[Threnody for the Children of Tokyo-3, 1st Movement]
Meeting Room, NERV-HQ, Geofront, Late February 2016
Gendo Ikari stared levelly at the old men, the singular bright light under the table, and the lights under the pillars that the Human Instrumentality Committee, that SEELE, now hid behind, throwing light across his orange-tinted sunglasses, hiding the expression in his eyes. That was an asset that was going to prove vital now. Especially after what had happened in the last few weeks.
"Commander Ikari." SEELE-01, Lorenz Kihl, said harshly. "Why was the Lance of Longinus used against the last Angel? And why were you not in command? Explain. Quickly."
"I shall answer the questions in reverse order." Gendo said levelly. "An unexpected procedure had me confined to the Medical Center for an extended period of time, during which I left Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki in command. During my time away, I left him with exacting instructions in the unlikely case of an Angel attack. One of those instructions was to use the Lance of Longinus in the far more unlikely event that the rest of the arsenal available to us proved to be ineffective."
"And you trust your Deputy-Commander's judgement?" SEELE-04 said in a barely disguised French accent.
"Implicitly." Gendo said, in a voice that brooked no further argument on the matter. "And, as I'm sure the records sent to you by the Magi will show, there was little recourse besides using the Lance. It was unavoidable."
He waited for the old men to bring up something, anything related to the story which he didn't tell, of Ritsuko suggesting the use of the Lance instead of Fuyutsuki, that would send his narrative crashing down around his ears. But the old men said nothing about it, for now.
"The Mass-Produced Evangelion series has yet to be completed. To have a setback of this magnitude in the Scenario is a grave thing, indeed, Ikari." SEELE-02 said instead.
'I'll have to thank Naoko later.' he thought silently. It had been quite the surprise when he had found that little piece of trivia out. But right now, he had to focus on the old men, and betray nothing.
"Regardless," Kihl said, "such instructions as the ones you gave are out of line. For yourself, and your subordinates. The Scrolls are particular about the Lance's role in Instrumentality. In one way or another, you are responsible for its loss. A grave loss, as it is about to impact the surface of the moon."
Before the old men could go any further, a phone rang beside Gendo's tented right arm. He dropped his pose, and answered the phone. "Fuyutsuki, I'm in a meeting."
He was silent for a moment. "Understood. Prepare the pilots to sortie."
He stood with the phone still in hand, as the muffled sound of alarms began to reach even his ears. "Gentlemen, we are under attack by an Angel. We shall have to continue our meeting later."
"If you remain in your position afterward." SEELE-05 said ominously.
"Ikari." SEELE-04 said. "I'll cut to the chase. Do you intend to betray SEELE? The Scenario?"
Gendo ignored them, continuing to speak to Fuyutsuki. "Task Major Katsuragi with deploying the Evangelions as she chooses. I'll be there in 15."
He hung up the phone, and without another word, his image disappeared from SEELE's view.
"Very well." Kihl said. "Set our plans into motion. The end begins now."
. . .
Ritsuko's Lab, Terminal Dogma
Adira Faez was clearly out of her element, she thought as she shifted the bag that she carried on her shoulder. She felt slightly lost among all the equipment and monitors. But she was here with a purpose, as she made her way to a particular part of the lab.
The Angel attack, it seemed, would provide the perfect cover for what she was about to do. As for the Magi, the jamming device provided by her benefactors would prove to be more than enough to cover her presence here.
She keyed past another set of doors, labeled 'Dummy Plug Production Plant/LCL Processing Area', and emerged into perhaps the most secretive part of the lab, and perhaps Terminal Dogma. Before her, a vast, glowing tank of LCL stretched around the room, filled with dozens of copies of Rei, all seeming to stare vacantly at her as she entered. It was more than a little creepy.
Even still, she had a job to do, as she pulled out a special thumb drive and plugged it into the port that had been indicated to her. The machine hummed to life, and she stepped back to let it do its work as she listened to the alarms up above her.
A monitor showed the progress of 'Progenitor Division and Extraction' as it slowly ticked upwards. As the bar filled completely, one of the bodies blinked as it was grabbed by an arm that wrapped gently around the girl's naked torso, placing it into a special tube that shut itself off from the rest of the tank, draining the LCL from it.
As it finished draining, a transparent door slid open, as the copy of Rei bent over and coughed up the LCL in her lungs seemingly by instinct before taking a step out of the tube. It looked at her intently, and Adira couldn't help but squirm slightly. Nevertheless, she had been told what to say. "You are Rei Ayanami."
"I am Rei Ayanami." the clone said tonelessly.
"You have an important role to play in the Scenario of Instrumentality." Faez said. "You must be prepared to ensure the day comes when Instrumentality will be realized."
"Yes." the clone said. Then it went silent as it stared at her. Blank slate, indeed, Faez thought, as she began to reach into her bag.
"Here," she said, pulling out a shirt, sweatpants, socks and shoes, "put these on."
As the clone seemed to know how to do that without instruction, Faez suppressed a shudder. This was all just too weird. But as she closed her eyes and saw her friends, her family, she suppressed it. This was for them. She would see them again. But even still, the memory of a painting, the only one she'd kept thus far, came to her mind as well. She could try and make a case for him. He could be there, too.
"Follow me." she said as the clone finished. They turned and left. She would have her ways to get out of here, even this far into the Geofront. Her benefactors had their ways.
. . .
Central Dogma
The alarms finally went silent as the Angel appeared on the screen. It was, by far, the strangest one that Misato had ever seen. It, like Ramiel and Zeruel and Leliel, hung in the air, bright and white against the blue sky. It was, perhaps, the most alien of all the Angels they had seen, as its double-helix body seemed to undulate as it rotated.
So alien was it that the Magi that wasn't part of Mrs. Akagi was flipping between Pattern Orange and Blue, finally seeming to settle on a 'Pattern Inconclusive' warning.
All the Children were in the Evas. Well, Hikari was still off duty, but Ritsuko was finally about to get her back into the pilots seat before this happened. As it were, she had to send Kaworu up to the surface instead, along with Toji, Shinji, Asuka and Rei.
She looked around the command bridge, and saw Hyuga sitting in his former spot at the operations console. Faez was absent… somewhere.
She looked beside her. Only Eleanor was there with her, Ritsuko and Hikari. Daniel had decided to take residence in his reinforced office by the Eva cages for some reason.
The Commander was there, Fuyutsuki by his side as always, but now he had dropped wearing those damn orange-tinted glasses. She could see the look in his eyes if she tried hard enough. The carefully concealed worry that almost didn't need the glasses to hide it.
And the pilots… the pilots were… off. There was no better way to describe it. Even Asuka's brave bluster, only somewhat reduced as it had become in the last few months, was completely absent as she sat in the Entry Plug. It was like… they had attended a funeral. Or were about to.
No. No, no. No one was dying today. So why did the Children act like that, then? Why was everyone... off?
. . .
Daniel sat in his office, and silently wondered for a moment what, exactly, Rei was up to.
He had talked to the pilots as the alarms went off, ferrying Shinji, Asuka, Rei, and Kaworu in his car. Eleanor was already at the Geofront, and Hikari was being picked up by Section 2. "Alright. First thing's first, this is not an Angel you'll be able to defeat with just a few Pallet Rifles. Nothing on the order of the Arael needing the Lance, but it's going to take a sizable explosion to deal with it after you take its AT Field down."
The Children had nodded silently, and his brow became furrowed. "That's the thing, however. From what I've seen, this thing tracks by sensing AT Fields. If you throw one up to try and neutralize it, it zeroes in on you. Be careful. If it connects, any blow it gets dealt gets felt by you."
Rei nodded again. "Thank you, Daniel. We'll make sure and look out for it."
The tone of her voice struck him as… off, somehow. Like she had known what he had said before. They were all somewhat off, really. He'd had little time to ponder those facts, though, as he parked and got out of the car.
As Daniel and the Children made their way to the Evas as quickly as possible, Shinji, Asuka and Kaworu disappeared into the locker rooms. Rei had paused, then turned around and gave Daniel a tight hug. "Thank you, Daniel. For being a father to me." she said, before stepping out of the hug.
As she turned, Daniel grabbed her shoulder. "Don't die out there, okay?" he said as she looked back at him.
Rei had said nothing, simply nodding and walking into the locker room.
Daniel slowly, but surely, started to put the dots together. 'They know what this Angel is like. And Rei… she's prepared herself. How did they know?'
Daniel chuckled grimmly as the answer became obvious, even as he fought a knife of fear that was driving itself into his heart. 'Of course…'
. . .
Asuka tried not to fidget as she prepared to launch. So, instead, she focused on the repair work that was being done on her mama's soul.
Eleanor had begun her work only a few weeks ago, but already it was looking much better than it was, Frames connecting the two souls together. Even now, it seemed that she would be completely healed within… weeks. Her mama would be whole again. And maybe… just maybe… she might get to see her again. After all this was over.
But that thought dragged her back to the present. To what was about to happen.
"Leibling?" Kyoko said, only slightly echoing now. "What's wrong-g? You're-re… scared."
Asuka blinked, then sighed quietly. "Yes. I… I have to follow a plan. A plan that's going to see me let my friend… my best friend…"
Horror flashed across Kyoko's soul. "Asuka-a…" she didn't know what to say next. "I'm here-e." she settled on.
. . .
Kaworu sat in the Entry Plug onf Unit-03 and tried to talk to Mrs. Horaki. "Ma'am, I know I haven't been the most… accommodating. I understand your desire to not connect with me. After all, I am not your daughter. But… unless you do, I will have to take over the way I have in the past. And.. I don't want to do that. I want to protect my friends in the way that they protect me. And… I'm honored to say that your daughter is one of my friends."
He didn't think it would amount to much. If she wished to hide, to not connect, there was nothing he could do but do as he had done before. But take control of the body himself, and bypass the core.
Just as he gave up hope, he felt the prick of a connection, and privately, his heart soared.
"You're… different." Fujiko Horaki said to him. "You've changed from what you were before. How?"
Kaworu smiled slightly. "With the help of my friends, Mrs. Horaki."
It was silent for a moment. "Very well. Protect her, Mr. Nagisa."
"I will."
. . .
Rei broke the surface and caught her second look at the Angel. At Armisael. It somehow appeared even more off than it had on the screen, the helix pattern moving up and down, up and down. She steeled herself for what was to come next. For the sacrifice she had to make.
She thought back to the elevator ride to the gantries that held the Evas. It was silent, save for the squeaking of the Plusuits as the Children all hugged each Rei tightly.
"As I said," she said quietly, "I will see you all again. It may not be in this body, but it will still be my soul. I will still be me. I promise."
As the others pulled back from their embrace, she took Kaworu's arm. "And just in case I haven't made it perfectly clear within the last few weeks…"
She pulled him into a deep, long kiss. As she parted, a ghost of a smile came to her face for a moment. "I love you." she whispered. The smile disappeared just as quickly as the elevator dinged, and opened to lead them to their Entry Plugs.
Now, she would have to make the ultimate sacrifice. For him. For all the people she loved.
. . .
Shinji stood waiting, tense and intent, as they watched the Angel, watched Armisael, slowly move towards them. He, Rei and Toji all held a Pallet Rifle, a sniper rifle, and a rocket launcher, respectfully. Asuka and Kaworu stood closer towards it, Asuka hefting a Progressive Ax while Kaworu favored a Progressive Glaive, their blades white-hot and humming.
All of them studiously kept their AT Fields at a minimum for now. If any of them flared up, even for a moment, it would begin to hunt them. Then the plan would be at stake. Then, someone might not come back.
"Alright." Asuka said, a glare of annoyance leveled at the Angel. "We should probably start hitting this thing before it gets too close." she said to no one in particular in Central Dogma.
"I don't know, Asuka." Misato said slowly. "We might be waiting and watching for a while if this thing doesn't start moving any faster."
"No." Rei said with a level, emotionless face. "It is coming."
As she finished speaking, the helix shape flattened into a line, and the Angel slithered towards them as it broke the circle it had made with its body.
. . .
It seemed to zero in on Asuka first, and she fought the instinct to raise her AT Field as Unit-02 shifted its grip on the thrumming Progressive Ax. Even if she tried, the Angel was like a bolt of lightning, seeming to aim for Unit-02's gut like a thrown spear.
Before it could connect, a searing lance of tungsten-carbide, courtesy of Rei's amazing accuracy, slammed into it, throwing it to the side as the rod of metal spun into the trees with a crash.
The driving point of the Angel turned to seemingly leer at Unit-00 as it racked another round, Unit-01 and Unit-04 slowly stepping to the sides as they aimed at the Angel. 'That's right.' Rei thought quietly as she raised her AT Field slowly and deliberately. 'Focus on me. No one else.'
The Angel bolted towards Unit-00 as Unit-01 and Unit-04 opened fire, their shots glancing off with little effect, as the Angel continued to drive towards Unit-00.
It crashed through her AT Field like a pane of glass, and Rei bit down a scream as she felt a burning blade of pure pain run her through as the Angel pierced the stomach of Unit-00.
Within Central Dogma, alarms blared anew as the monitors for Unit-00 flashed angrily. "Unit-00 has been pierced by the Angel! It's beginning to meld with Unit-00!"
Misato's eyes went wide. "It's initiating a first contact…"
Daniel's eyes were similarly wide as he watched the other four Children slowly approach Amisael, Shinji and Toji peppering it with bullets and rockets to no great effect. 'She's banking on herself being the target. She was all along.'
He turned on his sight, scanned down towards where he remembered the clone bodies being held. The hollow Frames, without souls to complete them, seemed like a tangled clump of branches. 'Good.' he thought as he sighed quietly. 'Ritsuko hasn't blown them up yet. Likely won't now, unless Rei asks her to afterwards.'
Then he turned his gaze back to the screen that showed the battle, and fought to keep the dread that bubbled in the pit of his stomach from boiling over. Along with the memories that threatened to overtake his mind.
. . .
Asuka came to a stop next to Armisael, raising her Ax as she tried to keep the fear that she felt at hearing the gasps of pain coming from Rei's commlink. 'Damn you. Damn you!' she thought, as she hacked into Amisael's "back".
The deep cut she made erupted in a spray of deep red blood, the Angel screaming in pain. And Rei screaming with it.
"All of you, hurry!" she heard Misato say in a panicked voice. Maya's addition to Misato's statement only strengthened that panic. "The Angel is at 5% biofusion with Unit-00 already!"
Asuka raised her ax to strike it again, then her eyes widened in pain as she felt a hot spike of pain gore her abdomen. "Damn it!" she said, looking down to see that the Angel had somehow split a part of itself off to impale her. She felt pain, felt fear, from herself and her mama, as the spike slowly put out branches that began to eat through armor and flesh alike as it dug towards the core.
For a brief instant, she was connected to Rei through the Angel. She felt the spike of fear, the realization that she was there too, that the plan was in danger…
Then the connection was gone in a blinding flash of pain as the connection was severed with a chop of Kaworu's glaive, as she stumbled back screaming and tried to pull the now dull, pale white flesh out from her Unit's stomach with one hand, to little effect.
Kaworu fought down a fear that seemed ready to overtake him as he set to the task of chopping at the Angel's body, barely catching the sight of Shinji and Toji laying their weapons down and pulling out the Progressive Knives that were stored in their shoulder pylons.
The Angel healed at a breathtaking rate, every swing that Kaworu made seeming to do nothing but cause Rei even more pain as it closed up on the Angel's body in moments. There had to be a way…
"Kaworu!" Shinji shouted, causing him to pause and blink. "Behind you!"
He barely had a moment to turn before he felt the other end of Armisael slam into his lower back, and he arched his own back as he screamed in pain.
In an instant, he was connected with Rei, as he felt fear and terror and resolve and love all at once. He felt Mrs. Horaki's terror at the familiar feeling of being invaded by an Angel, of being powerless to do anything to prevent or circumvent it this time. The Angel itself seemed to turn its attention on him for a moment, and its soul felt… childlike.
Even still, he swung the glaive around, trying to reach for the connection between the Angel and himself as he set his jaw against the pain.
"Shinji!" he finally gasped out after a moment, fixing the sight of Unit-01 across from him as he stumbled backwards. "Catch!"
He threw the Glaive across the Angel, and Shinji caught it in Unit-01's free hand, dropping the knife. "Asuka!" he said as he linked his soul to hers to communicate his intent, to ensure that what he was about to try next would work.
Asuka hefted the Progressive Ax in her hands as he ran back towards them, the point where the Angel pierced her bulging and veiny. "Got it!"
They charged towards Kaworu as he stumbled back and turned to allow them both the clearest opening they could, and they swung their weapons with a mighty shout. Shinji connected first, driving a deep cut into Armisael's body as Rei and Kaworu screamed in stereo.
Then, as Shinji pulled the blade of the Glaive back out, Asuka swung down, striking the wound dead center, severing Kaworu from the Angel's grasp as he fell forward, the Angel's "tail" writhing in the air as it and Rei both screamed in pain, and Shinji dragged away Unit-03 from it.
"All of you! Get back, now!" Misato said, and the Children had no need to be told twice. She looked at Maya and Ritsuko as they stared at her monitor in alarm. "Is there anything we can do for Rei?" she pleaded desperately.
Maya and Ritsuko looked back at her with desperation evident in her own eyes. "We're trying to eject the Plug, ma'am!" Maya said. "It isn't accepting the signal!"
"Damn it!" Misato said. "Why doesn't that ever work? Keep trying! Something! Anything!" she shouted, as much to her own reeling, spinning mind as to her friends, and Maya and Ritsuko turned back to the monitor, Maya's fingers flying over the keyboard as they frantically reached for some solution.
Misato looked up at the Commander. He was still here. He had left command to her. That was shocking in and of itself. And he was still without his trademark sunglasses. Now, she could see the fear in his eyes as his gaze was locked to the veiny form of Rei on the main screen.
A fear, Misato realized with no small amount of shock, that went deeper than simply losing a clone that could be replaced to continue his plans. No, in his eyes was the fear of losing some that he… loved.
. . .
Deep within the Geofront, as Daniel watched Unit-00 slump backwards, its back ballooning into a tower of flesh, filled with the half-made forms of the previous Angels slain in battle, and its stomach ballooning up as Armisael seemed to fill it, his resolve to stand by and let the Children fight this battle was shattered as a single thought echoed through his mind.
'Not again.'
. . .
Rei blinked, and saw another world. She was hip deep in a sea of LCL, and several meters in front of her stood… herself.
She looked down at her hands and arms, saw the veins of the Angel's corruption lacing through her.
As she looked back up, she saw that her reflection was looking back at her with inquisitive eyes. "What is this feeling?" it said to her.
Rei blinked. "What?" she said.
"What is this feeling?" the Angel enunciated.
Rei focused, realizing that she could see the soul of the Angel, and what it felt. What it was.
"It is… loneliness you feel. When you are surrounded by others, and yet isolated from them." Rei said.
"I don't want it." the Angel said.
"Few do." Rei said.
"You don't have loneliness. Why?" the Angel said.
"Because I have my friends. I have the ones I love." Rei said.
The Angel that wore her face stretched out its arms towards her, seeming to want to grab at her. "Give me your friends." it said, its eyes becoming intense.
"No, Armisael." Rei said. "I cannot simply give you my friends. You must be able to make your own. But… you can't."
"If you won't give me friends, I'll take them. I don't want loneliness." Armisael said, and her image took a single step forward.
Rei felt a connection from outside, and a stab of fear entered her heart. Had another one of her friends been caught by Armisael's grasp?
The voice that spoke next dispelled that fear, replacing it with a new one. "You heard Rei. You can't have the people she loves. And I won't let you, either."
Both versions of Rei looked at the man that now stood next to one of them with surprise and no small amount of shock. "Who are you?" the Angel asked.
"I am Daniel Theisman. I am Rei's father. And you will not touch her anymore."
He took a step forward, interposing himself between Rei and the Angel that had taken her image, as he raised his arms and they became wreathed in a starfield full of twinkling lights and colorful nebulae.
. . .
Shinji looked at the tower of flesh that had erupted from Unit-00, as the white, undulating form of Armisael struck out from it like a glowing umbilical cord. He shuddered at the sight. 'I can only imagine the pain that's going on right now. She must be having her conversation with it. I hope… I hope it ends soon.'
He heard the command bridge over the comms. "Rei's inverting her AT Field! Corruption is spreading rapidly through all the systems!" Maya said.
"Rei! Eject the Plug! Get out of there!" Misato shouted, and Shinji could hear the tears in her eyes as he struggled to keep his own from spilling from his face.
"I can't." Rei said in as level a tone as she could manage. "Without my presence, the AT Field containing the Angel will vanish."
Shinji suppressed a shudder as he heard all too familiar words. "So, I can't leave. Not now."
Then, Shinji noticed something. Every once in a while, Armisael would twitch and spasm, as if it were being hit with… something. 'Is Rei fighting back? Why?'
. . .
Daniel threw another haymaker across the imaginary face of the Angel. It had grown taller, taller than him, and its arms were now tentacles of light that wrapped themselves around his left arm and torso. His arm was protected by the starfield that surrounded it, and his torso had become similarly protected quickly after.
"Give it to me." Armisael repeated, over and over again. "Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me! I don't want loneliness!"
Rei's physical face was wet with tears as she watched the scene in her mind. "Daniel!" she cried out to him without saying a word. "Please! Let me do this! I can come back. You can't!"
"No! Not again!" Daniel simply said as he threw another punch across Armisael's face.
He felt Rei mentally tearing at the link between their souls, even as he felt her physically reach for the self-destruct switch. "Rei! No!"
"Daniel." he heard her say. "I love you. I'll see you soon."
She pulled the switch, the words 'Mode: D' appearing on the side of the chair, as she looked back at Daniel and smiled softly, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you, father."
"REI!"
The world went white.
. . .
Shinji watched as the tower of malformed Angels collapsed in on itself, and Armisael was rapidly drawn into Unit-00's quickly distending stomach, before it collapsed in on itself.
Then, Unit-00 stood, seeming to look at them as it stretched out its hand, becoming an image of Rei, a halo of white light above her head.
Shinji suddenly remembered what was about to happen, and the fact that they stood between the city and the Eva that was about to explode.
Unit-01's hands went out in front of it as Shinji poured every bit of strength he could into the AT Field. "AT Field to maximum!" he shouted.
Asuka and Toji quickly followed his lead, and a concave wall of iridescent light suddenly stood between Unit-00 and the rest of the world as it lit up for a moment, then exploded with a crack of thunder.
The combined AT Field held on, just barely, as the massive explosion vaporized the hills, the trees, the very ground, behind where Unit-00 once stood.
As the blast dissipated, Shinji heard the massive rush of water begin to fill the third lake that had been created near Tokyo-3.
He leaned back in his seat with a heavy sigh. The Angel was defeated. They had won. Rei was gone. He reeled mentally at the thought. But she would be back. She wasn't gone forever.
. . .
All Daniel felt was pain, all he saw was white light, as the connection sent nearly the full pain of the blast that Rei felt back into him, and he found himself, his back arched and gasping for breath, on the floor of the office.
As he got to his feet after an agonizing moment, he saw on his screen the dissipating blast of Unit-00's demise, and his heart shattered. 'Rei…'
He blinked after a moment as he realized he was still connected to Rei's soul. Only by the barest of margins, only enough to know her soul was still there, still connected to her body. But enough to know that she had survived. For now. Enough to know that she would not survive for long.
'No. No, no, no, no. Not again. Not again. Not again.'
The thought echoed through his mind over and over as he opened a portal to the surface stepping through it onto the empty streets of Tokyo-3.
He gaugued his course, and he began to walk. Then to run.
He poured everything he had into running, careless of the Flux that was building up as his pace quickened, his legs pumping faster and faster before his stride began to slow down, each step covering dozens of meters at a time.
Vent Frames sprang into existence on his skin, a constellation like pattern of the night sky visible on his hands and creeping up his face as it peeked out from under his NERV uniform, even as they began to prove inadequate for the task at hand. He pressed on anyway, fighting through the interference of the Flux to his Interfacing. Not again.
The city became wooded hills, yet his pace barely slowed, carrying him up and down, up and down the hills, as he felt the thump of the Entry Plug's impact in the hills several dozens of miles away in his soul, physically heard the rushing roar of the creation of the third Lake Ashi. But he would get there soon. He had to get there soon. Not again. Not again.
He was close, and then he began to skid to a stop, throwing up dirt and rocks as he came to stand in front of the dented, bent Entry Plug. She was still inside. Her Frame was beginning to degrade. Not again.
He ran up to the smoking, hissing emergency door of the Plug, uncaring as he gripped the edges with crystalline claws, every muscle screaming at him for the briefest of moments as he tore the door off of the Plug, throwing it behind him as he became drenched in scalding LCL.
The torrent of liquid didn't help the raging nausea, the sudden dizziness as he heard the color of the LCL, breathed in the smell of the words he next spoke as he leaned into the Plug. "Rei! Rei!"
The massive wave of Flux Daze that had hit him was the last thing on his mind as he tasted the Plugsuit beneath his fingers as he pulled Rei, battered and burned but still miraculously alive, from the Plug, kneeling beside her body.
He strengthened the connection between their souls. "Rei. Rei, damn it all, why?"
"Because I've seen how it was supposed to go. It's okay." she said back, patience and calm in her crumbling soul. "Like I said, I'll see you again, father."
"No. Not again."
Daniel leaned over Rei physically, mentally reached into the depths of his soul, and began to tear out the Frame that surrounded his core. The most important part. The one part that would let her live.
He bit down on his tongue and tasted blood as he ripped himself apart, suppressing a scream of pain, as the peek into the mental realm became more visceral, more clear. But the pain was worth it, as he put the piece into place around Rei's core, now whole again at last, and fused it to her.
"Daniel?" Rei said with dawning horror as she recognized what he was doing. "Stop. Stop! Please! I can come back! You can't!"
"No!" Daniel said as he continued. "I won't stand by and watch you die when I can do something about it! Not again!"
Shock and sorrow and anger and remorse and understanding at the words and their meaning rippled through Rei's soul as Daniel continued to tear himself apart for her. "Please, Daniel! Live! Live so I can see you again!"
"Rei…" Daniel said, as he finished at last and observed his handiwork. She would heal on her own now. She would live. "I can die. After what I've done… it's only a little of what I've deserved."
He straightened his back, then fell to the side after a moment, looking up into the sky as his own Frame began to crumble and dissolve. "You'll live. And that's enough."
He barely felt the other connection that had been made moments before he finished his work. Barely felt the horror and shock as it processed what he had said and done.
. . .
Eleanor's breath quickened as she realized what Daniel had done. To himself. To save Rei. Hikari looked up at her as they exited Central Dogma, Eleanor looking around her to ensure that they would not be seen.
Hikari's eyes widened and became filled with confusion as Eleanor's pace quickened. "Eleanor? What's wrong?"
Eleanor said nothing, grabbing Hikari's arm as she turned down an empty corridor, a vortex of water swirling to life in the palm of her hand as she and Hikari marched into what looked like an oncoming wave.
"Eleanor!" Hikari said, and they were through, without getting wet at all. They had emerged on one of the hills on the outskirts of Tokyo-3, surrounded by trees and bushes, and a view of the open blue sky.
None of those held her attention, however, as she gasped at the sight of Daniel laying next to the broken Plug on a ground slick with slightly steaming LCL, Rei at his side.
Eleanor rushed over to Daniel as Hikari made her way over to Rei, kneeling next to him while Hikari tended to Rei's physical wounds.
Eleanor looked at Daniel's soul with the Sight, and tried not to sob at what she saw. It was… ripped apart. Degrading. There wasn't enough there to make sure he lived. Not without power and tools and facilities she didn't have on hand. He…
He looked over at her, and slowly raised a hand to caress her face. "She'll live." Daniel whispered to Eleanor with a slight smile on his face. "She'll live. Our daughter will live."
Eleanor shook her head as she looked back up at Rei, who would indeed live because of what Daniel had done, then looked back at him. "You idiot. You absolute idiot. Why didn't you wait? Why didn't you just..." she sobbed. "Why?"
"Because I… couldn't let it happen again. So, I didn't." Daniel said more quietly.
"Eleanor." He said as he slipped away. "I love you."
His hand slipped off her face, and he took one last breath.
Before his soul flew away, Eleanor created one last Frame, and energized it quickly, catching the fleeing core within it. His soul was safe. But he… he…
She clutched his body to hers, and wept.
. . .
3 Hours Later
Ritsuko, Maya and Misato circled around the site of the crashed Entry Plug. There was a spill of LCL at the impact site, a fact that puzzled Ritsuko and Maya as they touched down.
Teams of hazmat suited technicians surrounded the Plug as they scanned it, and declared it safe, as Ritsuko and Maya approached the open emergency door of the Plug.
Maya looked in, and her eyes were wide. "Senpai…" she said with no small amount of wonder. "She's...
Ritsuko looked in with both her eyes and her Sight, and was amazed to see that, against all odds, Rei was… alive. Unconscious, but alive, in the seat of the Entry Plug.
She turned to the men who came up to her with a paramedic stretcher. "The pilot's condition is classified as Top Secret. Only I and Lieutenant Ibuki, as well as anyone we clear, are allowed to go anywhere near her. Secure her, then dispose of the rest of the Plug."
The technicians nodded, helping Maya load Rei onto the stretcher after she performed some first aid, and zipping up the man-sized biohazard bag that was there more for precaution than anything else.
Misato watched as they loaded the stretcher into the tilt-rotor craft that she and the other two had come in. "She's alive…" she whispered to herself, as she took in the Sight of Rei's soul. Something felt off to her about the sight, but she brushed it aside for the moment, glad that her pilot, her friend, had miraculously survived the battle. They had won. Yet again. Thanks to her.
As Misato, Maya and Ritsuko rode alone with the bagged up Rei, Ritsuko shook her head. "It's a wonder that she didn't fly out of the Plug when the door came off."
Maya nodded. "Yeah. But… it didn't look like it came off on impact. The Plugs simply aren't built like that. It looked like… it was torn off."
Misato connected the dots after a silent moment, and nodded. "Hold on. I'm going to reach out to Daniel."
She focused, reaching out, and finding him. "Daniel?" nothing. "Daniel, can you hear me?" still nothing.
She shook her head. "Daniel isn't responding. Maybe Eleanor got there instead of him."
Misato reached out again. "Eleanor?"
Misato was almost swept over by a massive wave of grief, anger and guilt, the force of the emotions making her tear up slightly. "Eleanor, what's going on? Where's Daniel?"
An image, sharp and clear, like she had seen it herself, came to her mind. And she knew exactly what it meant, as her eyes widened and tears began to flow. "Daniel…" she whispered, stifling a sob as she saw Ritsuko and Maya's eyes widen.
. . .
Rei's eyes cracked open, and she took in the sight of friends. Shinji and Asuka were on the left of her hospital bed, and Toji and Hikari stood at the foot of the bed, Eleanor behind them.
And on her left, Kaworu held her hand gently, smiling as his eyes locked with hers.
Asuka chuckled. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Wondergirl. How's it feel to have a new lease on life?"
Rei's eyes widened as she remembered. She tore her gaze from Kaworu's eyes as they began to grow concerned, and looked intently at Eleanor. "This… is not a new body." she said quietly. Her gaze asked Eleanor a question, begged and pleaded with her to give the answer that she desperately hoped it would be, as most of her friends became confused.
"What?" Kaworu said. "What do you mean?"
Rei didn't answer, continuing to stare at Eleanor, as she finally shook her head slightly.
"No…" Rei whispered, and tears began to stream down her cheeks.
The other Children turned to look at Eleanor, and finally began to connect the dots as they saw Eleanor clearly, her puffy red-rimmed eyes seeming to hold a few more tears to shed. "Where's Daniel?" Asuka said quietly.
Eleanor was silent.
"Eleanor, please, where is Daniel?" Asuka said, her eyes widening and tears welling up in them as dread seemed to crush her chest as she stepped away from Rei's side.
With all eyes on her, she opened a closed hand, revealing what looked like a globe of water, with a bright, glowing center.
Asuka shook her head as she stepped forward, her face scrunched up as she was desperately trying not to sob. "No. No, no, no. Eleanor. He's okay. He has to be okay. That can't be him. He has to… he has… he…"
She fell to her knees, clutching her head in her hands as she wept and sobbed. "Bruder! Why?" she said in between sobs.
Shinji could barely think as he made his way over to Asuka, kneeling beside her and embracing her as he silently wept himself. 'He's… he's dead? He saved Rei?'
Rei continued to weep as she squeezed Kaworu's hand. "Father…" she whispered. "Why?"
. . .
It was a silent, solemn car ride home. Shinji, Asuka and Rei, released by a teary-eyed Ritsuko, rode home with Misato and Eleanor.
As they reached the apartment building, the group got out of the car, and Eleanor turned to face them. "I… I have his body. Down in the Infinity Box. If you want to…"
The others nodded after a moment, and Eleanor led the procession.
They stopped for a moment in the master bedroom, taking in what was Daniel's. Pictures of moments that they had almost forgotten were spread across the room, and Asuka picked up one that held a place of honor on the dresser.
It was a picture of Daniel, Shinji and Asuka after they had defeated Gaghiel. Daniel stood between them, hands on both their shoulders as they stood in the parking lot of the apartment. Asuka had her hands on her hips, a sure, brave smile on her face. Shinji's smile was more strained, but he held it, regardless of the pinching that Asuka's spare Plugsuit did.
Asuka chuckled at the memory, drawing Shinji's attention to her and the picture, and they both silently marveled over it.
Rei picked up a far more recent picture. It was the Christmas party, just before the adults and the children separated. He stood between Shinji and Rei, wearing a ridiculous Christmas sweater. Another picture in the frame caught Daniel and Rei in the moment he praised her viola playing, and he couldn't have looked more proud of Rei at any other time.
Misato picked up another picture on the dresser, one from longer ago than many of the others. It showed Daniel, Misato and Asuka showing off the patches they had gotten when Unit-02 was completed. They stood in front of Unit-02, all the way back in the Stahlturm. She looked up, and on the wall, she found the patch itself, framed and behind a pane of glass. She reached out and gently brushed the frame, a slight smile on her face.
Eleanor cleared her throat after a moment. The others turned, and the door to the Infinity Box was open. "Follow me when you're ready." she said quietly.
. . .
It was a few more moments before the trio walked into the Infinity Box. In the center of the now bare room stood a table, upon which lay the body of Daniel Theisman, surrounded by a dome of shimmering light.
They all walked over to the table, putting a hand on the forcefield as they looked down at the man they all loved in one way or another.
It was silent. Then, Eleanor sighed quietly. "If he wasn't stupid enough to just wait…"
Asuka shook her head. Her eyes hurt. She hadn't cried this much since… since before her mother's funeral. She wanted to keep crying, now. More than anything, she wanted to keep showing the uncaring world that she had cared for her Bruder. She almost chuckled at the thought, at how mad the Asuka of a few years past might have been at her now.
Shinji put a hand on Asuka's shoulder, and she looked over at him. She felt no small amount of surprise as she saw that the grief she expected to find in his eyes was joined by an intense thoughtfulness. The thoughtfulness that came when Shinji had an idea brewing in that beautiful mind of his.
It was silent again for a heartbeat. Then another. Finally, Shinji spoke up. "Is… is there anything we can do with Interfacing?"
Eleanor looked at Shinji, and for the briefest of instants, her sorrowful green eyes flickered with hope. Then, they dimmed again. "Normally, yes, Shinji."
As Misato, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka's eyes widened, Eleanor continued. "Death doesn't need to be the end for someone who travels the Worldsea. Shinji, Asuka, Rei, you've heard that much from Daniel's travels to the world of Dark Souls. Beyond the plentiful resurrection magics that can be found in one Echo or another, there's the far simpler one of just putting him in a P2 tank."
"A… P2 tank?" Asuka said, tilting her head slightly. "What's that?"
Eleanor chuckled softly. "Like I said, it's a simple thing, really. A P2 tank is a regular tank filled with a P2 substance. A Physical-Pneumaic bonding agent. There are dozens, hundreds of different agents out there, and all of them stimulate the growth of new Frames. Something which Menders like me find extremely difficult to do, even under the best of circumstances."
Eleanor sighed quietly and shook her head. "But the problem is, it's nearly impossible for me to source or fabricate most any of the agents that I know of here, and finding those agents elsewhere runs the risk of tipping off the Scions that he's dead. I…" she sighed quietly as he put a hand to her face. "I don't know what to do."
It was silent again for a moment, as Shinji, Asuka and Rei's spirits sank yet again. It hurt that he was gone. It hurt even more that he could be brought back from this, that they could see him again… if they were anywhere else in Reality.
Then, Misato's voice rang out in the silent chamber. "Eleanor?" Misato said, and as all eyes turned to her, they saw the look in her eyes. The look that always came when she was thinking of something absolutely crazy.
"Yes, Misato?" Eleanor said slowly.
"Is LCL one of those substances?" Misato said quietly, and everyone's eyes widened.
Eleanor shook her head after a moment. "Yes… yes, it would have to be." she looked at Rei. "It would be the only way that you were able to go from your first body to the second one without taking years to regrow your Frame, Rei."
Rei's eyes widened at the implication, then both hers and Eleanor's turned back to Misato as she went silent again for a moment, her eyes darting sightlessly as she did what she did best. "Guys… I have an idea."
Next Time on Apotheosis Echo...
Misato's idea gets put to the test, as Daniel is placed in the care of Ritsuko. A long overdue party is had, and the beginning of what should be the end of all things on Earth comes ever closer. What world will Daniel awake to? Next Episode: Stepping Back from the Light.