation with most people, she would just ask and abide by whatever the person she was asking to join decided. But since she was dealing with Shinji, she wasn't quite sure what to do.
Shinji might agree to let her come with him even if didn't want her there; the Third Child had difficulty doing anything that would displease anyone, especially when it came to people he cared about, she knew.
"What's with you two?"
Misao jumped, turning to see that Asuka had entered the apartment without her noticing. Shinji didn't move, either not hearing the Second Child or choosing not to.
"The anniversary of Shinji-kun's mother's death is tomorrow," Misao explained. "He and his father are going to visit her grave."
Asuka shrugged, clearly not caring about her perceived rival's problems. "So what's your problem?"
"I'm worried about him," Misao grumbled.
"I don't see what the big deal is," Asuka said, annoyed to see people babying the Third Child as usual. "The baka can play nice with the Commander for an hour, even if he hates him."
"Shinji doesn't hate Commander Ikari. That's the problem," Misao sighed.
"Whatever," Asuka said. "Hey, can I borrow your lavender perfume? I have a date tomorrow."
"You have a date? With who?" Misao asked.
"Some friend of Hikari's sister," Asuka answered. "So, can I use the perfume?"
"No, that stuff's not for kids," Misao replied without thinking.
Asuka snorted derisively. "So I guess you haven't used it since that little incident with Unit One that made you my age?"
"For your information, I haven't," Misao replied, not entirely sure if she was telling the truth or not but unwilling to concede anything to the redhead.
"Fine," Asuka grumbled, heading to her room.
With the Second Child out of sight and out of mind, Misao went back to silently observing Shinji.
This is insane! She thought suddenly, feeling tired of indecisively staring at him.
She went over to the Third Child and gently nudged him. Shinji quickly pressed pause on his SDAT and removed the ear buds. "Yes?"
"Shinji-kun, would you like me to go with you when you visit the cemetery tomorrow?" she asked.
He blinked, surprised by the offer. "I thought you had to go to a wedding tomorrow."
She smiled. "No, I was invited to a wedding tomorrow, but Ritsuko will be making my excuses to the happy couple for me. I can't very well go looking like a teenager now can I, silly boy?"
"I guess not," Shinji said sheepishly.
"So?" Misao asked. "Do you want me to go with you? I won't be insulted if you say no." She added.
"I…I think I would like that," Shinji said.
The words came slowly and uncertainly, but Misao decided that it was good enough for her.
When Kaji arrived at the wedding reception, he had thoughts about what he had learned about the Marduk Institute going through his mind. However, by the time he found the table where Ritsuko was seated, thoughts of a more personal nature had taken over.
"Hello, Rits," he greeted, putting up a facade of cheerfulness. "You look lovely today."
The blonde favored her old friend with a small, wry smile. "Thank you, Kaji," she said, deciding not to comment on how sloppy knotted his tie was. "You know, while there is such a thing as being fashionably late, I do believe you overdid it just a tad."
Kaji shrugged. "I doubt the happy couple even noticed I wasn't at ceremony," he said. "I was only friends with Yumi through Katsuragi, after all. Speaking of which, how did the bride take her absence?"
"She was disappointed, but what was to be done? After all, Misato can't come running back from China for every occasion. We've been invited to so many weddings, lately, after all." Ritsuko shrugged, eyes twinkling slightly.
Kaji grunted in response, becoming pensive as he stared into the small glass of champagne in front of him. He had always hated champagne, it was too bubbly and fruity in his opinion, but he couldn't count the number of times he'd drank it. Champagne was a romantic drink, after all, and as a consummate lady's man, he found himself toasting with it often.
"I hope they're very happy," he said softly, looking out at the dance floor, where the groom was skillfully spinning the bride.
"You miss her, don't you?" Ritsuko asked, both of them knowing quite well that she wasn't referring to Yumi.
"Yes," Kaji confessed. "I barely even see her anymore, and when I do, the other pilots are usually around, which means—"
"Asuka," Ritsuko finished for him.
He grinned wryly. "Yeah," he said. "Not that I would try to start anything, not after what happened to her. But still…"
"You had to have known it would possible that you'd get here and find Misato would want nothing to do with you," Ritsuko said.
"Of course," Kaji replied. "I didn't believe that she'd just been waiting for me to come and win her back ever since she left me, but what happened was just so…unexpected."
"I don't see how it's functionally any different from coming to Japan and find that, say, Misato was happily married," Ritsuko said.
Kaji smiled slightly, knowing that the scientist tended to think of things in terms of binary code sometimes. Either it was a one or a zero, and there was no room in between.
"I guess I braced myself for finding out there was another man," Kaji said. "What happened, though, was something I couldn't possibly have expected. Besides, even if there had been another man, I still could have gone out for a drink with her, even if it meant having to tolerate him tagging along."
"You would have stolen her away from this hypothetical man, wouldn't you?" Ritsuko asked.
"It would have been a distinct possibility," Kaji admitted with a wry grin. "But enough of all this sad stuff. This is a wedding, not a funeral. Would you like to dance, Rits?" he asked, extending a hand to her.
"Only if you promise to be thinking about me while we're at it," Ritsuko said, taking the offered hand.
"I'll do my best," Kaji chuckled.
So the duo got out on the floor and danced, Ritsuko with an old college friend, Kaji with his memories.
Part of Misao was regretting offering to accompany Shinji by the time the cemetery came into view. The Third Child seemed to be shrouded in a cloud of the blackest gloom, one that Misao was feeling the full effects of as she walked next to him.
Misao ordered that part of her to shut up and reminded herself that she wasn't there for her own sake; she was there purely for his benefit.
"What ever happened to your mother?" Shinji asked.
Misao was caught off guard by the question; Shinji had barely said a word since they'd left the apartment that morning. "My mother?"
"Yeah, you told me about what happened to your father but not your mother. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he quickly added.
"No, it's okay," Misao said. "My mother was killed by the tsunami that resulted from Second Impact."
"I see. Sorry I brought it up," Shinji said softly.
"It's okay," Misao replied. "Memories of my mother don't hurt as much as those of my father. It's kind of strange when you think about it, since I was much closer with her than I was with Dad. I guess it's because there wasn't anything left unsaid between Mom and me."
Shinji nodded and made no reply. After a few more paces, Misao spoke up. "How did she die? Your mother?"
"Some kind of accident," Shinji replied, frowning slightly. "I don't know the details, since I was only four at the time, and Father's never explained everything to me. I don't…I don't even remember what she looked like. I don't have any pictures."
Misao put a hand on his shoulder. "Anyone would have forgotten that. Most people can barely remember anything from when they were that young," she said. "It doesn't make you a bad son."
"Yeah," Shinji said quietly.
Misao felt her heart breaking, just knowing that Shinji didn't really believe that. The Fourth Child silently cursed whatever deity had seen fit to heap so much misery upon her best friend.
The two reached the cemetery, finding that the ground was dry, dusty, and utterly devoid of vegetation. It was like death had such a powerful hold over this place that nothing, not even plants, could be allowed flourish here. Misao shivered slightly as they walked among the gravestones, feeling that she was trespassing, simply because she was alive in this home of the dead.
She was glad that her parents had no such memorials. When she had come out of catatonic state, already nearly an adult, Misao had arranged for a funeral ceremony to be conducted by the sea. Since both of them lay in the ocean (technically in the same grave, but still leagues apart, which Misao had always felt was bitterly appropriate given their dysfunctional marriage), she had felt it was only right for them to be officially buried at sea.
She had been the only one who'd attended that ceremony, since all her parents' friends had been dead and she didn't have any, having just awoken from her years long hibernation. Afterwards she'd gotten completely and totally smashed for the first time in her life and had later decided, upon reflection, that it was probably a good thing that there was no empty tomb for her to visit.
The tall, thin figure of Gendo Ikari came into view, looking even more grim than usual. Shinji slowed and stopped before reaching him and hesitated. For a moment, Misao thought he was contemplating fleeing from this place.
Then he turned to her and said, "Would you wait here for a moment, please?"
Misao nodded, relieved that he wasn't about to run away and actually rather glad that he was setting a boundary for her. With a quiet word of thanks, Shinji walked over toward Gendo and the headstone he was looking down at.
Shinji probably assumed that Misao wasn't close enough to hear anything they said, and Gendo didn't even seem to realize she was there, so fixated upon the grave was he. When the father spoke, however, she was able to pick it up easily, thanks to the oppressive silence of the cemetery.
"It's been three years since we last came here together," Gendo said.
"I ran away then, and I haven't been back until now," Shinji confessed, kneeling down by the grave and placing a bouquet of white flowers that he'd brought before it. "It just hasn't sunk in that mother is resting here. I don't even remember her face."
"Man survives by forgetting his memories," Gendo commented, "but there are some things a man should never forget. Yui taught me about those things. I come here to confirm that."
"You don't have any pictures of her?" Shinji asked, faint traces of both hope and accusation mingling in his voice.
"None. This grave as well is just decoration. There is no body here," Gendo said.
"So my old guardian was right," Shinji said. "You threw them all away."
"I keep everything in my heart. That is enough for now," Gendo said, and if Misao hadn't known better, she would have thought that Gendo was offended by the implications of his son's statement.
A VTOL suddenly descended from the sky, its engines creating terrific gusts and kicking great clouds of dust. It landed gently on the closest patch of empty ground it could to Gendo it could find.
Misao blinked, wondering at the exit the man chose to make. She had never been very religious, wearing her father's cross only because it was all she had left of him, but bringing something so noisy into this place seemed nothing short of heretical.
"It's time, I'm leaving now," Gendo announced.
Shinji only hesitated a moment before calling out to his father. "Um, I'm glad I got to talk to you today."
"I see," was Gendo's only response before he climbed into the VTOL.
Misao felt hot rage burning within her as the plane took off, soon disappearing from view. It would have cost the man nothing to tell his son that he, too, had been glad to speak with him, but he hadn't. After everything Shinji had done and suffered through, much of it because of his father, Gendo couldn't even muster a platitude in way of repayment. It sickened her.
Shinji beckoned her over, and Misao went over as quickly as she could without feeling like she was committing some kind of act of blasphemy. The cemetery didn't seem like a place to run in.
"Shinji-kun…" Misao began, but found that she had no idea what to say to him.
Shinji gave her a small, sad smile. "Misao, this is my mother. Mother, this is my best friend, Misao."
She smiled back at him, and for a few minutes the two just stood there, silently looking at the grave.
"I guess there was nothing left unsaid between my mother and me, either," Shinji finally spoke. "Let's go home."
Misao nodded and the two left the cemetery, slowly walking toward the train station.
"So, wanna go…"
Misao trailed off, realizing that the words "get drunk" had been on the tip of her tongue. She was appalled at how ingrained this response to sadness was within her, even now. Apparently, old habits really did die hard.
She realized that Shinji was giving her a curious look and blurted out the first alternative suggestion that came to mind. "Uh, wanna go get some ice cream?"
Misao felt absurd the moment the words passed her lips, realizing that going to get ice cream together could very easily be construed as a date. It also seemed ridiculously inappropriate after what had just happened.
Fortunately, Shinji didn't seem to pick up on any unintended, romantic implications of her offer, nor did he get offended. Instead he just shook his head and said, "No, thank you. I'd rather just go back to the apartment."
She nodded. "Of course."
"Misao?" he said.
"Yes, Shinji-kun?"
"Thank you," he said. "For coming with me."
She smiled, deciding that this whole ordeal had been worth it. "You're welcome, Shinji-kun."
The moment they got back in the apartment, Misao went straight to her room to change. Shinji wasn't surprised; she had gone to the cemetery in a dark blue dress that was far more subdued than any other piece of clothing he'd ever seen her wear. He hadn't even realized that she'd owned such a thing, which was quite the trick. After all, to the best of his knowledge, Misao had never gone shopping for clothing since her transformation without dragging him along to carry her bags.
Regardless of where she'd gotten it from, he had been touched that she would so violate her personal dress code for a visit to his mother's grave.
Feeling somewhat at loose ends, Shinji looked around the kitchen. Pen-Pen was nowhere to be seen, presumably napping in his fridge, and Asuka was likewise absent.
Probably hasn't gotten back from her date yet, Shinji thought.
He knew that he should get to work on dinner, but what he really wanted to do was retrieve the one thing he had of his mother. He always found himself yearning for it on this day, and this year was obviously no exception.
I've barely practiced at all since I came to Tokyo-3, Shinji mused as he headed to room.
The Third Child removed his old but well cared for cello from its case and brought the instrument into the kitchen with him. Taking the bow in one hand, he slowly began to coax music from its strings, finding to his satisfaction that very little of his skill had deserted him since he'd been plunged into war.
He didn't even notice it when Misao emerged, now clad in denim shorts and a tank top.
She didn't do anything to alert him to her presence, instead allowing the low, doleful notes to wash over her. Misao, a self proclaimed rock and roller, normally hated any music that was remotely classical, and what Shinji was playing certainly qualified as that. However, there was something powerful and undeniable in his music that riveted her.
Or perhaps it was the look on his face. It was a look of concentration, unsurprisingly, but there was something else there in Shinji Ikari's delicate, almost feminine features. He wasn't exactly happy, but he did look at peace with himself as he played, far more so than he usually was.
And I barely even knew he had an instrument, Misao thought, recalling how she'd seen the large cello case when he'd moved in but had never given it much thought.
Misao remembered a guy she'd dated briefly in college, prior to meeting Kaji, who had said he was a musician. He was a guitarist who liked to wax philosophical about music, going on about its beauty and power and how he felt it was a vital part of him.
She had soon found that he wasn't very good and rarely practiced, eventually realizing that the whole idealistic musician persona was just something he'd constructed to try and impress women, because he couldn't afford a flashy car. Yet now she found herself remembering something he'd said to her once while he was pretending to be deep: "I feel more like myself when I'm making music."
It had been absolute bunk when he'd said it about himself, but she thought it might well be true in Shinji's case.
Misao shifted her weight slightly, and the old floorboards creaked beneath her. Shinji's cello let out a small screech as he started slightly.
"Oh, Misao," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "I didn't realize you were there. I can stop if you don't like it."
"No, no," Misao said, pulling up a chair by Shinji. "I like it. It's nice. Please, keep going."
"You actually like this?" he asked, seeming surprised and rather amused.
"Yeah," Misao answered. "Why are you so shocked?"
He shrugged. "You just…don't seem like the type who would like the cello, that's all."
"I'm usually not, but you're very good," Misao said.
He smiled and was about to say something when the door to the apartment suddenly opened, and Asuka tromped in.
"Hello, Asuka," Shinji said.
"You're back early," Misao commented.
"My blind date was terrifically boring," the Second Child said brusquely. "He actually took me to an amusement park."
"Did he try to feel you up on the Ferris wheel?" Misao asked with a smirk.
"He might have, if I hadn't left while he was waiting on line for tickets to it," Asuka said. "Anyway, I've already eaten, so don't cook dinner for me."
With that, the Second Child strode off toward the hallway and disappeared into her room. Shinji and Misao traded glances before giving the brief encounter a small, mutual shrug.
"Please, play," Misao said, gesturing to the cello.
With a small smile on his face, Shinji did.
Author's Notes: As more of you, dear reviewers, decided that you wanted me to keep in at least certain bits of the chapters I was considering skipping, I sat down and wrote this. It skips episode 14, since that was mostly a clip show and what wasn't a rehash (Unit Zero going berserk with Shinji inside and Misato being furious at Ritsuko afterwards) would have gone almost exactly the same way here.
So yeah, a little humor, a little Maya/Ritsuko bonding, and some angst. I hope you enjoyed.
Animefan29, morbid that line might have been, but we're nearing the point where everything went straight to hell in canon. Shinji's better equipped to deal with it here, but there's no way the coming trials can be easy for him or the other pilots.
Orionpax09, I admit the whole thing with Maya staying and fighting last chapter never quite sat right with me, but I couldn't let the Angel blow up Tokyo-3. I briefly considered having it so Maya had lost a loved one in Second Impact as well, but that felt like it would've been turning Maya into Misato-lite.
NefCanuck, while I agree that Asuka wouldn't just quietly tolerate being second best to anyone (this chapter notwithstanding, since she has so little presence in it), I can't see her trying to seduce Shinji to wreck things between him and Misao. Asuka's not much a schemer; she doesn't try to subtly manipulate people much and when she does, she usually screws it up. In-your-face aggression has always seemed to be more her style.
Ryousanki, yes, it would have made things far less complicated if our lovebirds had kissed, but this is Eva. It's supposed to be complicated. :P
Aedan, I've always assumed that Shinji was in pain from jumping into the volcano, but the heroism of the act was ironically never the point of that event, at least, so it seemed to me. In cannon I think the point was showing the viewer that yes, Shinji actually managed to impress Asuka, not showing the viewer that Shinji had actually done something truly gallant and badass for once. In this fic, it was about Shinji fixing the results of Misao's overzealousness.
As always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers.
Omakes
Music is not always the answer
Meanwhile, out on the Geofront floor, three naked and miserable Children sat in their plugs, waiting for rescue.
"What in the world is going on out there?" Shinji wondered aloud.
"Damn it!" Asuka cursed. "I can't go anywhere naked! Somebody hurry up and help me!"
There was a long pause, then…
"Wanna do a sing along to pass the time?" Misao called to her fellow pilots.
"No!" Asuka, Shinji, and even Rei shouted in unison, all of them having already been subjected to what Misao classified as singing several times now.
"Aw, c'mon, it'll be fun!" Misao urged.
All that answered her was stony silence.
Not deterred in the least, Misao decided that she wasn't just going to sit around feeling awkward and bored for hours.
"I told the witch doctor I was in love you!" she belted out the lyrics, causing her fellow pilots to wince. "And then the witch doctor he told me what do! He said that Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah, Ah! Ting! Tang! Walla walla, bing bang! Oo, Ee, Oo, Ah, Ah! Ting! Tang! Walla walla, bing bang!"
Asuka let out a wordless scream of fury as her already minimal supply of patience completely ran out. Not giving a thought to modesty, the Second Child opened her plug's hatch and stormed over to Misao's plug. She opened it and roughly pulled the surprised Fourth Child out.
"Shut up!" Asuka roared, even as the two began to exchange frantic blows.
Neither of them noticed that Shinji had opened his own plug's hatch just a crack and was looking out at them. "Oh my god," he whispered, as he watched two of the hottest girls he knew clash with one another. "Naked catfight. This is the single greatest day of my life."
Most impressive
Taking a deep breath, Shinji pressed the button and walked out into the hall at a quick pace, barely able to keep himself from sprinting to the privacy of the simulation plug.
"Wow, Shinji-kun, have you been working out?" Misao called.
"What?!" Shinji squawked, whirling around without thinking about it, even as he broke out into a full body blush.
He saw the three female pilots, all of whom were staring at him with wide eyes.
"Woah…" breathed Asuka, who was most assuredly not looking anywhere near his face.
"Ikari-kun seems to be…far above average for a male his age," Rei commented to no one in particular, her cheeks bright pink. "Very far…"
"Wow, Shinji-kun, you sure have grown since the penguin and toothpicks incident," Misao said, also blushing heavily.
Asuka and perhaps even Rei might have asked what the "penguin and toothpicks incident" was, had circumstances been different. As it was, however, all three female pilots just slammed on the buttons to move aside the frosted glass screens between themselves and the lone boy and then charged at him.
Shinji let out a small "eep!" as he was tackled to the floor by the three ladies.
Meanwhile, up in the Commander's lair, Gendo and Fuyutski were observing with the aid of a hidden camera that had not been turned off in deference to the pilots' privacy.
"Most impressive," Gendo said. "The Third Child may be a greater threat to the scenario than I predicted. After all, I didn't engage in my first four-way until I was three years older than him."
Fuyutski rolled his eyes. If Ikari ever slept with three women at once without paying them first, I'll offer up my soul to the next EVA that needs one.
"Can you turn that off?" Fuyutski grumbled. "I already feel guilty enough about helping you bring about Third Impact. I don't need you to make me feel like a dirty old man, too!"
