Apart.
The GeoFront. Once the home of NERV HQ, the instrument of SEELE's final play for their grand finale. Ventilated air and reflected sunlight leading to the glistening, golden ripples and waves along the surface of the artificial lake.
Despite the latter organisations attempts to wipe it from the face of history, the pyramid base stood proud within its subterranean home. The roof of the space long since restored, once again shielding the area from the city above.
Even if she were conscious, the former Pilot of Evangelion Unit 2 wouldn't have been able to see beyond the dark confines of the vehicle barreling towards the familiar location. But if she had, she may have been surprised to see the only thing that had changed was the logo on the pyramid.
And within that pyramid, three levels higher than the nostalgic (yet radically different from memory) Central Dogma, is a spacious office in complete and utter disarray.
Longer than it was wide with a red-painted door that slid open with a low hiss into the cold, metallic corridor. The cold precision of the facility coming to a screeching halt at the threshold of a room that contained two computer laden desks, a few rickety tables and a pair of high-backed swivel chairs.
One such table was by the door, laden with plates and cups (food and liquid residue clinging to them all).
Every other flat surface barring the floor (including the floor to ceiling window on the western wall that was allowing the golden light of the setting sun to illuminate the desks, computers and other knick-knacks and equipment) was buried under mountains of books and papers.
It was a chaos only two knew how to truly navigate; one being the blonde-haired woman, hunched over the slick black keyboard of her computer (nose barely a few inches from the surface of the LED screen) whilst the other had silently slipped into the room and sighed defeatedly in the face of the mess. The young man able to sweep through the space for a good few minutes, stacking up loose sheets and thick manuscripts into more presentable piles before Dr. Ritsuko Akagi even realised her young assistant had arrived.
A foam cup with a familiar rich scent lazily snaking up into the air from the near black liquid placed beside her. The rim of her pale blue mug stained with her red lipstick (and a cigarette butt floating in the inch of ice-cold coffee left) taken by the same hand that had delivered her replacement,
"Good evening." A sarcastic purr met with a nervous chuckle,
"Yeah, almost isn't it. I'm sorry," Shinji stepped back, rising from a short bow at the waist as her green gaze raked him up and down and settled on the crooked, bashful grin, "I got roped into giving the Commander a pick-me-up. It's only right I brought you something for the inconvenience."
He jerked his head to the steaming gift but, despite the gesture, all the bleached blonde could manage was a flat, unimpressed look at the teen,
"You really provided that woman with alcohol?" She groaned with a half-glower at the stunningly unrepentant man,
"I trust Captain Makoto to keep her in line." A shrug and grin that she refused to believe,
"He folds like a house of cards at the batting of her eyelashes, Shinji." He was now avoiding eye contact and she didn't bite back the urge to roll her eyes and sigh in defeat, "It's the only reason he never made it to Vice-Commander. That woman needs someone who will ACTUALLY challenge her decisions…"
She continued to grumble as Shinji softly chuckled, sidling away to place Ritsuko's used mug on that messy table by the door before moving his attention to the 'In-tray' of the shared space. She punched in the last of her memo and sent it off with a resounding strike to the enter button before regarding Shinji again.
'I wonder how much of that height is puberty finishing it's job, or the fact he stands straighter now?' A musing made in her mind as she sipped her coffee, indulging in it and the boy's blues gliding back-and-forth across the document in hand, flipping between sheets at speed as he worried his inner cheek between his teeth, 'He's a completely different beast these days, huh?'
He wasn't some carbon copy of either of his parents; he had his old man's height and frame, but she could clearly see that (even though he'd lost some of the pudge in his cheeks and he'd clearly inherited the jaw and cheekbones of his father), his face was more reminiscent of Yui than Gendo. His gaze remained soft, even as he bore holes in the pages he was reading, and though he spoke with far more firmness and far less stuttering, he was still a quiet young man. Though thoughtful and determined was what she interpreted from his silence, rather than an unsure child avoiding conversation.
'So much more of this boy had changed since he'd come out of that soup of life.' An almost bitter twinge to her own changes in physicality (the alarming one being a few grey hairs appearing in her roots whenever she went to dye them).
Ritsuko smiled as she heard him quietly hum a thought and dip into one of the deep pockets of their matching lab coats for a pen. Finally turning back to her own work as he began furiously annotating the document in hand, hiding the upturn of her lips with another swig of liquid energy,
"Speaking of which, the Vice Commander was wondering if you've finished your dissertation yet?" He flicked only his eyes to her, a brown brow curling upwards as he silently waited for her, "To spoil things for you, he is planning on throwing you a party. All on WILLE's dime of course."
"He… huh? Mr. Aoba is- He doesn't need to do that…"
"That is true." She shrugged, turning the motion into a few rolls of the shoulder before releasing a soft breath at a satisfying click, "But, regardless of what state you publish your work, to be at all in a position to publish a paper on bioengineering AND to already have the experience in the field that you have. That is worthy of celebration, Shinji."
The expression she threw over her shoulder was an odd mix of teasing and firmness,
"You should be incredibly proud of EVERYTHING you have accomplished." Her expression softened and she was the first to shy away from the eye contact with the blushing boy, "Particularly considering your circumstances."
Heavy silence blanketed them both,
"I… WE don't blame you, Dr. Akagi. I hope you know that too." Ritsuko's heart clenched, and she resisted the urge to glower. He was far too good at picking up on her thoughts,
"I had my part to play." She sighed,
"As did I."
"You were a child, and you still are." A snap of a response, a sidelong glare doing nothing to deter him,
"That isn't an excuse for not asking questions. I LET myself be manipulated, Dr. Akagi, because I enjoyed the feeling of being wanted, despite everything else." Piercing forest green met by the sharper greyish blue of the junior in the room, "Stop babying me. I was a childish idiot and people got hurt because of that. I'm not going to break just because I acknowledge it."
Shinji's heart clenched so harshly he nearly keeled forward, Ritsuko's face had twisted so briefly. Her gaze so soft and her lips pulled into such a deep frown, pain and regret swimming in her eyes for a few seconds before she schooled her expression,
"I think… we should change the subject." Ritsuko's tone slower now, more measured. And although Shinji nodded and chose to plaster a genial smile onto his lips, that image rippled in his head as he crossed the room.
BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!
"Another one?" Simultaneous in their response, the two locked eyes,
"Wasn't there a returnee earlier today?" Shinji muttered a little airily, though Ritsuko nodded along,
"Yes. I'll need to check, but this must be the first time we've had more than one in a day in the past few months." Her response a grunt as her entire attention settled onto her computer screen. The click-clack of her nails on the keyboard filling the room,
"Do we know who it was earlier?" Shinji crossed to her desk and half leaned over Ritsuko's chair to see the charts she was pulling up,
"Some civilian. I don't know the details, but they were transferred to the New Shibuya hospital." The pairs curiosity sated when they pulled up the records of a male in his late thirties, though Shinji's attention quickly slipped from the screen to regard the WILLE Doctor from the corner of his eye.
He had always been good at picking up on the unspoken words in people's voices and expressions.
It had been a curse, as it left him paranoid and prone to overthinking his every interaction with those around him (which had snowballed into other problems beyond simple social anxiety), though it was nowhere near a useless 'talent'. Particularly this close, Shinji had no issue picking the bitter undercurrent in Ritsuko's speech,
"How long was the gap before today?"
"It's been about two months since the last returnee." She hummed, her tone a little less sour but it wasn't hiding from Shinji now he was actively listening for it, "It was three months before that for the last batch."
"Hmm… the gap is certainly shrinking. If we're getting a double event after all of that, perhaps there is still hope?" He immediately winced as he noticed her grip tighten on the mouse, soft eyes flicking to her as he bowed his head somewhat, "I'm sorry, Dr. Akagi."
"We've told you to stop apologising for things that aren't your responsibility, Shinji." Her tone was supposed to be teasing, but the words came thick in her throat. Sounding overly harsh to her own ears as she uttered them,
"Ah, I'm sorry- I mean! Eurgh!"
"Somethings won't ever change." She graced the boy by letting her red lips curl up at the sight of his flushed face. But her smile didn't remain for long, "If she's not coming back, that means she's happy. I'm fine with that, Shinji."
"Happy- I don't think that is correct for being… down there." He pulled away, eyes firmly on her now as he turned to face her fully, "You know better than anyone that people often feel… embarrassed about coming back. Perhaps-"
"You're not ignorant to the scientific method anymore, Shinji. All information suggests that the instant an individual becomes at all misaligned with the collective they are ejected from Instrumentality." Her words were delivered with the slightest hint of a huff, "Maya has wholeheartedly accepted Instrumentality. She is not conscious and avoiding her return, that is not possible."
Her entire diatribe was delivered tersely, her back to the man she was addressing as he levelled an ever-softening look at her bleached blonde head. Unperturbed by her standoffish reply, he scooped up some more papers and drew his swivel chair to him with his foot,
"I think… I think you should have more faith in the lieutenant, Dr. Akagi." Gentle, the two not sharing any other words as they settled into their busywork. Shinji's hands gliding across the keyboard at an ever-increasing pace as Ritsuko eased herself back into her tasks.
It couldn't have been a half-hour later that the hum of a vibrating phone hit her ears, coming from somewhere near to her but impossible to perceive through the mess,
"Second drawer down." Provided absently, the rapid click-clack from his keyboard not at all interrupted as he directed her to her mobile phone. She shot him a short noise of gratitude before fishing under the papers and chocolate for the noisy object.
Text messages, three of them. A few taps of her screen had the device unlocked and the contents sent her heart hurtling up into her throat:
-Asuka just appeared on the beach.-
-She is enroute, whatever you are doing drop it. Get the medical bay ready, I want her quarantined until further notice.-
-NO ONE touches her.-
"Dr. Akagi?" Absently, she realised she'd gasped aloud. Her mind swimming with images of a redheaded German girl, then interrupted by memories of seeing her alongside the boy Shinji used to be.
"I… I need you to remain calm, Shinji."
Her eyes.
Shinji was far too good at reading people. So, all she had to say was for him to remain calm and the floor disappeared from under him, his heart falling through his stomach.
He was shaking like a leaf, if Ritsuko's furrowed expression was anything to go off he must look a state, and he balled his hands into painful fists in his lap. The fabric of his trouser the only protection from his grinding nails as he took one shaky (not at all heart settling) breath after another before he choked out his question in as firm a voice he could muster,
"Which of them is it?"
Thank you for the great feedback, suggestions and support on the story so far.
Particularly, thank you Crownlessking21 for the nice review and for letting me know about the little screwup with the upload last week.
Especially big thank you to skyf0x for the huge, in-depth reviews on each chapter thus far. All three of them have been incredibly helpful in seeing what is and is not working/getting across. And thanks for the tip on the honorifics, I did end up going back and removing them and won't be using them going forward in this story. I hope you, and everyone, continue to enjoy the different approach I'm taking to the story of Evangelion and the aftermath as we continue onwards.
Thank you all again for reading and sticking with me, take care!