Chapter 123: Meet and Greet
'Miss...Ayanami?'
"…" Rei said shifting a little feeling comfortable in her position.
'Miss...Ayan...ami?'
"…" she said again turning a little and smiling a little. She didn't hear the small movements around her.
'…m…i…s…s…a…y…a…n…a…m…i…' the voice called sounding further away.
"…" the First Child said reaching out a little and grabbing something with a weak grip. Something of a digital sound was heard making her stir awake. Feeling the phantom cobwebs, she let go of what she was holding and rubbed her eyes.
"Finally awake sleeping beauty?"
"…?" Rei said opening one eye from hearing the person's voice. Squinting and focusing, she recognized who it was in their PJs.
"Yes…Major?" Ayanami said tiredly while sitting up. Looking at the woman, a grin was on her face before it changed to a smile. Watching her stand up, she put her hands behind her back.
"You'll be late for school if you sleep any longer."
"…?" the female pilot said blinking then looked at the clock. Grabbing it and looking at it closely, her eyes widen in surprise. Putting the clock down and getting up, Misato had already opened her door.
"If you hurry you might beat…" she said before both heard the bathroom door close. Turning back to the First Child, she had gathered her school uniform and other undergarments. Without missing a beat, the blue haired teen walked quickly out of her room and headed in the direction of the bathroom.
'Never seen her not get up after her alarm goes off...it went into snooze mode after it kept ringing so much,' the Major thought wondering if she was going to stand in front of the door. Instead, Rei walked into the entrance hallway. Blinking in surprise, a thought came to her.
'Is she going to…no way,' Misato thought quickly going to the corner of the hallway. Peeking over, she saw the First Child grab her shoes, her school bag, and exited the apartment. To her growing mixture of surprise, amusement, and interest, quick footsteps were heard going alongside the wall. Knowing where she was headed to, the Major smiled. Bringing her phone out and looking at the picture she took, teasing her came to mind.
'On the other hand,' she thought closing her phone. 'I'll wait a little bit…till later…this will definitely cause a stir in her.'
At the neighboring apartment, the twins were sitting at their dining table eating a simple breakfast.
"Last night was actually refreshing," Rana stated and looked at him. "Don't you think?"
"It was indeed different," Shinji said stoically while nodding his head. He ate a morsel of his breakfast and chewed before swallowing.
"However, we did not sleepover at Miss Misato's apartment."
"That's true," Rana said looking back at her breakfast and smiled a little. "Are you disappointed that I wanted to not sleepover there?"
"…" he thought recalling what the dark clone was doing when the others were asleep or falling asleep. "No."
"…" she said with a relieved smile. "Despite the enjoyable atmosphere and evening activities…I still can't forgive her."
"Understandable," the male pilot said when the doorbell ringed. Without saying anything, he stood up and walked calmly to the front door.
"Must be Ayanami," the female twin said feeling her smile lessen seeing him go into the entrance hallway. Hearing the door open, she couldn't hear the exchange between him and the person at the door. Suddenly, there were quick feet coming from the hallway. Blinking in surprise, the First Child rounded the corner and entered the bathroom still in her bed attire. The front door closed followed by the bathroom door.
"…?" Rana said seeing Shinji come out from the hallway with a passive face. "Was that...?"
"It was Miss Ayanami in pajamas and bed hair Miss Rana," he said walking toward the kitchen.
"Guess last night really put her out."
"…" Shinji said feeling his eye twitch from hearing the evil voice chuckle softly. The sensation of the dark clone's grin was felt on his face.
"Seems so."
After a few minutes, the shower turned off. Dressing quickly, Rei stepped out of the shower to see no one in the living room. Hearing sounds from the kitchen; she brought a towel and dried her hair while heading over there. Upon entering, the Third Child was filling a bento box then placed a cover over it. Turning around, he gave a small bow.
"Do you feel refreshed Miss Ayanami?"
"Yes…thank you…for letting me use your shower."
"You are welcome," he said turning around. Putting a couple of things away, he placed a small brown bag on top of the bento box. Grabbing both and turning around, he held out both to her.
"If you care for a lunch box Miss Ayanami, I have prepared one for you. If you are hungry, there is breakfast in the bag. Would you like them or no?" he said with a stoic voice and expression.
"…" Ayanami said looking at both. Feeling a small smile on her face, she looked at him and nodded.
"…yes…thank you Ikari," she said grabbing both.
"…" he said with a small head nod. "Miss Rana is waiting outside by Miss Misato's apartment. Is there anything else you need Miss Ayanami?"
"No," she said shaking her head and turning around. Putting the towel back in the bathroom, both grabbed the items the needed and left the apartment. After locking the door, both met up with Rana who was standing outside the door to the Major's apartment. By the time the two reached Misato's apartment, the door opened. It revealed a sleepy looking Asuka and Misato having a smiling expression.
"Greetings Miss Souryu…Miss Misato," Shinji said with a small bow.
"Morning!" the Major said with a big smile on her face.
"You are way too chipper after getting drunk last night," the Second Child said yawning and stretching a little.
"With my home remedy on hand, any hangover is an easy fix," she stated then looked at the First Child. "I see that you got ready quick. Hmmmm?"
"…" Rei said with a passive face then glanced to the side. "…yes…"
"Wondergirl always wakes up too early to get ready," Asuka said rubbing her eyes a little.
"That's true," Misato said seeing Ayanami have a little redness on her cheeks. Seeing that and controlling her grin, she kept a smile on her face.
"Alright kiddos, have fun at school! Oh, all of you got synch training after school today."
Hearing only Asuka bemoan, Rana just sighed out loud. Shinji and Rei just nodded their heads. Watching them go off, she heard a slight snore in the background of the apartment. Smirking, she was about to go wake the person up when her cell phone ranged. Answering, it was from NERV about an Angel sighting. Ending the call, she quickly got ready. Leaving a note on the dining table, she left and headed to NERV. Reaching there, she headed to the bridge. Entering it, she went to where Makoto was sitting at his terminal.
"Hi Makoto. So what have we got so far on this guy?" Misato asked stopping next to Makoto.
"Morning Major. The new Angel appeared not too long ago orbiting around the Earth. In the past 12 hours since being detected, it has not broken from its position in orbit," the bridge tech stated then input a command at his terminal. It showed a live satellite image of the massive Angel.
"How big is it?"
"About three aircraft carriers long and two wide."
"Geez. Has the UN taken any action yet?"
"Initially no. However, two hours ago they shot a missile with an N2 mine warhead toward it," Makoto said opening another window screen. It showed a video of the missile launching from the ground then going through the atmosphere. Appearing to be dead on to hit the Angel, the missile exploded with a bright flash. When the blinding illumination died down, the Angel was still there and undamaged.
"AT-Field?" Misato asked. Watching the bridge monitor go backwards frame by frame of the video, he stopped. Going forward to the part when the missile made impact, a spherical barrier was produced at the same time covering the entire Angel.
"Well that sucks. Did they try to do anything else?"
"No. After trying another missile and getting the same result, all other weaponry was deemed to not being able to reach the Angel."
"Have we been given the go to eliminate it?"
"Not yet."
"That means we'll be stepping up to the plate anyway," the Major said. "All we got to do is be able to hit the target from all the way down here."
"Do we have anything that can generate enough energy and firepower to get to the Angel?" Makoto asked looking at her.
"…" Misato said crossing her arms and thinking. "Well…we did have the positron rifle before it blew up. Has that design been saved?"
"As far as I know Major, the R&D department had it rebuilt for future arsenal use. Since then, R&D reports that the weapon is more stable, more powerful, and has longer range capacity. The design of the weapon has changed a bit but still operates under the same construction as its predecessor."
"Nice. At least we have a starting point. Can it reach where the Angel is?"
"No. That is out of the weapon's range."
"Rats. Guess all we need to do is modify it so it can punch through the atmosphere and hit the Angel."
"If it were that easy."
"Mmm-hmm," Misato said looking around the bridge. "Where is Ritsuko? I thought she would be here to discuss this with us."
"Hmm?" he said adjusting his glasses and looking around as well.
"Dr. Akagi said she was going to be in her lab conducting tests," Maya piped in turning toward them.
"Really? I thought with an Angel sighting she be the first one here. Do you know what tests she is doing?"
"Just doing analysis of the Third Child's blood samples," Ritsuko stated walking into the bridge area. Misato and the bridge monitors turned to their left. Walking toward them was the scientist.
"Again? How many times are you trying to confirm?" Misato asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Dr. Ikari has requested me to conduct an analysis of the pilot in her place."
"…?" the Major said blinking in surprise. "…do I want to know why?"
"It would bring down your chipper mood from earlier if I told you," Ritsuko said adjusting her glasses and looking at the main screen.
"…" the Major said keeping her arms crossed and forcing herself to not cringe.
A part of her felt sympathy for Yui from her struggle to rekindle her family. In viewing herself and the relationships with the scientist's children, she was in no different position. Sighing through her nose, Misato just told herself to not think about it right now. Shaking her head, she joined in on the conversation on how to go about eliminating the Angel in orbit.
After coming up with an action plan and passing it by for approval by the Commanders, the NERV staff followed suit on it. Until then, all that was remaining was waiting for the pilots. As time passed into the late afternoon, notifications were sent stating that the pilots had arrived on base. Instructions were sent for all of them to get suited up including the backups pilots. After doing so, they were escorted to a conference room where Misato and Ritsuko were waiting in.
"Alright, so let us begin," the Major stated drawing the pilots' attention to the projection image on a wall. "This is the newest Angel that has shown up. It is currently holding its position in orbit for the past 20 hours and has maintained minimal activity."
"The UN has tried using missiles armed with an N2 warhead to hit the Angel. Results were insignificant," she stated showing a video clip of two missiles going toward the enormous Angel. Both made impact and detonated; however, nothing damaged it. Toji whistled being impressed.
"We have been given the task of defeating the Angel which brings up the next slide," Misato said as it went to a schematic showing of something that looked familiar to Shinji and Rei.
"This is an upgraded and modified positron rifle which was used during the Fifth Angel attack. It has been in R&D since that day and they have made it to be a far more stable prototype. Dr. Akagi?"
"I will give you a simplified version from all the jargon and calculations involved. It is an energy weapon. As Pilot Ikari and Pilot Ayanami have experienced, firing this is not going to be a straight shot. Many factors go into targeting the Angel given where it is located. The other factor is that with all the improvements, the rifle does not have the range to hit the Angel where it is at currently. If the Angel comes down at least a few hundred feet, then it will be in range. That being said, the amount of energy needed to reach and pierce through the AT-Filed is monumental. Yes Pilot Hymity?"
"How long will the shot be from firing to impact?"
"MAGI calculated an eight second window with a margin of error of +/- 2 seconds."
"Can you even hit a target when it is that far away and moving?" Asuka stated.
"MAGI's calculations indicated a 40% chance of hitting the Angel with a +/- 10% margin of error."
"Dang. That low when it is that big and just hovering in place?" Toji asked.
"Like I said, there are far more factors and elements in play here. Not only will the shot battle Earth's gravity, but the atmosphere, the rotation of the Earth, and the aspect that the Angel can move at will in space."
"On that note, the game plan is simple: point and shoot and take precautions. Though there was a synch test scheduled for you all, taking out the Angel is priority. Now in regards to who will be the shooter," Misato said then turned to the Third Child.
"I'll do it!" Asuka piped in and raised her hand before anyone could respond.
"As much as I would like to give you the position Asuka, I was going ask Shinji to do it."
"What!? Why?" she asked in irritation.
"He has the most experience using the positron rifle."
"Can't be that hard to use the computer guidance system to aim," the Second Child countered. "Plus, I have the highest synch ratio out of everyone here. If anyone can make the shot, I can."
"I agree with you on those statements, but I would like Shinji to-"
"Wait a minute," the redhead said and walked over to the Third Child. Grabbing his wrist and pulling, he didn't budge from his standing spot. Slowly moving his eyes toward her, Asuka's got in front of his face.
"You. Me. Talk. Now."
"…" he said staring back without blinking. Seeing something in a dark corner of the room, he didn't turn to it. Sounds of multiple things slithering were heard as its body slowly went up to the ceiling. Blinking, he turned to her.
"Very well Miss Souryu," he said as she pulled him toward the other side of the room. The group watched as the Second Child stood directly in front of him. Placing her hands on her hips, she began talking to him.
"…" Rana and Rei said narrowing their eyes at her.
"…" Rayne said not moving while watching a dark figure hover up and down from the ceiling. She did not look at it directly, only kept it in her peripheral vision. Hearing footsteps come back, Shinji had the same stoic face while Asuka had a confident smile on her face.
"Miss Misato. Would it be alright if Miss Souryu took my place instead?"
"Oh? Can you give me a reason?"
"As Miss Souryu has pointed out, her synch ratio is higher than mine. The computer guidance system reacts better to pilots with a ratio as high as Miss Souryu's. As for the positron rifle mechanics, I believe the newer version has lessened the recoil and load time. Instead of holding as a rifle, it has been changed to a harness with a power pack in the back. All that Miss Souryu would have to do is wait for the load time and hold a sturdy stance when firing," the male pilot said with a blink.
"…" Ritsuko said blinking in surprise. "…I'm surprise that you know Ikari…yet I am not. I already assumed you would know. Let me guess, another insider?"
"You could say that Dr. Akagi."
"…is that person…dead here somewhere?"
"…yes…" he said stoically and blinking again. Misato sighed out loud while Ritsuko just shook her head.
"Alright…Asuka, you will be the gunner."
"Yes!" she said with a fist pump then turned around and pointed at the Third Child. "Just you watch Third. I show you why I am the best."
"…" he said hearing a demented chuckle in the background as the dark figure slithered through the ceiling. Looking at her, he gave a small nod.
"Very well Miss Souryu."
"As a precaution, Rei and Toji will be on stand-by in their units," Misato stated.
"Yes ma'am," both First and Fourth Child stated.
"Shinji, Rana, and Rayne will be our back-up pilots. You'll be stationed at the bridge until further instructions."
"Yes ma'am," all three said together at once.
'…hopefully that doesn't mean something bad will happen,' the Major thought then dismissed the pilots. As all of them left the room, a conversation was going through the Third Child's head.
' #$%#$…I…n…T…e…R…v…I…e…W…yyyeeesssss?#$% #$%' the dark clone whispered getting further and further away.
'What kind of interview sir?' Shinji thought with a blink continuing forward.
'PPPEEEEEEEERRRRS #$%$TO#$…p…e…e…r…s...#$% #$%'
'…' he thought thinking about what the evil voice stated. 'That would mean-'
'ATHOUSANDTIMES #$%# $YES!' a blood lurching screech echoed from the other end of the long hallway. Knowing it was from the Eva cages, the male pilot contemplated on what the dark clone wanted. Understanding it, he felt his right eye twitch a little. When the group reached the intersection to go to the bridge, Rei, Asuka, and Toji broke off.
"…" the remaining group stopped and watched the three continue toward the Eva cage. Ritsuko and Misato turned left and started going down the adjacent hallway.
"Something wrong Shinji?" Rana asked seeing him staring down the hallway and not moving. Rayne stopped and looked back at him feeling that whatever was eerie and following them had went away.
"…no…" he said turning toward her and shaking his head. "It is nothing. My apologies for causing concern."
"Pick up the pace you three," Misato stated ahead watching three walked toward them.
"Are you worried about how this will go?" Rayne asked in a low voice.
"Not worried Miss Rayne," Shinji said looking forward. "Rather ambivalent."
"You actually wanted to fire the weapon," Rana said standing closer to him while walking.
"…" he said blinking. Not hearing anything in his mind, he pondered the best answer.
"Possibly."
"Really? How did it feel when you fired it the first time?" the Fifth Child asked curious.
"…the best description...would be an overwhelming adrenaline rush felt inside and outside of the body," he said glancing at the ex-officer.
"…whoa…that sounds like a trip."
"…indeed…" he said having flashbacks and visions of the firing, the explosion, and the near-fatal accident. Feeling several places on his body warm up, he kept walking forward. Feeling his other eye twitch, he did not react to the needle piercing and burning sensations.
When the other three Eva pilots reached the Eva cages, they went to their designated Units. All saw the purple war machine at the far end of the cage. Unit-02 was all the way to the right next to the wall. Eva-01 was the next one to the red unit's right. It was still off limits and under research investigation. All the souls in the Evas were watching as the pilots head toward them. In watching the Second Child get closer and closer to the entry plug, they noticed their vision suddenly glitched and went static. When it cleared, they looked at what was changed and became alarmed.
'…no…you wouldn't.'
'No. Stop it! Don't do it!'
'Turn away! Go back!'
'PLEASE! STOP IT! STOP! STOP! STOP!'
"All pilots have entered their entry plugs," the lead tech stated hearing and seeing the Second Child's Eva engaged the plug into its body. Seeing the three Units move their heads back and stand erect, it indicated they were loaded.
"All entry plugs engaged."
[Roger. Beginning synchronization procedure in 5…4…3…2…1. Synchronization engaged] Maya stated through the headset.
Reaching the bridge, Misato and Ritsuko took their positions behind the bridge monitor technicians. Shinji, Rana, and Rayne entered and headed toward a space on the right where the center bridge floor was. All three looked up to see the Commander and Sub-Commanders standing on the high level of the bridge structure. They were looking forward at the monitors on the main screen. Stopping, the backup pilots stood next to each other side by side and turned toward the main screen.
"Synchronization for Unit-00, 02, and 03 successful and stable," Maya stated from her terminal.
"How is the transporting of the positron rifle?" Misato asked.
"The weapon is in the docking bay. Once Unit-02 is launched, it will be loaded to a nearby lift and taken to the surface," Makoto stated.
"What is the current status reading for the Angel?"
"Angel maintaining current orbit and position," Shigeru stated from his monitor. "No energy signatures detected."
"Okay," the Major said turning around and looking up. "Commander. Permission to proceed with the mission."
"Proceed Major," Gendo stated sitting with his hands interlaced in front of his face. Seeing the lavender haired woman turn around again, she faced forward.
"Eva launch!"
"..." Asuka said feeling the sudden pull and launch straight up. Smiling with confidence, she felt pumped up from getting the stage she always wanted in the beginning.
'Here is my chance,' she thought closing her eyes and concentrating. 'I'll show everyone that I am the ace. I show that idiot who the real deal is. And when this is over, he is going to compensate me…the way I want it.'
"Unit to surface in 4…3…2…1," Makoto stated. The lift's rails extended and the Unit came to a stop at the surface. Blinking a couple of times, everyone in the command center slowly became perplexed then terrified. As if they went into micro-vision, they could hear the Unit breathing deeply with metal bending in the background.
"…what?" Misato said with a horror look on her face.
"What is going on?!" Ritsuko said looking at the Eva standing on the surface. Terror registered on her face.
"…!?" Gendo said staring in confusion.
[Hey Misato. Has the positron weapon been sent up?] Asuka said through an opened comm-link. After a few seconds of waiting, she heard nothing.
[Hey! Anyone there!?] she asked again then heard a large lift near her sound. A building as large as the Eva had shutter doors on one side. It opened which had the modify positron rifle there.
Everyone in the command center watched as the Eva walked over to the building holding the positron rifle. Suddenly, a video-link was established which showed a front view of Asuka sitting at the cockpit. She occupied the bottom half of the video when the top half showed the back end of the entry-plug. As if they weren't terrified enough, a black-red eye materialized on the back wall of the entry plug. It slowly looked at the female pilot blinking.
"No!" Misato shouted in fear. "Abort! Abort the mission! Shut down Eva-01!"
"Attempting to shut down Eva-01!" Makoto stated typing frantically. An abort error came on the screen as a couple more eyes formed in the video-link behind Asuka.
"Abort command failed!"
"Eject the entry plug!" Ritsuko shouted in fright. The bridge tech tried the command, but another error to appear on the monitor screen. More eyes formed as blood tears started to drip from a couple.
"Ejection command failed!"
"Command override!" Ritsuko said getting to one monitoring station and frantically typing as fast as she could for override commands. More and more errors kept appearing on the screen until the entire monitor was littered with error messages. More eyes started forming as more crimson was oozing from them.
"Damn it! Asuka! Asuka!" Misato shouted into the comm-link.
"Comm-link has been muted by the Eva!" Maya stated scared and typing override codes again and again.
"Angel is showing activity of movement!" Shigeru stated from his monitor.
"…oh god…oh god…" Misato said feeling powerless.
The Angel in Earth's orbit felt a false Angel on the surface of the planet. Moving to be in direct line to it, something about it started changing. Not too sure what it was, it wouldn't matter once it attacked.
'…H…a…V…e…S…o…M…e…P…a…T…i…E…n…C…e…T…h…E…i…N…t…E…r…V…i…E…w…W…i…L…l…B…e…G…i…N…'
'…?' Arael stated and stopped. Looking around for the voice, there was nothing around it. There were no other Angels around or could one be felt. The only signatures the Angel felt was the altering false one below and that its mother and father were down there as well. Deciding to wait a little, it watched what the war machine would do first. Then if nothing occured, Arael will attack.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the monitor in horror. They saw the entire background of the entry-plug was littered with black-red eyes. Some were next to each other while others overlapped or had burst with its insides hanging out. To the ones still whole, each was blinking frantically and tearing blood profusely. Asuka didn't seemed to notice or feel anything wrong as she had just about reached the building.
'I am so going to win today,' the Second Child thought seeing the positron rifle. Getting close enough and stopping, she reached out her Eva's hand and stopped.
"What the?" she said out loud. The Eva's hand was purple. Turning her hand over to look at the palm, it was still purple.
"W-W-What a minute?! I got into my Eva!?" Asuka said starting to panic. "I swear I did. I-!?"
"…!?" the NERV bridge said as they saw the Second Child pale instantly and had a terrified look on her face.
Behind her, the sick, disturbing image of eyes started to form a crudely cut horizontal line. Slowly opening up, the eyes next to the crude line ripped apart shedding gore into the entry-plug. Opening up to allow a large person to go through, it revealed its insides of something demented, chaotic, vile, and hellish. Maya felt bile instantly rise as she spewed it on the floor to her left. Everyone paled with goosebumps riling their bodies as some form of a bleeding flesh monster. It started inching toward the pilot with the sound of wet scrunching filling the audio. The video would go static or glitch which made the grotesque figure get closer to the pilot in.
The crew saw Asuka shaking all over and mouthing words calling for everyone including Shinji's name. Seeing her straighten up tensely, the figure was directly behind her. A couple of tentacles were forming out of the back of the creature's head as they slowly slithered and curled on themselves. Her eyes slowly turned to her right. Not seeing it in her sight, she swallowed. Slowly turning herself, she saw something horrific behind her. The evil and malice aura was extremely intense and suffocating. Blood seemed to have drenched the atmosphere and the LCL liquid making it harder to breathe.
"…!?" Asuka said feeling her eyes widen starting at a morbid monstrosity behind her. The back of the entry plug was littered black-red eyes that were stretched from a crude horizontal split. About to open her mouth to scream, a piece of the creature's flesh extended out and formed a human hand. It instantly covered her mouth as goosebumps littered her body.
[…rrreeee#% $^aaaadddddd $%%^yyyy?…] it breathed next to her ear being cut in and out from several chilling screams. It caused her to start crying from feeling its vileness. An overwhelming sense that she was going to be tortured, raped, and die quickly developed in her mind. The monster's whisper was heard through the comm-link causing everyone to start shaking.
[GRABTHEWEAPON!] it bellowed out a viciously behind Asuka. Almost all of the NERV crew on the bridge flinched from the sudden outburst over the loudspeakers.
"…" Asuka said starting to faint.
Her eyes started to get blurry as everything around her began to darken. About to shut her eyes, an innocent sounding boy started giggling behind her. Closing her eyes, she felt the Eva move. Her conscious was slowly going out as she tried mentally called for everyone again. She failed to hear calls from the comm-link as they sounded distant, faded, and no louder than murmurs. Whispering out the Third Child's name, she felt almost unconscious when a sharp ping stabbed in her head.
"Angel is converging energy to its center!" Shigeru said from his station.
"…!" Asuka said as her eyes shot open and looked forward. The positron rifle was in the Eva's hands, but it wasn't pointed up at the sky. The view of the Eva was it looking up as something started coming down from the clouds. A bright light shined through them and covered the Unit. Feeling another ping in her head, Asuka only managed a blink until everything around her vanished to white.