Void, Part 4


Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).


Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
EVA-02's Plug

Lt Hyuga's frantic voice broke the tense silence. "Pattern Blue confirmed! It's an Angel!" A split-second pause, while his sensors pinpointed the origin of the signal. "It's directly under Unit-02!"

The seemingly normal shadow under the Angel darkened until it was absolute blackness, expanding under the red cyborg like a flash flood. "Was? Under me?" Asuka yelled in the comms as she felt as if her own feet were sinking impossibly into the street. A quick look around revealed that the cars, lamp posts, and anything on the street had begun to sink slowly into the darkness.

She attacked the black mass with the Smash Hawk, but the weapon's edge didn't strike anything. It was like trying to cut fog. Just a slight sense of resistance. She probed at the floor, the resistance was stronger going down, but moving the weapon side to side barely needed any effort at all.

Major Katsuragi orders came immediately. "Huntress! Get out of there! Quick!"

Asuka pressed her lips together in a decisive line, and at her command, EVA-02 struck at the closest building with the Smash Hawk. The weapon cut into it, embedding itself into the structure. She tried to use it as a step to climb up, but the buildings began to sink even faster, along with her and her Evangelion. "This thing is pulling me down!" she yelled.

"Robin, rescue procedure! Now!"

Unit-01 came running from its support position, its enormous feet cracking the street with each step. "Hang on, Huntress!"


Tokyo-3
Japan

GeoFront
NERV HQ
Central Dogma

Major Katsuragi barked quick orders to the Bridge Bunnies, "Eject the plug! Make sure it comes out far enough!"

Lt. Ibuki turned to face her, "It's useless! The signal doesn't reach the system! There's a lot of interference! I can't eject the plug!"

Misato hesitated for a brief moment, her mind running possible scenarios. In a second, she reached the most direct. "Robin! Grab Unit-02 and pull it out, hurry!"


Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District

"Almost there!" Shinji saw Unit-02's head disappearing into the black mass, and directed Unit-01 to jump. The purple Evangelion landed face down on the street, and slid until it was at the edge of the blackness. Grabbing the umbilical cable, Shinji began to reel EVA-02 like a fisherman pulling a net.

"Don't le- -e fall, Wo-er Boy! Get me o- of here!" The signal came garbled, there was clear interference in the comms coming from Unit-02.

"Grab your umbilical! It could come off if I'm not careful!"

Asuka nodded, and wrapped the cable around the left hand of the EVA. "Got it!" The top of the red Evangelion's shoulder pylons sank completely into the dark shadow.

Unit-01, still lying face down on the street, leaned into the shadow, one hand on the very edge, and the other arm probing into the Angel's shadow, until it found what it was looking for, EVA-02's hand. Both biomechanoids clasped each other's wrist, and Unit-01 began to pull. Shinji tensed at the control yoke. "It's… very… hard… Like it was.. in a lake… of molasses…" He clenched his teeth with the effort.

Far from the scene, Unit-00 kept the Angel in the sight of the colossal sniper rifle it had been issued. Rei knew they were too far for immediate support; all she could do was to hold her position and wait for orders. Amazed, she watched as twenty or so buildings sank slowly into the ground.

"Control, are you receiving image?"

"We are, the buildings are sinking!" Lt. Hyuga answered.

Misato watched helplessly, "Wonder Girl, keep position. Robin, report!"

"I have Unit-02! I'm trying to pull it out!"


Unit-02's Plug.

Somehow, the inside of the shadow was not black, but white. Asuka's mind flashed to a sterile place. The place where her worst nightmares waited for her.

"Don't drop me! Don't drop me!" She screamed, still looking over Unit-02's shoulder. She could fell Unit-01's hand going slack, and a horrible scream filled the coms for a moment until it got cut by a burst of static.


Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District

The shadow receded slowly, as if retreating to digest its meal. Next to it, Unit-01 clutched the stump of its right forearm. Shinji screamed in terrible pain.


Tokyo-3
Japan

GeoFront
NERV HQ
Central Dogma

"Maya! Cut the neural feed right now!" Dr. Akagi ordered. "He's going into shock!"

"Neural feed cut in 3, 2…" Lt. Ibuki's fingers tapped quickly on the keyboard, reducing the neural connection between pilot and Evangelion. "…1. Neural link interrupted."

Shinji breathed shallowly, "C-c-c-control?" He stammered, his teeth clacking with spasms. "Pp-p-lease ret-t-t-urn neural feed, I c-can st-t-t-till p-p-pull the umbilical." Instinctively, he had put his right arm under the left, the synch rate was very high when the shadow closed itself, cutting the Evangelion's arm. If it wasn't for the LCL filling the plug, his forehead would have been covered by beads of sweat, but the amber liquid absorbed the drops as soon as they formed on his skin.

"Negative, Robin. Once your vitals stabilize, we are returning the neural link to a minimal sync. Retreat to a safe position." Major Katsuragi ordered, her voice hard and cold. "Wonder Girl. Help Unit-01 reach a safe position. We will reel Huntress' cable from here. No sense in risking you two."

"Understood. Moving to support Unit-01's retreat." Rei hesitated for a moment, before deciding to return the sniper rifle back into its fake building. Unit-00 hurried to reach its companion.

Under them, the umbilical cable kept moving, entering the shadow. The Angel could be very selective about what it allowed inside itself.


Tokyo-3
Japan

GeoFront
NERV HQ
Central Dogma
Three Hours Later

While Major Katsuragi and Lt. Hyuga flew in a helicopter around the Angel, gathering readings for the MAGI to analyse, Dr. Akagi and Lt. Ibuki analysed the events.

"They reeled in the umbilical cable, the end was cut. No signal of Unit-02." Turning towards her apprentice, Dr. Akagi hung the phone. "Asuka has some energy in the internal batteries. If she keeps her head, she will have put everything in minimal life support, she can survive for about sixteen hours more."


Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
Temporary NERV HQ
One Hour Later

A cursory repair job later, Unit-01 knelt next to Unit-00, the umbilical cables still connected to their respective backs, energizing their batteries, the entry plugs partially ejected, and a crane next to them, ready to get the pilots into the capsule like tubes. EVA-01's right hand still missing; to regenerate the hand would take longer than the time left in EVA-02's batteries.

A temporary HQ had been assembled in a park, not too close to the site the angel had decided to stop. Every scientific instrument available to the scientific section, and more than a few that had been urgently requisitioned under NERV's authority, was pointed at the black and white sphere, gathering every possible scrap of data, looking for a weakness in this new enemy.

None had been found. Neither in the floating sphere nor in the shadow under it. And there was no way to think the shadow wasn't part of the Angel. Even with the sun low on the horizon, the shadow stayed exactly under the sphere. Of the buildings that used to stand where the shadow was now, there was no sign. As if they had never existed. Everything inside that black circle had disappeared completely.

Outside the control centre, Rei and Shinji looked at the floating Angel with identical expressions. Neither spoke. Both trying to drill a hole in the Angel with sheer force of will. Shinji rubbed his arm, as if reassuring himself it was still there.

They had taken turns to shower quicky, still wearing their plugsuits. Even discounting the blood-like smell, LCL was nasty on hair and skin if allowed to dry.

A tech walked to the pair, holding a clipboard. "Sir? Could I speak to you for a moment?" Shinji nodded, and followed the man to a distance they wouldn't be overheard.

"You okay, kid?" The man's voice and body language changed in a moment, instead of the careful inflections and rigid posture from a moment before, now the voice sounded rougher and the posture slouched a bit. "It's me, Deadman." He hissed.

Shinji relaxed a bit. "Boston-san? I'm so glad to see you! Do you know what's going on with the Angel? Does the Stranger know?"

"Whoa! Easy with the questions. I'm just lending a bit of moral support, kid. I hijacked a tech to give you a heads up. The Stranger is doing his mystery bit. He's trying to find a way to get Miss Redhead out of this mess. I'm not really suited for that job, so I am here." He shrugged, and tapped the end of his pen on the papers. "To keep an eye on things and see if I can find something this side. Not that I've had any success." His shoulders dropped. "About the only thing I can tell you is that your little sister in Unit-00 is okay. Very worried and scared of the Angel, so I'll be going back once you guys are deployed again."


Subdimension: AKA Buffer Zone

Inside an endless white place, Asuka Langley Soryu checked the watch in the back of her hand. She had spent the last few hours thinking frantically on a way to get out of this un-place.

She had forced herself to stay as still as possible, investing all her energies on analysing the problem.

Before shutting everything down, she had locked the Evangelion's body into a foetal position, careful of keeping a tight hold of the mutilated hand of Eva-01.

Her thoughts went to her fellow pilot. His scream had been enough to make her blood run cold. She had never expected to hear so much pain in a single scream. And yet, it warmed her heart to know that he had endured all that pain trying to rescue her. It would have been so easy to just release her hand, EVA-02's hand… but he hadn't. He had held on to the end. He had endured so much pain…

For her.

She flicked the sensors for a moment, after the kaleidoscopic images had run their course, the image outside was still a completely white void.

Except…

Except for a single speck in the distance. Well, it seemed to be far away, but it could be something big very far, or something small, very close. She had no frame of reference to determine that.

She used the integral magnifier to look closely at the thing.

It was, indeed, very far away. It was a strange building. Flat and roughly rectangular. The colour was a pale ice blue. And the bigger side seemed to be made of cables and struts. On one side, she could see an opening, almost like a door. There was a triangular opening in it. She tried to look closer, but she had no means to propel the Eva in this emptiness. The building spun slowly, getting away from her.

Frantic, she turned the external speaker on. "Hey! Is there somebody there! I need help!" She flashed the nav lights too.

No answer.

After five minutes of frantic signals, she turned everything off.

There was no point. Whatever it was, it was too far away. And if it was like the Tokyo-3 buildings, it was empty. Everybody had evacuated the buildings as soon as the Angel Alarms began their cacophony.

Anyway, it reminded her too much of a tombstone. And for all she knew, it might have been a mausoleum… (1)


Tokyo-3
Japan
Western District
Temporary NERV HQ

All that Shinji had understood from Dr. Akagi's conference was that the Angel, or rather, its shadow, could be a doorway to another universe. "You got any of that, Rei?" he asked.

"Very little of immediate use. Theoretical Physics can be understood with some preliminary background in mathematics. However, this level of expertise is beyond my current knowledge. I cannot follow the equations, but Dr. Akagi has explained it clearly. I can understand the main concepts, to a certain point."

"Any idea of how we can rescue Asuka?"

"My understanding is limited." She said. "The closest I can think of is trying to force the Angel to invert its own ATF to a normal one. Conceivably, that would force it to expel everything it absorbed. But it would need a lot of energy."

A loud argument interrupted their musings. At the other side of the MHQ, Misato argued vehemently with Dr. Akagi. "There must be a way to rescue her!" She yelled.

"The only way would be to force-feed the Angel with N2 Mines. All of them. It would destroy both the Angel and the EVA."

"And Asuka? What about her?"

"I fear she is expendable. The only objective we can achieve in this mission is to destroy the Angel. At this point I doubt we could even recover something of Unit-02."

A slap knocked Dr. Akagi's glassed down to the floor. Misato grabbed her by the labcoat, and pulled her close. Shinji ran to them before Misato could do anything else.

"Wait! Rei had an idea! Dr. Akagi? What if Rei and I use the ATFs to force the Angel to reinvert its ATF? Would that work? Could that force it to give back Unit-02?"

Misato trembled in fury as she waited for the answer. Akagi rubbed her cheek, thinking, keeping an eye on Misato.

"Could be enough. But in any case, the probability to recover Unit-02 and Asuka alive is very low. I need to run a simulation."

Misato clenched her teeth and released Akagi's lab coat. "Do it. I won't abandon Asuka or any pilot as long as there is a chance."

While Misato calmed down. Shinji mumbled a prayer, hoping that the Phantom Stranger could find a way to save Asuka.


Unnamed Subdimension

The Phantom Stranger walked in a dark emptiness. His steps brisk and purposeful. It would be a long way, and he needed to change dimensions several times to reach his destination.

He kept on walking, his steps guiding him unerringly to where he was needed.


Buffer Zone
Unit-02's Plug.

Asuka had a nervous breakdown.

She had gone hysterical with fear and worry after the LCL became murky.

The need to escape the metal coffin that the plug had become was overwhelming.

Finally after long minutes, she lost consciousness.

When she awoke, she realized she was back on the Over the Rainbow, she could feel the wind on her skin, and the noise of the waves surrounded her. But there was no one in sight. Not a single living thing around. It was as if she had been deposited on a ghost ship.

She explored the empty carrier, and finally, stopped at the mess hall. Tired, she sat down on one of the chairs, thinking.

A soft voice asked, "Who are you?" a pause, "Who am I?"

Alarmd, Asuka looked around, but the place was completely empty of people. She was the only one there.

"Who are we?" Two feminine voices asked, "Do you know who I are? Do you know who we am?"


Author Notes

1. I had thought of bringing Valor into this scene, but decided against it. Instead, the building is something Deadman was looking for back at the South Pole. What is Superman's Fortress of Solitude doing inside Leliel? Well… that's a story for a future Interlude.