It had been several weeks since the last angel attack, holding not only those working within NERV's hierarchy but all of Tokyo-3 in a constant state of fear and paranoia. For every moment of every day, it seemed as though at any moment, a strange being may descend from the heavens above and lay waste to the city and all those foolish enough to dwell within. However, that had more or less been the state of things since the war had begun, as people milled about their everyday lives while maintaining a general aura of readiness to hop in their cars and drive like hell at the first sound of NERV's now ubiquitous evacuation alarm. It was an uneasy peace, but one preferable to having their homes and businesses trampled, set aflame, and razed to the ground by alien monsters and mechanical giants alike.
And that was the scene that once more played out upon the surface of the GeoFront as what little remained of the population of Tokyo-3 awoke with the rising sun and greeted yet another in a seemingly endless series of humid, summer-like days. As men and women dashed off to work, the children of Tokyo-3 took up their own responsibilities as they trudged off to school fully aware that even the impending end of all human life was not enough for the city's school system to call class off. And, among the small sea of school children, an unfamiliar face stood and stared into the sky, one hand placed carefully over her pale brow.
The world had changed so much since it was young, she thought – what once had been an endless sea had given rise to land, only to be reclaimed after the folly of fifteen years prior. And the humans, indeed they truly were wondrous creatures to have gone from dwelling in caves, ignorant of the entire world around them, to trifling in the realm of the gods in a time of span that could barely called an instant in the grand scheme of things. The silver-haired girl chuckled; they really had come so far.
And so she began to walk away from the school, wading through the writhing sea of humanity around her as she made her way towards the path leading to NERV HQ, the imposing fortress containing the greatest treasures of the modern age, the fruit of centuries of scientific and occult knowledge sewn together by some of the greatest minds the world had ever seen.
But unfortunately for the girl, a pair of heavy steel doors and a state-of-the-art security system lay between her and her ultimate goal.
"How troublesome," she sighed.
With a wave of her arm, the keycard reader sitting just in front of the door emitted a positively cheerful beep accompanied by the flashing of a green light. As if on cue, the steel door began to retract, taking several layers of thick metal and complex electronics with it as it went. The girl then smiled again; as marvelous as human technology was, it was no match for the power and will of the progenitor, a fact that she imagined everyone at NERV would learn all too soon.
The girl then walked unceremoniously into NERV HQ, closing the doors behind her with a simple gesture.
Within the labyrinth of hallways, doors, and secrets that made up NERV HQ, the human portion of the organization's work force still lay in a sort of disaffected shock. Though each and every one of them had seen and experienced things that no mortal should ever have to, the lingering effects of Ritsuko's lecture still echoed in their heads like the lyrics of an annoyingly catchy pop-song. In so many words she had told each and every one of them that they possessed the same properties, A.T. Fields and such, as their much reviled foes, the Angels.
"Well I don't buy one word of it!" Asuka yelled as she slammed her locked door shut after having put on a fresh plugsuit.
Mari, who stood not far from her partner's position, merely rolled her eyes as she did the same. Asuka had avoided Ritsuko's lecture by the virtue of having slept for three days following her battle with the berserk Unit-03. Though she had her reasons for casting the information as yet another pack of lies fed to them by adults who only wanted to use them as tools of war, Asuka's belligerent denial reeked of a far more deep-seated problem.
"Come now, Princess, why would the doc lie to us? She's weird and old, I know, but she seems like she wants to know the truth about all this junk just as badly as we do," spoke Mari.
Mari's reassurance did little for Asuka, who shot an enraged glare at the snake girl as Asuka's plugsuit reached pressurization.
"Come on, four-eyes. Everyone here clearly has a secret agenda or two to their name. What makes you think Ritsuko is any better?"
Mari thought long and hard, recalling all the times Misato, and to a lesser extent Ritsuko, had saved them when times were tough. It was more then she cared to admit. And, as much as it hurt her ego to say so, the pilots needed those two just as much as all of NERV needed its pilots. One simply wouldn't work without another, it was just the nature of the beast.
"As much as I hate to say it, I think you're wrong on this one."
Mari stood firm, she loved Asuka with all her heart, but this was more important than the slime girl's feelings, or anyone else's for that matters.
"What did you say...?" Asuka fumed.
"I THINK YOU'RE WRONG, PRINCESSSSSS!" Mari yelled at the top of her lungs.
The slime girl's gaze became sharp, staring daggers at her best friend as if she had committed some blasphemy against a list of commandments only the gelatinous pilot had any knowledge of.
"Why are you taking Ritsuko's side?!" She pouted. "Didn't you say you loved me?"
That was low. Of all the things the jelly girl could have said, all the possible words in the Japanese language, that combination was among the worst. Mari sighed yet again; many, many times she had played the role of realist and dragged Asuka down from her high horse, but this, this was just painful to hear.
"I do love you, and that's why I'm siding with Ritsuko on this one. We need to find out where the two of us came from. Once we know that we can begin making nice with all the normal people and spread the word that we're not all a bunch of freaks."
Mari was rarely serious, but when she was, Asuka knew to take notice, putting away her puppy dog eyes and cherry red tears in favor of a contemplative pose.
"This must be pretty important to you, huh?" Asuka laughed, her voice tinged with a small sliver of anger.
"It is," Mari responded as she rebalanced her glasses upon the bridge of her nose.
Asuka laughed once more, masking her anger with a bellowing sound. As far as she was concerned, Mari was hers and hers alone. For nearly a decade they had stood side-by-side against the world and what lay beyond; to see her remain so firm was distressing, and a bit infuriating, to say the least.
In turn, Mari had seen Asuka as her reason for getting up every morning and someone who would always be there for her – her best friend and, gods willing, more than that, all wrapped up in a wonderfully gooey mixture of slime and wild arrogance. But on this matter she would not budge, not slither one foot from where she now stood. She believed firmly in Ritsuko and her plans, even if for no other reason than to get an answer to the most basic of human questions, "where did we come from?" and "why are we here?"
"Fine," Asuka pouted. "Just this once, you have my permission to disagree with me. Think it as a gift, so make sure to use it wisely."
Asuka smiled a gooey smile and Mari smiled back. "Thanks, Princess," Mari spoke quietly.
Even in defeat, Asuka had to make everything about her. But Mari didn't mind; this was the girl she loved, after all.
"But you know, we should really get our butts moving before the doc yells at us again," Mari quickly pointed out.
"Seriously?! Agh, let's get going then!"
In the wake of the recent round of Angel attacks, many of the daily tests associated with the Evangelion had been put on hold in favor of letting the pilots relax and giving their robotic partners time to be restored to working order. But now, with the brief lull between attacks, Ritsuko and the rest of the science department would not let the chance to collect new data slip through their overworked fingers.
The pair ran, and in Mari's case, slithered, off in a hurry, moving quickly to avoid the wrath of several angry, single, thirty-something women.
As the pair left the locker room, a loud and booming voice echoed through the halls of NERV headquarters, bringing with it urgent and alarming news.
"Attention, a state of emergency has been declared. All non-essential personnel are to evacuate the premises immediately. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill." The announcement rang loud and clear, penetrating every corner of the base with its warning of impending doom.
Though it was common to evacuate the city of Tokyo-3 at the first sight of a possible Angel attack, it was almost unheard of for the same to be said of NERV's highly fortified base.
For a moment, Mari and Asuka stood dumbfounded as dozens of uniformed men and women dashed about around them like chickens with their head's cut off. They, however, did not have the luxury of simply running away; they, as the announcer had so kindly pointed out, were "essential" personnel, which primarily meant that if danger was afoot, they would be the ones on the front line to risk life and limb to solve a problem someone in charge likely caused in the first place
"Sounds sssserious, doesn't it?" Mari joked awkwardly.
"Come on, this is no time for jokes. Let's just get going and see what the hell went wrong this time," Asuka spoke as she brought the palm of her slimy hand firmly down upon Mari's brow.
"Owww, okay, okay!" Mari rubbed her throbbing forehead. Despite being made entirely of a semi-solid jelly, Asuka's slaps hurt far more then one might think. "Let's go."
Satisfied with her small victory, Asuka led the way through the sea of people that now crowded the hallways of HQ. Taking Mari by the hand, so as to not lose the snake girl among the crowd, she rushed with all her might towards Central Dogma in hopes that Misato, or anyone else for that matter, could explain what prompted such a serious warning.
After a few minutes of turning again and again through seemingly endless and identical corridors, the pair found themselves mere steps from the massive command center that was Central Dogma. Built to serve as the heart of NERV, it was this immense room that served at the link between the pilots and the think tank that supplied them with a plan of battle.
"Oh, Misatooooo!" Asuka sang as she entered the room. "We're here!"
No one answered the pilot's whimsical entrance, as the eyes of each and every person in the room lay fixed squarely upon the bank of computer monitors sitting in front of them – and upon these many screens rang a rather menacing-looking warning accompanied by a similarly alarming sound.
"Danger! Blood Type Blue!"
Though a cryptic decree with debatable context, in short it could mean only one thing.
"AN ANGEL?!" Mari and Asuka yelled together.
"Yes, an Angel," Ritsuko calmly explained as she approached from just behind one of the Magi computer banks.
"Gotcha, but why did we have to empty the base for something like that? I mean I think I'd know if an Angel was rampaging through the city or something." Mari spoke.
"That's the problem, the signal came from within the base itself. So, rather then risk the lives of all the non-combat personnel, we just sent them all home. You know, just in case."
"Right." Asuka interjected. "So who dropped the ball and let a freaking Angel into the base?"
"Again, we don't know." Ritsuko said with a sigh. "At seven this morning there was a malfunction in one of the automatic gates. For a period of roughly thirty seconds the gates were open, but our video records show that no one entered before they closed again about half a minute later. It was just a few minutes ago that the Blood Type Blue signal was detected somewhere near the Commander's office and then seemingly vanished into thin air. I don't know what we're dealing with here, but it clearly shows an immense level of power and intelligence if it has been able to evade detection in a place like this."
"So what do you want us to do about it?" Asuka put one hand on her hip, clearly exasperated that Ritsuko's speech had amount almost entirely to a big pile of "I don't know."
"Well, I'd like you girls to sit on standby just in case the we need to launch the Evas. But honestly, that's more Misato's department. All I can really do is sit and watch these monitors until something happens."
"Not gonna lie, that sort of sucks, doc," Mari chimed from behind the slime-girl who still held onto her hand as if her life depended on it.
"Yes... yes it does. But until we can get a better idea of what we're dealing with, all we can really do is collect data and hope for the best. Such is the life of a scientist." Ritsuko dramatically lamented.
"I'm going to go look for Misato, then," Asuka interjected. "There's no point in waiting around for something that might never happen. Come on Mari, we have to work to do."
Mari giggled, breaking Asuka's aura of seriousness with a single fit of laughter. She had tried so hard to play the role of the cool and competent leader, yet, in reality, she resembled a child trying to mimic a figure of authority. Indeed, things had always been this way; from the day they first met, Asuka had always tried to take control of every facet of her life.
Never willing to ask for help even under the most dire of circumstances, she seemed hell-bent on living on her own terms no matter the price. But Mari, she was different. Seen less as another person or friend, the slime-girl had grown to see her as an extension of herself, a sort of mental gymnastics that allowed for the relationship that they had retained to this day. Thus, if she were to do something, Mari was coming along whether she wanted to or not.
"Of course, Princess," Mari said, trying with all her strength to suppress her laughter, "but could you please let go of my hand now?"
For a moment, Asuka flew into a panic, letting go of Mari's hand as fast as she could then blushing with a radiance that put a summer sunset to shame.
"Sh...shut up!" she yelled. "Let's just go!"
From the sidelines, Ritsuko smiled awkwardly. She knew firsthand how awkward young love could be, having witnessed such antics during her college years. But, in a way, it also made her wonder what such things felt like. The awkwardness of adolescent crushes and all were something that had eluded the scientist in her youth, her time spent elsewhere on her studies and similar obligations.
"I worry about those two sometimes," she muttered as the pilots left the room, leaving her with her thoughts, memories and little else.
The halls of NERV HQ lay silent, causing Asuka's every footstep to echo endlessly through metallic corridor and byways. And with every step, the unease in her mind, and her grip of Mari's hand, grew ever greater.
"Are you okay, Princess?" Mari stared at her companion, a sad look on her face. It was so unlike Asuka to be so worried about anything.
Asuka, however remained silent as the rest of her body beneath the thin cover of her plugsuit quivered like a tub of jelly laid upon a washing machine. While incredibly confident encased within the safety of her Eva and basking in the mysterious warmth it brought to her, it was without all that when the darkness of her youth came home to roost.
"Earth to Asuka!" Mari continued as she waved one of her clawed hands in front of Asuka's glassy eyes.
The slime-girl quickly snapped back to reality, life returning to her eyes with a startled jump.
"I'll be fine...I'm just a little worried about the Angel." Asuka's eyes remained firmly affixed to the ground as she and Mari walked on in search of their mentor; she simply couldn't admit weakness. Not now, not ever.
"Well then, just keep holding my hand like that and I'm sure you'll feel fine in no time." Mari snickered.
"Just shut up!" Asuka quickly countered. Just as it was hard for her to admit her own weakness, admitting affection was equally as difficult for her.
The pair continued, hand in hand, in their search for Misato, covering the base's empty hallways and offices from top to bottom in hopes of getting some real direction in the current crisis. It was only upon reaching the Director of Operations' office that they could say with confidence what the two of them had formulated not so long ago – Misato was nowhere to be found and, judging by the still warm and half eaten lunch sitting on her desk, had been here until very recently.
"So where do you think the boss lady went?" Mari spoke as she rifled through Misato's personal things.
"She's probably off doing something lewd with Kaji." Asuka joked. "But seriously...didn't Ritsuko say that the Angel was last detected near the Commander's office?"
"So you think Misato went to investigate?" Mari added as she began eating what remained of Misato's lunch.
"Bingo, four-eyes. Misato's always the type to stick her nose where it doesn't belong, so it only makes sense that she'd be the first into the fray if an Angel were to show up in the base."
Asuka seemed proud of herself for concocting such a theory and stuck out her chest with pride as she put forth her premise. Mari responded in kind with a slow and rather sarcastic clap, her mouth still stuffed full of leftover food.
"Let's just get going, alright? This isn't the time for one of your stupid jokes." Asuka sighed.
"Right, right. Just let me finish this..."
Shoving an immense amount of food into her mouth at once, Mari finished her impromptu meal with an immense amount of vigor that brought to mind the unsettling image of a snake unhinging its jaw and swallowing an animal whole. Such enthusiasm was enough to make even Asuka cringe.
"Annnnnd we're done!" Mari cheered as she finished the last of the lunch.
"Disgusting. Just disgusting." Asuka rolled her eyes, wondering just how she had managed to latch herself to someone as strange as Mari. "But yes. Lets get the hell out of here."
Once more taking Mari by the hand, Asuka dragged her partner at top speed towards HQ's apex where the commander's office lay. Neither had ever been to this part of the base, they had never had need to, a fact that lent a foreboding presence to the office's heavy steel door that seemed to scream "You are not welcome here" to all who passed by.
"I have a bad feeling about this, Princess." Mari looked at the door and then back to Auska with a pleading look on her face.
"Come on, how bad could it really be?" Asuka spoke with confidence, answering Mari's plea with the sort of overwhelming positivity that could make a person do incredibly stupid things.
The universe had other plans, however, as just as the slime-girl spoke, the sound of a gunshot rang out from just behind the heavy steel door.
"That bad, Princess. That bad." Mari added without a hint of sarcasm.
Beyond the heavy portal, two figures stood in stark opposition to one another. One, the commander of NERV, Gendou Ikari, stood with gun ready and pointed firmly at the head of a young woman with short brown hair who seemed unmoved by the commander's display of power.
"Is that anyway to treat an old friend?" The woman spoke in a coy and disarming tone.
The commander remained silent, reloading his firearm as a sort of warning to his mysterious guest.
"There is no need for violence," the woman chuckled. "I've only come to talk."
Without so much as a word, Gendou pulled the trigger upon his pistol and fire another warning shot just to the right of the woman's head. Even as the projectile sped through the air, the commander's guest remained unfazed.
"Leave now." Gendou commanded with an air of power and authority. "This is your last warning."
"I see you have no intention of returning what has been stolen, then," The woman lamented. "Then consider this your final warning as well. The council is watching you, Gendou Ikari, and we will reclaim what is rightfully ours."
With a cock of the hammer, Gendou fired once more, this time aimed firmly at the woman's head and backed with an intense desire to kill. The bullet sped true through the air, reaching its target within the blink of an eye...only to then stop in midair suspended in time and space, in firm defiance of the laws of physics.
The strange woman only sighed, one arm held palm open towards the offending projectile which now lay hanging in the air like a bird smashed against a glass screen.
"Did you really think that would work, Ikari?" The woman said with a role of her eyes. "You must know by now that such force is useless against my kind."
A moment later, the true cause of the bullet's sudden failure to conform to the rules of the universe revealed itself. For in a strange flicker, a glitch in reality itself, a hexagonal barrier radiated from the young woman's hand.
"Goodbye, Gendou Ikari. May we meet again under happier circumstances."
With those words, the woman disappeared in a strange plume of blinding light that seemed to fill the entire room like a flash grenade, taking with her the barrier that had so defied the laws of time and space. No longer bound by the woman's strange power, the bullet then fell uselessly to the ground and rolled about for a bit before coming to a complete stop at Gendou's foot.
Falling to one knee, the commander reclaimed his failed shot and turned it over several times in his hand, inspecting the object from every angle as if trying to find just where he had gone wrong.
A few moments later, he returned to his desk, still rolling the bullet about in his left hand. And with his other, he opened the secret compartment under his deck and withdrew from it the heavily armored briefcase containing NERV's most dangerous secret. As he opened the case, the mist of a decade and a half spilled out of the case and across the desk like dry ice.
Within the case still lay the embryo of Progenitor, still frozen in time from fifteen years prior. Beholding the stolen god in all its glory, Gendou quickly shut the case again and returned it to its hiding place.
"For her sake..." He mumbled to himself.
Coming next time: Closer to the heart part 2.
Authors Q&A section
Q: Are Mari and Asuka a couple?
A: Yes, but not in the usual sense of the word. Mari is head over uh...tail for Asuka, while Asuka relishes the attention Mari gives her. Both are a form of love that happen to compliment each other and allows for them to exist as a strange sort of pseudo-couple.
Q: How do the mutations work exactly?
A: It relates to the way Angel's are born. That's all I can really say.
Thanks everyone, see you next chapter!