Chapter 20
What should a person do if a tentacle of death comes towards you? Dodge. What should a person do if a second tentacle comes? Dodge. Did I dodge the second one? No. Now, Rei's taken by Unit 01. Shinji glued himself to that Eva's cage. Asuka… she flat out disappeared, hiding once more. Hey, at least Hikari won't be piloting ever again… I think. She doesn't seem like the person to be compatible with the other souls. Still, NERV wants an explanation for how I used Unit 03, like… right now. This very moment. That guard has a gun. Meany.
"I won't ask this again," says Ol' Kozo. He asked this question three times explicitly and seven times implicitly in this interrogation already. "How did you sync with Unit 03?"
The man looks pissed. He glares daggers at Mari. His hands shake, not from Alzheimer's but rage. But handcuffing my ankle to this table might be a bit much. At least they gave me a chair, a hard one. Neither the Sub-Commander nor the two guards sit. They stand, a simple way to show superiority. They probably chose gruff looking guards for the same reason.
"You getting erotic pleasure by seeing me in my plugsuit?" It's a hint, old fart. I don't wanna be in this anymore. "Surprised you didn't ask them to strip search me." Oh, that's so edgy sounding.
"Answer me. Your actions destroyed one of just five Evangelions in the world of which none are operational at the moment."
She waves her finger back and forth. "Princess got an arm." I'll totally use that nickname for her. If her reaction will be like… "Puppy can sync with the Cyclops."
"Irrelevant. Neither is fully operational. If you haven't noticed, all the recent Angels could've torn our battered Evas to shreds if they were in their present condition!"
Mari shrugs. "Meh, I was just following orders. Misato wanted us to get in the Evas. I got in one. What's the big deal?"
"If you haven't noticed, that wasn't Unit 04."
"Yeah, I did notice. Mine was still being prepared. Hikari didn't seem to be showing up any time soon, so I used hers."
"At an eighty percent sync ratio!"
"Cool, right?"
"We already ran it by the MAGI. You had a zero percent chance of syncing."
His eyes glance to a guard's gun. Even though dying might solve some problems, there's shit I gotta do. Oh well.
"I asked to sync. She let me."
"Guards, leave the room please."
He doesn't blink until they leave. He doesn't move. He stares right at her.
"The Americans found you at an orphanage. A child among countless millions across the globe, parents long since dead. Your personal file is sketchy at best. How the fu…" He clutches his temple. "Only four people in the world who aren't a part of a certain organization know to call the Evas a she. You're the fifth."
"Actually, Kaji found me on one of his business trips for Uncle Sam. Happened to spot a girl drawing NERV emblems and figured maybe I was in the wrong spot."
"Kaji doesn't know about the souls. Does the name SEELE mean anything to you? We're perfectly happy to have another double agent."
"SEELE is a bunch of old assholes. I don't have any humans helping me, yet."
"How much do you know?"
"Isn't that funny? Mrs. Horaki said the same thing, though she wanted to know how her daughters were doing. She also said it nicer."
Mari smiles. Kozo tenses.
"Shinji?"
He doesn't turn away from the monster that stole Rei. In the bandages, Unit 01 looks like a living mummy.
"You hungry?" The woman sets some food down beside him. "Don't worry. It's from the vending machine, nothing of Misato's again."
"Progress?" If he wasn't consumed from loosing Rei, he'd be scared of his voice. Short, direct, cold. Deepen the voice and it becomes his father's.
"With the data we have from you and Unit 00's… expulsion of you, we've got good and bad news."
Maya Ibuki sits next to him.
"Continue."
"It's an internal trigger. The Eva can eject Rei at any time. It's just…" Her voice lowers. "We don't know how to do that."
"I see."
She opens a can of coffee. After taking a gulp, she continues, "I've been working here ever since I got out of college a few years back. Started out as an intern. Sorta rose up the ranks."
Shinji stares at Unit 01.
"The entire time, I heard stories about Unit 00's pilot. She was like a ghost, never here most of the time. When she was, they'd say it was as if some of her still wasn't around. Like being figuratively transparent? Ug, Aoba can describe it better."
"Continue."
She smiles. "A few weeks after becoming an officer, I saw her for the first time. She didn't acknowledge my presence. She walked on by to wherever she was going. She always had a reason too. I never once saw her do anything for herself, anything like a normal girl would."
He opens a package of chips, the first food he ate in… quite some time. He wouldn't eat Misato's.
"Then, everything changed. I noticed she blossomed socially. She still wouldn't speak, but she did make eye contact. It started after you arrived, not a coincidence. Then, she walked up to me and said something. 'Lieutenant Ibuki, your kindness to plot Ikari was beneficial to his mental well-being.' Before I could make a reply, she left… I'm pretty sure she referred to that time you fell asleep in the technicians' lounge and I led you out."
"I told her about that."
"She became a much nicer person because of you, Shinji. She still doesn't say much, show much emotion, or smile; however, she… she's thoughtful. She greets me when we pass in the halls. She sometimes sits in the bridge at night, just to keep me company among the two men. She's proactive."
"Yes."
"So don't become who she once was, Shinji." He feels her staring at him. "When we get her out, she'll want to see you, the real Shinji Ikari. Not what you are now. I have to go now. The MAGI should be done calculating."
She stands up and walks down the hall.
"Miss Ibuki?"
She stops. "Call me Maya."
"Thank you, Maya."
"Anytime."
She leaves. For the moment, he's alone with the Eva. He opens an energy bar while staring at the Eva. His eyes are the same as his father's.
"Asuka, it's been three days." Misato stands outside their door. Asuka sits alone in their bed. "Eat. Bathroom. Bedroom. You need to do more than that, and you need to be doing more eating for that matter."
"How's Shinji?"
"No change."
"Rei?"
"No change."
"Bother me again when you can say something different."
Misato slides their door open. It reveals a mess. The room has a hole in the drywall. Pages torn from magazines, shreds of glass from her hand mirror, plastic from one thing, foam from another… it's all just lying on the floor.
Shinji's side of the room is pristine, dusted and cleaned this morning with meticulous care.
"Blaming yourself for this is n-"
Asuka doesn't move from her position, face down in the bed. "But I did! I was the last standing Eva. I was seconds away from victory. I messed up. Now, Shinji suffers and Rei might be dead."
Misato sits next to her. The bed squeaks from the weight. "Asuka, that was the best piloting I've ever seen."
"Doesn't matter. I still lost."
"Would you do anything different if you had a do-over?"
I've asked myself this so many times already. "No."
"Every move you made was to defeat the Angel or to save us on the bridge. You even pushed Shinji out of the way."
"I should've done better."
"You can't change that. You can only change right here, right now. It's time to go."
"Why?"
"Because…"
Asuka looks up. Her guardian turns away, unable to look her in the eye.
"The Commander ordered you to see him."
The next hour felt like waiting for an Angel to arrive after being spotted. She went through the motions. She quickly showered, the first time in a week. She made herself look presentable, though the bare minimum. She sat in a car that for once didn't speed to its destination. She walked to his office. Now, she stands outside the door.
"You'll be fine." Misato rubs the girl's hair.
A thousand questions run through the prodigy's head. Will he fire me? Does he blame me for this disaster? Has something happened to Shinji? Did he give up on Rei? Court marshal? Execution? Rape? Maybe I shouldn't have worn my school uniform. Shit!
"You aren't coming in, Misato?" Verdamt. I sound scared… Well, I am. I guess that makes sense then.
"He gave orders for just you."
"Can I borrow your gun?"
"No."
"How many times has Shinji talked to his father? Once?"
"Face to face? Only one that really counts."
"And I'm getting it twice?"
"Yeah."
Asuka sighs. She looks down and notices that her right hand twitches. Like Shinji? She wills it to stop.
The girl opens the door and walks into the massive, dark room. Gendo sits behind his desk. His hands are folded in front of his mouth. He wears those weird orange sunglasses. She can't see his eyes behind the shades, but he seems to be staring through her.
She instinctively folds her arms over her chest. I feel exposed.
"Captain Sohryu." Something's amiss with his tone. She doesn't know what it is, but her get doesn't like it one bit. "Come."
She walks foreword. Hopefully, the walls aren't sound proof. One scream and Misato charges in and shoot the pervert. He never tells her to stop walking, so she does when she reaches his desk. The girl picks up a smell, one that she associates with Misato's apartment and especially the drunk's room. Alcohol.
"What is the status of your pilots?"
A simple question. Give a direct answer. She straightens her posture. "Ayanami is trapped inside Unit 01. Ikari stays inside Unit 01's cage. I am combat ready and my Evangelion was repaired yesterday. Horaki was released from the hospital yesterday, though she is without an Evangelion. Makinami is not allowed to leave the GeoFront and has Section Two assigned to her at all times. Her Evangelion is not combat ready."
"In case an Angel attacks, how many unit can we sortie?"
Why are you asking me questions we already know? "At the moment, one."
"What about Unit 00?"
"No pilot."
"Did the Third Child not pilot it during combat?"
"His mental state does not seem conductive to piloting at the moment."
He stares at her. The room is cold, almost to the point where she could see her breath. Her body shivers, a sign of weakness.
"Can you do anything to ensure more pilots can pilot?"
What is he getting at? "No, until Unit 04 is repaired and Ayanami leaves Unit 01, our situation remains the same."
"Are you scared, Second Child?"
She flinches. The audible thud in her ears increases.
"No, Commander."
"Do I scare you?"
These walls better not be soundproof. "No, Commander."
"Would pilot Ikari improve if his personality was like mine?"
She should say yes. That's what he wants, but… But having him become cold… having him abandon her, detached from the world… He's already so close…
"I see," he says, interrupting her from her thoughts. "You know I placed you in the same room, do you not?"
"Yes, Commander."
"I did so for this scenario. I have lost what was dear to me, thus I became who I am. My son has befallen the same fate. Get off your sad ass. Fix him. Dismissed."
She stands frozen in place.
"Dismissed."
She leaves the room. The moment she closes the door, a hectic woman swarms her.
"Are you alright? What did he say? Why are you looking pale?" Misato's genuinely concerned over her. She also was hiding how worried she felt until now.
Asuka shakes her head. What just happened?
"They aren't ripe yet."
Mari takes another bite of the watermelon anyway.
"This was supposed to be my secret spot." Kaji doesn't sound pissed. He sounds like he normally does, playful and chipper.
"Which's why I'm here, old friend."
"I'm not old, but your guards will handcuff you to themselves for this." He takes a chunk of his melon and eats it. He spits the fruit out a moment later. "Shit's gross."
"Reminds me of home."
"Americans aren't known for eating watermelon early."
"I'm British."
"Neither are the Brits."
Mari shoves a piece in her mouth. Juice flows down from her lips.
"I came here to makes things right. Every time… Asuka, Shinji, and Rei suffer. Maybe I could change that. I could be that chirpy girl who lifts up the spirits of everyone and kick Angel ass. My Eva was the Angel that killed one of their friends. I then destroyed another Angel. I don't think they like me."
"Maybe you could be more serious? I am." He chuckles.
She shakes her head. "You're not serious on the outside. It's just… people are hard to understand. I find it easier to make them laugh or cringe. Oh, and manipulation. That's about it."
"Nobody understands themselves, let alone others."
He sits next to her.
"The Sub-Commander wanted me to pick your brain a bit, Mari."
"I figured. It's why the guards still haven't found me yet, isn't it?"
"Yep. They're standing over there." She follows his gaze to a large grove of shaded trees.
"Funny. I thought you would've been fired by now."
"Ouch. I'm hurt." He pouts.
"Gendo must've at least deduced you're working for the local government by now, maybe SEELE too."
He shakes his head.
"There you go again. Knowing things that a child wouldn't know. Maybe telling others would help instead of getting Evas wrecked?"
"I've been asking myself the same thing."
"What do Gramps and Mr. Cheerful want to know most?"
"You don't happen to have some info on the next Angel, do you?"
Mari looks to the sky. For now, a dome obscures her view of the heavens.
"I figured the Dead Sea Scrolls would give them a hint."
"The Light of God doesn't do much."
Mari puts the last watermelon husk on the ground.
"Why don't they torture the information out of me?"
"You wouldn't let them know you know if you thought they'd do that."
She laughs at the truth in his words.
"Arael will be a while away. We'll need to build up our lead pilot though. She'll be the one to engage the Angels now that Unit 01 decided to become a god, right?"
"She will be the first one. Why build her up though?"
"Because light needs a source to burn."
Shinji stares at the Eva. He's powerless, unable to save Rei. No matter what he does, it'd be fruitless. He could hijack Unit 00 and rip 01 apart, but it would kill her. He doesn't have the brains to think of a way to get her out. Instead, he sits and waits. She'll come out, one day. He'll be the first to greet her.
He hears light footsteps approach him. Seeing nearly red hair out of the corner of his eye, he feels someone lean against him.
"Will you tell me to stop being this way too?" he asks.
"No."
"Why are you here?"
"To be with you."
She rests her head on his shoulder. His shoulders relax.
"Shinji, after I escaped Liliel, you promised to never leave me."
"I did."
"Was that the truth?"
"Yes."
"Then I have a promise to make too."
She puts her hands on each cheek and turns his head towards her. She presses her forehead against his and whispers, "Ich werde dich niemals verlassen."
He smiles. "You know I speak German too, right?"
She blushes. "Scheisse. You never thought to tell me this before?"
"Nein?"
What is this? Where am I? This is the entry plug, yet I am not here.
Her sight changes, even though she does not sense her eyes. She sees a beach. The red waters lap against the white sand. Other than the waves and the wind blowing in the far distance, she hears nothing. No children laugh. No birds chirp. No pedestrians walk throughout the city, for the city has been overtaken by the red sea.
In the waters, she sees faces formed from the white bubbles or deep red. Shinji, Asuka, Sakura, Commander Ikari, Doctor Akagi, Hikari, Kensuke, Major Katsuragi, pilot Makinami. She blinks, and they vanish into the sea.
They are people I know, and they know me. They are part of my world, and I am a part of theirs. The Angels wish to destroy our worlds, so humanity has created Angels to fight Angels.
Why do I enter their worlds? The world shall end within months, the only question being who holds the key. Entering their worlds causes pain, loss. I do not like these feelings. They are cold.
"Is it colder than being alone?" Commander Ikari's face stares back at her from the ocean. "Does the pain of loneliness warmer than the pain of loss?"
"When I am lonely, I hurt only myself. When I feel loss, I hurt the other as well."
"Like Sakura?"
"Yes."
"Then should you leave her? Would that not cause her to feel more loss?"
"It would hurt her."
"Relationships are like a spider's web. Unless you cut the stands entirely, every movement you make only binds you tighter."
The face vanishes.
"I have seen the strands cut before."
From the waters, she sees Yui Ikari lowered to the core. She, her father, and her brother stand together as they watch. Alarms. Screaming. Crying. No more.
The strand was broken. Their mother became an Angel, the kind made by man.
"Why do people love you?" Shinji stares at her from the deep red.
"I am loved because who I was. You love me because I was your twin. Commander Ikari loves me because I was his daughter."
"What about me?" Shinji became Asuka. "I'm not related to you, Wondergirl."
"But we are pilots. Isn't our friendship, as you said, convenient?"
"I'm not a pilot, but you're still my big sister!" Sakura giggles from under the waves.
"But I killed your family and crippled you. You should not love me. If you knew who I am, then you would flee in terror. I am the key."
"Then you would be lonely."
"I felt less pain when lonely. Do not worry. Soon, I will become one with all, no longer lonely or able to hurt others. No one will be lonely' no one will hurt."
"What is it you wish?" The voice does not come from the sea. She turns around.
Rei narrows her eyes. "You."
The woman stands ten meters from her. She looks at the ground and clutches her arm, as if she displays nervousness.
"Indeed. Tell me, what do you want? Is it Instrumentality?"
"I want love and no pain. Companionship without heartache."
"Don't fight me, and I will give it to you, daughter. To all, though they can leave if they so desire."
Rei takes a step back. Her foot becomes wet.
"You left us. You caused pain and heartache."
"So let me fix what I broke. Let us give to the world what we both so dearly want."
"No, let your daughter decide for herself."
Out of the waters, comes Rei. Her eyes are the same red as the sea and her nude form is the white of the moon.
"She is the key. Let her be the one to open the door and shut it if she chooses."
That woman looks from one Rei to another. "I am letting her decide. We have few choices. SEELE. Angels. Me. Only one has an option for humanity's return, and your existence proves that an option will be taken."
"But there is another way."
Rei closes her eyes. Father…
She has a memory. Distant. Another time. Sometimes another life. A simple one, but one that was good.
She does not see the faces, but she remembers the voices.
"So they will live in this world, in the hell after the Second Impact." Commander Ikari, then just Ikari, sounds resigned.
"If you have the will to live, anywhere can be heaven. Because they are alive, they have the chance to find happiness." Her voice was brighter back then.
"I see. That is very true."
She remembers farther back. Is it her memory? No, she was not born.
"Have you decided yet?" She sounded excited. How long until she suffered the pains of childbirth?
"The boy will be named Shinji; the girl will be named Rei."
"Shinji… Rei… Beautiful names."
"For beautiful miracles."
Rei leans back and falls into the red ocean. Her clothes cling to her body. Her hair flows freely in the waters. She feels enveloped, a good feeling.
"I wish to see my brother."
"Enjoy what little time that remains."
She falls onto the ground. Darkness envelopes her, a bad feeling. The last sight she sees warms her from the cold ground, air, and world.
Shinji and Asuka rush to her side.
Loneliness. I no longer feel alone.
Asuka and Shinji sit in a hospital room. At this point, this building might as well be their home. He collapsed into his chair a while ago. Now, he sleeps softly. I can't wait to share a real bed with you. She scratches her head. That sounded dirty. Misato must be wearing off on me.
Rei hasn't woken up for hours, but they said she's only sleeping. From what Ritsuko told her, that girl might've not slept a wink while in there. Over a week without sleep… that'd suck.
Things will never be normal, per se, but maybe it'll get close. Perhaps they can go to school again. Maybe she could have one of those pointless conversations about how Kanji sucks or how one girl finds a guy cute.
She rubs her eyes. For now, they'll just be three kids in a hospital, at three in the morning no less. Misato let them stay because Shinji wouldn't take anything else as an answer. An Angel attack would be the only chance they have of getting him to leave before Rei wakes up. Other than that, nothing. At least he smiles now.
Asuka feels exhausted but doesn't feel like sleeping at the moment. They could've lost Rei; she did lose Shinji for a while. Yet, I got him back. No, I ran away from Shinji, then I came back because of the Bastard King of all people.
Rei turns over in bed. Asuka sits up straighter peering for either red eye to open. Nothing happens. She yawns. Did you do anything when in the core? I think Shinji did, but the walls have eyes and ears. I'll find out later.
Footsteps echo down the hall. Asuka glances out the window and waits for a face to pass by. Instead, an emotional mask covered by orange shades floats across. The asshole didn't even look inside to check on his daughter.
She counts to seven before opening the door slowly. She cranes her head out as catches him turn down a hallway. Glancing back at Shinji, the girl follows the bastard. She takes careful footsteps, not wanting to be heard. He stops; Asuka freezes. He heard me? He has a gun on him. Will he shoot me?
He turns and opens a door too… Mien Gott. Her heart skips a beat. She rushes to the door and presses her ear against it. Commander of NERV or not, I'll get in Unit 02 and kill him if he does anything to Sakura!
"Who are you?" She's awake? She wasn't this afternoon. Who decided not to tell us? Shit! Gendo. "Where's Rei?"
The distinct sound of crying tears at Asuka's battered heart.
"You have been informed that your father and brother are deceased."
"Yes. Where's Rei?"
"She was absorbed by Unit 01. Though free, we do not know if she has sustained physiological damage."
"C-Can I see her, Sir?"
"No."
That single words seems to drain any happiness the girl had with Sakura waking up. Arschloch! She shakes in anger.
"Do you know how they died?"
"Your father and brother, I do."
"Can you tell me?"
"You father died painlessly from an explosion caused by an Angel. I learned that your brother died in joy, for he sacrificed himself for you."
The sobbing becomes louder.
"Do not dwell on their deaths. It does not honor their lives. Keep the lives of both Suzuharas in your heart."
"Who are you? Why are you here? Will I be sent to an orphanage away from Rei?"
She hears a faint click and a gasp.
"You're Rei's father, Commander Ikari."
"Correct."
"You have her eyes."
"My eyes are not red." The click… He set down his glasses.
"No, they're lonely."
Asuka's heart pounds. He's Gendo. He wouldn't take off his glasses unless it gave him some tactical advantage. What the Hell is he planning?
"Why are you here?"
"I have gained legal guardianship over you."
"Why?"
"Because Rei is quite fond of you. Separation would be unbeneficial."
"Thank you."
"Thank my daughter when you see her."
His footsteps approach the door. Shit! Where do I hide? She manages three steps before the door opens. He steps out, and the door closes behind him. They stare at each other for a few seconds.
"Work on your infiltration skills, Major Sohryu."
Then, he walks down the hall. Asuka scratches her head before turning it to Sakura's room. I'll figure this out later. Sakura comes first.
The redhead opens the door. She's greeted by a girl crying tears of pain but smiling anyway.
Hikari walks down the confusing maze of NERV's headquarters. She was summoned, and now two Section Two guards lead her down the labyrinth. She doesn't feel scared. Her Eva got destroyed. She'll be fired. Simple. At least she'll get to visit Sakura. Asuka informed her that the poor girl woke up last night.
"Hikari!"
Mari rushes towards her. She isn't smiling.
Hikari looks at the guards. "You mind if-"
He nods and mumbles a go-ahead.
Mari stands next to her panting and clutches her elbow awkwardly.
"Hikari, I'm sorry. You gotta hit me."
"I can't do that!" She takes a step back.
"You gotta. Otherwise I… Please."
"No."
She points her finger at the pigtailed teen. "Don't you understand? I failed you. I was the catalyst for all this shit going down and did nothing but fuck up since then. Hit me."
"No."
"Hit me!"
"No!"
"I killed Toji!"
The screaming stops when a slap reverberates down the halls. Hikari's hand stings from the impact. How much more does Mari's face hurt? Already, a tear slides down her cheek.
"Damn. That's a good one." She rubs the already reddening flesh.
Tears form in Hikari's eyes as well. "Why did you say that?"
"I deserve a lot more than a slap. This one at least has another benefit."
"What is that?"
"That anger will help you in fights. I talked to Rits yesterday after I consulted someone, and I got her to-"
"Rits?"
"The head scientist, Ritsuko Akagi. Bottle blonde."
"Oh."
"Convinced her to transfer Unit 03's core to 04."
She clenches her fists. "You made me become a pilot again?"
"Yeah."
"Why!"
"Because the team needs a team player, not me. Sorry for hurting your feelings, but all three billion people across the damn world depend on four teenagers. You give them better odds."
"Get away from me."
Without a word, Mari nods her head and leaves. Not once did she smile.
The guards take her to a computer lab of some sort, though Hikari hardly notices. Why did she have to mention Toji? One of the guards taps her shoulder, so the girl looks up. Two women, a younger one and Doctor Akagi, type on computers. The younger one, a lieutenant looks up and gives a small nod.
"Hello, Hikari," says the younger woman. She smiles, but her tone seems sad. I know why.
She sighs. "I'm a pilot again, aren't I?"
"Yeah."
Misato's voice: "In the conclusion to this story arc, Asuka celebrates her birthday! The happy part might be harder to get though. At least Rei's gonna wake up. It's not a coma for Pete's sake! Also, somebody might die. Oh… As Rei still sleeps, Gendo has a conversation with Shinji. Have you been perhaps wondering what happened to Rei five years ago?"
Author's notes: Ich werde dich niemals verlassen means I will never leave you. I'm pretty sure I worded it without sounding off this time.
I ended up putting a scene planned for this chapter later on in the story. I'm sorta surprised how "short" (compared to my previous chapters) this one turned out.
Oh my, a lot happened here. Maya Ibuki got her first scene. I'm sorta bummed I didn't get to use her more. The idealistic, hopeful technician with a crush on Ritsuko is such an interesting character to write. I think the plot went pretty straightforward. Shinji became closed off, became cold. Gendo got Asuka to get him out of the funk. Rei came out after a talk with Yui and some metaphorical mind tripping. Sakura woke up. Gendo talked to the girl. Hikari became a pilot again. Mari did confusing and mysterious stuff the entire time.
So, Gendo… You might be wondering why I suddenly did random shit with him. Trust me. It wasn't random. Heck, Gendo scene with Asuka is the first scene I had planned out pretty well in this story. That was around a hundred and forty days ago. What I like about these scenes is that they're open to interpretation. Was the Bastard King doing all of this for the sake of his scenario? Was anything out of some weird sense of kindness? There's more to Gendo too. He's such a fascinatingly complex character.
What about Mari? Well… she has her scheming too. There's a reason why she got Hikari (poor girl) to be the pilot of Unit 04 beyond what she said. I bet you already knew that though. Ug, at this point, I have basically six different factions of schemers encompassing about ten different characters. It's a lot to keep track of without spilling the beans, without making people act "out of character" even though they actually aren't, and making things interesting at the same time. Meanwhile, Shinji and Asuka just wanna live through everything.
I hope you like Rei's mind trip. I debated for a while how to do it. The way they did it in the anime seemed pretty hard for just typed words. She struggled with her doubts and fears. I also finally used that quote in my story's description. Oh, she also was in there for only a week instead of a month. It's why Asuka's birthday hasn't occurred yet.
I'll address the remaining things in this next section.
Response to Reviews:
Guest (ADeadDieHard maybe?), Mari knows, but you don't know how much she knows. I know many of you have been looking forward to Yui's meeting with Rei. I wanted a longer scene, but neither character seemed to desire a longer conversation. Rei seems to be bitter at Yui while Yui was focused on implementing her plan. Will there be more with Yui later on? Yeah.
PrometheusDark, you've been a NGE fan longer than me. While "aware" of the anime for years now, I didn't get into myself until early 2018. Me being me, I immediately started pouring over the analyses of the characters along with fanfiction. My brain must've absorbed over 3 million words related to Eva by now (which's not an exaggeration by any means). I mostly work in home renovations myself, not the fun stuff. Mostly grunt work. For now, Evangelion is the only series I've come to love, though there's quite a few on my "to watch" list still. I'm sure there's a lot of great stuff out there.
The previous chapter hurt a lot to write too. All three of my MCs had character development though. I hope all three were believable.
Unit 00… Arg! I can't say how close you are without spoilers! A lot of that will be cleared up the next chapter, but I'll just say I'm not going to do some crazily weird explanation that has nothing to do with the dozens of hints and foreshadowing I've already put in this story.
Traitor of All Traitors, well… I didn't kill Toji exactly like they did in the manga. This time, he died for a purpose, saving his sister. I think he'd gladly die over and over again to ensure his little sisters gets to see another sunrise.
I agree that Shinji becoming like Gendo is horrible. In fact, every character shares that viewpoint, even Gendo. I couldn't even bring myself to write more scenes with him in that state of mind. It was horrible to have Shinji be that way.
That scene, however, was one of the major reasons I had Shinji and Asuka share the same room. I knew Shinji would be crushed by this point in the story and close off similar to what happened to his father. I also knew that Asuka (or Rei, though his twin couldn't for obvious reasons) would be the only way to get him out. There's also other reasons too.
Poshboy, I agree with your for the anime. Unit 00's soul seems to be Rei 1's in some regard. (That doesn't necessarily mean my fanfic is the same way due to my POD.) Unit 00 is probably the Eva I'm most interested in because it's the only main one that remained mysterious. Unit 02 is Kyoko and super passive while Unit 01 is Yui and gets a bunch of scene time. Also, Unit 00 has more scenes to come in the story. I'm pretty excited over those.
Changes to canon that I find notable enough:
Shinji gets depressed and Gendo-like after Rei was absorbed.
Gendo got Asuka to comfort Shinji.
Rei leaves Unit 01 after a week instead of a month.
Sakura wakes up from her coma, and Gendo tells her he became her guardian. (That was a weird sentence to type. That sounds like something from some crappy fanfic. Hey, I got my reasons though.)
Hikari becomes the pilot of Unit 04 after 03 was scrapped.