Demon City Tokyo
Chapter 19
Video File: Briefing on the Demon Invasion, 2008
"First of all, calling them 'demons' is in fact inaccurate, and might even lead to mistakes," Yui Ikari admitted. "They are in fact aliens, creatures from a parallel Earth that evolved along wildly different lines."
On the screen behind her an image came up of a vaguely humanoid thing. It was gangly, with a face that sort of resembled a bird mask. It's hands were clawed, and dripped with unidentified gore. It was also damn fast, suddenly charging right at whomever was filming it, ending the video clip in a burst of static.
"This is the most common 'warrior' mode we've seen them adopt," Yui noted as the film ended. "It's the one we've seen most often, so far. They are functionally invulnerable to projectile weapons, as well as hugely strong and durable."
"No, we don't know why swords work," Yui answered, "it could be their flesh reacts differently to cutting rather than explosive force." She sighed, "I hate to bring in mythology, but iron supposedly hurts otherworldly things..."
A question was asked and she continued, "No, we don't yet understand their biology. Out attempts to dissect and study them tend to destroy our instruments. And in a few labs, subjects we've thought dead have revived on us."
Yui sighed, "Death, for these things, doesn't seem to mirror what happens with us. We've had reports of these things coming back from massive damage. A human would be dead and in pieces." Grimly she continued, "Destroying the core works. And, somewhat, decapitation."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Huh," Rally Cheyenne shut the recording off. The silver haired woman turned to look at her staff, the women sitting around the table.
It was interesting that, despite years of research and billions spent, there still had been no progress in studying the demons. Though admittedly, the focus had been more on killing the things, rather than study. Still...
"Is it true the portal they came through in Antarctica is still open?" Kiddy Phenil asked, the redhead frowning slightly.
"We think so," Lebia Maverick answered her cautiously, "though no one can get near the site due to the huge storms."
The portal between Earth and the other dimension had stayed open, even after the first wave of monsters hit. Since then a trickle of creatures continued to come through, along with a steady flow of much hotter air. That constant added heat hitting the cold air of the Arctic generated massive storms, as well as screwing up the environment. Weather patterns were changed globaly...
"I'm surprised someone hasn't just nuked it," Kiddy added.
"We have no idea what that would do to the portal," Nami Yamigumo pointed out, "it MIGHT close it... or it might blow it wide open." The shinto priestess looked like a character from an old TV show in her robes, but she was quite sharp.
"Exactly," Rally agreed, "the USA has suggested doing just that, but as we don't know what might happen they've held off."
No one mentioned that the only ones who might know what bombing the portal would do were the SEELE cultists. Sadly they appeared to all be dead, killed by angry mobs when their names were leaked. The last known survivor, Lorenz Keel, had died in Tokyo under mysterious circumstances.
Rally, despite being Keel's kin, also didn't know anything. Worse, the various tomes and such Keel had used had been destroyed when his fortress-like home in Germany burnt down. She suspected Yui Ikari knew more than she let on, but again... she couldn't prove it.
Yuki Saiko returned with coffee for everyone, then the younger woman sat, her long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She was a telekinetic, quite strong too, but was nervous about trying her powers on actual demons.
"So, starting tomorrow we stop pretending to be regular cops and go full demon hunter?" Lum Cheng asked, the chinese sword user looking eager.
"That's why they've kept us off the street so far," Katsumi Liqueur agreed, the black haired woman smiling grimly.
Katsumi's father, Gigelf, had also been in the SEELE cult with Rally's father. According to papers he left, Gigelf had thought the spells they were casting would help the world. Or so he claimed, Personally Katsumi thought he was either a dupe or a liar.
"So, when are we going to tell NERV we're ready to hunt demons?" Mana Isozaki, their second in command, asked the boss Rally.
Rally smiled wryly, "Probably around the time we start using the railgun handgun."
"Ikari will be very upset," Yuki noted mildly.
"I almost wish we could be there to see her reaction," Kiddy snarked.
"Remember, we're officially working with NERV," Rally reminded them all. "We haven't proved Ikari is behind anything illegal."
"Haven't proved it yet," Lebia added.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The eco-crazies and other protesters were around NERV Tokyo again.
It was weird seeing the various groups with all the different signs. There was the religious group that thought NERV was allied with Satan, or more precisely the Whore of Babylon. Animal rights protesters picketed to save demons, oddly enough. And there were groups that objected to the 'obscene' spending NERV did.
Sister Hikari Horaki was there, along with the delegation from the local church. She had joined the order two years ago, after something happened inside NERV. Hikari had been working as a staffer in NERV Tokyo, when running an errand for Yui she accidentally ended up in the subbasements of the building. She didn't remember what she found there... but she had been left gibbering incoherently, whatever happened.
"Repent! Repent from serving the Whore of Babylon!" Hikari yelled, waving a sign.
"Hikari?" a nervous voice asked.
Hikari turned, the young nun blinking. "Kensuke?" she asked, recognizing the boy.
"Hey," Ken Aida smiled back tentatively. "Been awhile."
"It has," Hikari conceded. "I had heard you had some problems," she noted bluntly, "is everything all right now?"
"I'm getting there," Ken admitted. He hesitated then just decided to ask, "I was wondering if you knew what happened to Toji?"
Hikari gave him a sympathetic look, "Yes, you left before he got out of hospital."
Ken flushed a bit.
Mercifully Hikari continued, "His dad got him and his sister out of Tokyo. I think they're in Hokkaido, now..."
"Ah," Ken looked relieved, oddly enough. He explained, "I'm glad they're not here, at least."
The young nun smiled wryly, "Agreed." She scowled at the NERV pyramid as she added, I think Mr Susubara is still working in that monument to evil. You may be able to get Toji's contact information from him."
'Monument to evil?' Ken blinked to himself. Aloud he asked, her "You REALLY don't like NERV, do you?"
"No. They are crossing lines man was not meant to cross," Hikari said firmly.
"Well," Ken bowed to her a bit, "thank you for your help."
"You're welcome," Hikari smiled, then passed him a piece of paper, "take a pamphlet, too."
"Ah, right," Ken agreed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"I STILL find the protesters creepy and weird," Mayumi Yamagashi noted as she drank from a cup of coffee.
She and Mari had been out late last night dealing with a demon hunt, and she had only woken up a little while ago. Demons in general seemed to be mostly nocturnal, though no one was sure exactly why that was.
"Mayumi," Asuka Soryu Langley nodded a tired greeting. She was on her period, so there was no hunting for her. The demons seemed to be able to smell menstrual blood. Worse, the Rei tended to react to it unpredictably.
"Feeling better?" Mayumi asked.
"Very shitty, frankly. Even if I wasn't on hold for hunting, I wouldn't want to go out anyway," Asuka admitted.
"Tylenol?" Mayumi offered.
"I'm already dosed up," Asuka smiled at her, "but thank for the offer. Been up long?"
"Just half an hour or so. My second cup of coffee is starting to kick in," Mayumi held up her cup with a smile.
"How did last night go?" Asuka asked.
"Well, Mari grand standed as usual," Mayumi admitted, "but other than that we managed. It was a generic warrior type."
"Hmm," Asuka sighed. "It still bugs me we haven't found that demon that was nesting," she muttered thoughtfully.
Mayumi nodded slightly. They had swept the area, several times, but had no luck finding the demon. Worse, they both knew that left alone, such a creature would continue to kill.
(Ironically, they were unaware that AMP had actually captured the Demon, and were using it as a weapons test subject. It had died in captivity after being decapitated by Mana, but the NERV agents would remain unaware.)
"And I want to know if they found anything out about the head, too," Mayumi added, being somewhat more interested in the story.
Asuna looked at her curiously, "Gotten breakfast yer?" When Mayumi shook her head Asuna cheerfully continued, "Well, you get that, I'll get lunch and we'll talk."
"Lets," Mayumi agreed.
To be continued...