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OUTSKIRTS OF HAKONE
DECEMBER 20TH, 2003
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Eternal summer wasn't so bad, Yui figured. Ecologically speaking, it was one of the worst disasters since the extinction of the dinosaurs, but the summer wind felt soothing on her face and the evenings were always just cool enough.
There was an outdoor restaurant that the regulars of the Hakone laboratory liked to frequent, just outside of town. Yui, along with Gendo, Professor Fuyutsuki, and Naoko Akagi, went there after a long day slaving away on Project E. Sitting there, all of them laughing at one story or another, an onlooker would have thought that they were the best of friends.
Even Gendo, her dear sullen husband, seemed to be in high spirits. Yui had to admit, his progress from a belligerent drunk to a man who even Fuyutsuki might see as a suitable husband for her was staggering. He was even good with Shinji, taking turns watching the boy and playing with him; the Artificial Evolution lab was pretty much their home, but in the space that was their makeshift living room, Gendo would bounce young Shinji on his knee while listening to his favorite music.
Plates of half-finished food sat in front of the scientists as they talked, and even as a waiter took them away, they continued. Even as they chatted like old friends, Yui could see the divisions between them still there. From time to time, Naoko would steal a certain look towards Gendo; Fuyutsuki, love-struck man that he was, would do the same to Yui. And every time Yui caught Naoko eyeing her husband, she would put her possessive hand on his, almost without even thinking.
Yui didn't think of herself as a jealous woman. Gendo was so obsessed with her that there was no reason to be. She didn't like boiling relationships down to what was hers and what was a threat. Naoko wasn't the easiest person to be around, but Yui didn't take any pleasure in shooting her advances towards her husband down.
But Gendo and Shinji were hers. And that wasn't wrong, right? In this life of suffering and pain, was carving out a little piece of paradise to call her own such a bad thing?
"…and the whole thing was pretty much unsubstantiated conspiracy theories," Fuyutsuki was saying, telling a story about one of his previous students. "with some of my own work sprinkled in for good measure."
"What did you do?" Naoko asked.
"I asked him, 'Mister Kojiro, you've got rich parents, right? In the government?'" Professor Fuyutsuki took a sip of his water. "He says, 'Yes, sensei'. So I say, 'Well, have them buy you into another school.' And I threw the paper into the garbage, right in front of him."
Yui chucked at the end of the story. "You truly are merciless, aren't you, Professor?"
"Well, as you get older, your tolerance for foolishness dwindles. I wasn't going to waste my valuable time on a hack job of a paper when it could have been spent on more promising students."
And then Fuyutsuki met Yui's eyes for a split second. Yui hadn't been the man's student, per se, for a little while now, but it was clear that Fuyutsuki still thought of her as such. That, and much more. If only the man hadn't such a preoccupation with ethical boundaries, then such a thing might have been possible.
There was a small hill that Yui liked to sit on near the restaurant. She usually went there to sit and think while Gendo and Fuyutsuki were paying for the bill and getting the car, which usually ended up devolving into an argument between the two over some trivium or another. On a good night, not unlike this one, Yui could see most of the town from here. A small, glittering jewel nestled against the sea.
"Enjoying the view?"
Naoko Akagi strolled up from behind her, sitting down in the grass beside Yui. The brunette woman flashed a quick smile at Yui as she took in the sights.
"Yes," Yui said. "I like it here. Helps me clear my head."
"Oh, I'm not intruding, am I?"
"No, no. Of course not. You're more than welcome."
Naoko tussled her hair, leaning forward. "So, how's motherhood treating you? We never get to talk like this, you know, with Gendo and Fuyutsuki always around."
"It's harder than I thought. Not that Shinji's a bad child, but it's more complicated than I expected. But I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world."
"Well, you're not alone. Ritsuko wasn't a walk in the park, either."
"How is she?"
"She's doing well." A shadow passed over Naoko's face, though Yui couldn't tell why. "Still working on her degree, though it's merely a formality at this point. Even as a first year, Ritsuko could practically teach the computer science courses herself."
"Seems like each generation is just getting smarter."
"Oh, please." Naoko waved away Yui's concern. "You were doing differential calculus when you were thirteen, Yui. I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"Apparently, Kyoko caught her daughter reading from her collection of science-fiction books already. The easier ones, at least. They're certainly catching up."
"I suppose I can't argue with that." A wistful smile crossed Naoko's lips. "You know, they often say that brilliance and madness are two sides of the same coin. But it seems like you made out with all the brilliance and none of the madness."
"You should express that to Gendo, the next time I'm angry with him."
"Oh, I'm sure that man gives you no end of trouble." A sad sigh left Naoko's lips, and she pressed her knees together. "Wouldn't life be easier with someone like Fuyutsuki? Respected, mild-mannered, and certainly more well off than Gendo."
"Probably."
"And we all thought you would end up with someone like him. Then we turned our heads for a moment and you were walking down the aisle with Gendo."
"The heart wants what the heart wants." Yui shrugged, mulling over her next words carefully. "For some reason, mine wanted Gendo. Simple as that."
"I just think…Fuyutsuki's a nice man. And certainly easier to get along with, not to mention madly in love with you. A precious chrysanthemum like you, Yui, deserves an easy life."
A car horn wailed in the distance. Yui stood, dusting grass and dirt off of her jeans as she began heading towards the sound. She stole a quick glance at Naoko before leaving, a sad smile on her face.
"Well, Naoko, sometimes things just have to be difficult."
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Chapter Four
"Beyond Yui's Heart"
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"It's a bit of a double-edged sword."
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CENTRAL DOGMA, TOKYO-3
AUGUST 12TH, 2016
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Yui had to admit, this Angel looked a lot less threatening than the last.
On the main holographic projector of Central Dogma, the Angel could be seen crossing the bay and heading into Tokyo-3 proper. Personally, Yui thought the creature resembled a cross between a tapeworm and a mascot for a children's cartoon, but she was careful not to underestimate their foe. In the JSSDF's mission to prove they weren't completely useless against the Angels, they had sent two tank battalions and a division of against the creatures. The battalions were handily wiped out, but on the bright side, most of the gunships managed to escape after inflicting scratch damage against the Angel.
It wasn't long before the JSSDF travelled the walk of shame, and contacted NERV to deploy the EVA series, like they should have in the first place. Not that NERV needed the JSSDF's permission, not really. The Evangelions were the one jurisdiction that NERV still had near-total control over. If NERV wanted to launch them, they would do so regardless.
Another of Professor Fuyutsuki's duties in her husband's absence was overseeing operations in the event of an Angel attack. Gendo's throne didn't fit her mentor particularly well, though he did his best impression of Gendo's stern and oblique manner. A meeting with SEELE and then an Angel attack; at Yui's guess, the last two days had likely taken about ten years off of Professor Fuyutsuki's lifespan. And the man was on the far side of his life to begin with.
Below them, Central Dogma had come to life. It was amazing, the sheer manpower that could be mobilized at a moment's notice in the face of a threat, and all the little moving parts that kept NERV turning. Naoko and Ritsuko of the Section One Technology Division were the grease that kept the wheels turning, directing personnel and interpreting the latest data at blistering speed. Yui didn't much care for Naoko, but the woman knew what she was doing.
"Are you sure you want to watch?" Professor Fuyutsuki asked. "This isn't exactly your forte, Yui, and it will be your son and adopted daughter out there fighting. No one would blame you for sitting this one out."
Yui shook her head at him. "I owe them this much, Professor. If they're going to suffer, then I should as well. I won't hide in my lab while they're out there fighting for us."
"And if worst comes to worst, will you be able to hold your peace? Katsuragi's going to order them to do things that you're going to object to."
"I won't interfere, Professor." She knew it was a lie, the moment the words left her lips. "Misato's the Operations Director, and you're the sitting Commander. I'm only here in an observational capacity."
Her mentor gave her a side-eye and rolled his shoulders; in her years as the Professor's intern, Yui knew this as one of his 'I'm old, not stupid' looks.
"I can't just sit in my lab while this is going on, Professor. I won't get any work done anyway. So, you can either knock me out or let me stay here and watch."
Fuyutsuki sighed. "Fine. But don't think I won't have Section Two restrain you or put you under if necessary, Yui. The operation cannot be interfered with."
A lopsided smile crossed Yui's lips. "How do you plan on explaining that to Gendo?"
"I'll manage it somehow." He leaned back in his chair. "You Ikaris are nothing but trouble, you know that?"
"Family trait."
"Evidently." Professor Fuyutsuki turned his attention to the bridge below. "Has Katsuragi arrived with the pilots yet?"
Maya Ibuki answered him back. "Car train is on the way, sir."
"Good. Status of Unit-00 and Unit-01?"
"They'll be ready," Naoko said. "Unit-01 is ninety-percent repaired and Unit-00 is ninety-six percent repaired, though Rei's unit didn't sustain much damage to begin with."
Yui shot a worried glance towards the Akagis, and Ritsuko shrugged.
"With the recent budget concerns, we figured additional repairs would be extraneous. It's mostly scratch damage which has yet to be repaired, it shouldn't affect combat capability in any meaningful way."
Naoko tried her best comforting smile. "It's a balancing act, Yui. I know Unit-01 is your baby, but we have to be realistic. And Shinji will be just as safe in there."
Begrudgingly, Yui nodded. "Alright. I'll trust your judgement."
It took a few minutes for Lieutenant-Colonel Misato Katsuragi to arrive in Central Dogma; when she did, the woman strode into the bridge with a confident gait, as if she owned the place and everyone inside of it. One of the things Yui admired about Misato was that she did not lack for assertiveness. She planted her feet in the middle of the floor and began to bark out orders.
"Unit-00 and Unit-01 should be ready for launch momentarily. What's the Angel's location?"
"Just entered the harbor," Ritsuko said. "In about a minute, it will be over Tokyo-3 proper."
Naoko tittered nervously. "Is Shinji alright with this? After yesterday, I'm worried about whether he'll be able to perform."
The Lieutenant-Colonel must have felt Yui's gaze on her, as she laughed in an anxious sort-of-way and rubbed the back of her head. "We had a little trouble yesterday, Miss Yui, but Shinji should be up to it now."
There was an unspoken part of Misato's explanation; to Yui, it said: 'at least, I hope he is.'
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The last time Shinji was in the cockpit of Unit-01 was a little more than a week ago, and he still didn't know how he survived that particular encounter. Then, there was the simulation training, which hadn't gone well either. But, somehow, Shinji felt strangely at peace as he was submersed into the liquid soup known as LCL. The substance smelled like blood, and he wouldn't ever get used to that facet of the entry plug, but his mind seemed to suppress anxious thought. He felt calm even.
He opened his eyes, subjecting his vision to the bevy of readouts and graphs that he couldn't make heads or tails of. Hurried voices filtered through his ears, status callouts and communicating pre-launch procedures. He didn't have to do anything until the EVAs launched, so Shinji used this time to mentally prepare himself, and tried to recall everything he had learned from the past two experiences.
A video connection to Rei Ayanami opened on the right corner of his EVA's 'screen', one of the few mental commands Shinji had memorized. When the feed opened, Rei seemed to be taking the same pre-launch measures as him; her eyes were closed and her body relaxed.
"I hope this goes better than last time, Rei."
One of Rei's bright red eyes opened. "What do you mean? The last battle was a successful engagement."
"Yeah, but…I kind of lucked my way through it."
"You lived to see another day, and were able to gain more experience because of it. As I said before, worrying about what could have been is not productive."
"I guess."
"I will protect you at all costs, Ikari." Rei flicked a strand of hair out of her vision; her eyes were focused and steady. "If only one of us lives through this battle, it will be you. I will see to that."
"If only one of lives? What do you – ?"
"Shinji. Rei." Another video feed appeared atop Rei's, with Misato's face centered in the frame. "We're going to be launching in two, so let me rundown a quick battle plan. Hopefully we can kill the thing this go-round, but more likely is that we'll be engaging the creature to find out its capabilities and then drawing up a revised plan to finish it off. Alright?"
"Ma'am," Shinji and Rei said in unison.
"Rei, you'll be taking point. With your higher sync score and better experience, you'll better suited taking the brunt of the Angel's attacks. Shinji, you'll be providing support for Rei, laying down cover fire and running distraction so that Rei can get up close and pierce the Angel's core."
Rei slid into a seated position, placing her hands around the two control mechanisms on either side of the cockpit chair. "What do we know of the Angel's capabilities so far, Lieutenant-Colonel?"
"It's projecting two whips of concentrated energy on both sides. We haven't seen any other abilities as of yet." Misato looked away, pursing her lips as if worried. "Like I said, a better strategy will be forthcoming as we get more information. I hate putting you both out there like this, but it is what it is, unfortunately."
The screen centered on Misato flicked to another face. Mom's. "Shinji, Rei, be careful out there. Come home in one piece, alright?"
"Yes."
"I'll try, Mom."
Lines of worry crossed Mom's face; in the background, Vice Commander Fuyutsuki's voice rang out. "Are we ready to launch, Lieutenant-Colonel?"
"Ready, sir." The screen switched back to a side-view of Misato's face. "Unit-00. Unit-01. Launch!"
Shinji heard the grinding and wailing of contraptions being released as the Evangelions were moved to launch position. The EVAs launched, and even inside of the machine Shinji felt a certain vertigo as the sudden acceleration caught the boy in the chest; he saw the Geo-Front for about ten seconds before blackness obscured his vision, as the Evangelions exited the Geo-Front and neared the surface.
Unit-01 stopped. A steel plate in front of the machine lowered, revealing a clear blue sky and a vastly changed Tokyo-3 stretched out before it. When the plate was fully clear, Unit-01 lurched forward before stepping out into the city, the EVA's footfalls rocking the ground as it moved. Beside him, Shinji saw Rei's Unit-00 step out onto the street, its cyclopean eye scanning the environment for their target.
An obvious trail of destruction lead both of them to a giant, pink snake-like creature with a heart shaped head. Two small arms jutted out from the sides near its head, almost reminiscent of a Tyrannosaurus Rex without hands, holding whips of energy that flailed apart. Occasionally, the whips would connect with one of the structures left behind on the surface after the city went into lockdown mode, slicing through the building until it was obliterated entirely.
The on-screen threat indicator showed the Angel about two blocks away. As far as Shinji could tell, him and Rei had the advantage for the moment, as the creature hadn't yet noticed them – perhaps it was searching for an entrance to the Geo-Front below.
"Alright, couple of things," Misato said, through the voice comms. "Shinji, remember you've got the EVA's power cable to consider now. The EVAs have about five minutes of reserve power, but after that you'll be a sitting duck. There's additional couplings around in the very likely event that one of the Angel's whips slices through the cord, but this one will give you the best range of motion."
"Um…where are the additional couplings? I didn't study that."
"The EVA's OS will direct you the nearest one. Don't worry." Misato made an anxious hum. "Last thing. Rei, if you feel Unit-00 acting funny or starting to reject you, retreat to one of the exits immediately. We'll have the bakalite ready."
"Yes, ma'am."
Shinji didn't know what 'bakalite' was. There was so much the boy still didn't know, but here he was again, carrying the weight of the world with Rei.
"I'll provide guidance, but engagement will be up to you. Good luck."
"Lieutenant-Colonel," Rei said. "I require an assault rifle and sonic glaive."
"Sending them momentarily."
Two steel buildings, similar to the ones containing the EVAs, were ejected from the ground near them. One of them contained the assault rifle Shinji had trained with the other day, and the other was a glaive that seemed ripped from a medieval fantasy movie.
"Ikari, take the assault rifle. I think you should lay down cover fire as the Lieutenant-Colonel suggested, and I will try to move into close quarters for a killing blow."
Shinji nodded. "Alright."
He grabbed the assault rifle, and lined his crosshairs up towards the Angel, waiting for Rei's signal. He saw Unit-00 take the sonic glaive from the compartment, hefting the enormous weapon in its hands.
"Proceed with suppressive fire, Ikari," Rei said. "and try not to obscure the target. Short bursts."
The boy pulled the trigger. A volley of bullets hit the Angel in the back, bouncing off the side of its carapace. He continued firing at regular intervals as the creature whirled, noticing the two EVAs for the first time. It charged towards them. Unit-00 held its glaive out, readying to accept the creature's sudden assault.
As the Angel moved into range, Unit-00 made a short slashing motion towards its core. The blade vibrated until it was a blur; it cut deep, but the Angel's core remained. One of the whips of energy lashed out against the glaive's shaft, slicing clean through. The blade slid off and fell to the ground below, falling onto a charter bus and flattening it.
"Nice try, Rei," Misato said. "Shinji, fire into the core. I doubt it will work, but perhaps with the damage Rei's already done, a few extra bullets will shatter the thing."
Shinji locked onto the Angel's core and fired. The shots hit home, but against the resilience of the core the bullets were little more than granite pebbles thrown against a steel door.
"Misato, should I switch weapons? This doesn't seem to be doing anything except making it angry."
"You're confusing it and forcing it to divide its attention, which is good enough for now."
He heard Misato take a deep breath from over the voice comms, as the creature continued to assault Unit-00. The adroitness of his fellow EVA surprised Shinji, as the girl piloting the machine continued to duck and weave against the lashing whips of the Angel; her progressive knife was in her hands now, the blade whirring as she tried to find an opening. The Angel's ropes of energy sliced towards Shinji; the closest attack sliced the very tip of the assault rifle, shorting the barrel by a bit.
In the distance, Shinji heard another noise; it was low, like a pulse, ringing out at regular intervals. It sounded almost like a mix of deep-sea sonar…and a woman's voice, distorted.
Shinji dropped the assault rifle, and called for his progressive knife. The weapon popped out from his shoulder pylon, dropping into his hand. The rifle wasn't having much effect, if any, and he couldn't just stand there and let Rei endure the assault alone.
The bridge chatter became busier and more panicked. The noise of the technicians providing constant updates on the battle had become near to white noise to Shinji, but this time, it was growing too much to ignore.
"Misato," Shinji said. "what's going on?"
"Don't worry about it." He could feel the strain in Misato's voice. "The MAGI is picking up a weird reading. Focus on the battle."
One of the whips flicked out at Unit-01; on instinct, Shinji grabbed the lash, and immediately regretted his sudden reflex. His hand burned as the energy ate through the protective armor around the EVA's hand, and it was a struggle to stop himself from screaming.
"Rei, go for the core!" Shinji said, through gritted teeth. "Hurry!"
With the progressive knife in its left hand, Unit-00 jabbed towards the creature's core. A sound like the saw cutting through solid steel rang out, sparks flying from the impact point of the knife. The energy whip that was still free wrapped around Unit-00's wrist; the burning sensation must have shocked Rei into the releasing her grip, and the Angel capitalized by throwing Unit-00 back, one of the remaining skyscrapers breaking the EVA's fall.
Shinji heard the low, pulsing noise again. Louder this time.
There was no time for distractions. With the knife sticking out of the Angel's core, Shinji lunged for it. He gripped the weapon with both hands and continued the assault, ignoring the Angel's barrage as best he could. The ropes of energy slashed Unit-01's arms, its chest, and its face; Shinji felt every laceration, but kept going. One of the whips missed its mark and slashed through Unit-01's power coupling. A readout showing the EVA's current power reserve popped up on the screen.
In the cacophony of Central Dogma, Shinji thought he heard someone say 'Pattern Blue'. But that couldn't be, the Angel had already been detected.
"Shinji, Rei" Misato said, her tone frantic. "you both need to retreat. Now."
"What?"
"Why, Lieutenant-Colonel?"
He heard Maya Ibuki's shrill yell among the voices of the bridge. "High-energy reading in the second target! It's charging up some kind of – "
Shinji heard the blast before he felt it.
It was a crackling boom like thunder, as if the sky itself had been ripped open. A beam of pure energy engulfed the creature before penetrating straight through. Shinji felt as if his skin was melting off of his body.
All around him, there was screaming: Misato, Mom, and even the internal sensors of the EVA. And after about three seconds of unimaginable pain, Shinji was screaming as well.
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All of Central Dogma watched as Unit-01 was engulfed by the sudden blast of energy. And, at some point, Yui thought she felt her heart stop.
"Rei!" Misato yelled through the comms. "You've got to get Shinji out of there, or he's going to die. Go."
On the video feed, Unit-00 scurried to attention; the Fourth Angel seemed no longer a factor, not completely destroyed but unmoving. Unit-00 drove towards Unit-01. She grabbed the purple EVA by the feet, the blistering heat of the beam throwing up hazard warnings on Central Dogma's status feed, and pulled it towards her.
What remained of Unit-01 fell behind an untouched building, and the assault ceased. The Evangelion was still recognizable as Yui's creation, but with a massive smoldering hole in its mid-section, the melted wreck of metal of Unit-01's chest plate starting to solidify. A simple concentrated beam of energy had rendered Yui's creation inert in seconds' flat; all of her work, all of her sweat and tears, brought low in a mere instant.
And Shinji. All signals in the entry plug were dark. Sweat dripped down from Yui's brow as the realization hit her, a sickening pit in her stomach growing. Her boy, her flesh and blood, that she had brought into the world from her own womb; his eyes might never open again, and it was Yui's fault.
A hand covered her own. Fuyutsuki's gesture kept another anguished scream from escaping her throat; for now, she would watch as the blue monstrosity that had appeared made its move.
The MAGI had picked up radar lock on another unidentified object, and within the space of a minute, the bogey was identified as a Pattern Blue. The bridge scrambled to find the meaning of this clear glitch in the system; a sense of dread blanketed Central Dogma as the obvious became reality: Tokyo-3 had been attacked by two Angels at once.
The Fifth Angel was a perfectly smooth, glassy octahedron; sound sensors from around Tokyo-3 recorded an almost melodic song emanating from the creature as it approached the city. It was only a guess on Yui's part, but she postulated that the Angel's AT field likely surpassed the Fourth Angel's, judging by the strength of its primary attack. The MAGI was still conducting researching on the method used to generate the beam of energy, but Yui had theories. Naoko and Ritsuko likely did as well.
But speculation was moot right now. The children needed to get out alive, and that was a job Misato alone could do.
"Alright," Misato said. "what's the closest point of exit?"
Makoto Hyuga spoke up. "Exit 3A, ma'am. It's about half-a-mile away."
"Okay, we can work with that." Misato bit her lip, tapping her fingers against a nearby computer monitor. "I need for the lockdown measures to be lifted. Emergency override."
"On what grounds?" Naoko asked. "We can't put the populace at risk, Misato."
"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. Judging from what I saw, the Angel needs direct line of sight on a threat to use its primary weapon."
The corners of Ritsuko's lips curled up as she realized Misato's plan. "You want to build a wall between the Evangelions and the Angel."
"That's right. At the moment, our focus should be on bringing the pilots back alive, and incurring as little damage on the Evangelions as possible."
"A full retreat, Lieutenant-Colonel?" Fuyutsuki said, and as a mother, Yui nearly smacked her old mentor on the back of the head for questioning the suggestion. "Do you believe the Angel to be so far above our capabilities? You'll leave the Angel to continue encroaching on the Geo-Front unchallenged."
Misato folded her arms, an irritated scowl on her face. "With all due respect, Vice Commander, I don't think we can fight this battle like we did the past two. The Angel's particle beam destroyed the Angel we were fighting and nearly did the same to Unit-01. And we still don't know the status of 01's pilot. We have to retrieve the EVAs and we have to draw a plan around dealing with the Angel's primary weapon before engaging it again, or we'll lose both Units entirely."
Fuyutsuki made a face, but relented. "Very well. I leave the retrieval of Units 00 and 01 up to your discretion, Lieutenant-Colonel."
"Sir." Misato saluted Fuyutsuki before turned back to the bridge. "Let's get the override codes pushed through. We can't waste a minute., Shinji's life could depend on it."
It took two-minutes and forty-eight seconds for the lockdown override to go through, but to Yui, every second seemed a day. This was the worst part of the operation: being helpless, unable to assist Shinji in any way, and not even knowing whether the boy was still breathing or not.
Misato communicated the current plan to Rei, and the girl concurred. A pang of anger twinged towards Rei, in Yui's mind, followed by guilt and frustration at herself. Rei was supposed to protect Shinji, yes, but the girl would have to be an oracle to see this turn of events coming. She was borne from Yui's rib, identical in all but age and demeanor. To be angry at Rei was to be upset at herself.
On a hologram floating off the bridge in Central Dogma, the MAGI drew up an escape route of sorts based on the parameters of Misato's current strategy. As soon as Misato approved the MAGI's amendments to her plans, several feeds popped up showing the buildings rising out of the ground, slowly forming a solid line between the Evangelions and the Angel. The wall resembled a zig-zagging line, in practice, because neither Misato nor the MAGI wanted there to be any gaps where the Angel's vision could seep through.
The Angel did not react at all; in fact, the creature hovered closer and closer towards where NERV HQ would be, if it were a couple thousand feet below the surface. Yui wondered what the Angel's plan was for actually reaching Terminal Dogma. It didn't seem to react to inanimate objects, or one without any weapons, at least.
"Rei, we're ready to begin," Misato said. "be gentle with Unit-01, but try to reach the escape route as fast as possible. We still don't have a status on Shinji."
"Ma'am."
"And under no circumstances engage the Angel. This is purely a retreat and rescue operation now, clear?"
"Of course." Unit-00's sensors moved over the gutted body of Unit-01. "I can't speak to what Shinji was feeling at the time of the attack, but the entry plug appears unharmed from here."
That was meant for Yui; in Rei's own clipped way, she was trying to tell Yui that the likelihood of Shinji being alive was high.
"Unit-01 probably switched to life-support mode then," Yui said, surprised at the small and weak tone that came out of her mouth. "the power cable was severed, and there was three-minutes and thirty-one seconds of power at the time of the attack. It didn't have enough power to maintain sustain Shinji and send readouts to Central Dogma both."
Unit-00 was already lifting Unit-01 over its shoulders, carrying the purple EVA like a father bearing a child on his back. Gendo had carried Yui like that once, on their second date; Yui had too much to drink, and she was likely to end up walking into the road and become someone's hood ornament with the way she was swaying.
Within a minute, Unit-00 had reached the escape route; Rei placed Unit-01 into the building-sized box sticking out of the ground, and then the container closed and sent the Evangelion on its way. Rei followed suit afterwards. The Angel hadn't noticed either of them during the entire transaction, but the creature had settled on a spot directly above HQ.
Yui wondered whether the Angel would simply fire its particle weapon downwards to breach the plating between the Geo-Front and Tokyo-3 proper; in all likelihood, if the Angel could do so, it would have already.
The Angel could blow a hole in the moon for all Yui cared. She needed to see her boy.
"I'm going to the launch bay," Yui said, eyeing Fuyutsuki. "I need to know that he's alright."
"Go. But I have to imagine we'll be calling a meeting soon, and we need you there."
Yui turned away.
"Yui."
"I don't know, Professor. Maybe, I…I just need to see Shinji."
"You have an obligation to NERV, to the world." The man laced his fingers around Yui's hand. "I know it's hard being a mother and having to watch Shinji suffer like this, but there's bigger things at stake here."
A leer so vicious that Fuyutsuki recoiled crossed Yui's face; she jerked her hand away, and hurried from Central Dogma, already plotting the fastest course to Unit-01's launch bay.
All throughout the hallways of NERV, Yui passed personnel who were in as much of a frantic rush as her; engineers on the way to see Unit-01's arrival, and bridge technicians bringing information and readouts to Central Dogma. Some of them nodded or even saluted her as they passed, but most were too immersed in their duties to notice.
If Shinji was seriously injured, or worse…Yui tried keeping the thought from even crossing her mind. Her boy was tough. Shinji had weathered the first Angel he fought fine, and he would pull through this time as well.
A smell of burnt steel and warped metal pervaded the bay when Yui entered, a thin veneer of smoke from the still smoldering armor plates fogging the expanse of a room. Looking up at Unit-01, Yui saw a hole large enough to hold ten people in the chest plating; the beam hadn't pierced straight through the EVA, and the red core was still intact.
Blood from the Fourth Angel coated Unit-01, dripping onto the floor far below, as well as onto the adjustable walkway around the Evangelion; the technicians and engineers in the bay had to keep Yui away from the area while the blood was cleaned off, worried that someone would slip and fall in the viscous liquid. She looked up; the entry plug had already been released, and two ladders extended up to the plug's open hatch, two men with a stretcher held between them on each ladder, and another man on top of the plug.
Shinji was pulled from the hatch; even from a distance, Yui could tell the boy was unconscious. Whether Shinji still breathed or not, Yui couldn't discern. He was lowered onto the stretcher, and the ladders retracted automatically, the man sitting atop the entry plug lowering himself via a rope and harness attached to a higher point in the room - he gave a thumbs-up to one of the techs standing beside Yui.
"He's alive," the technician said. "we'll escort him to the trauma bay immediately, put him in the tank."
"I want to see him."
"Of course, ma'am."
In examining Shinji's body, Yui figured the boy had about fifteen more seconds of exposure to the beam before the LCL boiled him alive. His skin was pink from the severe burns he sustained, and his burnt plug-suit would have to be replaced entirely. There were portions of his arms where the skin had sloughed off, as well as his chest when the nurses on standby cutting him out of his plug-suit.
Yui cupped Shinji's chin with her hand, caressing his face. He was alive. Her sweet, innocent boy was still alive. The fact Shinji still drew breath was all that mattered to her.
A tear ran down Yui's cheek as guilt and self-hatred weighed down her heart. She had done this to him; her boy, she had sent him out into battle, and he almost paid for Yui's plea with his life. As her hand gently trailed down from Shinji's chin and down the length of his arm, Yui remembered manipulating him for the first time. She didn't believe convince someone to act against their better nature to be an inherently evil act, but it was in that particular instance.
She held the tips of Shinji's fingers in hers, like she when he had just been born. In a flash of memory, Yui recollected holding little Shinji in her arms, knowing that she would never love anyone as much as she loved him.
And Yui had nearly killed him.
"Doctor Ikari?" The engineer's voice sounded hesitant, but insistent. "We need to get him to Medical, quickly."
"I'll go with you."
"Well, the Vice Commander has called a meeting, and your presence has been requested." The man stiffened as the words came out of his mouth; beside them, a couple nurses took Shinji away, placing him on a gurney and prepping him for transport. "We can send you updates on his condition if you'd like, but I think the most dangerous time has passed. Medically speaking, I mean."
Yui put on a smile, one that she liked to think was comforting. "What's your name?"
"Uh, Horaki, ma'am. Horaki Mokoto."
"Do you have children, Mister Horaki?"
"Yes ma'am, three beautiful girls. Kodama, Hikari, and Nozomi."
"Well, let's say one of your daughters was seriously injured. Would you rather be by their side, or at work?"
The man averted his eyes, and Yui heard a gulp in his throat.
"I can tell the Vice Commander that you felt the Third Child's injuries were bad enough to warrant you monitoring them personally." He shook his head, and met Yui's eyes again. "I want to say that I would come to work, given the nature of our work here, but I don't know what I would do if anything happened to those girls. I can't imagine what it's like for you."
Yui nodded; continuing to do their job was the correct answer, but Yui hardly cared. "I'm just a weak-willed woman, Mister Horaki. I appreciate you indulging me, if only this one time."
"If half of what I've heard about you is true, Doctor Ikari, I'd say you have a will of iron."
Yui smiled, a small yet genuine one this time. In the midst of Yui's entire world falling about – and herself being to blame for it – she still appreciated the man's candor.
She followed the small team of nurses to the Medical Ward, keeping one hand on Shinji's gurney the whole way. With all the ointment applied to the boy's extremities, Shinji's skin looked nearly as pale as it normally did. If, or rather, when Shinji pulled through, Yui would have to get the boy to spend more time outside.
On the way to the Medical Ward, one of the nurses handed Yui some of Shinji's personal effects, clothing and items he had left in men's changing room before going into the entry plug. In addition to his school-clothes, Yui had Shinji's cell phone and his wallet, containing his NERV ID card and a small amount of yen. And, for some reason, Shinji had brought his cello bow with him as well.
It was really Yui's cello bow, and her cello; as a teenager who saw school as a mostly trivial affair, Yui took to the arts briefly as a way to pass the time. She wasn't ever as good as Shinji was now, though. The boy might have thought of her praise as parental bluster, but as far as Yui could tell, Shinji took to music like Yui had taken to mathematics and science in her own youth.
With the burden of Unit-01, Shinji might never realize his full potential. She convinced him to pilot EVA instead, to sacrifice his youthful life for theirs. What a horrible woman she was.
They wheeled Shinji towards the trauma bay, a rather sterile looking room lined with human-sized tanks designed to slightly accelerate the healing process and allow unparalleled monitoring of their vitals and condition. Yui went to follow them inside, but was stopped at the door.
The door slid closed as the nurses entered a chemical bath which was purposefully obscured from the outside. The nurses would strip military-style, be purged of potential contaminants, and don new clothing in the controlled atmosphere of the room. It was a very rough equivalent to the hot suites that the Americans had for containing viruses. NERV simply couldn't risk one of their pilots succumbing to a sudden disease or illness.
There was series of long windows in the hallway, and a real-time image of the room beyond was shown behind the glass, similar to the one in Naoko Akagi's office that showed the Geo-Front. And through the glass, Yui could see a couple of the nurses place her son into one of the tanks.
Her phone was already ringing, likely Fuyutsuki calling her for a meeting. Yui ignored the call, dropping into a seat outside the room, and letting the demons of guilt and remorse churn inside of her mind.
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NEAR LAUNCH BAY #1, NERV HQ
AUGUST 12TH, 2016
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The impromptu meeting took place in the control room overlooking Unit-01's launch bay. Through the large pane of glass separating them from the Evangelion's chamber, Misato could see the extensive damage that the Angel had wrought on Unit-01. The cavernous hole in its chest, a thin stream of smoke still wafting from the wound.
Poor Shinji. Misato couldn't begin imagine what he was feeling in the entry plug.
In attendance at the meeting was: Ritz, Naoko, Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba, Makoto Hyuga, Vice Commander Fuyutsuki, and a few other technicians who might have input on the situation. Commander Ikari was calling in as well; the situation was dire enough that the Commander's presence was considered imperative to plan their next steps.
A large rectangular table had been brought into the room, and in no time flat, the surface was cluttered with various charts, graphs, readouts, and maps. Notebooks, pens, and cups of canned coffee were soon added to the mess. Fuyutsuki sat at the head of the table, the speaker which Commander Ikari's voice would be transmitted through in front of him.
"So," the Vice Commander Fuyutsuki said. "any good news to come out of this situation?"
Ritsuko tapped her pen against the table. "Well, the Fourth Angel has been completely destroyed. I think."
"Anything else?"
"The damage to Unit-01 isn't total. With some quick repairs and a lot of overtime hours, it should be operational again within a day."
There was static over the speaker was the Commander's voice was patched through. "I expect these repairs are taking place as we speak?"
"Of course," Naoko said. "with the latest developments involving the Fifth Angel, there isn't a second to waste."
"And what developments are these?"
Maya Ibuki spoke this time; her voice was timid, but with an attempt to put some steel behind it. "The Angel has launched a drill, of sorts, directly from its body. It is currently drilling through Plate One, and we except it to break through in approximately fifty minutes and thirty-eight seconds."
"There are twenty-two plates in total," Ritsuko Akagi said. "if we assume about one hour and thirty-one to break through each plate, we're looking at a little less than a day and a half before it breaks into the Geo-Front."
"Then we should plan for an attack, of some sort, at no more than four hours from the time of breach. Preferably earlier. Have there been any viable suggestions as to how the Angel will be defeated?"
Misato cleared her throat. "We'll be launching an operation to test the Angel's capabilities within an hour or two. From there, we'll begin to have an understanding of the range of the Angel's primary weapon, the strength of said weapon, as well as the sturdiness of its AT Field. The JSSDF have been amenable so far about giving us some of their toys to play with, hopefully that continues long enough to obtain a complete set of data."
"The MAGI are working on this as well," Ritsuko said. "Conducting a deep scan of the Angel's anatomical make-up. I would expect its core to be located at its exact center, but perhaps we'll glean some more information as well. Never hurts to be too prepared."
Makoto Hyuga raised his hand, like a kid in a classroom. "The military part of these operations isn't my specialty, Lieutenant-Colonel, but shouldn't we have unconditional support from the JSSDF? The thought of them bailing out on us hadn't crossed my mind."
For the answer to Mister Hyuga's question, Misato looked to the Vice-Commander. She wasn't privy to the internal politics that occurred around the founding of NERV, and she was relieved when the man cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Due to…certain events in the past," the Vice-Commander said. "NERV doesn't have as much authority as it would have in these situations. That is to say, they're more than happy to help NERV throw resources at defeating the Angels, due to the Lieutenant-Colonel's liasion with us and a shared interest in defending humanity, but neither does NERV have carte blanche to boss them around."
"NERV has the biggest guns, though," Ritsuko said, crossing her legs. "shouldn't be too hard to force them to comply."
Misato shook her head. "Remember, Tokyo-3 is a bastion against the Angels, not other humans. If we piss them off too much, they're likely to send one of their special ops teams into NERV to clean house."
"Section Two could hold them off for a time," the Commander said. "but the Lieutenant-Colonel is correct. The JSSDF will breach NERV HQ if they have a mind to. And, at that point, deploying the Eva Series would be like burning the house down to kill the roaches inside. Better to work with them for now."
Naoko Akagi spoke up. "Well, everything seems to be proceeding smoothly so far, though we're still in the early stages. Everything except…"
"Yui." In that instant, the Commander's tone seemed weighed down by a bag of rocks. "What is the status of Unit-01's pilot?"
"We've got him in the tank," Naoko said. "hopefully, by the time we've formed a strategy to defeat the Angel, he'll have regained consciousness."
"I should have called for a full retreat," Misato added. "I take full responsibility for the injuries that Unit-01's pilot sustained, sir."
"No, two Angels attacking at once was a scenario no one could have accounted for. We had no indication of the Angel's mode of attack, nor whether the Angel's might have acted in concert if you called a retreated. You reacted well under the circumstances."
There was a hesitant pause over the line. "Yui saw this coming, after the Third Angel exhibited unpredictable behavior in attacking Aise. She said this could be a possibility."
"Without Doctor Ikari's input," Maya Ibuki said. "it feels like any operation we plan for is a house of cards, rather than something with a sturdy foundation."
Ritsuko concurred with Maya's assessment. "Most of Section One is passingly familiar with the machinery behind the Angels, and the Vice Commander has credentials of his own, but Doctor Ikari is most knowledgeable person in the world about this subject."
"This might seem like a Hail Mary, Commander," Fuyutsuki said. "but is there any way you could convince Doctor Ikari to join us? We need her here, but she won't leave Shinji's side."
The resignation in Commander Ikari's voice was palpable.
"I can attempt to. But the only person who can truly change Yui's mind, on anything, is unconscious right now."
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NERV MEDICAL WARD, NERV HQ
AUGUST 12TH, 2016
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The first time Shinji was ever injured, to Yui's knowledge, was when he ran down a flight of stairs at the Artificial Evolution Lab and stumbled on the last two. He cried for a solid hour; even after Yui cleaned the abrasion, placed a bandage on it, and then kissed the injury better. It set Yui behind on her work for the day, and likely for the entire week, but she didn't care. Her son's smile was more important than meeting a quota.
When the Angel's beam had ripped into Unit-01, like the armor plating it wore was made of paper and popsicle sticks, Shinji didn't cry. He took the pain, for as long as he could. For Yui. For his mother. Because Yui had asked him to pilot the EVA; being ever the dutiful son, Shinji likely figured Yui's heart would break if he refused.
She felt like an idiot. Shinji was finally in Tokyo-3, with her, and she still spent her days tucked in her office instead of with him. And now, Yui couldn't talk to him at all, not until he woke up. She would wait outside her son's room until his eyes opened again.
Gendo had been calling her; Yui's phone laid off to the side, near Shinji's, buzzing every ten minutes or so for the last three hours. Maybe Gendo was actually the better parent, after all. Neglectful, emotionally stunted, and almost wholly incapable of being a father. But Gendo hadn't got their son almost killed.
For the first time, Yui wondered if loving Shinji was worse for him than not.
"Yui?"
She looked up. Naoko Akagi was standing beside her, a worried expression on her face.
"Doctor Akagi," Yui said. "how can I help you?"
"No offense, but it seems like you're the one who needs help right now. May I sit?"
"Of course."
Naoko lowered herself into the seat aside Yui, sighing as she sat down. She didn't have any reports or documentation with her, which made Yui question why the woman was even here. It was hardly a secret that Yui and Naoko weren't on good terms; Yui couldn't picture the visit was simply to talk, or catch up on things.
"We missed you at the meeting," Naoko said. "we were discussing an operational strategy for defeating the Angel. You might have gotten a few calls about it."
"I was busy."
"I can see that."
Yui fought to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "Was there anything I could help you with, Doctor Akagi?"
"I was thinking that you, being the world-renowned expert on the Angels and the Evangelions, could help us kill the one that's currently drilling into the Geo-Front."
"I haven't been there for Shinji, for almost the entire time he's been here. I can't leave him now."
"How is he?" Naoko asked. "no lasting damage, I trust?"
"I don't know. I don't think so, but that's just me being optimistic."
"And you think standing vigil outside of his room is going to help with that?"
Yui bit her tongue. "Sure. Why not?"
"Yui, you can't just sit here until Shinji wakes up. This Angel's going to break into the Geo-Front in thirty hours. We need your expertise to help defeat it."
"I think I've helped enough."
"You couldn't have known about the second Angel. None of us could."
"He nearly died, Naoko," Yui said, a tear running down her cheek. "he was almost boiled alive in his entry plug. He wouldn't have been in there if it weren't for me."
"If it wasn't you, then it would have been Gendo. Or Katsuragi. Shinji is a boy eager to please people, and the Evangelion gives him a way to do that. You can keep carrying that cross if you want, Yui, but torturing yourself over this isn't the way to make this better."
Yui said nothing, burying her head in her hands.
Naoko pressed her hands together, tapping her nails against each other. "Look, I was there when it happened, Yui, and it tore me up too. I-I've come to care…about Shinji, and I've tried to look out for him."
"Oh, you're looking out for him now?"
"Someone has to."
The words hit Yui like a slap to the face. "That's cruel, Naoko."
"It's better than this performative bullshit you're doing." The brunette-haired woman placed her hand on Yui's shoulder. "Shinji's going right back into Unit-01 when he wakes up, Yui. And Rei's going to be back out there too. If you want to help Shinji, then help him."
"I'm not leaving his side. You can call it whatever you want, but I won't leave him."
Doctor Akagi shook her head in frustration, standing back up. Yui thought the woman had chalked the conversation up as a loss, and was about to leave, but then she whipped back around.
"Fine," Naoko said. "what do you need to work down here?"
"What?"
"Equipment, papers, pens. What do you need brought down here?" Naoko pursed her lips together, upset but still motivated to help Yui. "You said that you won't leave Shinji's side, right? Well, let's bring the lab to you, then."
"You…you would do that?"
"We're in this together, Yui. I may not like you, but I can understand your pain."
Yui nodded. "I…I need dry erase boards. And something to stand them up. And markers."
"Yeah, I was already including all that," Naoko said. "anything else?"
"Sticky notes, lots of sticky notes. And I need a copy of the initial weapons tests against the Angel, as well as any subsequent ones that are planned. And the MAGI's readings on the Angel as well."
"As soon as possible, I assume?"
"Yes," Yui said, some amount of steel returning to her voice. "If I'm going to help Shinji and Rei, then I've got a lot to catch up on."
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Once again, Shinji awoke in an unfamiliar place.
He could tell that he was in the backseat of a car, even before his vision cleared. The seats were more comfortable than his own bed back in Aise; they were black leather, and immaculate. It seemed to be a four-door coupe, from what Shinji could tell, but he couldn't tell the make or model – he wished Misato was here to tell him.
It wasn't a Japanese car. He knew that much.
A small screen was hanging from the ceiling, some sort of bureaucratic proceedings taking place; all the audio from the scene was of a language Shinji couldn't understand.
"Doctor Soryu," the driver said. "you are receiving a call from a Mister Jan Scholz-Linset. Would you like to respond?"
A woman's voice spoke, directly to Shinji's right. He could understand the woman and her driver, funnily enough.
"Patch him through, please."
Shinji looked towards the other side of the car. A woman with long blonde hair leaned against the seat, her legs crossed. She wore a lab coat, not unlike Mom's, but underneath was a sepia woman's business suit, the ensemble tapering off with a long skirt that left her calves and ankles exposed. A pair of red glasses rested on her nose. And, in Shinji's opinion, the woman looked as if she were about to fall asleep.
A privacy window went up between the front and back seats of the car, as a man's voice came through tinny speakers.
"Doctor, I hope the day finds you well?"
"It will, after I get back to the office and have a quick nap." The woman smiled warmly, tapping her slender fingers against the seat beside Shinji. "How may I help you, Mister Scholz-Linset?"
"Our mutual acquaintance has news from Japan, concerning the mishap."
"Nothing that woman does is a 'mishap'. You know as well as I that the very same acquaintance was pressing Hakone for results. They were already threatening that pet professor of hers for daring to go public with what he knew about the Impact."
"So, what are you saying, exactly?"
"I think she found a way out of the lunette before the blade fell, is what I'm saying."
The man cleared his throat. "Well, not quite…she came back, Doctor Soryu."
A wave of shock passed over the woman's face.
"How?"
"We aren't sure. She's under observation in Hakone. Her behavior has been…erratic. Quite frankly, we're not entirely sure that she's of sound mind yet."
"Well, the Evangelions are proving to be temperamental machines. Playing with the fabric of God, what can you expect?"
"That's the other thing, Doctor. Our acquaintance is wondering if Project E should be shuddered entirely. Japan, Germany, and any start-up operations elsewhere. Perhaps another solution should be found."
"Oh, whatever for? Unit-02 is on schedule, though we have yet to activate it."
"Well…as you implied earlier, Doctor, it's an issue of trust at this point."
The Doctor rolled her head back, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle the uncontrolled laugh that came out. After a few moments, the woman managed to compose herself again, wiping away small tears that had formed on the edges of her eyes.
"It is amusing to me that trust is a word in his vocabulary. It seems to be a one-way street with him."
"That is the privilege of power, I suppose."
"Well, I'm not certain why anything happening in Hakone should halt the progress of Unit-02. Why is the man willing to set back years of progress because of one person who went rogue?"
"I'm not sure myself. He seems quite rattled by this development." There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments before he spoke again. "There have been questions, Doctor Soryu. Inquiries about you. It is known that you and the other woman conversed quite a bit, before the incident. And it is known that you have been working on things other than Project E."
"I'm a scientist with a very sizable research grant. Of course I have other projects. I think it is rather silly that he would assume I would spend my life working on one thing and then call it quits."
"Yes, but…the things you're working on…he does not know all the details, but he is concerned about what little he does. It is making him wonder what kind of future you envision, if mankind is victorious in the end."
A smile tugged on the edges of the woman's lips.
"A better and brighter one."
The scene faded, but Shinji had a faint sense that he hadn't seen everything. After the few moments Shinji was able to breathe above the surface, he was tugged back into the void; his consciousness dwindled, until there was an absence of thought or meaning.
Pain and pleasure, sorrow and happiness, fear and confidence; they all collided together, until there was nothing but a peaceful emptiness.
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Yui felt her progress was coming across nicely. With the bevy of dry erase boards, markers, and sticky notes provided by Naoko, as well as the data steadily dropped off by beleaguered assistants, there was the beginning of a viable strategy forming.
The tests conducted by Misato, with the help of some of the JSSDF's toys, were starting to bear fruit. For one, the Angel's AT Field was of such strength that it actually manifested visually whenever an attack was attempted against the creature. It was an octagonal light-show that originated at the exact point of attack, sending bullets and shells bouncing off; explosives detonated against the force-field, dealing infinitesimal damage to the Angel itself.
Theoretically, if NERV and the JSSDF had about forty-thousand years to assault the Angel with conventional weaponry, it could be destroyed by mere chip damage. One single explosion could achieve the task as well – as long as they were fine with the blast being several times the size of Earth. Not very suitable options, but interesting nonetheless.
There were three boards hanging on either side of the hallway outside Shinji's room; two-and-a-half rows of sticky notes were attached to the viewing window of the room, filled with random thoughts and potential eventualities of the upcoming battle. Yui wondered if there was a way to –
Shinji's phone vibrated.
Yui had kept the phone with her, in case there was anyone who needed to get in contact with him. He received one call already from the representative of Shinji's class, Hikari Horaki, wondering if he was going to be in school today. Yui fed her a small lie about Shinji being injured, saying that he would hopefully return to school within the week.
Sighing at the prospect of telling another lie on her son's behalf, Yui flipped the phone open.
"Hello?"
"Who the hell do you think you are, you idiot? You don't pick up the phone when a girl is calling you?"
A bemused smile crossed Yui's lips.
"Hello again, Missus Soryu."
It was amusing, at least, to listen to Asuka try to piece together a response. "D-Doctor Ikari, I didn't…I mean, why…I-I thought your son would answer…"
"Clearly." Yui decided not to string the poor girl along too much. "Shinji was injured, Asuka, while he was piloting Unit-01. He probably won't be conscious for a couple more hours, at the very least."
"Oh, I didn't know. How?"
"We were attacked by an Angel…and then another Angel right after. And the second Angel happened to have a particle weapon that we didn't know about."
"NERV Japan is being attacked by two Angels?"
"No, the second Angel killed the first one with said particle weapon. And it nearly destroyed Unit-01 as well."
"I…I see. I'm sorry."
Yui's smile soured a bit. "Is Mister Kaji not getting updates from NERV Japan? I know you've just set out to sea, but still, we wouldn't want you to pull into port in Tokyo-3 while it was under siege by an Angel. Not without Unit-02 being ready for it."
"He was flown out on official business, about a day ago. I can handle myself, of course, but it's just like that idiot to leave a job half-finished."
"Well, I'm sure he has his reasons, honey." An idea occurred to Yui as she added another sticky note to the wall. "While I've got you on the line, Asuka, I was wondering if I could bounce some ideas off of you. I'm actually in the midst of developing a plan to defeat the Angel right now."
"Uhm, sure. I don't know how much I can help, though."
"Well, in addition to the particle weapon, the Angel also has the strongest AT Field that we've seen so far. So strong that it manifests visually whenever it's attacked. And we can't break through by getting into close-range with an EVA and corroding the AT Field itself."
Yui already knew the answer – or rather, a couple possible answers to this problem – but she merely wanted to see the girl's thought process. Perhaps she would think of something novel.
"If the field is manifesting visually, then calculating the amount of force needed to break through isn't the problem. The problem is finding something to generate that much force, and then making sure it doesn't level Tokyo-3 to the ground in the process."
"Good," Yui said. "so, where does the force come from? How do we draw that much force and direct it towards the Angel?"
"N2 mines are out, as well as nuclear devices. Too much energy spread out too thin." Asuka hummed to herself, clearly thinking hard. "You need the opposite of that. The whole field doesn't need to break, necessarily, you just need a lot of force concentrated on a single point, in order to breach the Angel's core."
"Maybe the JSSDF has some toys we can play with."
"What about the Americans, or the UN?"
"Wouldn't arrive in time, even if they possessed such a weapon and allowed us to use it."
"Well, hopefully you're right about the JSSDF, Doctor Ikari." Yui heard the distant rotors of a helicopter on the other end of the line, and Asuka tsked. "You said the Fourth Angel is totally destroyed?"
"As far as I know. And you can call me Yui, dear. Or Miss Yui, if that makes you more comfortable."
"O-oh, sure. Weird that the other Angel could completely rip through its AT Field like that. Unit-01, I could understand, your son wasn't able to activate the EVA's AT Field in time."
Yui put her index fingers to her lip. "The Angel's particle weapon is extremely potent, on the order of billions of joules. And the Fourth Angel hasn't moved or shown any signs of regeneration, last time we checked."
"When was the last time a survey was conducted? Mom always posited that an Angel needed its core to sustain its form, otherwise it would undergo massive cellular degeneration and essentially return to a liquid state. That is, blood."
Yui stopped. She was aware of the theory, yes, but there hadn't been a chance to confirm whether Kyoko's line of thought had any merit. The Third Angel had chosen to self-destruct, rather than see itself be destroyed.
But what if…?
"You know, you've got a point, Asuka," Yui said. "we hadn't devoted any more resources to the Fourth Angel, in the wake of the Fifth's arrival. I'll have a couple people reassigned, and we'll see for sure."
"Hopefully I'm wrong. You and my mother always predicted that the Angels were as hostile to each other as they were to humans, but dealing with two at the same time would be…"
"Complicated?"
"Yeah." The girl breathed hard into the speaker. "I shouldn't hold you up any longer."
"I'll let you know when Shinji is up and about again, since you're in such a rush to talk to him."
"T-that's not…I was just bored, is all. It doesn't mean anything, Miss Yui."
"Of course, dear. Oh, and Asuka?"
"Yes, Doc – er, I mean, Miss Yui?"
"I do hope you'll be a little nicer, when you do finally get in contact with him. He's a timid boy, and hasn't much experience with women. Alright?"
"Uhm, yeah, sorry about that."
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"I'm not certain I can acquiesce to that request, Lieutenant-Colonel?" The voice on the other end of the line was worn from smoking, as well as barking orders for a living. "Any experimental weapons technology is classified; I'll have to get clearance to even start talking about that stuff."
A twinge of amusement crossed Misato's mind as she received Miss Yui's latest request. For all the scientific research and dilly-dallying the women of NERV did, Misato couldn't help chuckling at what their final plan ultimately amounted to: shooting at the Angel with a big gun.
Through word of mouth and a little access to some of the JSSDF's restricted files while she was still on duty, Misato learned about the existence of a 'positron rifle'. The rifle was basically a supercollider with a trigger; in theory, the weapon would generate an amount of antimatter orders of magnitude larger than any pre-Second Impact collider could generate. When the matter and antimatter particles annihilated each other, the resulting release of energy would be directed at a single point of the target.
Production on the prototype model had been halted, because frankly, nothing worth destroying on Earth required such an obscene amount of energy to do so. Not until the Angels came along, at least.
"I realize that, sir," Misato said. "but the situation here is dire. We only need to borrow the rifle, and we'll be more than happy to hand it back to the JSSDF afterwards."
"Does Ikari know about this request?"
"The Commander has authorized us to use whatever means necessary to defeat the Angel, and the body of scientists at NERV Japan have determined that a high energy, precise burst of energy at the target from outside its attack range is our best shot at killing the creature."
"Well, again, even if we did possess such a weapon, I need proper clearance to discuss it with you."
"How long will that take? Respectfully, sir, we're on a strict time table here. Adhering to the chain of command should be the least of our worries here."
"Rules are rules, Lieutenant-Colonel," the man said. "we have the utmost confidence in NERV's abilities to dispatch the Angel in the allotted time. Since it's a request from NERV, it shouldn't take too long."
While waiting for her superior at the JSSDF to call back, Misato went about whatever business she could accomplish for now. She made sure the repairs on Unit-01 were proceeding as planned, reviewed the assembled data from the weapons tests done to gauge the Angel's abilities, and took a trip to the Medical Ward to see Shinji and Miss Yui.
Looking through the glass, at the simulated image of the trauma bay, Shinji Ikari seemed content and at peace, floating in the rejuvenation tank without a care in the world. A retinue of three to four doctors were assigned to him at all times, mostly monitoring for any signs as consciousness in the boy, and making sure his injuries were healing properly. And Miss Yui kept a close eye on the doctors watching her son, of course, her attention lapsing towards them ever so often.
Shinji was in the tank because of Misato; at least, partially. She was hardly ignorant of that fact. Misato was the Operations Director, and she hadn't given the order to retreat when the Fifth Angel reared its shiny, translucent head. In fact, Misato had withheld information from Shinji and Rei, so that they would concentrate on defeating the Angel in front of them. And Shinji had nearly died because of her mistake.
Miss Yui didn't say a word, reviewing her data and adding more pieces to her puzzle as if Misato wasn't even there. Misato wondered if Yui was feeling the same guilt as her, the same sense that she had let Shinji down.
"I never got a chance to apologize, you know," Misato said, finally. "I thought it would be better, tactically, to defeat the first Angel before retreating. Shinji and Rei had it on the ropes. But…that was the wrong decision. I never meant to put them in danger unnecessarily."
"That doesn't do anything for me, Misato." Yui didn't look away from her task, continuing to plug away at whatever she was working on. "You should apologize to Shinji when he wakes up, if you feel bad about it. I'll be right there beside you."
"It wasn't your fault, Miss Yui."
"I convinced him to pilot Unit-01. Everything that happens to him after that point is my fault."
"But it was ultimately his decision. You didn't force him to do it." Misato put her hand against the glass, her resolve weakening. "This is likely going to happen again and again. I know he's your son, but you can't feel guilty about this. He's doing what he has to, for humanity and the world."
Yui gave a humorless laugh. "You should have kids one day, Misato. Then you'll realize how ridiculous you sound."
Kids weren't ever a particular life goal of Misato's. When Misato was still dating Kaji, back in the halcyon days of Tokyo-2 University, the thought had crossed her mind once or twice. Mostly when she was threatening Kaji, warning the man what would happen to him if he accidentally knocked her up. Misato always figured she would be a horrible mother; the sight of her with a baby in the crook of her arm felt as wrong as Shinji holding a pistol in his hands.
"I'm not built to be a mother," Misato said, finally. "not like you are, Miss Yui."
"It's not like I'm an expert on motherhood, either."
"Yeah, but…you've got a maternal instinct. I don't." Misato crossed her arms, her gaze meeting the floor. "Besides, it's pretty dry out there. Unless I wanted to hook up with that idiot Kaji again."
"You know you've still got a thing for him, Misato," Miss Yui said, talking over Misato's protestations to the contrary. "and you're right, to an extent. If you two had kids, Kaji would be the mother, and you would be the father."
"Whatever. Anything else you need while I'm down here?"
"We still need a staging point, if the JSSDF gives us the authorization to use the positron rifle. And you could check up on Rei. I haven't seen her since the initial sortie."
"I've got people surveying for an optimal staging point as we speak. And Rei was at the firing range, last I checked."
"How long has she been there?"
A tinge of worry hit Misato as she pulled out her phone, calling the surveillance team at Section Two. "It's me. Status check on the First."
"Still at the range. Should I have her escorted away? She's been there for a while now."
"No, I'll go myself." Misato snapped the phone closed with her thumb and forefinger. "She's taking it harder than I thought, Miss Yui."
"It's not her fault, but she thinks it is. She thinks she failed Shinji, as well as me."
"You can tell all that, without even seeing the girl for the past ten hours?"
"I made her, Misato. Of course I can tell." A sadness weighed on Miss Yui's tone of voice. "She's different from me, but not so different. Rei isn't as passive as she likes to appear."
"Yeah." The girl certainly learned more than a few lessons from her so-called mother. "I should go check up on her. You're right, there isn't much for me to do here."
The pocket on Misato's red jacket vibrated. Reading the caller ID, she noticed it was the number of her superior officer at the JSSDF.
"Gotta take this first." Misato winked at Miss Yui. "We might be getting that rifle faster than we thought."
.
.
Defeating this particular Angel was, to Yui, like a game of chess. And she could already see the creature's death, even if it could not.
To power the rifle adequately enough to pierce the AT Field was, as Miss Soryu said, going to take a fair bit of energy. More than the current electrical output that some countries could produce in the span of five minutes. Theoretically, the entire output of Japan would be enough for the rifle to produce enough antimatter to destroy the Angel with one focused beam. It would function as essentially a giant laser; best to make sure there was nothing significant in its path beforehand.
With the JSSDF – and by extension, the government – onboard, along with the authority NERV possessed outright, getting the entire country to shutdown for a few minutes wouldn't be a problem.
In the distance, Yui could hear Misato's voice. Her black hair was swaying from side-to-side to keep up with the erratic movements of her head, and her whole body was stiff. She was frustrated. With Misato's connections at the JSSDF, as well as NERV's natural authority, procuring the rifle should have been a simple matter. Yui wondered what the hold-up was.
Finally, Yui heard Misato's phone click closed. Angry now. What had gone wrong?
Misato walked towards Yui, stopped, looked as if she were about to say something and then cut herself off. She began pacing the hallway in front of Yui, her fingers stroking her lower lip as the words to explain whatever situation they had on their hands eluded her.
Yui had enough. "Misato, what? What is it?"
"Aise," Misato said. "the JSSDF wants Aise. In exchange for the positron rifle."
"What do you mean they 'want' it?"
"They want NERV and the UN to pull out completely. The JSSDF wants complete jurisdiction over the area, to do as they see fit."
Yui repeated Misato's words in her mind about ten times before she responded. And by the tenth time, Yui was so blindingly furious that she could hardly see straight.
"The survival of the entire human race hangs in the balance, and the JSSDF wants to politick? Now?"
"I know."
"Why?"
"Because the way the JSSDF sees it, NERV is going to defeat the Angel either way. So, they might as well get something out of it while they can."
"They said that?"
"No, but that's how they operate. How the government operates. The Angels are just another outside problem to them, and since NERV dealt with the first one convincingly, they assume that we'll handle the rest just fine."
For the first time in a while, Yui pondered on what Gendo would do in this moment. If it were his parents in this town, and if his parents were actually half-way decent, what would he do? Gendo was such a hard man sometimes that he would weigh the alternative and consider his parents a smaller price to pay, but Yui had Shinji to consider.
She moved to a window unobstructed by notes, and watched her son. She watched his vital signs grow stronger, his marred skin steadily heal and mend, waiting for the moment that his eyes would finally open. It wasn't possible. Yui could lie and deflect, but one day, he would find out everyone he knew from his childhood had been sent to an uncertain fate.
"What will they do?" Yui asked. "If we give in to them, what will they do to Aise?"
"I don't know, Miss Yui." Misato looked off to the side. "Should we call the Commander? Have another conference? I don't know how we defeat the Angel without the rifle."
"No. I'll figure out another way."
"But what about the Angel? As well as the JSSDF and the government, if we survive? They aren't going to like being turned down like this."
Yui considered her words, giving Shinji one last look before responding.
"Yeah, well…fuck them."
.
A/N:
Author's notes at the end this time to avoid spoilers.
I'd like to say that, both for this chapter and the next, that I am not a physicist by any stretch of the imagination. I'm probably going to mess some stuff up, but hopefully it still makes narrative sense. But I like the idea of the Angels just being a giant scientific problem to solve (like a scenario from The Martian or The Expanse), espeically since there's more brainpower at NERV in this version of events.
Also, for the people waiting for Asuka and Shinji to finally interact: next chapter, I promise. I wanted the Shamshel/Ramiel battle to be one chapter originally, but it was going to end up being too long and probably would have taken around another week or two to update.
Anyway, thanks for the favs/follows/reviews as always.