Cry For Me, Tokyo 3 part three
-o-
-o-
-o-
It started as a day like any other. Shinji woke up first to prepare breakfast, and with
Asuka went to school. Rei did not even bother to wake up an overworked Maya and
likewise went off towards the daily routine. Surveillance upon the pilots was so flawed
on so many levels. Fortunately that also counted against everyone who had infiltrated
that system.
The Gretchin woke up reluctantly, and all went off towards their separate schools. A
few of them passed the pilots by, and said hi. Cute kids, really.
Mana Kirishima was not an early riser, despite her upbringing. She was just easy to
wake up, but given a choice would rather sleep in. There was some discussion about
the teen soldiers, if it would be better for them to stay at the new support base for
the Land Dreadnought, but it was decided that school was still important. Having a
taste of civilian knowledge and civilian concerns could only help.
"Come on Kirishima! Get up!" yelled Musashi. The girl just turned over to push her face
into her pillow. The bed was just too comfortable. "It's time for school...!" As much as
he hated using that tactic... "Don't you want to see your stupid Shinji-sama today?"
Reluctantly, Mana rolled over. Her eyes were still somewhat glazed over. She saw her
two friends
She numbly walked over to the bathroom, with Musashi yelling about not falling asleep
in the bathtub again. Keita muttered something about not daring to follow her inside
to wake her up again. She was not a delicate girl, appearances notwithstanding. It
was probably blood loss was cause for more damage to Keita that time, than her axe
kick of feminine fury.
They lived under a roof with an entire unit of Marines, whose sole purpose was to bail
them or young Ikari out of trouble. That, and to tease and perform various torments
on their young charges. 'Babysitting' duty was at a rotation, since for most of the time
all they had to was to sit around and watch TV. A few, to relieve their boredom, took
to learning how to cook. The results were palatable, if uncomplicated. Kirishima and
company made their goodbyes and left.
Six people in the city were found dead as the sun rose into the sky. Kaworu's own
bio-rythmn was such that he could precisely time his return to awareness. He woke
up expectant; but as the day passed and his factors failed to report in his enthusiasm
dimmed. Once more he cursed the flawed nature of his body. He had to make a report
to SEELE. Ikari was on the move.
Oh, sure, the old men would interpret that as Gendo, but he didn't care. Doubtless
they would order him to perform a few reprisals. The Angel attack would be a perfect
time to get rid of a few loose ends.
He had to wait. After all people die, all the time, all over the world. Too many of them
violently. Many murders in Washington-2, Berlin-2, and Kyoto-2 still remained unsolved.
More would be added to the pile. He would wait longer. Mere loss of life didn't concern
SEELE. They would be more frantic over losing a not-so-insignificant chunk of their
open assets.
Kaworu drew aside the the curtains of his window. He looked out at the waking city
outside. Clearly, Shinji Ikari would already know about his presence and his influence
on Asuka. However, as a great unknown, it would be too soon to move against him.
Their confrontation would be inevitable, the meeting of two great mind with opposing
ideals.
He blinked.
It was also inevitable that someone would try assassinating young Ikari. He as an
agent of SEELE would be relaying important information about his location, personality
and habits. Shinji had a variety of options to pre-empt that, turning the tables on his
enemies. Poison, litigation, sniper rifles, etc; all the usual tools.
His eyes narrowed. He took one step to the side. A pane on the Monticello windows
broke apart. He stepped aside again. A sheet of glass at around head-height also
abruptly shattered. The third step brought him behind a curtain. He smirked.
Oh, yes. He had underestimated Ikari too.
-o-
-o-
School was supposed to prepare the young for the world beyond. In history, learning
from the mistakes of the past. In literature, how to look for the future. They were
given a writing assignment.
What is happiness?
-o-
To Rei, the answer was simple. Earlier she would only be able to give a dictionary
definition, not knowing what happiness truly was. With the arrival of Shinji, she knew
that happiness comes from many things. The happiness from having stomped a gang
of deserving grots was a different happiness from the feeling of warm loving flesh
around her. Happiness of being given gifts was different form the knowledge of having
served her duties well. The answer was simple. Before Shinji Ikari she had none of
these things. Therefore, happiness was Shinji-kun.
However, knowing Gendo's need to keep her under control, such honesty could only
impact on the efficiency of their mission. She disliked lying. Cunning, however, was
something entirely different. "Happiness is the knowing of what is right and proper."
she wrote. Let Gendo interpret that as he would.
-o-
Asuka had first to ask herself; Am I happy? It surprised her truly to answer - yes. Far
happier than she'd ever been in Germany. People truly respected her for herself. Back
at NERV, her position as team leader was unquestioned. Simulation after simulation
had forged a true unit out of the pilots. Ritsuko and Maya were never condescending,
while Misato was an uncomplicated woman. Asuka got along with a lot more people,
for she was a lot more mellow than what she could have been. She was more willing
to accept her own mistakes and forgive others. She resented Mana if only by intruding
into that.
In another time, her words of self-praise were to mask her own contempt for herself;
being rejected in favor of a doll, and it was an easy jump from having utter contempt
for the self to contempt for all others. After all, if you cannot respect yourself then
how can you respect others?
All of it was happening subconsciously. It influenced her personality that others would
see her as simply too high-maintenance and not worth the effort. In a vicious cycle, if
she was unhappy she could only lash out to make others unhappy as well. Look at me!
was her watchword.
That was no longer necessary. She no longer treated every criticism as a blow to her
own competence or ego. The first step towards maturity was learning how to recieve
disapproval from others; knowing that it was perfectly fine if a few did not like her. In
fact, she was liking that... pitting her strength of will against her recognized equals.
Even the bevy of little annoyances were simply what made things -interesting-. She
just -thrived- in conflict. Butting heads with Kirishima was fun in its own way. Rei's
baiting could be so suble, and figuring out of her words were made in irony or not lent
substance to otherwise bald conversations. Even -losing- was no object. She would
simply blame herself for complacency, holding herself to a higher standard that what
others could ever expect of her.
She was seen, she was listened to, and she was given the respect she deserved. The
Reds were all athletic types, and they held her up as a leader. They were a lot more
willing to follow by example than Rei's boring little troupes of bookish boys and girls.
She was a warrior princess. What more could she possibly want?
Shinji. Kaworu. In short, romance. She was still only fourteen years old after all.
Asuka was blazing. She had such a nice time last night with Kaworu, and having kissed
him again. So refined, so intelligent - and so fabolously rich. He practically owned the
finest hotel in town, and was treated like a prince. By extension, she was a princess
of the old stories.
Shinji was not nearly so demonstrative. However, Kaworu had entrusted to her the
Greater Good, and a fabulous pendant. Shinji, as another pilot, trusts her with his very
-life- and gave to her a massive Chain-axe, which arguably should cost a hell of a lot
more than any pendant.
Kaworu saw her as a woman. Shinji saw her as a hero. Both were -critical- portions of
her personality. She wanted life outside the Eva, while at the same recognizing that
her life -IS- the Eva. They both appealed to her, but on different fronts. She could not
betray one to the other... it was impossible to her. She was just stuck.
'What is happiness for me?' she thought. And she realized; THIS is happiness. She had
thought back then that mere worship, mere victory was enough. Not knowing what the
future could bring was better. She could say that from knowing utterly that -boredom-
was misery. Not being useful was torment. Being ignored was hell. She had all that was
opposite; so it was as close to heaven as she could get.
"Happiness is having your own place in the world, where you and the greater good may
circle around each other, giving and being given."
-o-
Mana was not used to such exercises. Happiness is getting enough sleep; shouldn't
that be obvious to everybody? Too many ailments had at its root not getting enough
rest. Not giving the body a chance to just let go and heal itself. When you don't get
enough sleep your judgement is impared, your action less reliable, and little things
start to get ignored or blown out of proportion.
Seriously; she thought. Unless it's a life or death situation... SPECIALLY if it's a life
or death situation... nothing should be so urgent that you can't make do with a few
precious hours of sleep .
Therefore, she agonized over the 'correct' answer they were asking from the students.
She looked out the window. Love... love of country, patriotism. Love of self, narcissm.
Love of emptiness, nihilism. She had never been allowed to grow too attached to any
adult; for they meant the commanders of an Ender generation to be totally objective
and focused on their duty. Love of family. She had never known family. Her friends
were that to her, the the thought of ever excluding one of them from her heart was
unthinkable.
Supposedly, love of the nation was greater than mere love for the self or another. It
was the highest sacrifice and the highest honor. But Mana Kirishima did not know what
love itself -felt- like. That was why she so desperately sought out its expressions.
The softness of civilian life. She could be destroyed by it. Love of meaningless material
things. Blech. She made a face. She remembered something she ran across a manga.
"Needless to say, I'll be stumbling away..." she whispered. "Slowly learning... that life
is okay."
If I can just find contentment... that would make it all right.
"Happiness is in knowing you may leave the world a better place than when you were
born."
-o-
Toji's answer was similar to Hikari's. "Knowing your buddies, having your girl by your
side, and facing the future head on." was the gist of his clumsy wording.
-o-
Hikari, for her sensible approach to essay-writing, had "Seeing your family and friends
happy, being with the person you love, and protecting the hopes of the future."
"Perfect happiness is impossible without perfection. Only the machine may approach
such perfection, for the flesh fails and is prey to random foibles. Therefore happiness
as we know it is a product of our illusionary senses. Happiness is not to be found in
logic, but in illogic. Beauty is the contradiction; perfection in a sea of chaos, the flaw
in a tapestry of order. Suffering is being bound to the demands of flesh. Torment is
from the lack of power and proper understanding.
To be happy, is to seek the opposite of suffering. To have knowledge. To behold all
perfection and still be apart from it.
To be perfect in oneself, one must let go of happiness. One must have the absolute
knowledge, the absolute existence. In older times they called this nirvana. For the
universe is a Great Machine, with its own laws and its own methods, unceasing, and
in knowing what portion we add to its continuing effort can we find our own highest
purpose.
Happiness is, like many other things, another fleeting thing in a dying world and in
flesh that decays. Serenity and purpose is in fighting to build up and maintain our own
chosen existence."
Kensuke read over his work again, and nodded. Yep, that sounded right. Right?
Right.
Hold these thoughts well, machine spirit of the notebook.
"My happiness is the happiness of my loved ones." Simple and to the point, for Shinji.
Even if that might seem unrealistic to some. He only just caught himself from writing
-happiness of my people- in that line. Loved ones was a vauge enough term. Even if
it was impossible to please everyone he should, at least statistically, be able to say
that humanity as a whole was safe and happy.
To that point though, he had to worry. Things were only going to intensify, and those
who followed him would have to put themselves in danger for the sake of the mission.
Power is bought through sacrifice and paradise is built bit by bit; so far he'd been able
to keep Asuka from poking around where she would get -killed-. Mana's own political
protection could only extend so far. Rei had already proven willing to die, and Maya
was at greatest risk due to her proximity to Gendo and the amount of meddling she
was already doing.
While he'd said such an amount he'd never find a use for himself, it amazed him how
quickly he'd rid himself of three billion thus far. Launch vehicles of five hundred million
each, plus payload of at least that much. He wasn't quite sure where he'd read of it,
but it was always better to have killsats at your disposal than not. Easy come, easy
go - that way SEELE wouldn't be able to trace the funds the same way. He had to
shake his head in disbelief; why have that much sitting there gathering interest when
none of them expected to last out the year?
Shinji tapped his fingers idly on the keys of his school computer. Words formed.
'A true and persistent world government is only possible when mankind is no longer
limited to one world. Be it nations or organizations; for it to exist only one thing is
necessary.
An enemy.
If all the stars are '- ...
He blinked, realizing with horror what he was putting to form. These thoughts were
still too soon...! The old order will cleanse itself. First, he had to deal with the Angels.
He quickly held down Backspace and gathered his thoughts. The essay still had to go
on for -
What was that?
He glanced aside. Yes, Rei felt that too. The Angel warning should sound soon.
-o-
-o-
Matariel did not arrive until near sundown. The MAGI noted that most Angel attacks
thus far was in the afternoon. The only exceptions were Gaghiel and Israfel, which
attacked out of the sea. No one had any idea why.
The most popular hypothesis was of predatory instinct... like the Angels knew that
humans were less suited for life in the night. That it was the reason humans made
-lightbulbs- didn't seem to matter. If the Angels possessed intellect was still up for
debate. Certainly they didn't seem to possess any method of language and society.
Were they just mostrous beasts after all?
That was more disturbing. That opened up the possibilty they are being sent as
someone else's -weapon-.
Kaworu himself did not have much regard for the intellect of his kin. He had specifically
told Matariel to attack during midafternoon, while the pilots were still at school. In the
end old instincts won out; predation habits against dinosaurs and similar forms in other
worlds. Angels tended to be huge beyond mere physical limits, after all.
He was hiding in a back alley. It rankled having to hide, but with Matariel arriving later
in the day he could not dare bring out the full power of his AT-field lest he give NERV
advance warning. Absolute surprise was essential. Late! Damn that one. He was late!
He was angry. He held the severed head of a black-masked man in his right hand and
slowly the cloth began to burn and flesh melted off, leaving a bare grinning skull. He
scowled and threw that into a nearby garbage bin.
He had leapt through the distance into the other building, eviscerating the operatives
there. He scoffed. Just generic mercenaries. Working for any bidder, whoever hired
them was therefore untraceable. No matter. Shinji Ikari could not be so crude. He had
forgotten, that there were two Ikaris in Tokyo-3. Both were using each other as tools.
Doubtless the younger was just waiting for him to approach Asuka again.
He had nothing to say about Shinji, unless he had proof. Revealing that Ayanami was
an Angel herself couldn't help, as said other hybrid could force him to unseal his field.
Speaking of all the things Shinji Ikari had already put to place sounded so... unreal...
even to his ears.
Tokyo 3 was their city. Kaworu was at every disadvantage there. 'Forgive me, Shas'O.
I had forgotten. His movements may occupy both extremes of range.'
Nonetheless, he felt like laughing. While it was Gendo's tools that did this, it was Shinji
who made it so effective. Whispering to his limbs in Section Two, who would whisper
to their Section Chief, who would whisper it to Fuyutsuki, who would mention it to
Gendo. Voila! Near carte blanche. Gendo's explicit order, to eliminate him as well, was
the only part of the plan sure to fail.
Killing Shinji Ikari would be too easy, but also ultimately proving nothing. Humans were
each too small and fragile. Together, however, they made wonders. Lillith had once
defeated Adam, and it wouldn't be enough for the Angels to recover their own Source.
Lillith had to be defeated, they had to -prove- themselves stronger.
Similarly, if Shinji Ikari wanted him dead, then there would nothing he could do to stop
it. He and young Ikari were alike. Too alike. Only in their differences would they find
triumph.
It was so invigorating to have an equal. He'd been so alone in everything for so long.
He would cherish it, that hate, until the fullness of time when the Heavens shall shake,
the Hells cower, and the Earth itself splits asunder as they clashed. Nothing less would
suffice. For the death of his immortal brethren; nothing but utter victory even against
the height of the abominable enemy's power.
Finally!
He looked to the sky. Matarael was sluggish in its unprecedented new form. However,
it was time to pit once again the unnatural strength of Lillith's methods against Adam's
self-defined success. It was so odd; since their genetic memory knew only ceaseless
triumph.
Shinji Ikari. So much power in such a small, breakable form. How could he stand it? It
boggled Kaworu's mind. He couldn't understand why all the bother about plans and
manipulations... such limited Lillim thinking. Power. Power was enough. Power beyond
skill. Power beyond plans to affect. If Matariel manages it, then good for... it. Kaworu
still believed only he could stop that growing avalanche.
Still, he was going to give Matariel every advantage available. Humans... cheat. All the
time. Might as well repay the favor.
He took out a cellphone.
"Hello, Mister Ryouji? You're still in the geofront, aren't you?" He ignored the various
sounds of protest from the other side of the line. "Yes, it is necessary. Look, only you
can do this. You don't need to know more than that... the consequences of failing to
carry this out, after so much preparation... can only be unpleasant."
Kaworu put the phone away and jammed his hands deep into his pockets. He leaned
against a dirty wall, with rusty pipes staining the orange of his jacket, and waited.
Show me the future of man, Shinji-kun.
-o-
-o-
Classes were out. Tokyo-3 was still bright enough not to need street lamps and people
were going about in their own separate concerns.
Click. Electricity was the lifeblood of every city. With a whine, Tokyo 3 died.
Without power, even the MAGI was no more than lumps of metal, silicon, and protein.
A series of mirrors and artificial lights brought day into the geofront. As power cut off,
NERV HQ plunged into the darkness from whence it came.
Everyone within was caught by surprise. Even Gendo and Fuyutsuki, who had been
expecting it. They too were frustrated by the delay. The scenario demanded that the
pilots arrive in the nick of time. Gendo, in sweating and working with the employees of
NERV, was supposed to remind them of their loyalty. Ordinarily, he would have made
up some excuse of a sync test to keep the pilots close by.
Except that SEELE had failed to warn him -when- it would happen. Killing off their
operative so as the restart sequence wouldn't get back to the old men wouldn't help.
Gendo deemed them too much of a risk, however. Just because he obeyed SEELE did
not mean they could mess around with -his- project in -his- city. What for did they
see fit to appoint him as the artisan of the Human Instrumentality Project?
The Trident Land Dreadnought was nowhere even NEAR his list of scenarios.
Sabotaging that was impossible; since a piloted machine had several hard overrides.
Security was tighter inside a joint exploit JSSDF/NNHIS base and every technician to
touch the machine was checked and double-checked for reliability. Mankind had a
weapon to match the Evas... it rankled him, since for too long he'd enjoyed being in a
position of absolute superiority.
What could it have been like, those men in the deserts; starving, half-mad, in their
quest for holiness beholding a future they had no way of understanding? Re-reading
the specific prophecies revealed thus;
I stood beneath walls wrought of glass and beheld a strange shape, a hulk of a thing
unlike a man yet undoubtedly of man. Luck was its color yet fortune fled from it. And
saith the Angel; I weep for this giant. A slave that stands for the sake of its ill master.
Hear the voice of the Lord. Tears overflow in the third city. Its light is dead, and its
heart cleaved to pieces. Hear the promise of the shining one. And this world will once
more know the tread of my feet. I shall heal it and seal its fortress into the deep. Of
the blood spilled in my name shall I write the songs from which worlds are built.
Now, everyone concerned had just assumed that it was the Eva. Slave; Rei. Master;
Gendo. Or probably Shinji; it mattered little. Both would die anyway, and return to odd
existence; Rei from her clones and Shinji from being absorbed. It was all inescapable
in the scenarios. Only so suddenly did it occur to them that the Dreadnought fit the
bill; by its shape, its background, and its purpose.
It was shift change. Those on the bridge finished their mundane tasks and prepared to
switch. The main operators; Ibuki, Hyuga and Aoba were supposed to give way to the
secondary operators, the all-girl bridge bunnies Agano, Ooi, and Mogami. Hyuga had
already left early. Maya stood up and waved down at the others below.
Darkness filled all.
"Aaah!" screamed Maya suddenly. There was a thump.
"Hey, hey... aren't you too old to be scared of the dark?" said Shigeru, teasingly. He
got off his chair and felt around the inky darkness for a flashlight. "Emergency lights
should be turning right about... now."
Red lights switched on, and bathed the command center in dim harsh light.
"Maya!" he shouted. The young woman had fallen face-down. Ritsuko was quickly
there by her side, and turned her over. Blood leaked thinly from her nose and mouth.
The doctor felt around Maya's head and neck. "No signs of a contusion..." She bit her
lip. "It might be spinal, she could have twisted it when she fell. You!" directed to Shigeru.
"There's a first aid kit in that panel over there. Get it."
The lieutenant hastened to comply, while Ritsuko sat there cradling Maya in her lap.
She stroked the younger woman's hair, shocked at how vulnerable her so dependable
shadow actually was... There were many aspects of her job that she found disgusting
and degrading, but there were also others that provided such exhilarating mental
challenges. Maya helped to make even the more mundane aspects of her duties seem
fresh and exciting. It had been too long since she knew just the sheer joy of creating
something new and unexpected.
She feared innocent little Maya's judging of her, if the young woman ever got an idea
of to just what depravity she'd lowered herself. Maya's enthusiastic acceptance and
honest ideas allowed her for a time, to forget just what NERV was all about. For a few
precious moments, she could feel like a hero, like she was really out to save the world.
"Doctor Akagi." said Gendo from his high seat. "Why are all the backup generators not
functioning?"
"The geofront was designed as a self-sufficient colony if ever it is isolated from outside.
It can't be happen, theoretically, that it would lose all its power supplies." Fuyutsuki
put in.
"So this is deliberate." Obviously. Gendo was speaking specific word triggers for his
scenario. Still, Akagi should have been up on her console trying to look useful at least.
"Akagi." he said again.
"It can't be the MAGI." she responded without looking back. "More likely someone had
switched off the breakers either manually or with a hidden override."
"Then begin with restoring power. We are vulnerable to attack like this."
"What purpose would that serve?" Fuyutsuki asked. "If it's man that causes this, then
likely it's more about research."
"Knowing about our start-up procedures." Ritsuko said, while still waiting. Shigeru came
back with the medical supplies. "Maya? Can you hear me?" She was still unconscious,
but with normal pulse and breathing. Like a coma? Unnatural, and dire. Ritsuko knew
very few causes for deep spontaneous unconsciouness, none of them less than severe.
Gendo twitched imperceptibly. "Akagi...!" he said louder, getting annoyed at being
ignored.
"LATER!" Ritsuko shot back. "It can wait. Maya first, then the goddamn computers."
That took the two men up on the higher platform by surprise. Ritsuko, losing her cool
over her assistant; totally unexpected. Gendo had already pegged Maya as a small
annoyance; at best an object of pity for the scientist as the mousy young woman
tried in her futile little ways to stand beside her sempai; unknowing of just how tainted
that glow was.
"You forget yourself, Doctor Akagi..." Gendo growled. "You are losing your objectivity.
This is not the time to abandon your duty."
Below, Ritsuko clenched her fists. She grimaced as if in pain. Shigeru Aoba, seeing that,
could only wonder. Did not the blonde recieve yesterday's chocolate just magnificently
in full view of everyone in the command center?
Of course, Maya then handed an identical box to Misato; fueling no end of speculation.
"Maya knows almost as much about the MAGI and the Evangelions as much as I do.
Good luck trying to find someone as familiar with the Eva battle system and tactical
analysis that even comes close to what she can already do." She turned back, her
eyes unseen as her glasses reflected red glare. "Maya is too valuable." she said with
great emphasis.
Gendo hid his from under his hands. Maya had never been part of his scenario. And
yet, she was already influencing two of the more critical portions. Even more irritating,
he could clearly see there was no one acting behind the young woman; all of it just
the effects of random chance.
Either that, or extremely accurate foresight. And such a gamble on so many random
variables was impossible.
Ritsuko held smelling salts under Maya's nose. The NERV lieutenant coughed and slowly
roused back. "... sempai?"
"How are you feeling?" asked Ritsuko, visibly relieved.
"Cold... so cold. Numb. Like a part of me is gone..."
Ritsuko nodded. Muddled nerve signals. It fit with her quick diagnosis. "Can you stand?"
"I think so... why is it so dark?" She squinted. "Or is it just me?"
"No, power is out all throughout the geofront. And since we supply power to the city,
likely above as well." She helped Maya back up to her feet. She glanced up at Gendo
one more time, weighing in the consequences of her defiance. To hell with it; was her
decision. She had enough of living in fear and desperation for his approval.
There was a certain comfort in insanity. Or deviance. The world was already well and
truly mad. In times of madness only the insane appear sane. In times of madness, that
which is right might appear as insane, brutal, and cruel. Her own flexible morality had
her obey without questioning, deeming herself already beyond redemption. Ritsuko had
purposely cultivated a distance from others, a hedgehog in fear; but Maya...
She should not be sucked into that putrid scenario. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Everything
just screamed it; and for an intelligent person Ritsuko could live in such denial. It was
no secret Ritsuko wanted to die; her chainsmoking hardly bothered her. So steeped in
sin. It should be easy to corrupt Maya by her presence, yet Ritsuko felt cleaner and
more alive with every moment spent in younger woman's unashamed admiration.
But if she just knew...
Ritsuko winced. She didn't see Maya roll her eyes at those flickers of doubt. Of course
Maya already knew. Rei had not been reluctant, even at the most gruesome of things
that were done to her. That didn't change anything. Ritsuko-sempai was still to her a
good person trapped by a web of lies and inquity not of her own making. She longed
for the day they could cut that down.
And cut Gendo open, no qualms about that. They had chainswords.
"Okay..." Maya said softly. "What do we have to do, sempai?"
"We've got plenty of work to do. We need to turn on the operational layer of the MAGI
and begin a random start-up sequence. We need to write that one on the fly. Then we
have to find the overrides allowing this to happen. Only then can we turn on the MAGI
and bring power back to the city." She let go of the younger woman, and watched her
steady herself to a straight stance. "Think you're up to it?"
"Always, sempai." said Maya. The geofront... MAGI's silence... was oppressive and just
so -wrong-. "Whatever you need."
Gendo could not hear their words, and as such was doubly annoyed by their apparent
closeness, a refuge away. More things getting out of control. The boy, JSSDF, now
Akagi. Ibuki needed to learn her place again, even if she had to beaten and shoved
into it.
-o-
A few still hours passed. Many shops had already closed up, and very few people were
left loitering around the parks. Living in Tokyo 3 made people there already used to
such small annoyances. Complaints couldn't reach down into the geofront, and all
entrances were sealed. Breaking in just to gripe would be a criminal offense. Arbitrary
politicians had nothing to offer but pleas of patience.
A black storm gathered around the city, and deathly cold winds began to blow. In
another time, Matariel would have approached unchallenged and weak because of that.
The Angels were supremely adaptive, becoming stronger the more they were attacked.
With the young king in his city, that would only have led to a quick and useless death.
The Angel arrived from above, quickly and without any warning. Right over the main
street. Understandably, people began panicking and running to the shelters.
It was unknown why Matariel had a spiderlike form. Clearly those spindly legs were
naturally incapable of supporting its massive weight. There was some AT-field magic
going on. The Angel arrived floating in mid-air, with its legs folded up in a tetrahedral
configuration reminiscent of Ramiel. It unfolded and touched the ground, its AT-field
as propulsion fading. Its jamming field abruptly increased. In a strange blitzkrieg, the
city could call for help all it wanted, but no one would come even from just the next
town over. Matariel slowly strode over the city, unafraid.
Click. Whine. DAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!
Bolter fire raked across its lower half. It let out a pained screech as purplish blood
splashed down into the streets. The Eva Assault Rifle Analogue, which proved nearly
useless against many enemy Angels, spat MBT cannon slugs in burst mode. The Great
Bolter had more in common with battleship naval shells; huge, explosive, and in insane
overkill. MegaBolters used the even larger Heavy Great Bolter rounds, each nearly the
size of a house, in unrelenting rapid fire.
Unfortunately the Angel was just too big even for that to kill it. It opened its large red
bottom eye, tilting its body, to see a large yet squat machine along the main road. It
was painted over in bright blue and golden yellow. It lifted one of its stubbly legs and
STOMP!ed on the concrete, cracking it. It lifted the other, STOMP! again, and pitched
its bulky torso forwards a ways like a sumo wrestler; which it did strongly resemble.
Mana Kirishima smirked, as -Magnos Tancred- stood right there, unflinching against an
enemy that literally overshadowed it.
Flash! A positron beam bit into one of the leg segments. More Angel blood leaked. The
Land Dreadnought then bullrushed that leg, bodyslamming into it, and snapping it with
a satisying -crack!-. Pained screech. If it could do a chicken run against an Eva and it
was the larger mecha that would end up the one on its ass, then the spindly supports
were nothing.
Matariel tilted, and toppled into a building. -Magnos Tancred- sprayed its fallen form
with even more megabolter rounds. The battle that would be known as Tears of Tokyo
Three was well on the way.
However, the fight had actually begun almost two hours earlier. Shinji Ikari made the
first move.
-o-
-o-
The pilots (and one commander), of Projects E and T, prepared to leave for home. The
foursome walked together towards the school gates. Musashi and Keita (actual pilot
and gunner respectively) walked a discreet distance away, unwilling to interact with
Shinji Ikari. Out on the streets, Asuka turned and leaned close to Shinji. She frowned
as she inspected his face.
"Did you know, you have this constipated look, all afternoon?" she said to him. "What's
wrong with -..." Asuka stopped and palmed her face. "On second thought, I don't even
want to know. I can't believe I used up an afternoon with that question stuck in my
mind."
Mana chuckled lightly. Such random thoughts like that also reminded her that Asuka
was still such a civilian, her prowess and capacity for violence aside. Although; she
too had been watching Ikari, her mission as a spy still ongoing and meshing well with
her girlish aims. Tension and a slight frown; strange to see on someone usually so
unflappable.
"Something -is- wrong." said Rei. She felt itchy all over, but was far more adept at
hiding her discomfort.
"Hmm?" Asuka turned to her. "And what would that be?"
"Look." The blue-haired girl pointed out.
The group stared at whatever she was pointing at. A cloud? A tree? A lamp-post?
"What?" Asuka continued. It was just a normal everyday empty street. Even that
wasn't out of the ordinary, since by city standards, Tokyo 3 wasn't that big. Mass
transport was utilized well, there were very few cars used needlessly to clog up the
thoroughfares. Extra-wide streets to allow Evas and other such monstrosities to pass
through also reduced congestion.
Mana's sight did not have a civilian's preconceptions. She searched out locations of
possible trouble, for hidden dangers and suspicious people. The street, as mentioned,
was empty. There was a nasty stormcloud approaching over the horizon, but that was
slightly to the left of where Rei was pointing. Birds were all silent. It was all peaceful.
Too peaceful.
They both realized it at almost the same time. "Ah!" gasped Asuka.
"The traffic lights." said Mana. "They're all off."
They both turned to Rei, who nodded. "So what?" asked Asuka. "So there's a power
outage. Not like that's never happened before..."
Rei shrugged slightly. "Consider, pilot Sohryu, where the power for this city comes
from." She pointed down at an angle, approximately to where one of Tokyo 3's four
small fusion reactors were. "While there have been power interruptions before, it has
always been announced beforehand. For NERV to lose power without prior warning is
entirely unprecedented."
That brought Asuka to taking a thinking pose. Her face brightened suddenly. "It's so
simple. Why not just call them and ask?" They were an important part of NERV, after
all.
Ritsuko had never been unwilling to answer Asuka's questions; though their little
discussions inevitably led to mutual griping. It was a good thing perhaps that Asuka
was still too young to really drink. Asuka took out her mobile phone, grimaced at the
unstylish shape of it (though liking its cherry red color) and dialed in a number leading
to Ritsuko's office. If not Ritsuko, then Maya; or at least one of the other scientists
and technicians who could find those two.
Asuka held the phone to her ear and waited. She frowned, and put it away after a
minute or so. "There's no answer." she told them. "Not even a dial tone."
"Eeh?" Mana knew about communication systems, being essential to modern warfare.
"Isn't that just a carrier signal? Landlines had that because of current running through
the wires. Handhelds only make that sound because people are already so used to
hearing that."
Asuka took out and frowned again at her cellphone. Because of Third Impact, many
'luxury' technologies never ended up being developed. The utter collapse of the global
economy quickly put an end to easy personal computing and towards massive-scale
building; as case in point the MAGI. Only nations and surviving megacorps (by having
gobbled up smaller companies) could afford such technologies. A handheld as a media
device; capable of telephone communication, games, video/audio recording and even
Internet access... was conspiciously unheard of. What a frivolous toy, many would
have said; the symbol of a decadent society.
Cellphones were larger, of tougher and more durable casings. Instead of fads and by
annual 'upgrades' to the next stylish model, most mobile phones were made in search
of quality and durability. The resources needed to build complex circuitry were steadily
dwindling. Certainly, NERV's issue were nearly military-spec and expected to last the
pilots several years of good use.
Asuka took out a thick plastic-covered card and inserted it into an empty slot into the
phone's back. That was it's concession to commercial use; add-on modules, the staple
of post-Impact markets, trying to extend the utility of whatever they had on hand.
That add-on was to allow the phone to recieve and play radio signals. Asuka pushed
the volume up to the maximum, and held it up high. She thumbed through the radio
frequencies using 4 and 6 buttons, 2 and 8 for fine-tuning. She got only static.
Asuka narrowed her gaze. Hypothesis proven.
"That's strange..." said Mana. She took out her own milspec phone, and turned to her
friends. The two were observing silently, leaning on the schoolyard wall. "Trident Base,
this is Kirishima, do you copy? Over. This is Kirishima in Tokyo 3. Do you read...?"
Static as well. She put it away, and watched as Keita brought out an actual military
radio from his bag. The boys fiddled with it a while, then shook a negative at her.
Mana looked up at the sky, still bright blue though starting to get cloudy.
"This shouldn't be happening." she said. "Is there something going on in the air? This is
electronics jamming."
"Well, I do feel a little tingly..." said Asuka, while rubbing her shoulder. "But that could
be just the hot weather." Shinji and Rei looked slightly surprised, and gave each other
meaningful looks.
Keita and Musashi approached. The spectacles-wearing boy put in "Well, even really
strong interference shouldn't scramble our signals so completely. The base has its own
powerful transmitters, we should be getting -something-."
"It's like... an EMP burst." said Musashi. "That's the only thing I know that can mess up
all the bands all at once."
Asuka scoffed. "Heh. But I don't recall any nukes exploding over Tokyo 3 earlier today,
did you?"
The boy soldiers both shrugged. "Hey, I just said it's like that." said Musashi, miffed.
"Do YOU know what's happening, Sohryu?"
Asuka smirked. "Isn't it obvious?"
"It is?" The Trident Land Dreadnought operatives looked puzzled at the sheer delight
upon the red-haired girl's face.
"NERV has no power. Tokyo-3 has no way of sending or recieving intercept orders.
We're completely vulnerable." said Asuka. She stretched out, and turned to them;
grinning. Her blood felt as if on fire. "Angel. We get to kill another one."
"ooh..." whispered Keita. He good-naturedly clapped his hands. "As to be expected
from Langley-Sohryu the Great." He stopped at a keen look from Mana. None disputed
Asuka's strategic authority when it comes to killing Angels. The many simulations had
focused on training that into her, after all. "Are you sure?"
Shinji kept his talents hidden there; and his strategic notions were very unlike hers
anyway. Hers was useful battlefield strategy. His was really, really long-range strategy.
The kind that sought out centuries of effect. Asuka had earned her place as the pilots'
team leader. She had to get really, really good really quickly; for Shinji could get nigh
precognitive at times (and even actually so). The young king would be useless if he
had to command each and every battle; and for that needed capable generals.
He smiled faintly. This was Asuka's first true test. Without Misato or my direction,
what would you do?
"No, of course not. But there's no harm in preparing for it, right?" She looked up at
the sky. "It's not like we have anything better to do, right?" She stared at her fellow
pilots, who nodded in assent.
His smile grew wider, as he was facing away. Just admitting to the possibility of a
mistake was already a journey far traveled. There were two types of confidence, the
one born from self-delusion and the other out of hard-won victories. Asuka held one
that wouldn't just give up, even dying in the attempt if she had to.
"I guess we better head to the base too, then." said Mana. She looked doubtfully to
the west. "If the trains aren't working..." She sighed. "I might need to hotwire a car."
"I might be able to help with that." said Shinji.
"Eeh?" Asuka understood why Shinji was friends with Kensuke; both were knowledge
sponges, except that where geek held a variety of useless knowledge, the pilot had
strange and oddly appropriate skills.
He looked around and saw a tall passing senior. "Gosen-san!" Shinji shouted out.
The student turned and saw the young Ikari waving for him. Somewhat hesitantly he
approached. "Yes, Ikari-san?" he asked. It was actually the first time ever that he was
in the midst of the prominent pilots. He already had a girlfriend, so wasn't part of the
Color Cults.
"Sorry to bother you, sempai..." Shinji bowed. "But could you please send a message
to Kensuke? Please have him know that I need the colors up on the roof."
The senior considered briefly. "Sure, why not?"
He turned around and headed back into the school.
It wasn't until he was up on the steps to the third floor that he realized; what the
hell? 'Why am I obeying an underclassman, even if it's Ikari? I could just snag another
student to do this chore.'
Still, his feet kept moving. There were few students left in the school. He stepped in
front of a sophomore girl, and asked. "Pardon, but do you happen to know where Aida
is?"
"Oh. He's up on the roof with the mechanics' club, sempai."
Gosen nodded and moved on. All the way up to the roof, five stories up. He found
there Kensuke, in his white jacket, among a huddled group of boys. He moved closer
to see that in the circle they had an odd machine with a bunch of wires leading to
several bulky remote controls held in their hands. For some strange reason it was
already painted over as if having gone through massive battles.
"Just because the Dreadnought is more stable on its feet doesn't mean that balance
isn't a troublesome issue." Kensuke was saying. "See? If it tilt the body in any way,
the mass would send it toppling, and unlike the Eva it can't get back up so easily on
its own. It doesn't have arms to serve as counterbalance.
But because of its stubby shape, a wide stance with its feet makes the limited tilt
to the side well within its stability range. If we move one foot in slightly in front of the
other, the forward and backward tilt is also addressed. "
"But standing still leaves the Dreadnought vulnerable." said someone.
"That's true." Kensuke answered. "That's why that same tricky issue of balance is
what helps the Dreadnought. Okay, Konata, move it a little."
The model dreadnought lifted one leg, and pitched forward. Hurriedly, the controller
put one foot in front of the other to keep it from toppling over, and made the model
run right into someone on the circle of observers.
"Oof!"
"Like an aircraft, inherently unstable." Kensuke continued. "Momentum is what gives
the dreadnought agility deceptive to its looks. Note that the waist has full 360 degree
rotation." He took the and waist remote controls, and with both hands had the model
walk back, turn, and move about in a small circle.
The others clapped. "You sure know a lot, Kensuke. It's like you were on the design
team, or something..." The glasses-wearing teen merely smiled a bit. He didn't need
adulation. It was enough that he had built well.
The senior on a errand coughed, to get their attention. "Aida-kun." he said. "Ikari said
he needs the colors up here, whatever that means."
Kensuke made a 'heh' and waved aside. "So it's come to that, eh?" He picked out one
from his group of associated builders. "Say, Kato. Go down to the chem club, would
you? Tell them I want the red, green, and yellow smoke bombs."
Kensuke's voice of authority was different from Shinji's. Of the latter, many found
themselves obeying as if it was second nature. Those who obeyed Kensuke's errands
did so amusedly, knowing he couldn't be everywhere at once. Kensuke would never
send anyone to do what he wasn't perfectly willing to do himself, but just that he had
too much to do.
Soon enough, the errand boy returned from the Chemistry Club hideaway with four
large canisters.
Juin Gosen watched as the Experimental Engineering Club set up a field mortar-like
device. Kensuke loaded in the canisters. Fwomph! Fwomph! Fwomph! One after the
other, into the sky. Three closely-spaced explosions splashed colors into the empty
blue.
A short while later, similar plumes of colored smoke rose high above other schools and
certain buildings; responding to the challenge. A strong wind blew, spreading the colors
further and sending Kensuke's white jacket flapping.
"What's that do?" asked the senior.
"Heh. It's better if you don't know." Kensuke clapped his hands together. May you find
happiness beyond your sad fate, machine spirits.
A few minutes later, a black sedan swung past the very same curve that Maya passed
yesterday; and in the same reckless abandon. It screeched to a stop right in front of
the pilots.
The black-tinted window of the left front seat slid down, to reveal that the car was
of foreign make, being left-hand drive. "Yo." said Agent Jiro, poking his hand out the
window and smiling.
"Oh, you guys again..." Asuka muttered. Unlike Shinji she just couldn't get comfortable
with the idea of grown men always spying on her.
"So... the phones aren't working." said Agent Jiro to Shinji, with a brief nod to Rei.
"We're not your taxi service, you know."
"Sorry." The pilot bowed deeply. "But could you take Kirishima-san and her friends over
to the Trident base?"
The younger agent brought his arm back in to open the rear door. "Hop on." he said to
the Trident teens. They went in, belting themselves securely. They looked about in
some wonder at how spacious and wasteful the old automobiles were.
"You're going in that thing?" Asuka said to Mana with exaggerated disbelief. "You're
braver than I thought."
"She's dissing the car. Nobody disses the car, J. What should we do, J?"
"Ignore her. Maybe she'll go away." responded the other in the driver's seat.
Asuka smirked. "And I can tell you two have been following Shinji around a little too
long." She patted the Ford's admittedly worn roof, as like someone had fallen onto it
from a great height and the bumps beaten back into place. "Look. Just... take care,
okay? Make sure they get there in one piece."
That moment of concern made everyone stare at her oddly "Hey!" she said. "Just
because I think an Eva is better doesn't mean I want them to die just like that. You
want to fight an Angel, Kirishima? Fine." She grinned. "Let see what you can do."
"I won't disappoint you, Sohryu." responded Mana, with an identical challenging grin.
A rivalry just wouldn't be as much fun if they couldn't prove each other as equals.
Thus, off went Kirishima and company to their moment of destiny.
-o-
-o-
Several minutes later, a doorbell rang. Megumi Asagiri answered the door, and saw
there on the doorstep a small child with four small pigtails. "Um... yes?" she asked,
while to herself 'How'd this kid get up here?'
"Ello, lady!" said the child, in accented English. Then, back to Japanese; "This is the
Asagiri place, right?"
"Um... yes." she said again.
"I gots a delivery to make for some old guy named Asagiri. Is he around?"
The young woman smirked a bit. She was in college, but even there just knowing her
father was a general made people too formal around her. The military's power in Tokyo
was at a peak since pre-WW2 levels. A little bit of irreverence was so refreshing.
"Father!" she shouted indoors. "There's someone to see you!"
"Show them in!" he replied from within the bungalow. "... what's wrong with this TV?"
Only minutes earlier, there was a clear picture.
"Nah...!" said the gretch. She stood implacable in place. "Get 'im 'ere so I can hand
over da Word and get outta here."
Megumi's lips twitched. "All right..."
In the end the general nearly needed to be pushed out to the door. He looked down at
the cute child standing there, wide-eyed and completely unafraid. "Hello. What's your
name?" he asked gently.
"How many stars are there on your shoulder?" she asked flatly.
He blinked. "Three." he said after a while.
"Then! Dis is for ya!" The gretch pushed a white envelope at him. As soon as it was
in his hands, she fled.
"Hey!"
She was already gone. The general stared doubtfully at the letter. He sniffed it and
felt around for any suspicious bumps. After a while, he decided to just risk opening it.
He read:
Asagiri-san;
If you are reading this, then it's likely Tokyo 3 is under surprise attack and I am unable
to do anything about it. Communications are probably cut all around. I'll try to do what
I can, but at this point Kirishima-san should already be at base.
Likely, she already set out even without orders.
I beg that you forgive her this instance. In addition, if it's possible, give her the prior
orders so she wouldn't get in trouble if someone should call attention to it.
I apologize for the presumption.
-Shinji Ikari
General Asagiri frowned. He shouted to the sala. "Oi, Megumi! Are the TV channels
still out?" At her negative response, "... then check the phones! Dial Tokyo 3!" Nothing.
"Call the base, then, and arrange for my pick-up. Yes, yes. Please. I'm saying please."
He tore up the strangely prepared letter and disposed of the evidence behind a row of
decorative flowers beds. Interesting. He wondered if Akira got something similar.
It should be noted that his bungalow was on the outskirts of Tokyo 2. A helicopter
soon arrived to quickly bring him to the UN Fuchu HQ.
-o-
-o-
Da Boyz hut in Tokyo 3 recieved a report form Da Boyz chapter in Tokyo 2. All phone
lines were down. Da Gretchin used wire telegraphs. Dit dit. Dash dash. They even had
a small generator in the basement. Somehow a wire was strung from their hut, onto
the electric poles, all the way across the Kanto region, to different Da Boyz Huts all
over the nation.
It was amazing, really, what people would let you do if you just wore official electrician
clothes. Houko Construction reached out to many different cities.
It was the only outgoing communications line in the city that actually still worked. It
was crude, but totally independent of all computers.
One of the things Da Book said was to keep a Stash, for each family. Prepares for da
worst; it said. Suzuhara Mari sat in the basement, checking Da Big Pile of food, drinks
and batteries. Gets set ta infiltrate; the colors in the sky said.
Da Book was still their gospel, but like any organization they had to separate ideals
from actual laws. So; Ayane-san created the -Waaagh! Dat Way!- codex of conduct.
There may be no innocents; only degrees of guilt - but Shinji loved children anyway
just by having nearly nil of it. Among his loftiest and most immidiate goals was to have
them always safe and happy.
-o-
-o-
"Well, now it's our turn." said Asuka. "We've got to make contact with NERV!"
"That's a good idea, Asuka... but first... please don't move, Rei." Shinji put a hand on
her shoulder and using her like a post bent up his foot to adjust his shoe. That simple
gesture hid the only thing necessary, skin contact.
'Maya? What's happening?'
'It's dark down here, Shinji-kun. Power distribution's been sabotaged.'
'So the reactors are still all right? Can we get in?'
'There isn't any danger with that, at least. But all the systems are down. You'l have
to try and get in through manual hatches.'
Shinji felt a hand upon his, lifting it up from Rei's shoulder. He nearly lost his balance.
He looked up to see Asuka frowning at him. "We don't have time to dilly-dally, Third
Child." she said, using her own weight to support him.
He grinned weakly. "Sorry." He got back up to his feet. "But how do we get into the
geofront?"
Rei pointed to a faroff building. "We may enter through Route 7 over there."
"Okay! Sounds like a plan! Let's go!" Asuka went off, not looking back. The two other
pilots smiled at each other, and followed.
"She's really putting this to heart, isn't she?" Shinji said, pleased.
"Simulations cannot compete with the real thing." replied Rei. "Her purpose demands
expression. After all, greatness can only be earned, not given."
A dark cloud slid closer.
-o-
-o-
Kaworu felt like hitting his head on a wall. His brethren strode the line between cunning
and rank stupidity. Camouflaging oneself as a cloud and absorbing all radar to approach
in absolute stealth was brilliant. Moving to Tokyo 3 at wind speed, in sublime accuracy
of disguise... less so.
-o-
-o-
Deep within NERV, Maya followed Ritsuko down dark corridors. Conspicuously, Maya
was armed. She brought it out only when they were away from the command center,
and wandering alone in the eerily silent passages. This puzzled the scientist, as she
had her assistant pegged as an absolute pacifist. "It's a bolt pistol... safebolts." Maya
said. "The darkness... I don't like the dark, sempai."
"Do you really believe you're in danger this deep in NERV, Maya?"
The younger woman's expression was hidden by the flashlight's glow. "Sorry, but... I
don't like feeling vulnerable. I would rather have and not need this, than to need it and
not have it." She rubbed her at her upper arm, looking vulnerable anyway.
Ritsuko nodded and took no more issue. Her kidnapping along with Shinji. No one had
dared ask, if she had been raped. NERV had no psychologists on staff; actually that
would most likely be her as well, and Ritsuko hadn't simply bothered then. It bothered
her now, and too long had passed that it was just awkward to ask.
Many signs pointed to yes. Maya's continued infantuation with Shinji, a boy nearly ten
years her junior... was perhaps a sign. Someone who could never harm her, someone
who could make her feel like she was in control.
That, was the conventional assumption. In reality, Maya had no problem with giving up
all control. There were very few things Maya still feared, and the darkness not among
them. The convenient darkness though, what and who might lurk in there? Even at full
staff, NERV was never really filled. Infiltration would be so easy, whatever manner of
devious doings possible. She feared harm to her beloved sempai. The darkness was no
veil to a battle sister's eyes.
"The air is getting stale." said Ritsuko, trying for conversation to relieve the tension.
"So strange to think, this is supposed to be the pinnacle of human technology."
A thin laugh. "You're funny, Ritsuko-sempai."
"I am?"
"You make me laugh. This? The pinnacle of what humans can do? No way!" Maya made
the flashlight's spot dance around the corridor. "There are still greater things we have
to do. The world is not enough. The stars must be ours as well."
"I never thought you were the type to go for that kind of science fiction."
"I plan on living long enough to see it become reality." replied Maya, shining her light
on Ritsuko. "How about you, sempai? Wouldn't that be nice? Our souls would no longer
be trapped by the well of gravity."
Now it was Ritsuko's turn to laugh. "So, you want to live in a space colony?"
"There shall be a world known as Maya." she replied. And there shall reside the most
feared females in all of the known universe. Demons and Angels shall tremble in their
passing. "It will be a nice place, with mountains and fresh air." The surface would be
left unspoiled. All critical assets would be at least a kilometer underneath the crust.
The battlebarge Breath of Life would be based upon Red Castle orbital station.
Ritsuko laughed some more. "You don't dream small, do you?"
"What else are dreams good for, sempai?" The other's light was brought to her face,
and her expression was all too innocent.
Ritsuko smiled sadly. "Maya..." Oh, to hell with it. It wasn't as if she could lose much
more of her dignity. She drew closer and pushed Maya to a wall. "Don't ever change..."
Maya's flashlight dropped to the floor and rolled away.
-o-
-o-
The Trident Home Base was a small flat space along Internation Highway 138, in a
valley carved out in the slopes of Gora by Israfael's destruction. To get there, one
could either use IH 138, or the Eva-built 'Twin Terror' tunnel road. That was a direct
route, though it pitched sharply down.
A black Ford sedan went screaming down the road.
The MPs patrolling the base barely had any time to react as the car just blew through
the roadblock, splintering the wooden barriers. The reinforced hood was barely even
dented. It screeched, it spun around, weaving as if drunkenly, then finally to a stop.
Immidiately a horde of assault rifle-toting soldiers surrounded the car. They tensed as
a door opened.
Musashi emerged. "Blork!" he said in greeting, and puked all over the tarmac.
They relaxed a fraction.
Soon enough the three Trident teens were out of the car and meeting with the base
commander. The Section 2 agents headed back to the city to do whatever it was that
they still needed to do. The three still looked slightly dizzy, but determined to set off
again. "Why?" asked Colonel Ogawa.
"Tokyo 3's shut down right now." replied Mana. "It might be under attack."
The man crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair, understandably reluctant.
"What about the Evas?" he asked. Without orders, it would violate the NERV/JSSDF
autonomy. Tokyo 3 was supposed to be off-limits, though the Evas themselves can't
operate outside of it until the UN surrenders command of the field in an emergency.
"Last thing we need right now is more intereference from Ikari, the older one. Getting
the land to build a base here was hard enough."
"With all due respect, sir... we don't have the time to worry about that." replied Mana.
"Without power, NERV has no means of detecting or intercepting threats. If necessary,
we need to buy them time."
There was a knocking at the office door. NNHIS project chief Shiro Tokita was let in.
"Ah, Tokita!" the colonel greeted him with relief. "Shouldn't NERV have their own diesel
generators?" Normally the military and corporate motives don't get along, but strange
times made for strange alliances.
"Well, sure. In fact they should have it operating by now. But the way I see it, if we
aren't getting any power then it doesn't matter how many generators they have. If
the distribution system's shut down, then they can't move anything on their own."
The base was linked to Tokyo 3's power grid. When that supply cut off, they switched
over to diesel. "Putting aside if we -should-, can we launch?"
"Sure." replied Trident Chief Tokita. "NERV might like dramatic start-up sequences, but
you know us. Switch on, head out. Or..." He grinned at the teens. "Sit down. Kick ass."
"Awesome!" cried Musashi. "Sir! May we?"
Keita shrugged, smiling as well. "We -do- have an onboard -nuclear reactor- after all."
Mana looked thoughtful. "I think NERV could use that..." she said. "-Magnos Tancred-
has an output socket, doesn't it?"
"Ikari was rather insistent on that." The NNHIS representative shrugged.
"Which one?" asked Colonel Ogawa.
"What, you think we'd let the bastard anywhere near our design plans?"
"Heh." The base commander looked at all the enthusiastic faces, from the three young
ones to the older but no less excited. "Fine. Trident team, you have a go."
The three stood up and saluted sharply. "Yes, sir!"
-o-
-o-
Makoto Hyuga in another time would have his moment in the sun, when he brought in
news of the Angel attack into a blind and helpless NERV. He would have seen it while
out picking up Misato's laundry.
However, it was late afternoon. That show of consideration was done. Makoto was at
Hinano 2, browsing through the reprints. It was going to remain open as long as there
was still light to see. The owner still had to recover costs of rebuilding and restocking.
It always interested the shy lieutenant to see the cultural signs as shown in popular
entertainment. The bloody fascination with gladiatorial combat was a significant hint
towards Rome's decline, after all. A world without great wars and great heroes made
up its own myths for their time; as presented by the society before 2nd Impact. In
times of moral ambiguity and easy living, they searched for the unashamedly clear, the
truly altruistic, the hard-won and the magical. There was still real-life hardship, but
those seemed even more remote and unreal, painted over by the eye-catching shades
of mass media and money.
Post-impact literature was either blatantly escapist or blandly informative. Even as
humanity recovered, the message was pretty much 'hang in there!'
Only recently was there acceptance of the heroic motif, warlike themes, and a return
to the bittersweet realm of the love comedy. He wasn't sure if this was because of
Shinji Ikari, or if the boy himself was just a sign of the changing times.
Whump. Whump.
In another time, helicopters would have been relaying warnings to the populace, as
the JSSDF detected the Matariel on its approach. However, the Angel's stealth in that
instance was perfect.
Whump. Whump.
"Due to the possibility of an attack, please be advised to take shelter as soon as
possible." a young female voice blared out into the main street. "This is not a drill.
Please vacate the streets and head for shelter. Due to the possibility of an attack,
please be advised..."
They ran for shelter, immidiately. They relayed that message to others they passed
by along the side roads of Tokyo 3. A hulking dreadnought walked down the extra-
wide main streets; people could not help but to take that warning seriously.
Makoto looked out, and grinned. He put down whatever he was browsing through and
headed off to the middle of the street. Those seeing him thought 'Is he an idiot? He's
going to get killed!' They had never seen the machine before, but they had a pretty
good idea; that if it was about the size of an Eva, then it's probably dangerous.
"... please take shelter as soon as possible." Mana sighed. "Okay, I'm tired. You take
over."
The youthful female voice was replaced by a clipped boy's voice. "Please vacate the
area." said Keita. "Due to the possibility..."
"Heey! Down here!" Makoto shouted. He waved his arms about, trying to catch their
attention. "Stop! Heey!"
Whump. Whump.
"... of an attack, please be advised to seek shelter. This is not a drill."
"Stop! Hey! Can you hear me? Over here!" The Dreadnought's shadow passed over him.
"Goddammit! IN HIS NAME, STOOOOP!"
Whump. Creak.
"Hey..." the external speakers said. "There's this crazy guy down there." noted Musashi
and pulling back on the throttle.
Makoto waved up some more. "Hey, Trident! Oi!" he shouted. "I'm Makoto Hyuga!"
"Oh, I remember him." Keita's voice went out. "You work for NERV, right?"
"Well, duh. He's wearing the uniform." Musashi shot back.
"Hello, sir." said Maya, as he was a lieutenant after all. The Land Dreadnought tipped
forward a bit. "We need to get into NERV, could you please help us out?" she asked
as cutely as possible. It was distinctly disturbing coming out of a massive war machine.
"Yeah, me too! I think I can lead you to a side entrance..." He cupped his hands over
his mouth. "Can you take me there?"
"You don't need to shout. We have automatic audio filtering software." Keita added.
Flick. Whirr. A panel upon the Dreadnought's underside opened up and a strange chair
suspended on three thick strands of metal wires lowered. Makoto strapped himself in.
Though the Dreadnought was only just under half the size of an Eva, it exuded such a
massive scale in every direction; bulky and uncompromising. Slowly he was hoisted up
past seams of metal and machinery, finally into a cockpit deep within the cental torso.
"Um... permission to come aboard?" he asked. He was unsure about the protocol about
that sort of thing.
"Welcome aboard, sir." Mana saluted him, from her raised chair, very much like a
captain's seat. Below her, so that she had a full view of their screens, were the pilot
and gunnery stations respectively.
In the debate of who had command over the Highly Unconventional Weapon that was
the Land Dreadnought, it was the Army that won out; by virtue of its being on land.
In operational doctrine though, the Navy held sway, since the most the Army had on
file was -Stay Out of Its Way-. Never before had anything fit so well the notion of a
landship; which was the original designation for a tank. By its sheer size and firepower,
it had to treat main battle tanks as like a destroyer screen, and the air force as air
power from a carrier just off the horizon.
"It's surprisingly roomy." Makoto had to say. He stood up and reached out, and his
fingers just fell short of touching the command bore's 'roof'.
"-Magnos Tancred- uses semi-monocoque construction. That means we don't have an
internal frame as a skeleton to bolt components onto. The armor actually helps to hold
things in." Keita noted. He pointed down. "The supporting frame is just a hollow cylinder
around the reactor, and a U-shaped bend from the waist up to the arm connectors."
"Oh? That's impressive." He worked with the Eva, and the biological components made
the machine weapon lighter and less massive than what it should be for its size; yet
also that much more complicated. "What's the top speed on this thing?"
Musashi grinned fiercely. "Fourty-five kilometers per hour, off road. Fifty-five ON the
road, but we're not going to leave much of it once we're through." He pushed at his
dual control sticks and had the Dreadnought moving again. "We actually need to slow
down to around thirty, just so ground pressure doesn't get too much with each step."
He turned around. "So, where's this entrance at?"
"Ah. Turn left at the second intersection and follow that towards the hill. There should
be an Eva access point there. Maybe the technicians can help us patch power to the
elevator."
"-Magnos Tancred- has two output sockets. Five thousand and one hundred twenty
volts respectively." Mana added proudly.
"Wow, you guys -are- good." Misato's admiration of the Jet Alone/NNHIS crew was
justified. He should never have let his own employment prejudice get in the way.
-o-
-o-
Ritsuko and Maya returned to the command center, a train of NERV crew following in
their wake. "Status report." Gendo commanded from above.
"We ran diagnostics and isolated this region from the power grid. In this level alone,
there are eight fuse rooms, all of them down. I don't think anyone could have run all
over the geofront flipping switches."
"So... hardware or software fault?" asked Fuyutsuki.
Ritsuko sat down on Maya's chair and sighed heavily. "It's... complicated." she said.
"It's generally a bad idea to link life support to a system that an enemy can network
to from the outside." Maya explained. "The MAGI is separate from the 'dumb' power
and environment control systems. So, if those are compromised, we need to use the
MAGI in a hard link to clear the systems."
"But we can't turn on the MAGI without reinitializing the power grid, which would just
shut down again. We can't turn on the power grid to turn on the MAGI... without the
MAGI." She groaned.
"A strange predicament..." Fuyutsuki had to agree. Both he and Gendo wondered if it
could be some sort of reprisal... no. The timeframe was too short. Ah, likely, the both
decided to just intensify their actions against each other... at the same time. How
suitably ironic; the older man thought with some amusement.
"Do you have a solution, Doctor Akagi?" Gendo asked.
Ritsuko rubbed at her face. "We need something to provide power to the MAGI. The
diesel generators are useless as long as the power grid won't carry the supply. The
only thing I know that can give us the necessary power... is the Type T expanded
battery module."
Gendo frowned slightly. NNHIS had built too well for him to refuse. However, it was a
direct challenge to NERV's competence, even if the other organization refused to even
compete anymore.
"If you had just accepted the Reactor Module for Titanicus, we wouldn't be having this
problem..." Maya muttered under her breath. The NERV Commander did not hear that,
but Ritsuko did. She forced a smile down.
"Unfortunately, we can't get to it unless we open the storage doors, which would take
some time without power."
"I never realized being so powerless could be so complicated." quipped Fuyutsuki. He
hid his own grin from Gendo; who did not like that word choice one bit. Darkness was
so convenient sometimes. One could do more in it than just brood.
"NERV must be treated as under threat." Gendo commanded. "This is a perfect time for
an enemy to attack. We must return to operational status as soon as possible."
A static hiss swept through the command center.
"At least the radios work." said Shigeru, climbing up to the command deck. "Oh. Sir!
We're working on getting the blast doors open. Radios were already distributed to all
the work crews."
"Have you made certain that we are all to remain unarmed?"
"Yes, sir. The armory doors are still locked." Even more securely than before, without
power to unseal the electronic locks. Shigeru sat back to his chair, pausing only briefly
to exchange friendly hand-slaps with Maya, for jobs well done and continually under-
appreciated.
His radio hissed again. "Control, this is external door fourty-two! Do you read? Control!"
He thumbed the switch. "Roger that. What's happeni - "
PHWONGG!
Even through a handheld radio the sharp, echoing, -invasive- nature of that sound
was hard to mistake. And again - PHWONGG! Even unseen, all who could hear could
tell that thick metal was slowly yielding. "Are we under attack?" Shigeru shouted to
those stuck up above.
"I don't know! Maybe!" PHWONGG! "Dammit, yeah! What should we do?"
Another voice bumped into the line. "The elevators aren't working. Where can we run?"
SHRAANK!
"It's through!" that technician shouted. He was just a hair's width below panic. Even if
they worked for NERV, it had never really sunk in that their lives were also a sacrifice
for the safety of humanity. They weren't equipped to deal with that sort of thing! "It
punched through the armored hatch! It's... a metal claw or something. Oh shit!"
The claw retracted, and a strong bright light shone through the hole. "Everybody! Run!"
The technicians began to flee.
"Helllooo...!" a girl's voice wafted through the opening. "Did someone order a nuclear
reactor?"
Cries of fear were replaced were cries of cheer.
"Now all we need are the pilots." Maya put in happily. "Where are they, anyway?"
-o-
-o-
"Haven't you lived in Tokyo 3 all your life?" Asuka asked Rei. "We trusted you! How can
we get lost like this?"
"I have always passed through the main entrances. My knowledge of secondary egress
are... theoretical at best. I have seen the plans, but apparently there were changes in
the meantime."
"Not to mention that it's dark." added Shinji. Something clanked by his feet.
"Fine. So we have these two corridors here." Asuka swept the beam of her flashlight
through each diverging tunnel, only dimly lit by red emergency lights. "Rei?"
"I have nothing."
"Shinji?"
"... it doesn't really matter all that much to me."
Asuka sighed. It sucked having to be the responsible one. These other Children would
be so lost without her. She chuckled a bit. Okay, perhaps not so apt choice of words,
but... "So it's up to me again? We head right!" That's what they always said about
mazes, right?
-o-
-o-
The Dreadnought remained on the surface of the geofront; Gendo deeming it too much
of a security risk to allow them further in. It was... all too convenient. They shouldn't
be so ready to help; unless somehow they knew it might happen. Output sockets on
the Dreadnought? Preposterous! It was too suspicious.
Ritsuko stood overwatching the command center, as people below heaved to insert a
power plug into the MAGI's tower. Flashing lights from below signalled completion.
"Maya, have you finished the trace/dump/delete routines?" she asked aside.
Her assistant had her own personal laptop open. Fortunately Maya had bought several
additional battery packs recently. She made a thumbs-up gesture.
Ritsuko then looked up at the commanders; and Gendo made a slight bow.
"All right. Fuses up!" she shouted down. "Initializing MAGI in three... two... one." She
pointed aside to Maya.
Click. Humm.
"Running anti-interference script... now." Maya reported.
Flash. Flash. Flash. Flash.
The crew all shouted in triumph as the command center went online. Lights and fresh
air returned. Everything else outside of that specific section was still dark though.
Abruptly, the place dimmed again, back to harsh red. Alarms rang out.
"What's wrong now?" Gendo growled.
"All the monitoring equipment have their own dedicated power supply. We just had no
way of recieving signals until now." said Ritsuko. She pointed up to the screen. "As we
expected... yes; Angel. We are under attack."
Gendo stood up. "Get NERV to combat status, immidiately! Prepare the Evangelions! Do
it manually if you have to!"
"What about the Trident?" Fuyutsuki asked.
"Send it up." said Gendo. "Let's see how useful they can really be." He went off into
the back conference room. Now that MAGI was restored, perhaps it was time to scold
a few old men. Fuyutsuki followed, if just out of curiosity.
"I propose we set up Unit One with the Titan modules first, sempai..." Maya said aside.
"Then we can use its power stores to prepare the others. We can take out the EPX
power packs and use it on the others... I think eight hours of operation is still pretty
good in any case."
"How helpful of NNHIS to send us the modules pre-charged." Ritsuko nodded. "I'll try to
convince the commanders. Go get it done in the meantime." Where are the pilots? She
shrugged as she walked away. Oh, well. There wasn't nearly enough insanity. They'll
be around when they were needed.
-o-
-o-
Shinji stopped and stared behind. "Something's happening..." he muttered.
"Don't lag behind!" Asuka shouted from the far end of the corridor. Since Shinji had
said to Rei, to obey, the girl followed a few steps behind the red-haired girl to offer
her own comments on whatever features she found familiar along their path. His own
efforts were concentrated upon the city itself, so just deferred to their intuition when
wandering around the depths. He ran up to join them.
"I do not recognize this door." said Rei. "It seems to be an environment seal. There is
a manual method for opening it, though." She pointed to a radial winch set into the
wall right next to the door.
"All right, let's get this open." said Asuka. "All together now...!"
She and Shinji pushed at the handle, while Rei helped by pulling down the circle's edge.
When her own leadership was recognized, Asuka had no problem with working with only
teamwork in mind. Anything less would seem as laziness, and Asuka refused to appear
weak. They got that door open quickly enough.
A cool wind rushed in. She pushed the door open to the street.
Something spindly and matte black swung past. Matariel strode over the city with ease
and agility surprising for its size. The pilots looked up in awe, as the many-eyed Angel
shot out its eyelashes like a rain of darts, at something obscured by the block.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
Whine. DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!
DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA!DAKKA! Click. Whine.
-Magnos Tancred- bullrushed forward, uncaring. The darts plinked off its armor; and
those that punctured through seeped poison. Pity that the Dreadnought did not have
blood or LCL. Its own counter-barrage was vastly more effective, forcing Matariel to
close its big eye again. While the Angel was capable of rapid healing, a portion of its
lower face was nothing but useless shredded meat; bulging with cancerous growth.
With its many eyes, it was nonetheless blind to one side.
The Angel swung up with one leg, the tip sharp and gleaming, and struck down at the
much smaller enemy. The Dreadnought avoided it just barely. Flash! Positron beam
holed that leg, sending jets of ichor spurting out. The Angel screeched and skittered
back, tearing billboards off rooptops.
The Dreadnought could not tilt its body high enough to aim its hardmounted positron
cannon at the Angel. With Matariel still using its AT-field to dampen all signals around
Tokyo, its defensive ability was severely reduced. It was for an all-out-attack, an
ambushing being. Against the Eva AT-field specialization and perfect armoring proved
to be both useless.
Unfortunately, being matched against the purely human-made machine was the worst
possible thing for it. All the anti-Eva methods it had prepared; such as acid, poison,
and the anti-AT field...
It screeched frustration. Worthless. Worthless.
Mana Kirishima growled as she ordered a temporary retreat. They needed to reload.
NERV had sent out crates of Mega Bolter rounds, but even that would not be enough.
They could not -kill- the enemy.
No matter, they knew all along that all they had to do was keep it occupied.
They had been fighting long enough that Matariel knew it would lose out on any lull in
the engagement. That time to heal could not compare to the enemy getting more small
exploding things to HURT it with. Humans! Human tricks! The eyes all around its body
blinked.
Enough! The eyes all receded into its body, becoming hollow pits. Matariel began to
rise up into the air.
"What's it doing?" asked Musashi, as the Dreadnought pulled up a fresh ammo box.
Spawns of Lillith! Obstacles to Adam! A ringing tone filled the air above. Destroy all
the humans! Matariel's limbs bent back into a diamond shape similar to Ramiel. A point
of light, slowly becoming brighter, grew from its exact center. It rose higher into the
sky. That light flashed, bright enough to briefly outshine the setting sun... and then
it inverted. A shimmering black sphere spun inside the cage of its legs, flickering and
wavy as if being seen through a mirage.
From the pits on its squashed spheroid body, a torrent of white oblong things shot out.
It hovered above the city, disgorging hundreds of the pod things. Like misshapen lumps
of white potatoes, the things dropped onto the streets and on top of smaller buildings.
Matariel kept sending out more.
"What are those?" Musashi asked further. Keita turned the Dreadnought around.
Abruptly, the white lumps broke apart, gushing purplish liquid. From within the sacks
emerged things with tri-sectioned beaks and two back-curving legs. They walked like
birds, but had no wings. They had no eyes, merely flaps on their foreheads. They all
screeched; hundreds of them, and it echoed through the streets.
"Angelspawn..." muttered the Trident children numbly; having seen Evangelion Fantasy
Battle The Motion Picture.
The things dispersed.
"Shit!" screamed Musashi, sending the Dreadnought to a full run. It was no use, the
things were just too small and too fast. "We're made for heavy assault; we don't have
any anti-infantry weapons!"
Mana punched her comms savagely. As expected, nothing but static. She pointed up.
"Kill it! KILL IT NOW!"
The Dreadnought began running backwards, until it reached the end of the main road.
It slammed itself into the apartment there, hoping that no one wasn't inside. With that
as support, -Magnos Tancred- let its weight pull itself down, pointing its hardmounted
positron cannon to the sky.
Flash!
The beam drilled right through Matariel. The Angel, spinning slowly in midair, seemed to
be laughing.
The pilots saw one of the Angelspawns plodding down the street. It turned to them
and both stared at each other for a few moments. They saw its smooth grayish pod
upon spindly legs, with its beaks hard and deep brown. It saw three bright hot shapes.
Then; "Oh, fuck!" Asuka screamed, as the thing rushed at them. They pulled the door
shut just as it leapt.
Slam! Crunch! The door bent slightly inwards. There were scraping sounds from the
other side. "We need to get to the Evas!" she shouted out, her eyes wide and frantic.
No arguments there. They ran.
-o-
-o-
Toji and Hikari were on a date when the attack happened. As the shelter warning went
out, they stayed awhile to make sure everyone had gone. With the residental blocks
unable to retract, many were unwilling to just leave their belongings behind. Once they
were at the shelters, though - the two realized that their respective little sisters were
not there.
"Dammit." both said at once. Their siblings held the same stubborness. They wouldn't
have gone into the shelters just because the adults wanted to... they had entirely
different ideas about where they were safe. "Stupid kids!"
They were out in the streets when they saw a bunch of goons hauling off a large-
screen TV from a damaged store. "MORONS!" shouted Toji. "This isn't that time for
that! Get to the shelters!" He pointed to at the dark shape above the city.
"Shaddap kid!" shouted back the thieves. They glared balefully at the two. Due to
certain special reasons, crime at night was... a decidely hazardous thing to attempt
in Tokyo 3. They had to get while the gettin's good. One of the thugs hefted a length
of heavy steel water pipe and began to approach them grimly.
Matariel released its pods right them. One of the white lumps slammed into the ground,
with a strange sickening squish. It began to bulge out, portions hardening into chitin
while other sections melting off. Three more landed nearby, squelching and splattering
sickly juices. The looters could only watch on dumbly; being too unwilling to put down
their prizes.
Four Angelspawn opened their beaks and screeched at them.
Then they were just so much meat.
Toji pulled a horrified Hikari away, even as different screams arose into the afternoon.
One of the Angelspawn looked up, flapping its sensory organs. It screeched again. The
others paused from their feeding; some of the thieves were still alive, if in bloody and
blubbering pieces. The Angelspawn got up and began to chase the two, being drawn
instinctively to motion.
"They're after us!" Hikari screamed. Monsters! How could things like that exist?
"This way!" Toji shouted, then let out an unintellegible grunt as he forced open a
manhole. "Go on!" He helped Hikari down, grimacing as the creatures sprinted closer;
like neck-less, all-mouth ostriches. He fell into the hole just as the deadly trio leapt
simultaneously at him.
He heaved for breath, as the Angelspawn above snapped at each other and futilely
screeched down through the hole. "Are you all right?" he asked Hikari.
The girl was shaking, hugging herself. "Those poor people..." she whispered.
"Yeah, it was pretty horrible. Can't say we didn't try to warn them."
"Toji!" she shot back, her face all teary. "Show some respect!" Her constant lament.
That time however... "They didn't deserve that... nobody should die like that." she
sobbed out. "I almost can't believe it..." The images were seared into her mind. So
much death. So much blood! In the end, was that just what all people were? Her eyes
widened. "We need to do something! My sister... your sister! They're in danger!"
He winced. "Yeah, I know." Toji got back up to his feet and offered his hand to her.
"Let's hurry."
Putting aside her hesitations, she got up. She knew that it was time at last to live up
to her responsibilities. Family trumped all. "Do you know how to get there?"
They looked around. Tokyo 3's sewer line was rather cramped. The undercity tunnels
were there for convenience, for easy access to gas and water lines. The walls were
all just lines of thick tubing. It would be ridiculously easy to get lost; specially as it
was all dark. The only light they had was from the open manhole above.
Fortunately, Tokyo-3 sensibility prevailed. Near every open manhole was a small box
containing an electric-battery torchlight. NERV was willing to throw away money just
for convenience in its repair and maintenance.
"That way... I think." said Toji, lighting up the tunnel to the left. He knew the sewer
line didn't exactly follow the roads above; due to vertical launches, rebuildings, and
whatnot. They would have to sight out their location by opening up manholes along
the way. Risky.
Hikari nodded. As long as they were moving. Disaster intensified with every minute.
-o-
-o-
There were many underground shelters in Tokyo 3. Most of them were nothing more
than concrete hollows sunk into the ground. The doors were metal, but never meant
to take attack. NERV had just -known- the Angels would be giant monsters.
The citizens took shelter in the ones closest to their homes. Some chose to remain in
their apartments and shops; in basements built for that purpose. With the power out,
there was no way for them to know what was happening. The sounds of battle had
stopped. Long minutes passed.
One of the shelter doors opened, as a brave man decided to see if the battle was over.
Almost immidiately; something slammed into him, and forcing open the entryway even
further. A cacophony of screeches sounded from beyond the door.
And then the screaming started.
-o-
-o-
Matariel had landed along the main street closer to lake Ashino. The battle raged there
devasting Tokyo 3's south side. Tokyo 3 First Municipal Junior High was directly on the
opposite end of the battlefront. They hadn't recieved an order to evacuate; being that
the Dreadnought wasn't tall enough to see beyond the buildings.
Matariel's arrival though; that they could see. The teachers had mostly left, and the
remaining students felt they had a choice of going down into the school shelter or to
watch the battle unfold. Many believed they had plenty of time either way. Other
people were trickling in through the gate to enter the school's shelter.
Kensuke clapped his hands together again in a prayerful motion, as he saw the Angel
rise up to disgorge hundreds of the white pods.
"Shouldn't we go to the shelters now?" asked Juin Gosen, the senior from before. He
had stuck around, interested in seeing the display of robotics. The Mechanic's Club
stayed up on the roof to watch the battle through binoculars. So far it was not so
impressive; only bright streams of bolter fire from behind buildings the furthest sign of
battle that they could see.
Kensuke took a deep breath. "It's too late now." he said sadly. 'Dammit, Shinji-!' he
added silently. 'Why can't you just be wrong once in a while? Without power and the
MAGI, our options are severely limited.' "How old are you, Gosen-sempai?"
"Hm? I'm seventeen."
"Old enough to enlist. You're not a member of any clubs either, are you? May I ask
why?"
The older student shrugged. "I suppose it all seemed childish, that's all. And I didn't
have any particular desire to kill or die."
Kensuke nodded. "There comes a time when each must decide what is truly important
to us." He looked around. There was only one entrance to the shelter, while there
were two to the roof. The geek pulled the white hood of his jacket over his head and
went over to his school bag. He dumped the contents out; books, notebooks and
diskettes.
For all his obsessions, everyone considered Kensuke harmless. He was an average
student, who could be much more if he applied himself properly. He was slow to anger,
quick to laugh, and easily forgiven for his childish misdeeds in trying to make school
life more interesting. Before Shinji, he had few friends... only Touji staying around him
for extended periods of time. He was shy in his own way, retreating into his military
play. It seemed that Kensuke had found his voice, however - and was unashamed of
whatever views he had or what he might do.
Those around the roof watched, curious, as he tore apart his school bag with careful
deliberation. He took out a bulky strip of cloth, opening that up to reveal six long clips
of bolter rounds; painted orange all over.
He pulled out his two bolt pistols. He ejected the banana clips; with a ping! noise. He
pushed in live bolt ammo. He stuffed the rest of it into his jacket pockets, poking
conspiciously out and weighing it down.
He stood up, and took another deep breath as if tired. He slung the bolt pistols back
into his shoulder holsters began to walk down into the school. For no reason readily
apparent there to himself, Gosen felt like following him.
High-pitched shrieks were starting to be heard. People began to scream and run.
Kensuke turned away and went into the mechanic's clubroom. He opened up a locker.
Inside was the motion-capture frame to be used in controlling the model dreadnought;
his latest prize-winning piece. He took off his jacket, and put that on; titanium braces
clicking to place. He found a longer coat, blood-red in color, and wore it. The effect
was somewhat monastic, as the sleeves were wider near the wrists. He closed the
robe-like coat with a wide belt; into which he stashed bolt clips.
"The shelter has only one entrance. The roof has two." Kensuke spoke out, more to
himself than anyone. He had gotten into the habit of explaining his thoughts; as unless
it could be explained then it wouldn't be logical to him. As the first of the tech-priests,
he wanted to make sure.
He opened the next locker over, and from it slid in armor sheaths to certain slots of
the exo-frame. He had brought so much junk over to the school, that no one paid
attention anymore to what those things might be good for.
"The first one can be broken down by sheer weight of numbers. A swarm can only
hinder itself when trying to squeeze through a narrow opening onto higher ground."
He exchanged his glasses for goggles. Click. Infared. Ultraviolet. Targeting. Normal
sight. He put a breathing mask over the lower half of his face. When he turned, the
senior felt a certain chill pass over him. Even though he had seen that transformation
happen, there was still something cold and inhuman about it.
"Get everyone to the roof." Kensuke commanded in a rumbling, distorted voice. "By
authority of the Tokyo 3 City Council (which in itself was a tool of the MAGI), NERV
special operations (Section Two), and the JSSDF Emergency Act (out of the Kirishima
report); I hereby conscript you for the defense of its citizens."
Gosen blinked. "You're insane." he said, finding himself unable to breathe for a time.
Those emotionless lenses, he feared being under that sight. As if he was nothing more
than another specimen to be examined. Also; he half-expected Kensuke to declare
that he was his father at any given moment.
"I know that." replied Kensuke. He slumped slightly, then drew both bolters. It wasn't
a threatening motion... not yet. An ominous, and yet somehow sad, hiss escaped from
his facemask.
"... aah!" The senior began scratching at his own hair. "I must be even more insane to
obey you brats! All right. What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry about this one. I will buy you time."
Thus said, Kensuke slowly walked away; his feet clanking upon the concrete.
Far below, Misato and Kaji were trapped in an elevator. They had completely no idea
of things happening outside. Kaji had actually timed the shutdown to her entering the
elevator. Screw SEELE's timetable. He needed to really talk to her. She was too adept
at avoiding him.
Almost an hour passed in silence. She had rebuffed his early attempts at conversation,
sitting cross-legged as if meditating. Misato pulled her beret over her eyes and seemed
sleeping.
"It's getting hot in here, isn't it...?" he began again, weakly. There were just too many
things he wanted to say.
Misato was having none of that however; entirely unwilling to break the ice. "If you
really think about it, even the heat can feel cold." She smirked slightly. "You just want
me to take my clothes off, don't you?"
"Now, now... you don't need to be shy." He smirked back. Kaji still had his hands in his
pockets as he sat on the elevator's floor and leaning against the door. He kicked out
with his legs and said "It sure is strange that the backup generators haven't kicked in."
"I wonder if Rits-chan messed up an experiment? Hmf. Nothing to do but wait. This
should sort itself out if we just give it time."
"Oh?" Kaji looked genuinely surprised. "You know... you've changed, Katsuragi. I was
expecting you to be scratching at the walls by now. Or am I not as bad company you
might expect."
"I've learned patience... or is it I've learned how to stop worrying?" Misato replied. She
shrugged and relaxed herself against the wall, sliding down to a slouch similar to Kaji.
"Shinji-kun takes such good care of me."
"Should I be jealous?" Kaji took out a cigarette and put it to his mouth. "He's such a
popular guy, it seems."
"Don't you fucking dare to light up that thing. And... do you know, that at this point
Shinji could just walk up to to nearly any woman, say 'I want to have sex with you'...
and they would?"
"Would that include you?"
"Yes." she answered, unabashed.
Kaji let out a long sigh. Misato had changed so over the years, and yet remained the
same in many ways. She was still so beautiful. She was still so impulsive. "You do
remember you're twice his age, right?"
"I'm such an unsuitable person..." Misato brought her knees up to her chin. "Sometimes
I wish I could be his mother, but I can't. Sometimes I wish I could be his lover and I
can't be that either! Listen to me, Kaji... I tried, once. And this is what he said; what
is it that I fear so much that I would flee from my own life? What pain hides in my soul
that I would despise my own body? He refused the gift of what I don't even value..."
"That sounds... harsh."
"I saw Adam, Kaji. I saw the world die. I can't escape from that. I survived alone, and
the world died around me. I saw the destroyer, and I can't... my life... it's like it's not
real until the Angels are gone. I can't forgive myself for surviving that... the horror of
that... but it doesn't matter." Her voice choked off. "So he would forgive me anyway.
He's such a good boy... he's too young to die."
Kaji shut his eyes. Katsuragi-sensei had forbidden him from taking part. He escaped
that fate only barely; he was so determined that he'd even planned on sneaking into
the expedition.
As for Misato, she put her hands to her ears, as if still hearing that world-killing shriek.
After all those years... somehow... just thinking of Shinji standing in front of her and
starting into that glowing white terror... makes it all fade away. Even Adam seemed to
shrink back from his fanthomless caring.
"He cares too much for that soul to just break. I want to hold him and just not let go!
I want to kick away the world so that it wouldn't have to bother him. I won't be able
to forgive myself if he dies..."
"It's war, Katsuragi. Even he must make his choice. You can't protect him from that.
If these children don't fight, then the world will end. It doesn't help things."
"Shinji's just the type of person who thinks it's his own failure if the people around him
are suffering... he deserves the chance to live like a normal boy."
"But he can't."
"No... we can't let him. And that's what really gets to me. It's our fault, not his. It's
our sin, not his. It's our problem... we should be strong enough to deal with it on our
own! We're adults, aren't we? Dammit. It's a sad world when a teenager turns out to
be a lot wiser and more mature than us." She sighed. "I rely on Shinji-kun a little too
much, I think."
"You know, you don't have to be alone, Misato..."
"Kaji..."
"Hate me if you want. But I don't want to see you suffer." The spy got up to his feet
and moved closer, on his knees. "Didn't I always do as you said? You wanted me gone,
and so I went away... let me back in, Misato. I can't stand to see you hurting."
"Can I trust you, Kaji?"
That silenced him. He slid back down, putting his palms to the floor. "I will never do
anything to hurt you, Misato. I want to protect you. Everything I've done... always
for you. " He'd walked freely into a nest of vipers for her. He'd already done so many
distasteful things. It was worth it, because NERV was where she was. NERV... had
secrets, that Misato was unknowingly part of. "Everything I've done was always for
your sake.
"How arrogant. Just like my father." she whispered. "You reminded me too much of him
in the first place. I think, that was why I clung to you. I didn't know myself, and you
were always thinking you knew what was best for me. You, Ritsuko, always taking care
of me. Must I always be looked after? My choice is absent. Misato just doesn't know..."
"We never thought that. You know, I... I said it once. I'll say it again. I love you."
"But can I trust you?" she asked him again. "Can I count on you? It's just sad. Shinji
just doesn't remind me of my father in any way. He's so much more mature than I am,
but without being patronizing about it. He gives me the choices I need. He sees what
I'm too scared to see. It doesn't make sense... but I like it. "
"The boy's up to something." Kaji had to say. "That intelligence is just unnatural."
"I know. He told me, all I had to do was ask. I didn't. I can feel it, all he wants is for
people to be happy. I can't deny him that. I'll protect him. No one will touch him, Kaji.
This I swear. Not Gendo. Not you. Not anyone. I'm his guardian. If you know me at all,
then you'll know this... it would be too terrible to alone.
I trust him, Kaji. Can I trust you the same way?" Misato leaned over to place her head
to his chest. Hesitantly, Kaji embraced her. "Can you promise me... you'll never leave
me?"
"I've had enough of running away." He held her tight. Whatever you needed. "I won't."
That promise was the only thing that kept Kaji from killing himself when he learned of
just what part he played in helping the slaughter above.
-o-
-o-
More pods rained, and upon the Dreadnought. The things attached themselves to its
hull, searching out breaks in its armor. They burrowed in, and once within; exploded.
Mana screamed, as -Magnos Tancred- piece by piece died. "NO!" she shouted. "We're
not done! Not yet! WE WON'T RETREAT!"
"We've lost primary cooling!" Keita reported. "Output is down by fifty percent. Control
is... barely there!"
"Hardmounted positon cannon's scrap!" Musashi added. "What should we do?"
"Cut this -meirda- down to size! As long as we have a fist, we can bust its legs down
one by one! Damn the counterattack! Full speed ahead!"
The Dreadnought ran right through the stream of Angelet pods, paying no more mind
to the clambering heaps of lumpy white things clinging to it. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
Tearing up the road as it ran! "DIE!" screamed Mana. "In humanity's name, DIE!"
Matariel lifted one leg, and struck down. The sharp tip plunged into -Magnos Tancred-,
right through the center. Mana felt fire surge up from her left side and into her body.
She felt... light. The Dreadnought was being lifted up into the air, impaled clean on
that appendage. It slacked, void of the semblance of life.
Explosions happened all over it. The last thing she heard was a certain joyous screech.
Then, the hot touch of pain.
-o-
-o-
Shinji staggered. He felt cold all over. His legs felt as if ice, and stuck to the floor. He
collapsed into a quivering heap.
"Shinji-kun!" breathed Rei, who immidiately went to side. She reached over to touch
his shoulder, but drew back at the last second. She appeared just amazed.
Asuka followed at a slower pace. She was frowning. "What's wrong with him?" she
asked. "We don't have time for this! What the - you're crying?" She pulled at his arm.
"Come on, Shinji! Snap out of it! Stop playing ar-..."
She dropped contact quickly, stumbling back and falling flat on her butt. She held a
hand to her chest, over her pounding heart. "What... what was that?" she gasped.
It wasn't that his flesh was cold to the touch, but it seemed as if the very heat of
her own body was sucked away in an instant.
Shinji looked up at her, his gaze hollow. His body spasmed out in many small ways.
Wincing, he got back up to his feet. "You're right... we don't have time to waste." Rei
helped him steady, and slung his left arm over her shoulder. Asuka narrowed her gaze.
"Wait...!" She got up follow them. "Stop this. Stop it." she said to their backs. "Stop
leaving me behind...!"
Rei turned slightly. "What are you saying? We both recognize you as our leader, pilot
Sohryu. I will carry pilot Ikari. You have always had the energy to go ahead, and turn
back if the results are not to your liking. So lead us."
"Bullshit. You think empty titles like that will satisfy me? That's not a leader you're
saying... that's a stick you use to poke traps with. I will not taunt Murphy or his law!"
"You always find the most interesting metaphors, pilot Sohryu."
"And you always try to evade the issue..." Asuka shot back. She touched the diadem
hidden under her blouse. "We're team-mates, aren't we? Why don't you trust me? I
can feel it... you're hiding something from me. Even now! When we really need to work
together, you're still refusing me...! Why, dammit? I thought I could stop hating you,
but you just make it so damn -easy-...!"
Shinji remained silent, looking down, as like a puppet without strings. Rei sighed softly.
"Is this not good, Asuka...?" she said, her voice holding feeling long absent in their
conversations. "You. Us. Team-mates. Is it not comfortable? Equals in our endeavor?
Why do you wish to destroy this easy friendship? What more do you ask...?"
"If you don't give me the truth, then we're not friends at all. I won't be a doll for you
two to play with, so you can pretend to be normal people! I won't be a tool... and not
yours! Stop lying to me! Stop... baiting me. Stop it! I don't give you the right to hurt
me this way..."
"What is learned cannot be unlearned. Once one has left the blissful ignorance of the
womb, one may no longer return. The taste of the truth may not be to your liking."
They all heard a loud, if far-off, boom. "I don't care!" Asuka cried out.
Shinji slowly raised his left hand and held it palm out. "Asuka. Absolute trust can be
painful beyond belief. Take my hand if you really want to know. But... if you do, you
can't turn back from this..."
Defiant and burning with her own righteous indignation, Asuka clasped his hand. Their
fingers entwined. She let out a small grunt of pain. Like icy daggers straight into the
heart. Weeping, faint and so far away... pleas, curses, incoherent sounds... suddenly
- gone. Each cut off, and each like a piece of her own soul blackening and falling off.
Mere seconds seemed like lifetimes. Eventually she was able to pull away.
She gasped for breath. "That was... " She stared into Shinji's immensely pitiful eyes.
"Impossible. Horrible! What was that?"
"My people are dying." said Shinji. Slowly he disentangled himself from Rei's support.
"They... we... are out of time." He walked forward, limping to the sealed blast door to
the geofront. Elsewhen and elsewhere, they would have had to break open an air vent
to pass through. He felt weak, beseiged. He barely had any strength to lift his limbs.
"Too slow..." he whispered. "Time... out of control. Dare this door stand in our way?"
he snarled out, between snatches of laboured breath. He pressed his right palm to the
metal, and left a steaming imprint when he pulled away. Shinji grinned a bit. "Asuka!"
She blinked, startled. "What?"
"We live in different worlds. Close your eyes if you don't want to move into mine. We
can't go back to how we were after this..."
"Oh, get over yourself, already!" she muttered back. "Don't act all so high and mighty
around me. Put up or shut up! Just trust me, dammit! I can handle whatever stupid
little secrets you to have... no matter how -sick- or -depraved- it might be."
"It must be an... interesting... world you live in, pilot Sohryu..." Rei had to quip.
Shinji slapped his palms to the metal, and shuddered. Dying. Dying. Dying. "Enough!"
he shouted. "We need to get through!"
And he pushed through.
His arms sank into the metal, becoming as liquid around him. It began to hollow out
around him, glowing red-hot, high-strength metal melting and flowing in rivulets as he
just walked through. His skin shone faintly. Droplets falling upon him slid down his body
like harmless rain.
He stepped into the next room. It was dark. He kept walking, still limping slightly. The
next sealed door over just gave way at his approach, again just on its own hollowing
out as if drilled through, dripping down in streams of boiling metal.
Rapidly, the metal cooled and its molten light faded. The girl pilots likewise stepped
through the cavity, following Shinji. They reached him in front of a similar sealed door,
four broken barriers into the corridor. This one had a blinking red light over it. There
was power at the other side.
He turned, and smiled weakly at Asuka. "And now you know..." he mumbled, his face
slack and his gaze unfocused.
He fell, darkness claiming his consciousness. The very last dregs of his strength failed.
And his people was still dying. 'Please...' he begged anyone... anything. 'Save them.'
"What are you...?" he heard a faroff female voice ask, one so familiar yet his mind so
numb... so unable to attach a name to it.
"...I don't know." he whispered. He closed his eyes and surrendered fully to the failings
of his mortal flesh.
-o-
-o-
Tokyo 3 had its own police force. NERV Section 2 was a highly respected intelligence
service; known for its efficiency and ruthlessness. With communications cut, both had
to rely on their own individual judgement as to how they could best help save the city.
Both ended up assisting civilians to the shelters.
Both died in droves; they were issued popguns in comparison to what was needed to
take down the Angelspawned horrors scattered all around their city. They tried what
they could to give the people time to flee, to lock their doors, and to pray for a
miracle.
"STAY INDOORS! LOCK YOUR DOORS!" Agent Jiro yelled into the car's amplifier as the
black Ford sedan spun through the city streets. "DON'T COME OUT! STAY WHERE YOU
ARE!"
"Shitstorm." muttered Agent Kentaro, seeing panicking citizens running past the far
intersection. A group of black-suited Section 2 and blue-clad Tokyo 3 Police paused
to pump pistol rounds into the pursuing pack of pod creatures. Shrieks of pain met
their efforts, but the beasts kept on.
He gunned the engine for all it was worth, and burned through the street. The car
swerved wildly, nearly plowing into the people briefly caught in numb suprise. Agent
Jiro pulled on his half of the dashboard, revealing a trigger mechanism behind the glove
compartment. A portion of the car's hood blew open, revealing a hardmounted large
caliber cannon. The rebuilt Ford was an electric car, after all. The engine was at the
back. There was plenty of space for accessories up front.
DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA!
Short, controlled bursts just blew apart the approaching pack of Angelspawn. In that
case; hardmounted Heavy Bolter.
"Get these people to safety!" shouted Agent Jiro to the few authorities that remained.
"What safety?" a policement shouted back. He laughed hysterically. "The things are
everywhere...! Where are the Evangelions? Fucking useless brats!" He yelped as a
spread of Heavy Bolter rounds slapped the ground right in front of his feet.
"SHUT UP!" the agent replied grimly. "You don't know what you're saying. They'll be
here. They have their own problems. We just need to hold on until they can arrive."
"But where will we go?" one of the people asked, dressed in nothing but his shirt and
shorts. Mothers embraced their children, and everyone was huddling into one nervous
mass. There were still shrieks in the distance.
"Get these people to someplace with a high roof." commanded Agent Kentaro. He then
reached behind to the back seats and grabbed several loose bolt pistols. "Here! These
should be more useful." He tossed them out, carelessly. Those things were supposed
to be robust anyway. "Go! Section 2, spread out to find more survivors... the shelters
should remain closed, lead them to outer edges of the town."
"What about the Angel?" asked one of the operatives, his trademark black sunglasses
cracked and missing its left lens. The eye behind the open frame was bloodshot and
weary.
"That's not our problem. Go. Save as many people as you can. That's what Shinji Ikari
wants. We've got to hold on until he can bring out the Eva...!"
"Ikari...?"
"Move, damn you! And believe! We're still alive! We have time! Save as many people
as you can, let him worry about the fate of the world!"
The black car reversed and swerved off in search of other separate groups. Those
people there stood numbly around, then seemed to wake up suddenly as they heard
the distinctive screeches of awakening enemy pods. They ran. 'Shinji Ikari... please.
Protect us. Save us.' They prayed for his sudden and miraculous appearance.
-o-
-o-
People dropped whatever they were carrying and headed off towards the junior high
school, being the furthest shelter from the scene. As their prey moved, so did the
Angelspawn. Shriekers they would be called, as they always announced their presence.
"They're here!" screamed a woman, as the loud screeches of Shriekers sighting prey
sounded through the back streets. The crowd became one mindless, stampeding mob.
Unfortunates were crushed underfoot.
They poured through the school gates, the Angelspawn close behind. A few leapt; for
the creatures had raptor-like legs and claws.
DAKKA!
DAKKA!
They exploded in mid-air, showering the rushing rabble with purplish blood and chunks
of gray-white meat. Students urged them further in. Don't stop. Don't look back. Head
to the roof.
The stream of people parted before a red figure standing motionless in the way. Even
in their frenzied state, they knew it was something to avoid. The hooded figure walked
forward in deliberate slowness. Like they knew, this was a person who had set aside
all fear and embraced only cold, deadly purpose. Zealotry takes many forms, but the
capacity for murder was always the same. He lifted a large pistol... a Bolt Pistol, and
everyone in the direction of its barrel just dived away.
DAKKA!
Blorch!
Another Angelspawn exploded into a shower of contra-evolutionary guts. As the flow
of people slowed, he was left there facing a bunched-up screeching pack of thirteen
pod creatures. Time to switch to full auto.
DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! Ping!
The other bolt pistol. DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA! DAKKA!
DAKKA! ping!
One remained.
It screeched angrily, and unwilling to move. Kensuke put down his guns, hooking one
to his belt and with that free hand took out a spare clip. The Angelspawn charged.
"Watch out!" yelled someone.
Click. He took one step to the side, like a matador, and held out the bolt pistol. He
pulled at the trigger and DAKKA! right into the creature's open maw. It slid to the
ground, stopping at just an inch before his feet.
Pah. Once upon a time, he would have been glad for the chance to lose his life, his
meaningless flesh, for glory. Now however, for he had seen what was still waiting in
humanity's service, Kensuke refused to die. There were still too many things that had
to be done! Such little things, as an Angel attack, were not enough to convince him
to give up on his own flawed existence. Strange... to find religion in the realm of logic.
The first of the Tech-priests of Tokyo 3 turned around, and a strong wind sent his
blood-red robe flapping like a cape. "What are you standing around for?" he asked.
"Get to the roof!"
"What the fuck?" one of the students who had gone home early asked along the way.
"When did -KENSUKE- turn into a -badass-?"
Distant screeches, getting louder and closer.
Kensuke had no intention of holding ground like some martyr hero. As soon as the
other people were up on the higher floors. he began to give ground and let the beasts
enter the school. As he expected, they searched around randomly in the lower floors
before one by one finding their way up the stairwells. Lacking eyes and a good neck,
the things had only the vaugest idea of 'up'.
"Such incomplete contrivance..." Kensuke murmured. Man, even in all his frailty, at
least had the capacity to see beyond his limited being and create things utterly new.
Might of machines must take over where fallible flesh failed; but such things were an
insult to both the precise beauty of the machine spirit and the soft harmony of the
living container!
DAKKA!
Splortch!
'Dammit, Shinji. Get off your ass and kill that thing.'
-o-
-o-
A manhole cover slowly slid open. Toji had to move the cover away, as it was too
heavy to just tilt and peek through. He couldn't do that and hold on to the rungs at
the same time.
He took off his jacket and experimentally waved it up into the open a few times. Then,
hesitantly, he poked his head through.
"Do you see anything?" Hikari asked, standing directly below.
"Nothing. This is Mitsuki Street. I can see Hinano's Manga Pack from here. We're clo-."
Screech! "Gah!"
Hard beaks scraped against concrete. He had let go, just in time to keep his own head
from being shorn off his shoulders. He fell to the sewer floor with a loud thump. "Oww!"
he groaned. He pushed himself back up, then stopped. In reaching down, his hand had
found something soft and squishy behind him back. "... oh, I'm dead." he added.
"Toji. Get off me!"
"Gyah!" He spun around, and in landing actually managed to slide into a kneel. "Sorry!"
he shouted out desperately. He put his forehead to the ground.
Hikari adjusted her jacket, and huffed. "It's fine. It was just an accident." It wasn't as
if she wouldn't be letting him do that someday... and she shook her head quickly. It
wasn't the time to be thinking of things like that. She looked up at the open manhole,
and the amber light beyond it. She heard even more screeches and distant screams.
"These things...! Toji, can we just let ourselves be stuck here like this?"
He sighed and slapped his thighs. He seemed to be in serious thought, for a few short
moments. "Hey, Hikari... don't give up yet." He shone his flashlight on her face. "You
know... I like you, right? I really like you, Hikari."
Her eyes widened, and she blushed. "Toji!" she breathed. "At such a time...!" Stuck
in a sewer line and with monsters above their heads was not a good place for such a
confession. Unless... "No! If you're thinking of doing something stupidly heroic, then I
forbid it!"
He chuckled. "You know what I like most about you? Sure, you're pretty and nice and
all that junk..."
"... riight. That junk."
Toji pulled at his own hair in frustration. "Aah! Well! You know what I'm talking about!"
"Well I should hope so!" she replied, pretending to look miffed. "Just what is it you
want to say?"
"I like you, Hikari." he said, in a firm voice that sent her blushing again. It was a good
thing the light was away from her face. She clenched her fists. "People think you're
bossy and you nag and you're always asking hard questions... but I like you anyway."
He got up and walked over to her. He held out his hand for her to take. "But what I
like most about you, is that you never ask the questions that don't need answering.
You don't take the trust that we're not ready to give. Thank you for that..."
She stood up to face him. "Why are you saying this now?"
He put a finger to her lips. He too blushed. She was so tender and trusting. "You can
ask... but telling others... that's not what you're about, aren't you? Come on, let's go
save those kids..." He grinned and pulled at her. They ran down a tunnel.
Eventually, they stopped before a rusted metal door marked DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!
Toji began to wrench it open. "What are you doing?" she cried. "That's dangerous!"
"Just watch..." he replied, somberly. It was such a rare mood for him. Hikari could only
follow him into a smaller tunnel, wondering about it all. At the end of that tunnel was
a thick door. Toji flipped open a panel and spoke into a suspiciously new device among
the rusted and wet pipes.
"From the Emperor's mouth to my ears. Suzuhara. Toji."
Hiss. The door slid open.
"Hey...!" Hikari had to point out. "Shouldn't the power be out?"
"That's right. This place is completely separate from Tokyo 3 power grid." Beyond was
a wide room metal-walled room. There was a bed, used recently it seemed; dressers
and a functional kitchen. A far wall was dominated by a big complicated-looking bank
of monitors and computers. There was another door facing the one they were coming
out of, and at a right angle away was an elevator opening. Toji bowed slightly and let
Hikari enter first.
"What is this place?" she asked.
"Depending on who you ask, it's a safehouse... a lair... a bunker... but mostly it's a
place that doesn't exist. We can be sure nobody's watching us here." He didn't notice
her staring wide-eyed at the bed. "But we can't stay long. I just need to pick up some
stuff."
He went over to the elevator and pushed a green button on the intercom. "Oy! Patton-
san! You awake? Things are getting -nasty- out there!"
A growling voice issued forth. "Suzuhara? Is that you?" Blam! Click-click. Blam! Click-
click. "Don't come up! The things broke into the store. I'm on the second floor. Graah!
If I just had the fifty-caliber..."
"Or a seventy-caliber, neh?" He grinned. The old man could handle himself. "Look, I'm
just here to pick up some stuff. Tell Kensuke 'sorry' if I break anything." He turned
around. "Class rep, could you open up those cabinets over there?"
"What? You brought the girl? Suzuhara, you little idiot! Don't head back out ag-"
Large, polished steel cabinets lined up along a wall. One by one she opened them.
The first seemed to be sheer black fetish wear. Skulls and claws. Hikari didn't know
what to think of that. The next... weapons. Large, ugly, deadly-looking weapons of
all kinds. Guns, blades... is that a chainsaw? A chain... sword? The next, even more
weapons and boxes of ammunition. The last were different articles of assorted armor
clothing.
"What is all this?" Hikari had to ask.
"You remember when we talked about Shinji protecting the city and we protecting
Shinji?" Under the sun, on a grassy hill... those idyllic days seemed so far away. "We
said we'd fight for our in city in every way we knew how. He wasn't the only one who
wanted to protect others..." He gestured around. "Shinji, Ibuki, Ayanami... and even
Kensuke... they built this place. So that when the worst happens, we wouldn't be lost
as to what to do..."
"This is insane..." she whispered. "We shouldn't have to deal with all this."
"That's true. I prefer to think of it as 'crazy prepared', but really when shit happens,
aren't you glad we had this anyway?" Toji began to put on a dull green flak vest, and
inserted hard ceramic plates into specific slots. He put on a green helmet with circuits
inlaid into it. He flipped down a transparent pane LCD display over his left eye. Then
from the other cabinet, he took out a large rifle with an enlarged muzzle. It looked
similar to a gangster-era Thompson submachine gun... only thicker and with a strange
double-headed eagle marking slapped onto its side.
With practiced ease, he checked the chamber for a bolt round. He made sure the
safety was off. He took a deep breath and stood up straight. It should be comical,
his clothes only just slightly oversized... but Hikari felt the breath catch in her throat.
"Stormtrooper Suzuhara..." she whispered.
He grinned. He thumped his chest. "Body armor like this would only slow you down,
though. Hikari... I want you to be able to run away. Don't worry so much." He reached
into the cabinet and took out what looked like a red longcoat. "Armored coat, using
flexible strips of ceramic-infused polymer... at least that's how Kensuke explains it.
From your wrists to your ankles, full body protection without the weight... not like
this thing..." again to his own vest. "Just on the chest. Kinda hard to breath, too...
So... please, Hikari. Put this on and stay here. Don't worry. I'll get to our sisters."
"Toji!"
He snapped to attention. There was something about being in a uniform that just
brought to mind the quick after-school boot camp that Mr. Patton Sakura had them
go through daily for weeks on end. "What?"
"Did Shinji know this would happen? Could he have stopped it?" To think, that it might
have been -allowed- to happen. Such foresight! Incredible. Intimidating... Never had
she any inkling about all of... this! Their Shinji-kun? "It can't be..."
"Do you think that if he could have, he would have hesitated? Even Shinji has his own
limits... and at that point we need to do what we can." He slung the strap of his bolt
rifle over his shoulders and put on an ammo belt. "So what if we're just as kids too? I
can't just cower when people die! If I can do something, then I'll do it...! It's my own
choice, and that's the kind of thing Shinji allows me to make!"
Hikari hugged him. It didn't feel so well, what with the bulk of the flak jacket in the
way... but it was enough. "Don't be in such a hurry to die, Toji..."
"Let me fight so -you- won't die." he whispered into her hair. "I can't stand just the
thought of it."
She grinned into the green of his flak armor. "Give me that damn coat and those bolt
pistols. I won't let you go out there alone, Toji. I know how you think..."
"Hikari... didn't you hear what I just said? I don't want you to die."
"I don't want you to throw your life away either. As long as I'm there for you to
protect, you're not going to think of any stupid heroics. I won't let you." Hikari looked
up, her skull hair ties sharing the grin in her face. "Besides, you're not the only one
that wants to kill those things." Those poor people. Here was the choice. Here was
the means. She would not shrink from her responsibilities. This was her city, too.
"My god, woman...! You're bipolar." Toji laughed. "I like that too..."
Damn, she looks really good in uniform too. Her hair's shorter than Kirishima, so it works
out well. Hikari stuck two bolt pistols into her belt. Then, after a moment's hesitation,
she reached for the mini-chainsword. She gave it a few test swings; battery-powered
and made of lightweight fiberglass and composites. The blades were hardened alloy.
Brr... THRAAAAAAM! THRAAAM! She chuckled darkly.
Wow. So this is what seeing your soulmate feels like.
Blorch!
Another bloated white corpse tumbled down the stairwell.
"The bolters are confusing them." said Kensuke, more to himself than to reassure the
others with him. "They 'see' through heat, and there's something hot and fast heading
towards them so they open their mouths every DAMN TIME!" He began to cackle madly.
"He's crazy...!" one of the girls whispered.
"Yeah. But he's the one with the gun." her friend said back.
He stopped abruptly and turned to the gathered throng. "Is everybody here?" He then
pushed his facemask up again, to amplify his voice. "EVERYBODY GET AWAY FROM THE
DOORS! Get those planks through those handles." he commanded in that dark and yet
strangely very compelling tone.
"Yes, my lord." someone found himself saying. He grinned in the sheer irony of it, as he
worked to seal off the doors. They had piled up chairs on the stairs below to further
make it more difficult to climb.
"Why are we here?" one of the older men asked. He had the drooping looks of a salary-
man. "What do we do? What's wrong with the shelter?"
"The shelter's a dead end." Upperclassman Gosen explained. "If they get through the
doors, you're all just dead. At least here we can hope for helicopter recovery."
"That makes sense!" an unidentifiable woman put in. "But when?"
"... we don't know."
"That's not good..." another man complained. "We're out in the open like this. We're
helpless! That's just useless if we don't even know if we're going to get rescued." The
crowd's mood began to turn ugly. Children were crying. "We're trapped here anyway!"
someone shouted out, his tone panicking.
DAKKA!
Kensuke glared at them with a glowing green goggled glance. "If you want to just lie
down and die, I won't stop you. But at least here, you have a chance to fight for your
life. If you don't see any more hope, then you're free to just jump off!"
"Stop being so pretentious!" a tall, thin man shouted. He waved his fist up in the air.
"You don't have the right to order us around. You're just a kid...! Just because you
have a gun doesn't make you any better...!"
"I have a gun. And armor. What is the source of your confidence?" Kensuke replied. He
ignored the barely-repressed chuckles from some of his friends. 'Darth Aida', someone
said. He threw his bolt pistol at the man's feet. "There are still six rounds in that bolt
gun. Go and kill some Angelspawn if you feel like being a man."
"Do... don't patronize me!"
"Then stop being an idiot. Live. Or die. It's your choice and I don't care." 'Say it!' he
heard from behind. He sighed. "I find your lack of faith disturbing." Kensuke growled.
He moved through the group and up to the school's water tank. He pushed the volume
on his voice amplifier further. "LISTEN UP! That barricade won't hold! But at least the
things can only get through a few at a time...! We have better freedom of movement
here. There's only one thing you have to do- and that's to LIVE! We need to hang on
until NERV can launch the EVAs... they're surely being put to seige like we are."
"But what can we do? We don't have any weapons!"
Kensuke pulled down his facemask and grinned. He brought out what looked like a
small remote control. He pushed a button. The water tank behind him exploded, water
gushed out in frightful torrents. Everyone else drew back from the flood
"He's insane!" someone said again.
Thump! Thump! Crack! Long metal boxes were brought out, carried by the flow. One
broke apart to reveal several stubby rifles with an enlarged muzzle. Balking for a bit,
the students who had most contact with Kensuke then approached to open up the
other boxes. Inside were bolt pistols, entire heaps of ammo; painted orange... live
ammo! Under cover of darkness, Kensuke and company had stashed those where no
one would ever bother to look. Digging a storage pit just seemed too cliche back then.
"Bolt pistols. Firing 17.5mm Bolt rounds, each a gyrojet projectile that explodes when
inside the enemy. Bolt Rifles. Firing the same ammunition, but at greater range with
a larger round capacity. Shinji Ikari fights for us, in the great Titan of our age, the
-Principio Eternus-! Never let it be said that he left us helpless or relying too much
on him. You're adults! Solve your own damn problems! We're teenagers! The world
will be ours...! We can't die here! Not yet!
Take these weapons and give praise to their machine spirits! They will not fail you.
Keep your faith - fight and live! In his name, live!"
A loud cheer rang out, overshadowing the horrendous screeches of the Angelspawn.
Kensuke nodded. Yep. Guns do make everything better.
-o-
-o-
"I'm scared..." sobbed a little boy.
"Buck up, Sugo-chan!" said Nozomi. She pinched her friend's cheeks. "We are da Tokyo
3 chapter of Da Boyz. "Wot is dis fear ya speak of?"
"But it's really scary out there..." Sugo replied, still teary. "Can't you hear that?"
"Well, it's out there. As long as we're here, we're okay."
Da Boyz hut was a two-story house slated for demolition. It was a ridiculously easy
purchase. It was in a 'safe' but underutilized region of the city, just behind the side
commercial blocks and a NERV armory building. The back of the house led to a window-
less alley, with many different entrances and exists. Outside, it still looked decrepit,
with an overgrown yard fenced in by sheets of construction siding.
The brick walls however were reinforced with polycarbonate film on the outside and
steel rods on the inside. Sheets of steel half an inch thick were sandwiched into the
wooden walls. The roof was tile on the outside, criss-crossed with supporting metal
struts on the inside. The outer door was heavy wood. The basement was more like a
bunker, the door sealing airtight. It also opened out into a prepared tunnel to the
sewer line as emergency exit.
Shinji seemed to have foolproofed the shelter. Unfortunately, he couldn't ever make it
children-proof.
"Waaah!" one of the smaller boys cried. "I want my kaa-san!" Soon, the whole lot of
them, none older than twelve, were crying too. "I wanna go home... !" All Shinji had in
mind for them was fun and games, even if sometimes useful beyond appearances. He
wanted them to be safe. He had made sure they would be safe.
The believed in his benevolence. That was the problem. Instead of heading home, the
Gretchz remained behind. This forced parents and relatives to look for them, and many
unfortunately met their end upon pod shrieker beaks.
Nozomi tried to get them to shush. "Quiet down! Ya want dem to hear us?" She was
at an utter loss on how to deal with it. It WAS scary. Those were monstrous shrieks,
heard through even thick concrete. The ground shook as like an earthquake, from the
Dreadnought's stomping. Everyone could recognize the sound of gunfire. Their own
imaginations fueled fears worse than what they could see.
"I want my mommy..." a child blubbered further.
She turned to Mari, the pale and cunning Suzuhara sibling. Both little girls had a lot in
common, forced by circumstances to be more thoughtful and responsible over their
years; having refused such obvious bad examples by older siblings (flighty Kodama and
forgetful Toji, respectively). "Wot does Da Book say to do roight now?"
Mari Suzuhara was not a particularly strong person. However her ability to remember
and by virtue of sheer VOLUME of her voice, it was inevitable they would have her as
the lorekeeper. Or, in the parlance; Morkana Da Way.
She coughed. "Waaagh! You Da Gretch! Chapter Five." Deep breath.
"So yaz stuck in wid Da Boyz.
So deres dis big scrap happenin' and all dose biggaz are throwin' dere weight around.
Wots ya gonna do? Ya could take a stick or a rock ta add to da fight. Ya could try ta
gnaw at their ankles. Ya can adds yer puny little weight to da play. Ya could do that,
and it won't help nobody.
You da gretz. Ya takes your little heads and stick them inside yar little hidey-holes.
Da boyz are made for fightin' and winnin'. Da gretz are made for knowin' and seein'.
Yoz how da Boyz can go back for annoder go. Ya builds what dey need to bring da
right and propa' back to da world. Ya sees the squigs and knows wot dey do. And den
someday, you gonna be da boyz on your own.
Be smart, Gretchz. Dats how ya win against the bigga. Stay away from feet dat might
stomp ya. Da power of Da Boyz is all together in da Waaagh! Ya aints dere to waste
yer tears and yer sweat and yer blood. Yaz small and hard to follow. Use dat. Don't
fight like da boyz, coz' ya aint dem. All sneaky-like, deres no shame in dat. You da
Gretchin, you better hide. Don't come out until da boyz are done.
Dey needs ya to say; if we won we won. If we mucked about, den we go back for
annoder go. We sees it. We testifies it. Wes never beaten in battles."
The children silenced.
"I'm worried..." said Aki, Nozomi's other best friend. "And my parents has gotsa be
worried about me. What's happening out there...?"
Nozomi sighed. She was small, but she was Gorkana; the de facto active leader of the
Gretchin. "Okay. I'm gonna go have a look-see. Remember, stay here. Nobody follows."
She went over to a small cubbyhole in the wall and opened it up. The air seal hissed
open. There was a dumbwaiter system there, like a small elevator. She had to sit to
fit; only children could use it. Shinji had foreseen them being chased by those who
wanted to use them as a pressure hold upon their parents and siblings.
Nozomi rose to the first floor, behind a cupboard. She slowly pushed open the panels.
Screech!
She screamed.
-o-
-o-
"Dammit, I -know- it's around here somewhere!" Toji swore. He pressed his back to a
wall and peered out the corner. "Look, there's the 24-hour convenience store, there's
the playground, there's... the armory building. We've been here before..!"
Hikari took a look as well, crouching to minimize her own notice. The street was bare
of people and Shriekers. There were corpses aplenty though, of both men and Angel
spawn. "I don't see the children's little hideout, though. That's... impossible! How can
we lose a building just like that?"
"Could someone have... moved it?"
"What, in one day and leave no trace of it behind? I don't even remember where
exactly it used to be..."
Toji paused. He stared down at Hikari. "That's... strange. You, forgetting something
like that? I could probably get lost even in this city, but you...? Where your own sister
spends her time? That's impossible too."
Whatever reply she was about to make was cut off by the sound of gunfire. They
turned around, and saw eight Angelspawns rushing across the street. Strangely, it
seemed as if they were running -from- something instead of their normal seek and
destroy behaviour.
The two junior students looked into each other's eyes and nodded. Every pod creature
dead was at least one more human life saved or avenged. They moved out of cover
and fired into the shrieking white mass. Toji pulled spaced bursts out of his Bolt auto-
rifle; as each drum held only twenty-seven Bolt rounds, and the kick was comparable
to a fullsize Bolter. Three of the creatures died instantly, and the rest screeched their
displeasure. They saw the two, and in their dim feral minds calculated their pack was
more numerous. Instincts drove them to attack.
DAKKA!
The two let loose with their weapons on full auto. Ping! Hastily they reloaded. The
Angelspawn didn't even manage to get halfway across the street.
"...shiiieeet and goddamn!" muttered one of the JSSDF Marines, as they reached the
scene. "These things got owned hard...!"
"What happened here?" the sargeant asked aloud. He hefted his assault rifle and with
some heistation kicked at a blown-apart pod creature corpse. "I know it takes massive
damage to take down these things, but... daamn! That fast? What could have done
this.. no; who could have done this?"
"We should ask them, maybe?" another said offhand. He pointed over to across the
street; at the two teens still kneeling in a wary position, their weapons lowered slightly
but at the ready. He waved out, motioning that they were friendly.
Toji waved back, and warily they met in the middle of the street.
"Hey, you're just kids...!" another Marine spoke out.
"Thank you, Morino. We really needed you to pointed out the obvious." snarked the
sargeant. He turned back to the two. "Look, not that I don't appreciate you helping
out, but it's dangerous out here. Why aren't you in a shelter?"
"And where do you get those wonderful toys?"
"Takahashi, shut it." Again, to the students. "I'm Sergeant De Leon, JSSDF. That's
Katagiri, Ota, Morino, and Takahashi over there." It was then the teens noticed that
his skin was indeed a darker shade, and his eyes had the fold missing from certain
asiatic eyelids. "Who are you?"
"Suzuhara Toji."
"Horaki Hikari."
"Whoah!" exclaimed Corporal Takahashi. "Stormtrooper Suzuhara! So that IS a Bolter
you have there...!"
"Bolt Autorifle." Toji patted the ammo drum. "A true Bolter is a submachine pistol that
would break your wrists if you're not careful. We get range and handling from a rifle
stock, but it's also a heavier and less convinient."
Hikari had already holstered her weapon, the much easier to handle Bolt Pistol, and
stared up at the soldiers. "You're from the Kirishima corps, aren't you?"
The sergeant laughed. "All we have is one platoon." He looked around. The Angelspawn
screeches weren't nearly as widespread as before. It was getting pretty dark, though.
"I'm going to assume you're not the only ones with Bolters around here, since we've
been seeing dropped hostiles like that all over. Okay, so even if you can take care of
yourselves... you really shouldn't be here."
"We're looking for our sisters." replied Toji. "We know they're not in a shelter. They're
hiding out somewhere... they have to be safe. It's a really well-protected place."
"Better than a shelter?"
"... I don't know. But she just HAS to be safe..."
The JSSDF marines nodded. It would be too crass to point out she might already be
dead. Besides; kids. They can get into the oddest and most cramped of places. "All
right. We're out looking for survivors anyway, might as well keep an eye out for them
too."
A scream.
"Kodama!" shouted Hikari, recognizing that instantly. "Where... !"
They turned to see an Angelspawn suddenly screech and leapt at a kitchen window.
The makeshift fence had just collapsed, behind it was a decrepit old building. They
just hadn't noticed... somehow... hidden by the fence? It snapped its beak, letting
out clicking sounds and bashed against the glass. Incredibly, it held, only a thin crack
showing on the surface.
That beast was subjected to sheer overkill, dying without even knowing that it was
attacked.
"That's it!" Toji shouted. That housed with the cracked blue paint and the red door!
Why... it looks really conspicuous! Why didn't he notice that before? "Mari! Kodama!"
A little girl's face showed on the windowpane. "... baka Toji!" she shouted back, happy.
"... damn that kid. She's never gonna break out of that habit." He muttered as he ran.
He was smiling though, even as the door opened.
"Oh, thank Shinji..." Hikari whispered as she followed. "Are you all right?"
There were fifteen children hiding inside the house. The sergeant had to admit, at
seeing the inside... better than a shelter. "Hop to! Let's set up a perimeter!" he said
to his unit. Then to Nozomi; "We're going to send the people we find here, is that all
right?"
"Da Book sez; da strong is to protect da weak. Dis house is strong. It's all o'key."
"Oh?" He grinned. What nice kids...
"Sergeant..."
"Yes, Suzuhara?"
"If you send someone to NEON STARS GUNSELLING, I think you can get your hands on
some more bolt rifles. The gunsmith there is one of the few actually licensed to make
these things and bolt ammo. He's kinda stuck in the second floor though." He chuckled
a bit at the irony. "All those guns on display are useless anyway... unloaded and all.
Tell him I sent you, and he should give up a few... he might gripe a lot about it though."
"Should I be disturbed about how a kid like you is mixed up in all of this?"
He grinned. "Hey, welcome to Tokyo 3."
-o-
-o-
"Dammit, baka Shinji! Wake up!" Slap! Slap! "Wake up... we don't have time to waste,
remember? Wake up..."
His cheeks reddened, but otherwise showed no sign of recovering. His body was cold,
his face ashen; were it not for a weak pulse and the occasional rise and fall of his
chest, Asuka could believe him dead. She grimaced and stepped back, letting his head
fall back onto Rei's lap.
"Dammit... what's wrong with you?" She touched the pendant under her shirt again.
"What... what are you?"
"Human." Rei responded with nary a beat.
"You're kidding." Asuka turned and stared at her with a sardonic glare. "I'm not blind. I
saw that. No human could do that...! This is what you were hiding from me? Shinji...
he's an Angel isn't he?"
Rei shook her head. "No, pilot Sohryu. Shinji-kun is actually more human than you or
me. Tests prove this."
"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?"
Rei sighed. "How shall I explain...?" She stroked his forehead. Asuka couldn't help but
to notice how full of affection that gesture was. "Ikari Shinji is the only one of us who
was born of man and woman. You were born of your mother, from the chosen genetic
material of some of the finest examples of the male in the species."
The red-haired girl nodded. Since she was small, it had always been drilled to her how
special she was. Her father, her mother's first husband, tried to do his duties. There
was just an impossibility of true affection there, though. Her entire existence was a
slap to his pride. As it was to many other children... her defense against being teased
for lacking a human sire was that same specialness; she had to be superior to their
random genetic drift.
"I have never known a mother or father. You were born to pilot the Eva, Sohryu... I
was -made- to pilot the Eva. If you must call someone an abomination of the enemy,
let it be me. For I was made of human and angel DNA, crafted, grown, honed into my
duty. Much as my Unit Zero was a prototype, so was I... as much as my Evangelion
was insufficient... so was I..."
Asuka blinked. Rei was clearly sad. It was the furthest hint of emotion she'd ever seen
from the other girl. She just -knew- she was supposed to sympathize, but she just
couldn't feel it. It reinforced her feelings of superiority, and she was also ashamed of
that. In the end she chose a polite "I'm sorry..."
"You hold the highest synch ratio, pilot Sohryu. You were born on December 3, 2001.
Your mother... again, how shall I say..." She sighed again. "The Evangelion Unit Two
was made just for you. At the same time, you were made for Unit Two."
The girl narrowed her gaze. "What are you implying...?"
"You also have Angel DNA spliced into you. It is but a tiny portion of your overall DNA
code, but it allows you easier control over you Eva. It would have been a simple task
during the fertilization process."
Asuka's hand flashed up towards Rei's face... but the girl held back, even as the other
pilot did not even flinch. She grit her teeth and clasped her hands to her chest. She
took deep breaths and glared... she was lost in the many different things to say.
"Ikari. Sohryu. Akagi. These are the women who made the Evangelion. Ikari Yui made
me so that normal humans would not have to suffer. I was made as a vessel for that
suffering. I was a failure in that regard. You were give only the slightest boost, and
in that you are a better result."
"You're lying..." she hissed. "I'm not a freak. My mother would never do that...!"
Rei tilted her head to the side. "Would she not?"
Momma. That doll. Asuka forced back her tears. Yes. She would. Her mother was just
that brilliant. She was also that much obsessed with the Eva. Even when Yui Ikari had
died; Kyoko Zepellin-Sohryu dared to take the test herself. Either it was her own ego
seeking to prove its superiority, or that she disdained anyone's interference in her own
work... she let nothing stop her. Only Kyoko could command Kyoko.
Her mother hanging there... her empty human shell...
"I can't be..." It had the ring of truth to it, though. NERV had never been a very moral
organization. Humanity as a whole seemed their plaything... their doll! "You have to be
lying..."
"It is a simple matter of asking Doctor Akagi. She should know of it." Rei shrugged very
slightly. "In any case, it does not matter. You are still human by all definitions, pilot
Sohryu... you may have progeny with other humans. Your genes may or may not be
passed on. You have nothing to be ashamed of..."
"And you...?"
"My failure lies not in my lackluster synchronization. Though my Evangelion is that less
agile, this vessel is made to... endure. Crude as my Eva may be, but a low sync ratio
meanst it may also take greater punishment. This flesh of mine lives... fights... but is
in the end meaningless. They hoped for an evolutionary leap." She huffed. "I am sterile."
Asuka looked up. "What?" They... was that part of their plan? What could they have
been thinking of? Only then did it filter into her mind... wait...! Made by Yui Ikari?
"I am the first and will be the last of my kind." I apologize ahead of time, Asuka; but I
will have Nagisa's head on my pointy stick.
"... so that's your secret." Asuka replied softly, looking down. She felt... what should
she be feeling? She wanted to know, she wanted all the ugly truths... and she had it
at last. Should she hate them? She only felt empty. "What about Shinji...?"
"Shinji Ikari was born of man and women, normal humans... or as normal physiologically
as they can be. Mentally, I would not be able to say. I can sense Angels, pilot Sohryu
and even you... earlier today, that feeling you had... that was the AT-field. You have
for so long simply ignored such feelings... I can, and you can, because our own souls
resonate to that terrible essence. Shinji-kun, however..."
"It shouldn't be possible. THAT shouldn't be possible..." Her face twitched. "It doesn't
make sense!" Par for the course, actually. Goddamn Tokyo 3! Fucking weird-magnet
Japan! She groaned out. "Are you SURE... if his mother made you, then couldn't she
have messed with him a little bit?"
"Shinji Ikari was born on June 6, 2001. This implies he was concieved in the middle of
last year, near Second Impact on September 13, 2000." The idea that he was seeded
on the very moment of Impact and the death of billions discomfited her. "You must
also discard the idea of Angels attacking if you must think that way... it can only be
reasonable if Second Impact could somehow be predicted ahead of time. You and I
however, are the fruit of that frightening realization... that man was not even close
to being a master of his own world."
"And that... is his secret." Asuka sat down, leaning against the bulkhead door. "It's a
lot to take in all at once." She let out another small groan. "I think I understand. If the
others knew about this... that bastard... it can't end well for Shinji. I wouldn't go so
far as to say they'll cut him open to see what makes him tick, but Gendo would keep
him away from the Eva wouldn't he?"
"Shinji-kun cares for you deeply, pilot Sohryu. He and I treasure this friendship that
we have. Together we are the defenders of humanity. This is why we thought it best
if you did not know. Can he still be your friend after this? Do you despise me now?"
"... I hated you two anyway. I cherish you anyway. No, not really... this doesn't really
change anything." Human... "Just human..."
"If you are pondering what I am pondering, Sohryu, then let me say- yes. It is possible
to emulate to some extent what pilot Ikari is capable of. It does seem to require some
measure of insanity though." She looked away. "I know of only one other person who is
capable of mastering an AT-field without being an Angel."
Asuka's eyes widened. Could it be?
"And it is not Nagisa."
Asuka narrowed her gaze. "Were you spying on me?"
"Are you a princess or an Eva pilot? Surely you understand, this is Tokyo 3. Did you
really hope for privacy?"
"Heh. I guess not." She shrugged again. "How are you going to hide this though? You
can't keep it secret anymore... that damage is done, you can't expect them not to
investigate."
Rei let a long pause drift by. "What damage?" she asked, finally.
"Oh, come on. That whole door-melting thing? It reminded me of that tunneling Angel,
actually. Ritsuko would recognize that..." She sent the beam of her flashlight over to
the broken doors.
She blinked.
Asuka ran over, unwilling to believe her eyes. She ran her hand over the metal, and
tapped at it. There was a solid return. "No way...!" she breathed. The doors were as
before, not even a scratch. "Did we just imagine it...?"
'No... because we're -here-, and we were OVER THERE...!' She turned back and shone
her light upon Shinji, lying there motionless like a corpse. Asuka's expression held a
certain realization. Kaworu had given to her the Greater Good. Shinji... had nothing to
offer her except her own power. She felt a certain hunger well up in her being. "What
is he...?" she asked again.
"I know what an Angel is, and he is not." Rei replied evenly. "He is either Man or a God.
There is nothing in between."
The last door opened slowly, grinding. Beyond was brightly-lit. Asuka winced at the
change in light level.
"Oh, there you are..." Ritsuko said.
"Shinji-kun!" gasped Maya. "What happened to him?"
"He was injured." Rei responded simply.
Ritsuko just groaned. There would be no end to the troubles; just as they got the
MAGI almost functioning again! "Looks like we have no choice but to mobilize with you
girls. Let's get him to the infirmary."
It had gone on long enough that the nation had some idea of what was happening in
Tokyo 3. Without the Evas, the UN forces had nothing in their plans other than to drop
an N2 mine into Tokyo 3, given as the enemy didn't seem to possess an AT-field. That
was vetoed quickly.
Scout VTOLs were quickly shot down by darts of dark bone as soon as they entered
a two-kilometer airspace. The sky was dark, some stars already out.
Kaworu laughed. He stood on top of a tall building, watching over the destruction.
"So much... DEATH!" he shouted in glee. "Such glorious death!"
Little beings, these Lillim. In breeding so quickly, their survival method was to ensure
that at least some of the species would escape. That was not so different from mice
and other small prey. And yet they thought to assign such importance to the individual
anyway...! How foolish. They dared to believe they were ultimate -predators- in their
world.
He laughed and laughed. This is reality, little creatures. These are the true predators,
the greatest and most terrible race to ever grace the stars.
He stopped suddenly, though his amusement didn't diminish. "Oh?" Kaworu grinned even
more. "So he's awake."
-o-
-o-
"Can we launch with our limited power?" Fuyutsuki asked. "Running off battery charge,
I never thought NERV would have to take power from the Eva..."
"We can't use the linear launcher, but there is the path that the Trident used to get
down here." Ritsuko reported. "Only the core command center has power, from four
expanded Eva battery packs. Two more to operate the elevators. That leaves the
other two Evangelions with emergency power of five minutes each, and Unit One with
the Titan modules' unremovable shoulder power packs, which give it six hours... but
we're also draining that with every second we've got lights on here in the Eva cages."
"Where is the Third Child?" asked Gendo.
"Unfortunately, he shows signs of extreme fatigue and shock. There are also injuries
consistent with having fallen from a high place, though no bones were broken."
"Use Unit One to provide power, then. Launch Evas Zero and Two."
Her reply was cut off as a small commotion on the end of the observation gantries
drew her attention. She saw there surrounded by NERV workers unwilling to touch
him, was Shinji Ikari. His look was haggard, and he hobbled to them on crutches.
Evangelion Unit Two turned its head, and Asuka's voice issued forth. "What the hell
are you doing here, Shinji? We can handle this...!"
"Yes. There is no further need to strain yourself." The orange Eva added.
Shinji ignored them, heading over directly to Gendo. Both Ikaris stared at each other
with measuring glares. "Let me fight, father." he said. "I know what's happening out
there. I need to pilot the Eva."
"In your condition? Ridiculous." Gendo stared down at the spectacle of utter weakness.
"You are not needed here. Go."
Shinji turned to Ritsuko. "My physical condition doesn't matter...! It's all about synch
with the Eva, right? Only -Principio Eternus- has the excess power. At least I can try
to deploy its AT-field to help."
"Well, that -is- true... the body doesn't really matter, only the connection." That was
the whole point of the Dummy Plugs, after all. There need not be a whole body inside.
"It's too risky..."
"The risk is immaterial compared to letting that Angel kill even more with every passing
minute."
"There is a time for strategy, there is a time for tactics..." Fuyutuki said aside. "And
there is a time for brute force." In a lower tone "Ikari. When it comes to beating an
enemy quickly... the boy does it best. You know this."
"Hey, if I had the chainaxe, it would be different. But I don't see a problem with it. His
Eva does have more immidiate power available to it, and that's one big enemy. By the
time we get up there, we would barely have enough power to do anything." Asuka put
in, shrugging unconcerned.
She looked at her own right hand, clenching and opening it up again and again. She
was a human; having her own power. Humans... as soon as they knew something was
possible, they would find a way. She could be a god. She grinned savagely.
"If you can get our Evas external power, we can head out on the linear catapult to
help or be here in reserve in case he fails, to defend the Geofront. "
"I concur with Sohryu..." Rei added. "It is a sound tactical consideration."
"LAUNCH ME, DAMMIT!" Shinji shouted, his voice hoarse. "FATHER! PLEASE!"
Gendo tightened his expression and looked away.
The Evangelion rose into a city that was burning. That was the only light to break
apart the darkness. Shrieks and screams were carried by the night winds.
The Evangelion roared. -Principio Eternus- was angry.
Matariel was tall and for its size nearly unseen; so dark in itself. It was weeping acid,
eating into the layers of armor plate over the geofront. It stopped and turned, its
great eye blinking. It shot long eyelash barbs at the Eva.
Shinji raised his AT-field. The darts just passed through, phase-shifting through phase-
shifted space, and lodged deep into the Evangelion's chest and arm armor. The pain
was excruciating. Poison and nerve toxins were mixing with the LCL. He stood there
unmoving.
He was looking at a slumped silhouette. He switched on lamps on Titanicus armor. The
lucky Ultramarine blue of Trident Land Dreadnought was scarred and scorched. "Mana!"
he shouted. He could see her...! The command compartment of -Magnos Tancred- was
torn open, and there she was bloody and unmoving and unhearing. 'Mana... live. Please
be alive...'
The Angel released more white pods, and these fell upon the Evangelion. They all then
exploded. The Eva remained still.
"...shinji-kun."
'So many dead... I am the hope and the fury of man. And I can't bring back the dead.'
Matariel lifted a leg, the tip of that sharp beyond measure. It was massive, a spear
to cut through any armor. It stabbed at the Eva's chest, so fast!
The Master Chainsword sang, and lopped off the tip just as it was just about to reach.
The Evangelion slid back, taking the sudden weight. Instead of being impaled had stuck
the Vulcan MegaBolter into the oozing cavity. Shinji pulled the trigger.
And Matariel screamed. Its leg right up to the joint was shredded to pieces.
It fell.
All the Angelspawn screeched angrily.
And -Principio Eternus- roared! Its fury greater than it had ever let free before! It set
the light of its soul unsealed to the furthest reaches. All felt it.
A man stopped all thought, even as an Angelspawn was chewing on his arm. That too,
had paused. "He's here at last..." he wept.
And the creature that had killed his wife, then was eating him alive just... exploded. He
was drenched in orange goo.
All over the city, every Angelspawn abruptly ceased to be.
And -Principio Eternus- leapt. Its chainsword singing its litany of fury, the Evangelion
landed upon Matariel's massive discoid body. The Evangelion knew the enemy was big.
Too big. Its core... where is its core? It couldn't kill the enemy so simply. Not even
all three Evas could destroy it in one shot. The enemy had prepared for that.
No matter. The Evangelion snarled. It tossed away the MegaBolter, unlatched the
Master Chainsword from its bracer and held it two-handed. Matariel let out a "Skree!"
of angry warning.
And -Principio Eternus- cut into the Angel and began to -tear it to pieces- from the
inside. The Angel screamed. It whithed and rolled, in unimaginable pain...! Deep within
the Evangelion cut and slashed and ripped and teared and everyone could feel its rage
and its despair.
Kaworu winced, and walked away. One more sacrifice for the eventual victory of his
kind. Ikari was strong. It would be good to have that strength.
The Angel died messily, but nothing Shinji Ikari could do would ever make things all
right again.
-Principio Eternus- broke through the eye, and back to the street; steaming with Angel
acid. It roared again, but this time in anguish. It no longer felt the light of the being
within it.
-o-
-o-
-o-
-o-
End Cry For Me, Tokyo 3 part three
-o-
-o-
-o-
-o-
-o-
-o-
And from this point on, very little will remain to canon. Oh, god. The pun. Deus Ex Machina. I just had to use that.
And yes, Mana's alive. You can rest easy on that point.