The smile she wears is genuine. After the incident in the apartment, Asuka finds herself standing with her shoulders straighter, walking with a more confident stride and eyes almost alight as she walks down the catwalks of Cage Three, the holding area for the purple behemoth of Unit 01. Of course, now is not the time to focus on that.
The Angel is coming.
They can focus on it after he saves the world. Odd, she muses. She is already crediting him with saving the world, not thinking about her brother, Rei, or Mana.
A blush flushes her cheeks as she realizes why, quickly walking up stairs and into the hallways spiraling around the Cage. The technicians are working at their normal, frantic pace, checking servos and coolant lines, making sure the LCL pumped into the exoskeletal frames of the Evas are at the right temperature.
All is going according to specs, she can report to Dr. Ikari with confidence, and hopefully avoid any awkward questions about what she was doing with her son.
"Asuka."
Freezing, eyes snapping open, as the same high heeled shoes stab the metal hallway. Her hand tightens over the status reports on Unit 01 as she locks eyes with her Mother, toes curling in her shoes.
"We need to talk," Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu says, lips a thin line across her face.
Stammering, knees, shaking, Asuka ducks her head and darts to the side.
"Excuse me," she whispers, "Doctor Ikari needs these files."
The hand lashes out, grabbing her arm with nails digging through the shirt. Asuka yelps, whimpers, eyes wide as Kyoko holds her fast.
"Of course," she says, "You do a good job."
"I-I do," Asuka says, swallowing down her dry throat, "I do. Dr. Ikari values me as her assistant."
"She gave you that job out of pity," Kyoko says, "Don't hold yourself that high, leibchen. She has you here for her reasons, and I will remind you the only reason I even brought you over was out of doing a favor to her son."
Nails dig into her palms again, lips trembling. Biting back, trying to pull her arm free, finally succeeding in yanking free of her and leveling her eyes on her mother.
"Don't give me that look," Kyoko says, her voice lower, softer.
She finds herself facing her, now. Fingers trembling against the files, another tooth in the back of her mouth cracking as her knees shake. Kyoko folds her arms, raises her brow, and peers down through her glasses, a smirk gracing her features.
"You're a good worker," she says, and sighs, "Shame that is all. I always hoped you inherited a fraction of my intelligence, but for all your study and tuition, here you are. Doctor Ikari's errand girl. A shame."
Asuka clenches her eyes shut, breathing slow, ragged, shaking her entire body. It could be called an argument if she actually was able to respond. Instead, her legs go limp like jelly, the fight leaving her the moment her mother's eyes narrow.
Instead, the argument ends when the full wall window turns purple. Glass cracks and shards go flying, and both Asuka and her mother are thrown to the floor by the impact.
"What the HELL just happened?!" Misato's voice screams over the speakers.
"There's a servo error in Unit 01's right arm," Maya responds, "An error signal was sent from the onboard systems. We're correcting it now."
Blood is already streaming down Asuka's forearm as she picks herself up, the purple receding from the window as Unit 01's arm is returned to its place, her mother on the floor, face down and groaning as several technicians run in.
"W-We're fine," Asuka says, holding her arm, and she shuffles away to find some gauze, "Someone should call a doctor for my mother."
-
-
Chapter 12: Catch the Sky
-
-
The table beeps. The polished metal surface fades, becoming transparent as a soft blue light plays over it, forming into a grid outline of the Far East. Those familiar with pre-Second Impact maps who were not already insensate to the horrors of the Second Impact would be, for lack of better terms, horrified. Indonesia, for example, is missing half of itself. Several low lying islands are gone.
There is also a hole in Japan where Tokyo-1 should be, but that's a different matter entirely.
"Here's what we've got," Misato says, the holographic map panning upwards to a large black sphere, "The Angel has taken the form of a 7-kilometer wide black sphere in high Earth orbit. NERV-Bethany in Russia and NERV-4 in Beijing have both registered impacts outside their city limits. The impacts take the form of…take it away, Ritsuko."
The hologram shifts into a pulsing black and red sphere.
"These projectiles serve two purposes," Ritsuko says, pushing her glasses up her nose, "First, they serve as mobile platforms and traps. While relatively fragile and vulnerable to high explosives, they do seem to be numerous. The second purpose is course correction."
The hologram returns to the Angel itself. Bracing hands on the table, Yui stares out at the pilots.
"The Angel intends to enter the atmosphere and crash into Tokyo-3. A surprise, I know. Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi and I both agree the best way to deal with the Angel is to attempt to catch it before it hits. We have been monitoring the rate of projectiles and have determined a…"
A ring appears around the hologram of Tokyo-3 and the surrounding towns.
"250 mile radius of possible impact points. Evangelions 00, 01, and 02 will be deployed in a triangular trajectory and will take off in a run when the Angel begins its descent."
Standing across from her, across the table, the four pilots nod.
"What about Jet Alone?" Mana asks.
"Jet Alone will be given the task of clearing the possible landing zone," Misato explains, "The Angel launches the correction missiles regularly. We're launching Jet Alone Prime ahead of time to clear the area."
Ritsuko nods, then bites her lip and taps Misato on the shoulder.
"How are we getting it there?" she asks, "The Angel has a tendency of shooting down any objects coming towards it. NERV-4 launched an ICBM at the Angel, and both that and the observation plane were shot down."
"It traces exhaust," Yui responds, tapping a button and showing an arching trajectory from NERV-1 towards the center of the circle, "We're going to overclock the launch catapults and throw Jet Alone."
A hand comes up.
"Yes, Mana?"
"So I'm getting tossed, hammer first, into a horde of mini angels?"
"Yes," Misato responds.
"F___ing metal."
Another hand raises with a cough.
"Yes, Shinji?"
"What hammer?" Shinji asks, easing slightly from Mana.
The hologram shifts into an image of the Jet Alone Prime. Next to the Prime is a hammer as big as it with a spinning disc at the center of the head. They turn towards the direction of the delighted squeal, and Rei, before turning back to the hologram.
"The JSSDF has sent us Jet Alone Prime's primary Melee weapon," Misato explains, "The High Impact Acceleration Hammer, or HIAH, basically converts speed and distance into kinetic force before impact. The hammer is about the same height as Jet Alone and weighs somewhere in the 75,000 ton range. We are all thankful it is not called Mjolnir."
"We call it Sigmar," Mana says, "The designer was a game geek. I'm all for this plan."
Uri stares at the girl, shrugging and folding his arms as Rei stares longingly at the hammer. The hologram shuts off, the lights in the room fading on as Misato folds her arms and grins.
"Time to save the world, kids," she says, "Saddle up. Lock and load."
*
*
Tightening the bandages and gauze around her arm, Asuka does not look up as the elevator door opens to admit her, simply preparing for her trip to Dr. Ikari's lab. It was an unfortunate detour to bandage herself, but she can't get blood on her uniform. That would be bad. Very bad.
"Hi, Asuka."
Looks up, finds Mari looking back at her. Asuka smiles, forcing it to the surface, and looks past her to find Pieter in the car as well. Her father grins, hands folded behind him, and swallowing but not loud enough to alert them, she steps into the car.
"Small world," Pieter says.
"I know," Mari responds, adjusting her glasses, "It's such a big place that I thought we'd never run into you, 'Ska. How's NERV treating you?"
"Fine," Asuka says, toes curling in her shoes partially because she hates this girl so much just wants her to f___ingdie "Dr. Ikari thinks I am a good worker."
"Good to hear," Pieter says with a grin, "So…I think this is the first Angel I've seen. Does it always get tense when they arrive?"
"I'd think so," Mari responds, turning to her father, "They do run a tight ship around here, from what Uri tells me."
"Uri?"
"He's a nice boy," Mari says with a shrug, "If a little stand offish. But he's dedicated and he doesn't mind having to train me."
Asuka says nothing, staring at the elevator floor ticker, clenching her tight fist as the bandages strain.
"Did you hurt yourself?" Pieter asks, "Asuka?"
She turns. Looks at him, looks at the bandages, pulls the sleeve down.
"Asuka, answer me," he says.
"There was an accident with Unit 01," she says, "I was hit by some glass. I am fine."
"No, you're not," he says, grabbing her wrist, "This isn't bandaged properly. We're going to the infirmary and having you checked out."
The doors open. Asuka yanks her hand back and glares at her father. Biting back a comment, biting back a statement about now is a wonderful time to show actual concern, she turns and quickly walks out. The doors close behind her as she turns the hallway and finds herself at Doctor Ikari's office, empty as it should be as the preparations continue for the sortie.
She doesn't come out for a while.
She makes sure everything is put back in its place when she does.
*
*
Settling back in the seat, Mana winces as the connections are made through the Suit. Resting her hands on the twin globes, they glow as her mind links with the AI of her chariot, the gold wall display in front of her clearing, honeycombing out into the Cage set aside.
"Biolink established. Meta Encapsulated Granule Awareness System: Online. Jet Alone Prime at full activation."
The mecha stands straight, eye visor glowing as the blue circle at the center of its chest ignites. A quick mental check off tells her the weapons systems are at full go and the mecha is operating with maximum efficiency. The other Evas are gone, already carted off to their prep sites, leaving her alone in the Cage as the cradle her glorious deliverer of Angelic Death rests in is rolled towards the rails lining the back of the launch area.
"Mana, we're at t-minus 15 minutes to launch. You ready?"
"Lemme at'em, Kaji," she says to her handler, "Jet Alone Prime's all green, and I'm lookin' forward to painting the hills black and red."
"Don't overdo it, Mana."
"Of course, Kaji," she says with a smirk under her helmet, "I am, of course, known for my restraint."
*
*
Her knees were scraped and her shoulder will bruise, but otherwise she went through Unit 01's malfunction without a mark. Kyoko counts herself lucky for things such as this and with a handful of aspirin and an icepack went back to her office to continue her work.
Stupid. It was stupid of her to focus on that girl. She isn't worth side-tracking this over and she will get an earful from Ikari for that.
Like she always said, she'll happily go to some sort of group therapy and repair the relationship with the girl after the Angels are gone, but right now she is busy. Slamming the files down on her haphazardly arranged desk, she takes a moment and stares at the ornaments. Her Nobel prize for Psychology sits next to the single portrait she has, of her, the girl, her Uri and whatever blind date she was set up on.
Swatting them aside, she opens the folder and stares at the numbers going down the graph page. To the layman, it is gibberish, but to her it is musculature data from her masterpiece. Leaning on the desk, sitting on it, she goes over the data with a careful eye, snapping out a pair of turtle shell eye glasses and sliding them on. Her lips purse, her eyes focused.
"Has anyone ever told you that you are so hot when you're studying?"
A muffled German swear and she looks up, narrowing her eyes as she stares across the Spartan office to the doorway.
"What do you want, Pieter?"
Knocking on the door, her ex-husband grins, swaying back and forth on his heels.
"Can I come in?"
"Might as well," Kyoko sighs, "You never listened to me, anyway."
"You never told me what you wanted," Pieter says with a shrug, "Or do we really need to go into why we broke up?"
She rolls her eyes, snapping off her glasses as she hops off the desk. Walking around it, she retrieves her PDA from the desk draw, swiping away the sticky used candy wrappers and placing it in her lab coat pocket.
"As much as I love twisting your metaphorical testicles in my hand," she says, folding her arms and pursing her lips, "We are busy. And why aren't you Germany yet?"
He snorts, leaning against the door. The smile grows wider, a cocky grin on his face as he gives off a short, knowing laugh.
"So eager to have me gone?"
"What was your first clue?"
He sighs. The smile disappears, fades as he runs his hand through graying brown hair.
"Actually," he says, "I'm staying. I've transferred over here as Sub Director."
"What?" she asks, looking up from her desk.
"Fuyutsuki's getting old. NERV has enough of a budget to have two people handle his responsibilities and take care of the executive paperwork and duties. So, I'm here to stay, and to watch over Mari."
Kyoko sighs, rolling her eyes.
"I'm sure your paramour misses you."
He sighs, again. Pain is behind the sound, his teeth grinding.
"She left me," he says, smirking slightly as she whirls, "For another woman."
She sucks her teeth, shrugging and shaking her head.
"My condolences."
"I had it coming," he mutters, "A bit of a blow to my ego, I assure you. If that makes your day better."
He bites out the last words. Clearing his throat he stands up straighter, folding his arms and making that ticking sound with his tongue he makes when he is thinking. She waits, turns to him, and folds her arms as he enters the office.
"Kyoko," he says, "How did Asuka cut her arm?"
"Unit 01 had an accident," she responds, "Some glass cut her arm."
He nods. Her eyes narrow, forehead wrinkling before her face turns into a scowl.
"You don't believe me," she says, "You think I did that to the girl?"
His teeth grind and his eyes narrow. Leaning forward, she backs up, eyes wide as his accusing gaze locks on her.
"No," he respond, "No, I don't. Because that sort of implies you care enough about her to touch her."
An intake of breath and the open hand hits his face with enough force to make him stumble back. Blood leaks from the small cuts on his cheek as her face turns red and eyes narrow, her knuckles cracking as her fists clench.
"Get out of my office," she growls, her voice a hairs breadth above a whisper, "You f___ing hypocrite."
One push and he's out on the floor outside the office, looking up just in time to see the door slam shut. Grunting, wincing as he touches the cheek, he climbs to his feet and starts walking to the lifts.
He has to have a chat with Dr. Ikari.
*
*
The starting point, the kickoff point, was a dam 120 miles outside of Tokyo-3. The sun was high in the sky, a scaffolding was put up to make sure everything checked out, and Shinji was still running the scenario through his mind that he had to run and catch an Angel about as big as Tokyo-3.
Right.
Nothing can possibly go wrong with this. In his left eye, Rei has her eyes closed, relaxing in the plug. She looks like she is meditating, her mouth moving with some unseen rhythm.
Another screen opens up. Uri is looking at him, face stone as it tends to be. Shinji, realizing that the channel is two way, closes Rei's window and sighs.
"Good luck," Uri says, "It would upset my sister if you died."
With that, the channel closes. Gritting his teeth, cracking his knuckles, he reaches his hands into the butterfly controls and closes his eyes. The indicator in the chest of his plugsuit glows blue in tune with the two indicators on his gloves. The plug turns clear as the mecha lurches, and once more, he feels the familiar, happy presence in the back of his mind.
"Third Child recognized," the voice calls out, "Synchronization holding at 78%. Unit 01 has activated."
"Okay," he breathes, "Ready to go."
*
*
"Unit 01, Unit 02, and Unit 00 reading activation," Maya calls out, "All batteries at full charge!"
Arms folded at the center of Dogma, Misato nods. The screen is still focused on the black sphere hanging miles overhead. A second screen lights up, showing a swarm of black and red spheres burning through the atmosphere.
"MAGI has calculated their landing trajectory," Aoba shouts, "We have a landing sight!"
"Launch Jet Alone," Misato says, "Pilots! We're almost ready!"
*
*
The catapult comes to life. For those with open audio channels, the sounds of Mana Kirishima whooping as the Jet Alone goes from 0 to Mach 1 in three seconds flat fill the air.
From the perspective of someone on ground level, the sight instead is of a series of plates at the edge of Tokyo-3 retracting before the cradle of Jet Alone launches with a sonic boom out of the street, careening through the air with the sparks of molten steel trailing it like exhaust.
The side compartment of the cradle opens, the massive metal fist of Jet Alone Prime gripping the handle of Sigmar as it reaches the zenith of its traveling arc.
The cradle cracks and breaks apart, jets' firing on the arms and legs before it slams into the ground. The eye visor glows, the giant rising and the disc at the center of the hammer's head spinning.
Two dozen red and black spheres impact all around it. The butt of the hammer slams into the ground. Around Jet Alone's left hand, lightning gathers. Bracing its size 300 heels on the ground, inside the cockpit, Mana grins.
The black spheres rise. They hover, and on each a single red eye opens. On either side, a stubby, three fingered arm juts out, two stubby legs popping out from underneath. Red angry lines run along the black surface, a single black pupil burnt into the red sphere of the eye. Without hesitation or warning, Mana swings, the hammer of Jet Alone driving into the eye core and launching one into the sky before it explodes, red bursts of energy deflecting off the armor of the mecha.
Before one of the black monsters shatters, forming into a wall of rock which begins pelting Jet Alone, the others following suit.
*
*
"We have movement!"
Misato looks up at the screen. The Angel has started to move. Biting her lip, she turns to the up high command center. If there is an expression on Fuyutsuki or Ikari's face, she doesn't see it.
"Let's get this show on the road," she says, "Pilots, in positions."
Three screens flip open. Each Evangelion bends forward, resting on one knee in a runner's sprint position, massive servos and hydraulics groaning in support of the weight of the 200' tall mechanical beasts.
"We have one shot at this," she announces, "Head towards Mana's position. Units: On your marks."
Three acknowledgements from her pilots, and not a single sign of fear. If she were any of their mothers, she'd be proud enough to burst. Shame she has to send them off to their deaths.
"Since our estimates are based on unreliable data, we're trusting on you to rely on your instincts. Head towards where you think the Angel will land. Mana is just the most likely spot."
A red aura appears around the Angel as it enters the atmosphere. Fire burns against it as the air protests its presence.
"It's time to begin the operation," she says, "Ready."
On the three screens of the three Evangelions, three power cables pop off with timed explosives.
"Go!"
*
*
Unit 02 takes off first, throwing up metric tons of forest floor as 15,000 tons of giant red robot kicks off into a sprint. Unit 01 follows, kicking off the side of the dam, sending up pulverized concrete as the will of the pilot translates to forward momentum. Unit 00 is last, a split second behind its siblings, kicking off a city street and running into the downtown heart of Tokyo-3.
To the layman's perspective, it is spectacle. Watching as the purple behemoth, in perfect runner's form, dashes down the street. Hands slicing through the air and knees pumping, only those at a distance can see the giant as it speeds through the city. Those too close would be carried along by the bow wave.
From the three starting point, three trails of dust and carnage spread, three giants accelerating the distance between the edges of the impact zone and the melee at its heart.
Firing off arcs of lightning from its gauntlet, Jet Alone dodges a flurry of flying rock, spinning the hammer in its hand before slamming it into and through the body of one of the probes, silhouetted by the explosion before turning, swinging the hammer up and launching another into the distance.
The left hand opens up, parting all the way up to the elbow, the hand receding in place of a focusing crystal before it lets loose a blast of arcing plasma, vaporizing two of the probes before a focused blast evaporates a third.
One jumps on its back. In the cockpit, Mana laughs. Vents on the back open up, spiked missiles jamming into the skin of the probe before exploding, throwing it off of it as Jet Alone turns, its eye glowing before a blast of white light calcifies three of the probes, a swings of the hammer pulverizing them.
"This is a challenge?" she asks, "C'mon! I've beat up kids for Milk Money tougher than you!"
*
*
"Unit 01 is clocking at 370 mph. Unit 02 is at 375 mph. Unit 00 is at 355 mph."
"Target is shifting its AT Field!"
On the main screen, the Angel's black shell cracks, breaks, and disintegrates, revealing a massive sphere of shifting colors. The colors flow over it from the red eye at the center, the flames around it forming into a shield.
"The Angel's increasing its descent speed," Makato announces, "We have a projected impact site!"
The map folds, an area highlighted with a circle. Misato swears, stamps her foot, and turns back to the screen.
"It f___ing played us!" she shouts, "Uri! You're closest! Rei!"
She turns to Yui. Yui nods.
"You have permission to let loose!"
*
*
In Unit 00's entry plug, a small, manic smile spreads on Rei's face. Her eyes glow red as her hands wrap around the butterly controls, the plug glowing red, then blue, then white. The connectors on her head flash, crackle and go silent.
"Understood," she says, with a slow, happy drawl, "Ready?"
Unit 00's run begins to speed up. As it leaves the city limits, it bends forward, arms behind it, legs pumping as the surface of its armor begins to glow red. As the dust in its trail becomes a plume, the air in front of it compresses, the single eye of the orange mecha flashing as the sonic shockwaves begin buffeting the ground in its wake.
*
*
In Unit 02's entry plug, Yuri's mouth hangs open.
Did Ayanami just go supersonic? He asks himself.
No time to worry about that, he thinks as he watches the fireball descend, willing his Eva faster, This is MINE.
Unit 02 runs. It runs over the hills and trees, in perfect form. It leaves a bow wave in its wake as its speed clocks over 400 mph, leaving a trail of debris for miles behind it.
*
*
The purple foot slams into the overpass, launching Unit 01 over the mountain as Shinji sees the two mile drop ahead. Curling into a ball, the Eva glides through the air before landing in a crouch and continuing its run. Gritting his teeth in the Plug, he wills it on.
you don't want to fail them
Eyes snap open, nodding. What was that, he asks himself, as he clears the city limits, his conscience? Well, of course he doesn't want to fail them. If he fails them, they die. Right?
yes they will. do you want to protect them
"Yeah," he growls.
*
*
"Unit 01 picking up speed…it's at 600 mph," Makato calls out, "Unit 00 at Mach 1. Unit 02 at 420 mph. Angel at 12,000 meters and dropping!"
The heat shield around the Angel flashes and disperses. Flesh colored flame cracks through the skin of the rainbow ball, the entire sphere spinning and unfolding. Within seconds it goes from a sphere into a massive flower, a central circle flanked by two unfolding hands of five fingers. The colors rotate, folding out as a halo of red surrounds it, great and mighty fingers of silver and rose waving like hairs.
*
*
Red boots dig into the ground. Throwing up plumes of debris behind it, Unit 02 skids to a stop as it stares up at the Angel descending directly towards it.
"It's huge," Uri whispers. His Eva could fit in the center red eye of the thing before it. But, as it realized from his endless training in Eva, size matters not. And there is but one way he could halt the descent of such a beast.
"AT Field at Maximum!" he shouts.
Unit 02's arms extend out fully. As the sky becomes the Angel, it pauses, pressing against an orange hexagonal field running the entire length of the beast. Gritting his teeth, nostrils flaring, Uri extends his mind as far as the Eva will let him go, the angry presence beneath him fighting him for every inch.
Then the eye opens. It parts like a rotted melon, a face like a bird skull extending out, followed by a comically thin body as large as the Eva, extending long, two fingered hands which reach through the AT Field like it was plastic wrap and grip Unit 02's hands.
They squeeze, and Uri grits his teeth as he feels every bone in his hand snap like dry wood.
"Heee~ey."
The AT field of the Angel flashes as Unit 00 clears the hill, the orange mecha landing in a crouch before launching itself through Sahaquiel's own barrier of protection and wrapping its hands around the head. Blasts of light slam and bloody red spikes dig into Unit 00, and in the entry plug itself her face contorts, baring fangs and eyes alight with red.
Orange boots brace against the surface of the Angel, and Rei pulls. The body of Sahaquiel tears, moving past the reed thin waist as the hairs on its wings folds up. Sprays of red issue forth, Unit 02 bent to the knees, digging into the ground as the wings begin folding back.
"Uri! I'm right here!"
The AT Field flashes. The Angel is forced up as Unit 01 stands next to Unit 02. Uri growls, gritting his teeth and fighting the pain as it releases in a strangled whimper. His arms feel like they are on fire, and his hands feel like they have had time with a power saw.
"The Core! Where's the Core?!" Shinji screams.
Rei squeezes, crushing the head. Orange LCL spills out, the body pulled past the waist. A flash of red that they can see past the body and they see it, almost as big as them.
"About f___ing time!"
One of the black probes slams into the body and explodes. A chunk of the skin burns off, exposing the core completely as massive foot steps mark Jet Alone's arrival, bits of black rock flaking off it as boot jets fire and it launches towards the core, the disc in the hammer's head spinning to life as Mana laughs maniacally through the comms.
"Hammertime, mother f___er!"
Jet Alone spins, two full rotations as it careens through the air, before 15,000 tons of forged mecha hammer slams into the core. Bits and pieces of core rain down, the struggling form in Rei's grasp goes limp. A hairline fracture runs down the surface as LCL begins to drip, then flow.
The body, the miles long form of Sahaquiel goes limp, before folding in upon itself and with a low, pained moan, the struggle is over. Inch by inch, it becomes thick, orange and red liquid, raining down in a torrent down the hill, over them, and flooding into Tokyo-3 itself.
*
*
"Target is silent," Maya says, "Blue pattern is gone!"
Cheers erupt from Dogma. Shoulders, relaxing, Misato chuckles as Ritsuko slaps her on the shoulder.
"Good work," Akagi says, "Your asinine plan worked."
"Our asinine plan," Misato snickers, "You get partial credit whether you like it or not. Okay! Good work, pilots. Mana, I guess you get an Angel kill on your record. Now let's see if we can clean up this city!"
Four muted protests as Ritsuko begrudgingly goes about the task of ordering the large scale water pumps to be sent up, as Unit 01 already wades into the flooded quarter of Tokyo-3 to start picking up stranded roof top watchers.
Pieter Sohryu enters Dogma as Misato watches, walking up to Yui and whispering something in her ear. The brow of the unflappable head of Project E knits with confusion, then concern, nodding and patting Sohryu on the shoulder. On her heel, she turns, and walks out of the command center without a word, Sohryu on her heels.
*
*
The purple hand lowers towards the yellow tinged street level, and the six year old girl on the pad of its index finger extends her arm as the yellow tinged cat jumps out of the tree and into her arms. Raising her back to rooftop, she hops off to her parents as the cat mews in protest and embarrassment, something in cat language about there being fluid where fluid should just not be.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," Shinji's voice booms through the loudspeakers in the Eva's neck, "We'll have the streets dry in a couple of hours."
The parents wave back as Unit 01 turns and continues down the main street, Unit 02 manning the LCL pump that is currently vacuuming Sahaquiel's remains.
In the Entry Plug, Shinji starts as Uriel's face appears in his right eye, a scowl crossing the german pilot's features.
"This is embarrassing."
"It's the least we could do," Shinji responds, shrugging, "We flooded the city when we killed the Angel. NERV made the problem, so NERV should fix it."
Rei's face appears in his other eye, and Shinji begins craning his neck to get a clear view of the street.
"Well, this is sort of the first Angel that went gooey," she says, "It's not like it's our fault-fault, but yeah. We kind of have to clean it up in our Evas or we clean it up out of our Evas. 'Kay?"
Uriel shudders and cuts the connection. Leaning back in the chair, Shinji wills Eva on, grinning. Not a bad day's work. They saved the world, right?
yes you did
His eyes open with a start. He leans forward, peering over his shoulder.
"Who said that?"
*
*
The Section 2 agent behind her says nothing as Asuka enters the infirmary. The white, sterile walls are bereft of decoration, the only things that stand out from the endless white the table, the window, and the hanging florescent lights. Standing in front of the examination table, Yui folds her arms, Maya standing next to her as Asuka stands at attention.
"Your father wants us to look at your arm," Yui says, "We need to make sure it is dressed properly."
She nods. Her hand clench at her sides and her breath catches in her throat. The gentle, motherly smile on her face, Yui gestures to the table.
"Asuka. Sit on the table."
"Y-yes ma'am," she says, walking across the room and doing as she is told, taking off the beige uniform jacket. She rolls up her sleeve as Maya walks over, looking at the bandage with a sigh and a warm smile.
"We need to redress this," she says, turning to Yui, "We should check the whole arm, to."
Yui nods, folding her arms and sighing.
"Very well, I trust your judgement," she says, "Asuka. Take off your shirt."
Hands clench the ends of the table underneath her.
"W-what?"
"Don't worry," Maya says with a smile, "It's just to see how bad the cut it. We thought we might, which is why it's only us girls in here."
"R-really," Asuka says, teeth chattering as her eyes dart around and the door closes, "I-I…c-can't we t-t-take off the s-sleeve or-"
"Asuka," Yui says, hand on her shoulder, "Take off the shirt. That's an order."
Slowly, eyes half lidded and her breathing shallow, Asuka bows her head. She swallows down her dry, painful throat, lips parted in a low, scratchy breath. She nods, slowly, a motion barely noticeable.
"Yes, ma'am," she whispers.
Starting at the bottom button of the blouse, she moves up. Unbuttoning the top button, she releases the buttons on the cuffs of her other sleeve, and gritting her teeth, grinding her teeth as she clenches her eyes shut, she shrugs off the blouse, leaving her in her bra as she pulls her hair over her right shoulder and exposing her back and neck to the two women.
Yui's face turns blank, arms folded as she stares. Maya turns pale, her hands slowly coming up and covering her mouth as the younger woman's eyes go wide and her breath catches in her throat as the words leave her.
"Oh my God," Yui breathes, "Oh dear God. What did she do?"
She extends her hand, fingers hovering over the back of her neck, over the three even circles and half circles flanking them. Her fingers curl, clenching into a white knuckled fist as her normally warm expression leaves her, her eyes focusing with cold fury as her eyes trace down the first of the long, grooved scar running from Asuka's shoulder to the small of her back, still angry and red. She mentally counts them, nostrils flaring as her breath comes in short, angry spurts.
"Get. Sohryu," she says, her voice low and filled with a cold fury Maya recoils from, turning to Yui and back to Asuka, "Get her to the Commander's office. I'm going to take that f___ing woman apart."
A low, pained, steady moan escapes Asuka's throat. She begins to rock back and forth, her eyes open and unblinking. Maya steps over, hands on her shoulders.
"Asuka?"
The girl screams. It isn't anger, or rage, or even surprise, just a scream. Pushing Maya away, she pushes off the table, darting to the door and yanking at the locked handle. Her eyes are bloodshot, wild, turning and pressing her back to it as Maya approaches slowly, hands out and open, palms up. Asuka slides against the wall, fingers digging grooves into the plaster as she retreats towards the corner.
Which is a distraction, Asuka realizes a moment too late, as the almost invisible closet door opens and a hypospray presses against her neck. Sedatives rush through her system, and Asuka's eyes roll up before she collapses into Ritsuko's arms.
"Good timing," Yui says, "Maya. Get Kyoko. Now. Get everyone."
Maya nods and runs out, her quick footsteps breaking into a run when the door closes. Yui walks over, cupping Asuka's face as even in drug induced sleep, ticks and grimaces cross it.
"Well," Ritsuko asks, "Now what?"
Yui grimaces. Her normal, placid demeanor leaves her. Her face twists into that of cold, determined rage.
"Now?" she asks, "Now I'm going to kill someone."
Standing, smoothing out her labcoat, she turns and begins walking towards the door.
"Get her to a bed," she says, "Get her restrained. Doctor Akagi, I leave the rest to you."
And with that, she exits.