Eight minutes before Rei was rejected by Unit-01, Misato, Shinji and Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki were on their way to the Test Facility.

"Sir, there's something I found out ever since Nagisa came," Misato said in a low voice, trying not to let Shinji, who was trailing behind, eavesdrop on them. "I was supposed to discuss this with you today."

Fuyutsuki blinked. "Come again?"

"I discovered a great deal of discrepancies on his sync data, that is, he could do anything with it much easier compared to the other Children."

The old man sighed. "I'm very much aware of it," he whispered, "He has everything, the ideal Eva pilot, but he's also Committee property. That means we shouldn't simply jump on him on mere suspicion. On the other hand, however, I seriously doubt if Ayanami could return to piloting this time. It's been several days since Unit Zero destroyed herself."

"I finally understood what she is, sir," Misato said. "Shinji and I went down with Ritsuko to see it for ourselves... why she is the Third."

Fuyutsuki turned to her and inquired, "At the Dummy Plug Plant?"

Misato nodded, and she told him the short version of what transpired down there.

"Then Shinji now knows the truth," Fuyutsuki spoke, "Everything about her manufactured nature, and why there are many copies of her. Is he very much aware of where Ayanami actually came from?"

"I'm afraid we got only half the story," Misato remarked. "Afterwards, I once overheard him wondering why she and… his mother are almost alike."

Fuyutsuki pursed his lips, apparently trying to make up his mind if he could go on and say the secret he kept for many years. He could imagine her short brown hair, that carefree expression, the soft lips, the gentle demeanor, the intelligence in her eyes…

Then he spilled the beans in almost a whisper.

"Major, I tell you this: Ayanami is a product of my frustration over the years… for not being able to–"

At the threshold of the observation room, this time suddenly the klaxons blared around them, cutting off the conversation, and the PA called everyone to evacuate the premises as Unit-01 broke free of her restraints. The entire Central Dogma shook violently from the pounding of her fists.

Shocked by the alarm, Shinji rushed to the window and saw unfolding pandemonium before his very eyes. He merely opened his mouth in shock.


Several levels below and in her Stockade cell, Ritsuko felt a strong tremor as it roused her from her nap on the iron cot. A surprised expression crossed her face, wondering.

What's going on? Was it a chemical explosion? She thought.

No, this is too strong for such an explosion. Is it an earthquake? But…

Then she remembered a situation like this. She covered her gaping mouth in disbelief.

Oh, my God, I think Ikari's trying to do something really stupid with the Evas!


All three of them watched in terror and disbelief as Unit-01 smashed the walls with her mailed fists, while her legs tried to kick free of the lower restraints. A fist hit a wall and chunks of concrete fell out to the floor; and another flew towards the direction of the control room, almost blowing out one of the thickly-layered, mesh-reinforced windows.

While Fuyutsuki instinctively covered her with his arm, beckoning her to stay behind, Misato turned her attention to Shinji and ordered, "Stay down! Just don't try to intefere or you'll get hurt!"

But Shinji didn't move an inch as he observed the chaos unfolding before him.

His mind was now recalling a scene like this before.

Back then, he was with Unit-00, on a compatibility test when something entered his mind, trying to invade him as it was threatening to crack open his skull.

He found himself screaming.

"Ah, what the heck is this?! Something's trying to get into my head! What the hell is it? Ayanami? Rei Ayanami? It's Rei, this consciousness is hers! No, don't do this to me!"

As he struggled to get this something off his brain, trying to find the ejection handle, warning boxes popped out of the heads-up display and watched the people in the control room panic, attempting to stop Unit-00 from wreaking havoc.

Before they could shut the whole Eva down, she was trying to punch her way through to strike Rei, who stoically stood there at the control room, watching.

Now it was a terrifying repeat of yesterday, one that he couldn't ignore at all, even as Misato grabbed his wrist and pulled him away, yelling.


NEON GENESIS EVANGELION
LIGHT AND WATER – SEASON 2
CHAPTER 11: WHEN THE DUST CLEARS
An alternate path fanfiction by soulassassin547
Written on 3/5/2010 2:08


-Shekinah-

Four minutes later, and lying on her back on a growing puddle of LCL, Rei Ayanami was trying to open her eyes after she heaved the amber liquid out of her system. She could feel her heart beating rapidly as it was attempting to get oxygen circulated back into her system, but there was the remaining rushing edge of adrenaline in her veins.

Kaworu Nagisa was looking down at her, staring with concerned eyes. He managed to revive her through CPR. Klaxons were still sounding the alarm at almost a deafening volume.

"Rei, are you all right?" he asked as he pulled her body up to prop against his chest.

The First Children nodded almost weakly, breathing in fresh air. But as she did there was a slight pain in her head, as if something had been pushed into her mind.

It felt strange.

There was a new awareness that she never felt before minutes ago, or even days, until it dawned upon her that perhaps somehow the missing pieces in her were finally put in their rightful place. Thus she felt that a circumstance like this happened previously, and she could now see it in her mind.

She heard Kaworu whisper into her ear.

"I told you I'll be right there by your side," he said. "Hang on there, help is on the way."

Then she faded into unconsciousness as the shock from the trauma overtook her.


-Svengali-

As he watched Kaworu rescue Rei, Gendo Ikari was fully aware that he imagined himself down there, so many months ago before Shinji came.

He was there.

He could vividly remember the moment, the smell of spilled LCL everywhere as he ran across the test floor. Unit-00 was restrained by a solidifying mass of Bakelite on its body, but the Entry Plug was on the floor a few meters away, partly draped by its emergency parachute. He could also remember calling her name out, and then touched the escape hatch.

The heated metal seared into his palms, and the burning pain was instantaneous, but he struggled to release the lever and twist it around to open the hatch.

Still clenching his teeth from reacting to the burns on his palms, he crawled inside, trying to reach her and said the words.

"Rei, are you all right? Rei!"

Gendo could see Rei give him an "I'm okay" nod.

But as he pulled her out, his glasses slipped off his face and fell. The lenses fractured from the hard impact as the glasses bounced until it rested on the floor.

Now, back to this reality and in the midst of the anarchy, there was a strange feeling in his heart.

There was little for Commander Gendo Ikari to say as he remained there at the control room, transfixed with this recurrence, watching the paramedics assist them both and lifted Rei onto a waiting stretcher.


-The Hedgehog-

Shinji could remember another scene as Kaworu pulled Rei out of the Entry Plug. It was almost the same situation but in a different place, on a moonlit night on the slopes of Mount Futagoyama.

As he ran toward the Entry Plug, he saw afar in the middle of Tokyo-3 the smoking carcass of the Angel resting on its side, after he killed it with the Prototype Positron Sniper Rifle. No thanks to the high-energy beam attack of the Angel, Unit-00's SSTO shield was now a molten piece of metal, and that Eva's armor was almost burned off.

The Entry Plug was on the ground, and Shinji struggled to open the hatch. He found Rei sitting there on the cockpit, almost exhausted.

The sight of her made him cry, as he called her out.

"Ayanami, are you all right? Ayanami!"

Rei was speechless.

"D… Don't say to me 'I have nothing else'," Shinji pleaded. "Don't say 'goodbye' to me when we go on a mission. Hearing you say those goodbye things is too hard for me."

The Third Children wiped the tears off his cheeks with his arm.

"Why are you crying?" Rei asked as she watched him weep. "I am sorry. I do not know what to feel at times like this."

Shinji managed to swallow. "That's okay, I'm too terribly worried about you," he answered. "Come on, I'll get you out of here."

"Are you okay, Shinji?" Misato asked. The young man blinked, now snapped out of his reverie.

"Y… Yes?"

Misato was now staring at him, and Fuyutsuki was just behind her, standing. Both of them were visibly shaken.

"What has gotten into your head? I told you to take cover!" she reprimanded him loudly.

"It… it was like this, just like… this before," Shinji answered, stammering.

Misato shook her head. "Come on, we have to get out of here," she said, grabbing his wrist as they quickly walked out of the observation room.


The whole control room looked as if a bomb went off outside its armored shell. Dust can also be seen floating in the air, and there were flecks of cement on the floor. Chairs laid askew, papers strewn about, and the thick-layered windows were streaked with great cracks. Outside, the two Evas were silent, sitting squat on the floor as technicians went all over them to check for damage.

Covered with a little dust on his uniform, unconcerned by the total disorder yet brooding, Gendo Ikari was still standing there in the middle of the control room, when the damage control crew began to file in with their rescue and medical equipment. One of them approached him.

"Uh, Commander, are you okay, sir?" a corporal asked nervously as everyone else went about trying to assess and clear out the damage.

Gendo turned to him, glaring, and said, "I'm all right. But let me think, and just leave me alone for a moment. When I'm done, I'll give orders and then I shall leave."

Once the man walked away, Gendo muttered to himself almost quietly, "This is too much of a mistake. She rejected her again… I should have restrained myself in the first place."


The three of them were waiting in the corridor when the Commander went out of the control room, but never gave a glance at their presence as the escort of Second Section agents ringed him instantly. With anger simmering within, Shinji wanted to shout, ask him what really pushed his father to put Rei in harm's way, except Misato restrained firmly with her hands on his shoulders, telling him inwardly to stand down. She whispered into his ears, "Don't."

But in the case of Fuyutsuki, all he could do was to wear a scowl on his face. He was also sure after this fiasco Gendo would ask for a small conversation in the quiet secrecy of his office, for he didn't just served as his co-conspirator in this maddening enterprise, but also as a confidant for all of his secrets and aspirations.

Once the Commander and his escorts disappeared into the crowd of emergency personnel filling up the corridor, Fuyutsuki shook his head in commiseration. It's all because you're trying to reach Yui, he reflected.

"Looks like I'll have a lot on my hands," Misato said, breaking the silence. "Start an investigation, debrief everyone, gather info, and write down reports." The older woman shrugged. "I think this is the last time she'll ever be riding an Eva."

"Unit One knows everything," Fuyutsuki concurred, and Shinji nodded, understanding from experience that even in silence, that purple Eva was always listening, feeling... and watching.


-The Messenger-

Still wearing his Plug Suit, Kaworu Nagisa was standing by the door to the emergency room where Natsumi Odani and the ER team went about checking Rei. He was also contemplating about what happened back there, especially with the psychic rush.

Before, I didn't find anything from her, he reflected. Her mind is almost a blank slate and as much as I tried, I couldn't bring her memories back.

Kaworu sighed. But today, all the sudden she has all these memories, and what else, I think I have come to see that her mind has great depth and she has secrets to tell. There's much for me to do, however, to sort all this out until I have a coherent picture.

He grimaced slightly, as an unlikely idea hit him. He pictured the fierce, unblinking scowl of Unit-01.

Has this Eva anything to do with Rei's condition right now? Is it possible that it… no, she can alter the minds of anyone inside in different ways, apart from psychological contamination?

Maybe the Lilim who made the Evas know only a mere fraction of understanding of all their functions and their potential, as they are very complex creatures.

Like my brethren before me.

It's obvious that Lilim are still too young to understand, especially with their science.

No, Kaworu shook his head, disagreeing with that conclusion. Even I am also trying to understand the extent of my own capability. Literally, I'm feeling my way around.

After talking to one of the nurses, Natsumi walked up and came out of the doorway. Standing before him, she gave Kaworu a mild smile.

"Don't worry too much, Mister Nagisa," Natsumi said. "She's out of danger. Besides that Unit One rejected her completely, she also suffered from was oxygen deprivation and eventual asphyxation due to high levels of carbon dioxide in the LCL, so I suspect a malfunction somewhere in the Entry Plug subsystems."

"I see, ma'am," Kaworu said. "Can there be any other problems?"

"For now, I'm due to have her go through an MRI and a brain scan to check for brain damage and maybe some psychological contamination, but given the very short amount of time she was out of air, I believe that the possibility of such trauma could be small. I hope she could survive that, too."

Kaworu nodded. "Thank you very much, Doctor. I'll wait for her."

"Good. Oh, by the way," Natsumi spoke, "…Thanks for saving the day. If it weren't for you, things could've gotten out of control."

"My pleasure," Kaworu answered, as the young doctor then went back in to begin treating Rei. A nurse placed an oxygen mask over the girl's mouth, and another nurse hooked up an IV line and a bottle of dextrose.

Kaworu looked on and sank into self-reflection. He never thought that even for someone like him so used to perfection and in a cloistered life, he was left shaken by today's incident. It would no longer be possible for him to be indifferent to the sufferings of others around him; he'll have to respond.

What is the point of living if one can't reciprocate kindly with the other?

If that was the case, then Lilim could be baser beings than animals, as most animals are rarely solitary creatures and depend on each other's existence. This is what referred to as symbiosis to create a working ecosystem. As Kaworu needed to win their trust, he must first show his compassion to them as a means of symbiosis.

Now his rescue of Rei Ayanami was the initial clear act of mercy.


Author's Notes:

Later in a few more chapters I might try to introduce a theory that could explain some of the inexplicable parts of the story, such as the one in Chapter 10.

This chapter is dedicated to the following Filipino voice actors (but sadly, most of them have now retired and moved on to other things) who worked on the original series on ABS-CBN Channel 2 (December 6, 1999):

Lucky Mark Santos (Ret) - Shinji Ikari / Amy Aguirre (Ret) - Rei Ayanami / Minna Bernales (Ret) - Asuka Langley Souryu / Stella Canete (Ret) - Misato Katsuragi / Amy Panopio (Ret) - Ritsuko Akagi / Arnold Abad (Ret) - Kaworu Nagisa / Ryoji Kaji / Erie Resurreccion (Ret) - Toji Suzuhara / Alexx Agcaoili - Makoto Hyuga / Maripette Narvasa (Ret) - Maya Ibuki / Rico Gutierrez (Ret) - Shigeru Aoba / Phil Cruz - Gendo Ikari