+++++ Dome Fuji Station, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. (Monday + 9)
"I often wonder what caused him to emulate my sister when he created life on this world." Maria walked along the barren surface of Antarctica, dressed in warm clothing borrowed from the research station they'd left their borrowed ship moored at. Next to her, in her fox form, Inari kept a carefully measured aura of heat radiating outward to stop them from suffering unduly. "The egocentric prick hated that she refused to submit to him, despised that the rest of us told him to yank it himself if he was so wound up, and yet he altered his own vision of 'perfection' to create the life on this planet after she chose to remove her presence from every other shard but the one she's in now."
Love makes us do odd things. Even demented love like his. The ground began to slope upwards more noticeably, leading to the main entrance of the research station. Inari let her aura drop entirely, not wishing to damage the easiest path to their goal. Look at what I'm doing to try and get the Silent One to accept the love of my people. I've alienated my allies, abandoned my grandchildren, and made him believe I've lost my mind all so he wouldn't follow along and get people he wants to protect hurt. Not exactly a sound plan, when you look at it removed from the circumstances surrounding each decision.
The large, heavy, metal door provided token resistance to being opened without the assistance of the hydraulic systems that required power the system did not have, forcing Maria to pull all eighteen tons with something resembling effort. "I've spent this entire trip listening to you explain the circumstances, and I still think you're an idiot. So even looking at it from a position of awareness, the point is still proven. If you love Shinji like you say you do, you're doing some very odd things to prove it." Gesturing politely towards the now open entrance, she allowed Inari to take point.
After entering the cavernous cargo receiving bay, Inari shook her body to rid her fur of excess moisture before shifting back into her more upright, human, form. Each of her nine tails continued to twitch and shake as needed to finish the process of restoring their fur back to where it belonged, her fox ears remaining out as well to improve her ability to hear the direction of sounds. "Says the woman who left his mother attached to his soul for him to kill himself." A chastising look over her shoulder made the rest of the point for her.
Affecting a sing-song voice, Maria shut the door behind them to keep the wind out, "Oh hello, dear. I just want to let you know that your mother, who you desperately needed validation from because your father was a malevolent bastard, and who was ripped out of your life when you were at a very vulnerable age, was still in a form of quasi-life inside of your soul! What's that, dear? Yes, yes, I said 'was', because I killed her. You're welcome." Stamping the snow she'd accumulated on her boots off, she glowered at Inari as she walked past. "Either way it happened; suffering was inevitable. At least this way he got to see her for who she was, and I don't have to lie to him for the rest of our lives."
Inari loudly sniffed the air, moving to keep up. "Hmm, it smells like flimsy justifications and weakness in here suddenly. Strange."
"You know this is why you're still single, right?"
"I'm still single because my species doesn't require lust to live. I had children because he was cute and I wanted children. I don't require another being to justify or fulfill my existence."
Maria muttered just loud enough to be heard, "And yet you're still going after Shinji."
"Because he's cute, and my kids are all grown up." The kitsune matriarch took the lead position again, moving them through the empty natural corridors of the research station. "To be frank, I didn't know that I had a kink revolving around being the 'nurturing mommy' type until I met him. I'll dote on him, show him how special he is, and have him grind my face and chest against the wall while I wrap my tails around him every night. Once he understands that we were already well out of competition regarding saving the world, he'll understand the need for my enforced breeding program." Her counterpart rolled her eyes. "The difference is, dear, I won't enjoy it when he has sex with them, but I'll love it when he fucks me. Passion for the task at hand makes all the difference." Holding up her hand, she sniffed the air again. "We're not alone."
"You haven't been since you left his protection." The Angel pretending to be Naoko Akagi stepped forward into the corridor, her hands in her lab coat pockets and an air of unconcern about her features. "I would greatly prefer not to have to kill either of you, so if you would simply follow me to your destination without attempting to fight me needlessly, you can accomplish your goal and be on your way."
"That's going to be a bit of a problem," Maria declared coldly, "because part of my goal is killing you."
The Angel's head tipped slightly to one side. "For succeeding where the pathetic waste of life that created me failed? For sparing the man who killed my siblings? Nothing I have done is any worse or better than what countless other civilizations all across this miserable galaxy have done millions and millions of times. I eliminated competing lifeforms to ensure survival of my species. I have expanded to fill my environment. Most importantly, I did so while reducing the amount of suffering experienced that the competing lifeforms had to endure. According to your morality, what I did was far more ethical than what human civilizations have done to one another, let alone to the native fauna of this planet."
"I watched children be torn apart by what used to be their parents!"
"There will always be genetic variations that create an immunity to pathogens. The virus that I am is no exception to the universality of that statement, and when you consider the total human population of five and a half billion people against, as an example, an immunity rate of even one ten thousandth of a percent, that's five hundred and ninety thousand people you could have run across on your journey here. Perhaps more were immune, perhaps less. Regardless, that's quite a number that through no fault of their own had to suffer more than necessary for the survival of my kind." Her eyes focused on Inari. "The people I turned successfully felt no pain in the process, they remembered nothing of their existence prior to becoming a part of my flesh, and they no longer see themselves as weak and alone. In this new phase of their existence, they are truly united."
The kitsune matriarch reached over and gently stopped Maria from launching herself at the Angel. "Ripping it apart wouldn't do anything but waste time and energy. It's a virus, each virion that exists everywhere has its knowledge, which means that unless we destroy them all we're not even inconveniencing it. Let's get what we came for and accept the victory for what it is."
"I'll even throw in an assortment of unexpected gifts." The Angel's smirk spelled out clearly that Inari was not wrong in her assessment of the situation. "Follow me, the source of that irritating bint's power will need Gendo's son to destroy it. Once you have the information you need, I'll give you your gifts and safe passage back to his side."
Inari continued to hold Maria back while the Angel turned away to lead them deeper into the cavern. I'm very serious. Killing it, even to be spiteful, will accomplish nothing. Let us take what we can and see where this leads us.
Why bring me along then? Shoving away the woman restraining her, Maria set off to follow their hostess. If you're so certain she's not interested in leading us into a trap, what reason do you have for bringing someone else?
Because it's able to convincingly replicate the appearance of someone it's infected. Her guard was up, and her eyes flowed around the path they were taking in case it truly was a trap. You and I have been in each other's presence since we arrived here. We can, under the Laws, vouch for each other. We can say that what we saw was the same, that what we heard was the same, and what we are giving to the others is the same. When we're interrogated, which you know will happen as well as I do, our stories will match. One person can lie about what they've seen alone, two can't. Besides…I'm not so certain we can even harm it.
"You can't. She might be able to, depending on if she's decided to finally become serious about her purpose." The Angel looked over her shoulder as she turned down a new hallway. "She is nowhere near as strong as Lilith, and now that Selene has embraced the echoes of Lilith's power, she never will be."
Maria restrained herself, agreeing with Inari's statements. She did not, however, choose to remain silent, "Strong enough to kill you, you sociopathic bitch."
"Mmm…more psychopathic. Sociopaths tend to have a conscience, even if it is too weak to truly do anything useful. I really don't care whether you live or die. The fox is the one I need to live, for now. That I don't want to kill either of you really should not be mistaken for sympathy or altruism." She shrugged. "The kitsune serves a purpose, and your presence will help her serve that purpose."
"And that purpose is?" Inari came to a halt as the Angel did, a larger door indicating their destination had been reached.
"Convincing Shinji Ikari that none of us stands to gain from a war of mutual annihilation." Cold, calculating, eyes fixed both other women in place. "We are now aware that The Wanderer will wipe this reality clean if Shinji triggers Instrumentality by dying or coming into contact with this world's Adam. We are also quite well aware that there is precious little that could even conceivably inconvenience The Wanderer available to us in the next several billion years, and that The Wanderer will advance in power far faster than our ability to inconvenience him will. We have the biomass we need to leave this world, and we intend to do so as soon as is practicable. We will even agree to assist him in ensuring that the star this world orbits remains viable past even the death of the last of its brethren. All he needs to do is give us the time we need to secure passage to a new star system, we will leave this one to him and swear under the powers of this universe to refrain from ever returning. We will even offer up the local cluster, if that would appease him. A fair compromise, considering we will ensure that no one lives at all if he chooses to force our hand."
"You can't kill him," Inari stated flatly. "Not because you're afraid of The Wanderer, that's just a distraction. You can't kill him, because he's far stronger than you. You're expecting me to convince him to take a path of cowardice, and I'm telling you that even if I could manage to try to do so with a straight face all I'd be doing is wasting oxygen and time."
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. He's a smart man, he'll see reason." Pushing the door open, she gestured towards an obelisk that looked exactly like the structure that Shinji broke outside of the NHK headquarters building. "The looped resonance of the crystals trapped within these pillars forces stolen power from four specific Crystals directly towards the being calling herself Khlorya. The original entity known as Chaos on this world had planned to spread that power amongst four lieutenants, though that plan did not survive contact with Shinji intact. This new Chaos…we're not sure where it's from. It is far stronger than the original ever was, and has already made contact with Shinji. My remaining siblings are willing to cooperate in his destruction, as well as the destruction of this universe's version of themselves."
Beyond the obelisk was a pale, withered, man nailed to a cross with nails through his hands, a nail through both feet, and an enormous trident impaled through his chest. Every breath he took seemed like agony as it forced a sickly-looking orange slime to weep from each of the holes created. Maria's lip twitched in anger, her words spat out through clenched teeth, "What is he doing here?"
"Suffering. At least for as long as I can manage to draw it out, that is. Then he'll be dead." The Angel moved into the room, casually encouraging them to follow behind her. "Let me show you how to dismantle these without triggering the secondary effects. Please do not attempt to damage them, they're lined with traps that would prevent you from passing along my offers." Picking up a baton, one that a teacher might use to gesture to points on a board too high for their arm length, she tapped at one of the lengths of metal that twisted and bent around the structure. "This is the main weak point, though in order to utilize it safely, you must first destabilize the anchors that attach it to the ground."
Maria ignored the rest of the lesson, continuing to scowl at the man she'd known as Adam. She remembered his words with immaculate clarity, the way he condemned her to the life she now led and the way he'd proven himself entirely unworthy of love or redemption. Was it worth it, you pathetic emasculated vermin? All your grand plans, all your posturing, all the suffering you inflicted on everyone else to get what you wanted but could never receive freely? Was it fucking worth it?!
Adam's one functional eye drifted lazily over to blink casually at his latest tormentor. I believe it was one of your sister's children that put it best. 'To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav'n.' I refuse to be a slave to anyone, Na'amah. So yes, to answer your question, it was worth everything I did to you.
You miserable-
Enjoy living in eternal servitude to the bastard son of two worlds, since you clearly do not value your independence as highly as you declaim. Even that whore of a sister of yours eventually learned her place in service of a stronger force than herself. To be fair to you, though, you did always look prettier on your back than on- Cogent communication ceased as his head was gifted the experience of a new wreath of deep black flames.
Turning casually to determine the source of the new, odd, smell, the Naoko imposter stopped her lesson to Inari long enough to accept that her prisoner was still suffering. "That bit there," she finished, tapping the final rune without looking at it. "With each of those undone, anyone can handle these without becoming magically bound to it for all time. The simplest solution would remain having Shinji rip them free of the ground before sending them after the one he's already removed from this planet, but he is a limited resource and will naturally doubt whether or not I'm pointing this out to gain an advantage."
Inari looked over to Maria, irritation in her eyes. "Was that really necessary?"
"When you have been treated as I have, you will have earned the right to stand in judgement of my actions." Maria turned away from the still-burning progenitor, walking over to the pillar eager to leave. "Is that all?"
"A few other items." Their hostess motioned for them to follow her out of that room into an antechamber. "The first thing you should know is that the man you call the Silent One is his universe's version of Prince Endymion. A fact that has been kept from him by Selene, for whatever reasons she might have to have done so."
Inari sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth while Maria whistled low in worry. Both women had not known that, and found it unlikely that there would be a reason to lie to them about it. It was the former that challenged it, seeking more solid evidence, "I'm assuming you can prove that?"
"I hereby assert under the Laws that the Shinji Ikari that walks the lands of this universe is the reincarnation of his original universe's Endymion, astronomer and shepherd, prince and beloved of Selene." The wave of Truth that rang outwards from the clone of Naoko provided the best proof available. She stopped again at another door further down the hall from the first. "I assume that satisfies you?"
"If she knows, but hasn't said anything to him, what other 'less important' things is she keeping from him, and by extension everyone else?" Maria had mainly directed her question to Inari, but was not opposed to receiving an answer from their hostess.
"Too much, if even one such thing. We need to get back before he stumbles across that bit of info." Inari pointed to the door. "Is that the last thing we need?"
"Rather rude to call her such, but yes. This is the last gift I have to give you right now." Turning the knob, the Angel pushed the door open to reveal a woman that looked like a younger, and much less healthy, version of herself. "It's time for you to go now, sister dear. I release you from your oaths. These two women will take you somewhere safe. Please do remember to pass along my message, of your own free will, would you?" Snapping her fingers, as if just remembering something, she looked back to Inari and Maria with a wicked smirk. "I hereby assert under the Laws that this is the woman his world knew as Naoko Akagi, doctor and scientist, technologist and mother of the woman his world knew as Ritsuko Akagi."
Naoko Akagi stood up slowly, her body weak with injuries and limited nutrition. Once she was on her feet, she bowed politely with a similar lack of haste, allowing her body to adjust to the changed position before speaking. "I will tell him myself, Mistress. Thank you for giving me the honor of doing so." Standing back upright, she faced Inari and Maria with her hands properly folded before her. "Please take me to my new, and only, Master so that I may serve him as is proper."
+++++ Hikawa Shrine, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Monday + 9)
Kyoko had finally found a seat, having been convinced by the entity Shinji had returned to base with that it was unlikely there would be another assault. To say that she was tired would be nearly offensive as an understatement, but her obligations did not stop because her body neared its limits. "I apologize for the need, ma'am, but if you would allow me to paraphrase so that I am certain I understand the main points?"
"There is no need to apologize, for you have been given a heavy burden to carry. I find that I often need to speak to myself about what it is I might be doing to ensure I do it properly, so that I miss no steps and need not repeat the task endlessly." The diminutive alien being embraced the air of self-deprecation she exuded. "Please, let us ensure that you understand the situation fully."
"The world, minus a few pockets of humanity here and there totaling in the thousands, is now filled with what we're calling 'zombies'." Kyoko waited for the other woman to nod in agreement. "These zombies were able to attack everywhere at once because Elysium was developing secret tunnels that connected it to more of the world without informing Olympus?" Another nod. "We're only protected here because Pilot Ikari emits a sort of energy that repels them, unless they're carried in from the outside by someone immune to that energy?" A third nod. "…And he's suffering from cognitive dissonance due to untreated anxiety, depression, PTSD, and ongoing acute sleep deprivation?"
"No, it and he are two different beings. The dissonance, as you would term it, is not between two aspects of the same entity, but two entities vying for the right to represent a singular being. He lacks the third aspect that would have limited the contact the other two have had, which has allowed them to become very real, very tangible, entities. My presence here is intended to assist him in overcoming it, and my discussions with you intended to achieve that same goal. You, and perhaps a few others, stand the only chance at dissuading him from surrendering to it. At least of those that are presently available."
Hera stood near the table, her eyes focused on the tree Shinji stood within. "If you would be so kind as to define who these 'a few others' are?"
"Certainly. General Soryu, owing to her existence in his mind being tied to someone he sought to garner approval from and in her own right as a beautiful, intelligent, woman that he would have sought attention from were he not terrified of offending her. The woman who is now the caretaker for this shrine is another, for her honesty and acceptance of what he is. The Frostmother, for her imperfections and willingness to admit to them freely. The woman, Sarah McDougal, because she sees the world as he does. The dryad beloved by a kitsune, for her innocence and gentle nature." Stopping the list, she titled her head to the side and looked upwards in thought. "There were more, when last I checked, that have now fallen from that list. The three that are one overextended themselves in their youthful naïveté and have been cast from his sight as a result."
"I would like to believe you have perchance misspoken?" The goddess' eyes panned over to glower at the much shorter entity. "That there are more which might still persuade him to not allow himself to disappear?"
Unfailingly cheerful, she shook her head with a smile. "Nope. He is fundamentally predisposed to disliking your plans for him, and does not wish to become the central hub for a host of women, regardless of how eager they might be to partake in the situation or how the situation itself is termed or presented. Your motivations, in his mind, are now forever suspect because he views what you are creating as both a violation of normalcy and morality."
"There is nothing immoral about a man or woman having many spouses!" A distant peal of thunder carried across the skies as Hera's anger grew. "He has an obligation to-"
"I'm going to take a wild swing here and posit that perhaps the term 'obligation' is a major portion of the problem," Mizore cut into the rant before it could go too far. "Every woman you add is an 'obligation'. Every woman you add is another chance for a broken heart, or perhaps the reason that a woman he might truly love would never give him the time of day. Whether you like it or not, he's been conditioned by the society he witnessed firsthand. They view harems, and you can dance around that term all you want, as inherently immoral. The reason I'm on the list, and you're not, is probably because I'm willing to see his side of the situation as more than an obstacle. It's who he is."
"I'm not asking him to love them," she protested, "I'm asking him to fuck them. His love will be reserved for those of us who will stand beside him through celebrations and tribulations. For those worthy few who are willing to sacrifice of themselves to help a family grow out of the ashes of tragedy. For the women that understand that they are worth more than some commoner."
"For women with a little too much ambition, who would force a retiring young man into a position he's ill-suited for." Kyoko took a deep breath, letting out a long, quiet, sigh. "He's not a leader. He's not a figurehead, or a celebrity, or any other sort of public figure. If I'm honest, he's barely a warrior. He's a berserker. You point him at the thing you want to be not where it is anymore and get out of his way. If I had to trust that he would hold down a flank, that he would ignore the dying screams of his allies in order to prevent the entire unit from being overrun, it'd be an act of desperation…not a planned action."
The small being nodded in eager agreement with the General's assessment. "It is not his place in the fabric of life to stand at the pulpit and direct others to bold action. It is not his place to give the rousing speech, the solemn decree, or the final words. He is not meant for the defense of others by standing between them and the charging horde."
"He's meant to be launched at that horde, to die drowning in a sea of blood, his body's final resting place a bed of bones." She shook her head slowly, the idea leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. "He's a shock trooper. The pointiest end of the spear. The one with the lowest chances of surviving the initial assault."
"Careful, you almost sound like you care about him," Hera prodded the human woman.
While her face remained impassive, and her eyes were carefully set to avoid the appearance of aggression, her tone crept closer to actual anger at the blatant accusation, "I care about every single member of my nation, ma'am. I care even deeper for those few I know are most likely to be asked to make the greatest sacrifice in pursuit of the goals I am tasked with accomplishing. That I am able to separate my own feelings on the matter from military necessities is what separates someone in my position from someone in yours. He is valuable, without question. He is also, however, human. I do not revel in the destruction of human life; in fact, I abhor it. If the destruction of human life is required to maintain the borders of my nation, I will not hesitate to order it done. Now that I may well be the highest-ranking human on this planet? Now that I must do what I can to ensure the survival of the human race itself? I will also order him to his death without hesitation if that is what is required. That does not, in any way, shape, or form, change how I feel about him." Holding her eyes on Hera for another few heartbeats, she finally turned back to the woman who'd brought her the news. "Do you honestly believe the chances of a spontaneous assault by any of the other factions is likely at the moment?"
"I would say it is very low. It will not go back on it's word right now. Those he calls Angels are occupied with accomplishing their own goals, none of which involve further attempts at irritating him. They have accomplished their goal: he is isolated and enraged. His own weaknesses will prevent him from assaulting their positions while they contest with It, which is time enough for them to achieve victory." The tiny woman shrugged. "Their goals will not impact the final resolutions of his story, so long as this peace is maintained. Our true enemy remains It."
Kyoko's eyes drifted closed. "There should be a special punishment reserved in the afterlife for people who refuse to declare the subject of their pronouns. Which 'it' are we referring to?"
"The four-armed one," Mizore helped. "Once Shinji finds out that the world is more or less dead, he's going to want that thing's head. If the Angels stay out of his way, my guess is he'll ignore them and vice-versa. This new enemy, though, has a deadline. In a week, this armistice is up. Something is driving it to press that deadline."
"Then I have time to get some rest." Standing up carefully, the raven-haired leader of warriors looked around the shrine. Making calculations regarding what still needed doing, and what levels she should and could staff the watch at, she set her shoulders and moved off with a final word of warning for the other women, "Respect his feelings…or I'll be forced to demonstrate the darker half of Project Y."
+++++ Hikawa Shrine, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 10)
At some point the previous evening, Shinji had managed to fall asleep while kneeling before the paintings he had been contemplating. Exhaustion, fatigue, whatever it was that one would choose to call it had finally laid claim to his mind long enough to drive him from wakefulness. He woke with a start, glancing furtively around to reacclimate himself with his surroundings. After his heartrate climbed back down, he tried to recall the last thing he'd been thinking about before falling asleep. The list wasn't terribly long, as it involved determining what would be considered 'normal' interactions with any of the people in his life in varying arenas.
"It only took me until the end of the world to begin to contemplate what I actually wanted from it," he muttered as he staggered to his feet. Using a trickle of power to summon a bucket of water and a cloth, he bathed himself as thoroughly as he could. "I think I need to start by determining what people want from me. I've spent so long misunderstanding them, misinterpreting everything they did…and now that I want to ask questions about it, I can't ask them without risking hurting them." A nearby stool was smashed flat, the gravitational constant in that area increased ten thousand fold by a minor leak of his anger at life.
His eyes considered the mistake he'd made for a moment, his mind berating him for losing control of himself again. Tossing his bath materials aside, he created a toothbrush of cedar with straw bristles and a small amount of herbal mint, salt, and ginseng to brush with. A violent scrub of his teeth worked more of the anger out, allowing him to return to what passed for 'calm' in his mind. A morbid joke drifted past that prompted a chuckle, recognizing that he was cleaning himself despite not intending to expose himself to anyone outside of the room. He'd be inside Unit-01, they'd all be outside Unit-01. He could be fully nude and reek like a twelve day old dumpster fire, nobody would know. Habits were habits, though, and he was a creature of habits. After fixing his hair, and making certain he was dressed properly, he willed Unit-01 into existence around him. The silver armor was now his shield against life. It would keep everything else at arm's length, and he would find a way to fix what had become so terribly broken about the world around him. It was only fair, after all, that he fix what he broke.
The door leading out into the kitchenette area opened for him, and he exited into a situation he had not anticipated seeing. A part of him expected that there would be people present that wanted to ask him something. Perhaps a few women that wanted to offer him things he couldn't understand and wasn't certain he wanted. Or even just a smoldering ruin after he'd slept through an enemy assault. What he didn't expect was a full-throated lecture being delivered to someone by what had become his personal defense system, Sarah.
"-and when I say 'no', that means 'no' is the answer. If you don't like that answer, I don't really care! You asked the question, dad, and you got my answer. Now kindly get out of here so I can make sure he eats proper before he goes out to try and save more people." Without turning her head at all, she pointed unerringly at Shinji, then towards a seat. "Sit. You are not leaving here without food in you today." That same finger shifted to her father-figure and jabbed the man hard in his lower sternum. "You, however, are leaving right now. Out!"
Noriyasu Seta was clearly not used to his daughter demonstrating such disdain for him, his frown and furrowed brow giving clear evidence that he was restraining his own temper while attempting to navigate hers. "Sarah, you are not being-"
"Out, or I'm going to ask him to toss you out like he tossed those three tramps out last night. Your choice."
Shinji had already found a seat, and had removed his helmet and gauntlets to set them aside and out of the way. If Sarah wished him to be without them at the table, it wasn't that hard for him to comply. It seemed 'normal'. You shouldn't hide your face where people would be eating, and you shouldn't have your hands covered by objects intended to kill others there either. He ran a quick series of calculations to determine whether or not he would comply with her request to toss Noriyasu out of the house, and found that he had no real problem doing that either. Sarah had claimed this space, after a fashion, which meant that it was only right that he allow her to dictate who remained inside of it. She didn't come in his room; he wouldn't allow others to trespass in hers.
"Ikari-sensei," Noriyasu changed targets, hoping that Shinji might listen to what he felt was reason, "I just have a few questions. That's all. Akagi-sensei was a colleague of mine, a friend I would hope. I grieve at her death, too. Please, I need to know what you have become the Titan of. I need to know what you've chosen to-"
"I swear upon the Six Thrones, you humans have absolutely no sense of self-preservation!" The latest woman to enter his life strode into the kitchen by walking on air near shoulder height to everyone else, interrupting everything and grabbing Noriyasu by the ear to drag him back to the door she'd used to enter. "If, or when, he makes such a momentous decision I assure you that you will not remain ignorant of the appropriate appellations or salutations to use. Until that point, the Lady of the Kitchen has determined that you are persona non grata, and so you will vacate the premises posthaste." Shoving him towards the doorway, she dropped closer to the ground and kicked him in the posterior to send him through it. "Do not tempt the attention of dragons, sir, for you are not flame retardant." Willing the door closed again, and turning about with aplomb, she clasped her hands in front of her and smiled at Sarah with her usual unflappable happiness. "I trust that meets with your satisfaction?"
The blonde American teenager had a thoughtful cast to her features. "I'd have kicked him harder, personally. You here to bother him?"
"No, quite the opposite." Walking over to the side of the table opposing Shinji, she took a seat on empty air where she could look between the two remaining people easily. "As you saw, my intent is to stop people from pestering him long enough for him to figure out the answers to his questions. He's seeking knowledge. I won't speak for him, though, so I won't tell you what he's trying to find." Her eyes settled on Shinji long enough for her to incline her head forward in a display of respect. "Good morning."
Shinji considered the stranger for a time, then let his own eyes shift down to the table before him. He would not change what he had been doing, so long as his doing of it kept the right people alive. She was a welcome change from what he'd been dealing with, and he had no reason to see her run off either. If Sarah wanted her gone, that was up to Sarah to make clear.
"…Fair enough." Sarah shrugged and moved back to the kitchen to dish up her latest attempt at cooking. "Are you hungry too? I made enough."
"No, but thank you for the offer. My nutritional requirements are much different than your own, and eating your food would be a waste of valuable resources." Her head rocked slowly side to side, each terminus reached in time with the meter of the song she'd been humming the day before. "Perhaps when our situation has become less dire, I will be given another chance to gauge your cooking."
Setting a pair of plates before Shinji, she included a canteen of water to the side. "That comes back to me empty, you hear?" When he looked up at her, she made certain that her face was neutral. "Dehydration is not healthy. Besides making you think funny, it can also induce kidney stones. Those suck, from what I've seen on some of dad's archeology expeditions. Keep it on you, or have her carry it for you if she goes with you, but you make sure to drink it all today. If you need a refill, come see me or make sure the water's clean before you fill it. Don't know what can be in the water out there anymore, and the yuki-onna have set up filtration systems to keep anything that's not hydrogen, oxygen, or fluoride out of our supply."
"With the assistance of your friend, the akaname," the stranger added. "She has been tasked with inspecting the potables and comestibles for signs of filth or rot that might not yet be detectable by others and cleaning them off as necessary. She's also sent out word to several of her kin that she knows are hiding still, to increase capacity."
Sarah took a seat across from Shinji, watching him eat with less haste than the evening before. "She's nice. I had a talk with her this morning, when she came by to thank you again. I told her you weren't to be disturbed while you were in your room, and she agreed that it was best that she stay out of your 'den' unless invited. She asked a few questions about the rest of the house, thanked me for making sure you got something to eat, and said if I needed anything cleaned I should send for her."
Shinji's jaw worked mechanically, the words all seeming to him to be those given by someone who knows what they're about. This young woman knew better than he did, while being his junior, what she wanted to make happen. His list so far consisted of keeping those few people that weren't pissing him off safe, and finding a way to kill anything that would be hostile to them. He eventually realized he'd been staring at Sarah during his contemplation of the facts, his eyes weighing her distinctly foreign features and the calm confidence she showed to the world to cover over her inner turmoil. She, in turn, had been patiently allowing him to look at her as he would without becoming intemperate. Lowering his eyes back to his plate, he swallowed the traditional apology he would have given to avoid breaking his streak of keeping his thoughts to himself.
"If I were to guess," the stranger offered happily, "he is grateful for your presence. Confused as to why you might have chosen to spend your time around him and his minimalistic trappings, but otherwise grateful for both the company and the care."
Sarah's hands folded atop one another on the surface of the table, her voice trending towards numb, "Because it's safe. I've seen him throw himself into danger without a second thought to save people. Even out of that armor he wears, he jumped to fight a tree-beast twenty times his size with only a knife and a diaper on to save Shinobu-chan. If there's safety to be found anywhere on what remains of this shitty world, it's near him." Shinji did not see the small smile that broke through the gloom of her admission. "It doesn't hurt that he's the kind of person that struggles with his temper. I've been picking up tricks and tips on how to do that by watching him, and it's made a lot of sense when I've used it to stop myself from blowing up at people. Taking care of him gives me something to do, and lets me learn how to take care of myself in return."
The stranger noticed that Shinji missed a lot of the subtext because he was only hearing the words used. Keeping her word to not speak for him, and by extension not sharing those things others might not want to have said, she spoke only to the statement itself, "A noble goal, and a laudable use of your time. He has shown a propensity to not put much thought into his own needs beyond those that are a habit for him to perform, and should he fail due to poor maintenance it would be catastrophic for everyone."
Her voice brightened noticeably, "Which is why I'm not going to let that happen. If he fails, it will be because he tried his best and didn't succeed, not because nobody could be assed to care for him properly. Everyone here has a job, and I've chosen this one to be mine. He seems to be ok with me being around, and doesn't mind the terrible food I'm giving him while I'm learning how to make better food. Win-win."
Finishing his breakfast, Shinji stood up from the table and wrote down another recipe for anyone who wanted to use it. This meal showed clearly that Sarah was capable enough to apply lessons from other recipes to the next that she tried. She understood that the mechanics didn't change much from dish to dish, and that allowed him to trust that she would understand anything she needed to from a general non-comment. With the notepad once again filled with the knowledge he'd gained over a decade and a half of practice, he secured his gauntlets back on his hands and picked up his helmet, then paused. She had made him food. She had been awake before him to make it. She was expending effort and energy on his behalf. He should thank her…but doing so would violate his rules.
Perhaps, instead, you might simply incline your head towards her. It could be a motion of gratitude, of dismissal, of farewell, of any number of things. The stranger's voice echoed in his mind quietly, offering her wisdom without insisting or demanding anything. I agree, manners remain important. I often go too far in making sure those I prefer know that I prefer them, but I'd rather that than be thought of as rude.
His brow knit at the violation of his mind, a spark of anger wafting upwards from his gut to his heart. Closing his eyes, he counted to ten and focused on breathing evenly. She was saving everyone from embarrassment, she was not making demands, was not breaking trust, was not harming him. He did not need to erase her from reality for the audacious crime of giving him good advice. Opening his eyes again, he focused on Sarah and did as recommended.
A lop-sided smile was paired with a playful and friendly wink. "No charge, big guy. You go out there and save lives, I'll make sure to keep supper warm for you." After he put on his helmet, she tossed him the canteen of water. "In your body before you come back, or I'll force you to drink one in front of me every day. Now git," she made a shooing motion, "there's work to be done."
With his passenger once more on his shoulder, Shinji approached the exit with reinvigorated determination. He filed the information he'd just been given away for future dismantling and reassembly, and ducked carefully through the doorway to avoid clanging anyone's head on the frame. His passenger needed a name now, because any being powerful enough to do what Hera, Mizore, and the Sailors were unable to needed to be treated with caution. That meant having something better to refer to them as than 'she' or 'passenger'. Jumping back over the wall to seek out more supplies for the camp, he began to bat around some ideas. After all, she'd given him permission to name her person. That kind of responsibility needed to be taken seriously.
+++++ Hikawa Shrine, Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 10)
"Negative, ma'am. Silver Actual left the AO at 0542, accompanied by the new lady. We lost sight of his bearing not long after he hit the street, he moves too fast for us to track without radar." The Sergeant of the watch was duly polite with Rei and Usagi, recognizing instinctively that these two women were not 'normal teens' and treating them as fellow warriors instead.
Rei covered for Usagi, the Moon Princess expressing a litany of curses in her mind, "Thank you, sir. I know that everyone is very busy around here, but if someone could try to inform us when he returns? We'd like to talk to him about coordinating our defenses with each other."
"Roger that, ma'am. I'll pass word along to the other sectors." Offering a professional bow to each lady, he turned on his heel and began the process of sending runners to the other towers.
"Come on, Usagi-chan, there's nothing more we can do here for now." She looped one arm around her friend's waist, allowing her to continue to vent her frustrations as they moved somewhere more private. "It was a good idea to let him sleep, none of us has been getting enough of it and he's been getting less than all of us. We missed him this morning, and we've put out word that we'd like to chat at him. Rushing out and trying to find him amidst this insanity is just going to cause us more problems."
After they were away from enough people that she could lower her voice and remain unheard, Usagi grumbled out, "The man we care for is out there alone with someone we don't know. She didn't seem 'evil', but she also was too strong for any of us to get a read on. I'm trusting Shin-Shin to an unknown, letting him run around risking his life without trusted backup, and not doing a good job of proving myself worthy of being his partner."
"I think you're being harder on yourself than you ought to be." She wouldn't contest the fact that she did care for Shinji. Whether that was just as a friend, or perhaps more, was for the future to decide. Right now, she cared for the man himself regardless of such extra baggage. "You know as well as I do that when any of us suffered a setback, there was an even chance of us simply going to our own rooms and not sharing our troubles with anyone. There was also a good chance that we'd just all squabble for a while before getting over it. Our problem is, we were all friends, all females, and all properly socialized. He doesn't believe he has any friends, he's a male, and we're responsible for the bulk of his socialization. Considering we've known him for a week, that's not a huge amount for him to learn anything from."
"If he chooses you…I want you to know that I'll support both of you with everything I have." Her eyes drifted over to Rei's, her arm swinging up to wrap around her friend's shoulders. "It doesn't matter that I love him, if he loves someone else more. Our fights in the past are just that, in the past. Right now, we need to do whatever we can to buttress him so that we have a chance at saving everything."
A bit of the old Rei Hino bubbled to the surface. "We don't need him to save everything. We're strong, we're capable, and we've overcome a lot to get where we are."
Usagi brought them both to a halt, close enough to the apartment building that they were out of everyone's way. "Our strength, our capabilities, our past victories, none of it is even a mote of dust when compared to The Wanderer. This isn't a matter of trying harder, of striving to be greater. He created all of this! Everything. He created all of it specifically so that he could find allies, people that will help him fight against something stronger than he is! There are…many, more than many, realities out there. All of them kept separate from one another by his will alone. If, and all too often when, that version of Shinji Ikari fails…that reality is either reset or wiped clean. When I say we need Shin-Shin, I mean we need him. No him, no us." Her gaze grew distant, memories of her conversation with the closest thing she'd ever seen to an omnipotent god haunting her. "We're lucky beyond measure that Shin-Shin is as good a man as he is. There are realities out there where he is…not."
"So this man is out there just creating evil and letting it do whatever? And you want us to help him?!"
"No," her statement went beyond emphatic. That the sun would rise in the west, that the moon would suddenly split into three versions of itself and begin to dance a jig, that the oceans would freeze solid in the next ten seconds were all far more likely to be true than what had just been proposed. "He is creating life. He is not interfering, not intervening, not insisting that anything happen save that Shinji Ikari is born. He does not want to force his will on anything, doesn't want to test hypotheses using his creations as guinea pigs. He gives all of us the free will to do what we think is best, and judges us solely on how Shinji Ikari reacts to the world we create. Shin-Shin is…is like a test proctor. The only rule is that if the proctor can't do his job, then the test is over and everyone fails."
"That's…still evil."
"It's necessary." Letting her arm drop, she moved to stand before Rei and gripped her hands tight. "In his reality, there was a man that created him. That man did evil, terrible, things to entire universes in an effort to find his own happiness. Twisted lives, toyed with people's minds, treated every species in each universe like they were nothing more than lab rats. The problem The Wanderer is facing now is that someone made that man. After The Wanderer killed that evil, horrible, man, after he'd taken over control of what remained of the entirety of Creation, he realized that if he limited life to his reality alone…he was risking everything on his own ability to overcome whatever had created his first enemy. He realized he needs allies. He needs people who've overcome terrible trials, who've proven that they have the strength of character, the strength of conviction, and the strength of arms to stand against something that could kill even him. That means that he has to allow life to do what it wants to, no matter how evil that might be. When good rises up, like you and I know that it will, he prays that it is strong enough to overcome that evil. That it might be able to stand by his side, that it might defend life. If evil wins, if Shinji Ikari dies, he ends the suffering of what remains. If Shinji Ikari becomes evil…."
Rei waited for several moments, hoping that Usagi would finish her statement. When nothing was forthcoming, she squeezed her hands to prompt her. "What happens then?"
Usagi's eyes focused on her friend. "He won't allow another Shinji Ikari to be evil. Not like the one that became his first enemy. Whatever universe creates such an animal as that cannot be allowed to continue. He's seen what comes of that, firsthand, and he will do what he must to protect the good out there. To protect the other realities that have done nothing wrong. Each Shinji Ikari that exists harbors within themselves the potential to go far, far beyond mortal. To enable horrors that go far beyond what we're going through. To create suffering on a scale and duration that…. The Wanderer can't unmake himself…and so he's doing what he can to make sure that life is protected from someone that would not be as…kind, as he is."
+++++ Azabu-Juban, Japan. (Tuesday + 10)
Shinji was careful as he moved rubble around, doubly so with the sudden snowfall that had started drifting downwards around him hours past. Taking the time to set the debris in the street where it wouldn't be in his way when he searched other houses nearby, or when he had to haul things along the roadways around him, he made certain to set aside any materials he felt would be useful inside the wagon-trailer he'd crafted to move everything with him once he was done with one area. The day was now more than halfway over, and his load almost entirely full, but he wanted to finish this one small area so that he didn't have to return the next day.
His passenger, or as he'd decided to call her 'Yukiko' for how well she blended into the snow-coated surroundings, was keeping herself busy by calming and educating a mixed group of humans and youkai that they'd found hiding amongst the ruins of the city. "Yes, there will be enough food and shelter for everyone. What he is doing right now is making certain that we will reach a self-sustaining balance. Crops have been sewn, but they still take time to grow naturally. Our youkai friends cannot create a sufficient quantity without themselves eating food, and as our numbers grow so does the requirements for nutrition."
An older woman, who had become the de facto spokesman of the group, hushed the child that had asked the question. The action was done without any malice, simply the response of someone who didn't wish to waste the time of those she viewed as 'their betters'. "Which we are grateful for, ma'am. We are more than happy to carry what we can back to the honored Elder's shrine, if that would be of assistance to him."
He was fairly certain he should be feeling something about the most recent dead body he'd just found. It was the five hundred and sixteenth such body, counting pets, strays, youkai, and humans. The first body he'd found, a teenaged boy, had prompted him to pause. He hadn't been taken aback, hadn't been afraid or disgusted, hadn't even experienced a moment of curiosity as to how the young man had died. All he'd done was create a second larger trailer to place the body parts in after determining that leaving them where they lie would not be proper. Someone else would deal with appropriate corpse disposal, his task was to get everything necessary back to the shrine. This most recent body, a middle-aged woman, was entirely intact. It was obvious that she'd been suffocated by a crossbeam that had fallen across her midsection. Nothing could have prevented it, save for the battles never happening.
Yukiko moved aside to allow the humans to pay their respects as Shinji carried the foul-smelling body past them to the ever-expanding second trailer. "Just yourselves, and the bags you have with you, will be more than enough assistance. He does not wish for any to be harmed on the return trip." Taking note that Unit-01 had set the body down and covered it over with a sheet of thick cloth, then turned to look directly at her, she recognized his intentions and corrected her statement. "Ah. It seems that it would be better for everyone to sit on the wagon with the food and belongings. The path home will be more dangerous if we risk people walking."
It had stopped being odd how easily Yukiko read his intentions. He knew he wasn't putting anything into 'verbal thought' anymore, instead relying on the vague impressions of what he meant to help him process the traditional internal monologues people tended towards. He didn't want someone turning an ankle in the snow, didn't want them wandering off to a house when they saw something that might be useful, didn't want them being left behind because they fell without a sound. They weren't heavy enough as a group to equal even a millionth of the maximum weight Unit-01 could move, and they would be even lighter once he focused on changing the gravitational constant of the area around them. When Yukiko smiled and mouthed an apology to him, he caught himself smiling in return under the helmet. She was proving to be a good partner for him, someone to handle interacting with the world beyond the Eva while he figured out what it was that he wanted to do.
"Why don't we get everyone up on the front of the wagon, then?" She hustled over to kick down the folding staircase he'd created for his passengers. "The snow is starting to pile up, and he's made nice warm blankets for you all to huddle under." Urging each person forward, she sorted them into groups based on expected internal temperatures. "Let's keep the big people with a few little ones each, that way heat is shared evenly. He's almost done, and then we'll be on our way."
The last bit of space to be searched through was full of canned food, all of which had survived through luck by sheltering under the same crossbeam that had killed the woman he'd just extracted from the rubble. A quick count placed it as enough food to maintain five people for four weeks at a reasonable level of health, if properly rationed. He knew he should be feeling something at that, too…but there was nothing there.
A shadow moved where a shadow should not have been cast, and Unit-01's reaction was immediate and violent. A protective shell of diamond was erected around the wagons and the people near them, and the crossbeam it had been lifting was sent on a ballistic trajectory to intercept what had strayed far too close to Death itself. The wood impaled itself through the midsection of a quivering mass of flesh, slowing down an imperceptible amount as it blew a hole in the center of the 'zombie'.
Dozens more were crawling closer to where it stood. Reaching claws, grasping tentacles, gaping maws seeking to consume anything they could. The first that he saw had managed to crest the retaining wall separating the small neighborhood Unit-01 stood in from a long drop down to the street further below. The motion had gone unnoticed owing to the sound-dampening snow that had built up and the conversation between Yukiko and the survivors. That had been an error, one that Unit-01 would not allow to be repeated in the future.
For humans, this might have been an impossible challenge. For the Sailors, this would have been a perilous fight. For Unit-01? This was an irritant. There was food still unpacked. These 'zombies' risked contaminating the entire reason for him being out here. Whatever it did in response would have to be measured, in order to avoid damaging what it needed to return to the Shrine. The crossbeam that had been the opening salvo struck the road far below, shattering and exploding into a spray of shrapnel that carved into the host below, and giving Unit-01 an idea of how to proceed.
Without warning, the stone surface of the retaining wall grew massive thorns that impaled each zombie within a meter of the wall itself. Some of the red orbs that powered them were struck, destroying the entirety of the beast they were connected to. Others required that Unit-01 urge the thorns to grow more thorns, and those thorns their own thorns, a fractal forest that eventually resembled a grotesque Mandelbrot set.
Unit-01 pondered what remained of a horde that would have done serious harm to the living beings behind it. There was no way for them to defend themselves. No way for them to destroy these mutated Angels. Excessive firepower required that the Angel's A.T. Field was down, which required Unit-01 to be nearby. If these had spread, Unit-01 could only buy time for humanity…it couldn't save humanity. These aberrations were not a threat…they had become a part of what life now was.
Shinji blinked, turning around and dismissing the shell that had protected the wagons and their cargo. Standing well outside the shell, Yukiko considered him curiously. He knew she had been inside the shell when he created it, and knew that she couldn't have been that close to him in the small fraction of a second he hadn't placed where she was after destroying it. The way she looked at him reminded him that he was dealing with someone very, very powerful…but also someone who was equally as kind. He'd have to find a way to ask that she not risk herself in the future. He didn't mind support, but the last thing he wanted was to deal with a zombified version of someone capable of overcoming him.
Moving on a vector to meet him at the remaining canned food, Yukiko spoke quietly enough for his ears alone, "You do not need to worry about that, my friend. Ireul's Curse does not have enough power to overcome my natural immunities. I, much like you, will only ever view them as an irritant. We must protect them," her head tilted back towards the frightened group of beings atop the wagon, "and I will be at your side to do so…so long as it does not set your course. Our powers are limited in range, and two working together will reach farther than one." Picking up several cans of fish, she offered them to Shinji with a smile. "Let us see them safely to their new home, yes?"
A bag of woven bamboo fibers was quickly crafted in his hands, and he knelt down to hold it open for her to deposit their loot. A single nod of his head, much like he'd given to Sarah earlier in the day, filled the void of gratitude at the offer. It wasn't distinct communication, but it was enough for him to know he'd acknowledged her presence. This, he would defend.
+++++ Author's Notes:
GunMetalSnail429: RE: Angel Names.
You bring up a good point in that I try not to use the Angel's "names" as often in this story as I did in YA(N)C. This Shinji Ikari isn't interacting with them in a way that their names would be right at his fingertips. Those few who do use their names do so because they see them far differently than he does. Names craft perceptions, and reveal how we think and feel far more than people generally understand.
Guest: RE: "To the Moon, Alice..."
The fun part of crafting stories like this, for me, is in watching as my audience uses their 'omniscient' viewpoint to see what the characters themselves overlook. It helps me see where I'm flawed as a writer, and helps me see where I'm succeeding in crafting believable narratives.
Ghost Man: RE: Usagi + Science.
That's really the problem with magic when it has to interact with science. One or the other has to give, and depending on how you've operated up until that point you expect things to be possible or impossible based solely on prior experiences. Is the water that exists in ice crystals on the moon enough to create an appropriate environment and weather cycle? Not according to science. Based on magic? Not according to Yukiko. One of the biggest problems she's overlooking right now, though, is that without a magnetosphere everyone that goes up there gets cancer and without air pressure they get DCS (Decompression Sickness, or Diver's Disease). To be fair to her, though, she's far smarter than people think she is despite lacking training in preparing for such an exodus of humanity.