Chapter 12: Bitterness
After the Fourth Angel attack, NERV setup a temporary research base in the mountains. Recovery teams were cleaning and retrieving parts of the Angel that were blown off in the city streets and the mountain side. In one of the research facility rooms, Ritsuko was typing on a computer that was retrieving data from a sample that they recovered in an adjacent room. Misato was wearing a working suit with the top folded around her waist and a helmet unbuckled. She was leaning on a wall while staring at Shinji who was looking through the window at one of the samples.
'...' she thought and sighed. 'Looks like goop to me.'
The male pilot was wearing grey cargo shorts and a dark-blue long sleeve shirt with a helmet fastened on his head. He was listening to his S-DAT. He stared at what was left of the sample, mostly a dark red-violent substance in a viscous form. Voices were telling him that he was that one time. He didn't express anything and kept staring.
"So, did you get any data from the sample of Mr. Enemy here?" Misato asked.
"See for yourself," Ritsuko said. Walking to where the scientist was, the monitor showed a three digit number "601".
"What's that mean?"
"That's the code number for 'insoluble'."
"So in other words, you haven't got a clue?"
"Yes, except we did learn one thing" Ritsuko said as she typed on the computer. "The Angel's individual wave-form pattern, despite the difference in its component material, resembles to human material…"
"…that match is 99.89%," she said drinking her coffee.
"99.89 percent! But that's the same as the Evas!" the Captain stated in shock.
Hearing footsteps from afar, they turned their heads to the entrance of the room they were in. They saw the Commander, Sub-Commander, and a couple of scientists walk by. It seemed that the recovery team was excited about picking up a core sample. Ritsuko looked back at the information coming in and Misato turned to see Shinji still standing but with his right hand on the window.
'I wonder what he is thinking…time to sneak,' she thought playfully.
Voices were contemplating on the latest discovery about the Angels. In a sense, NERV was killing a relative to human evolution. Despite being a rare species to have existed, some contemplated that these creatures were the biblical representation of Angels. Despite their form, religious groups saw these as messengers from the higher being about cleansing the world of its sin. Shinji listened to both his music and his voices discussion though not interested in either. Strangely, the two mixed well together.
'So…if the slime in there is closely related to humans…can we manipulate it to our will?' one voice asked out of the blue.
'That would be fun,' the little boy chimed while making skipping noises. All the voices started to chuckle then laughed like hyenas. As the volume of laughter became unbearable, Shinji pressed on the window a little more.
"What'cha looking at Shinji?" Misato said playfully. She clapped her hands on his shoulders first before speaking.
The Third Child didn't flinch and just looked forward. All three heard a thud at the window causing the Captain to look up and the scientist to turn around. Both were struck with horror at what slammed into the window view. The sample in the other room morphed into a monster's sucker mouth. It greedily tried to suck them into its dark red-violet color gullet as its thousands of mini teeth rapidly tapped on the glass.
Fidgeting as if it was very hungry, it tried harder. The terror level of both women rose hearing the glass starting to crack in webs. Then as quick as it came, the form stopped. Slowly retracing back to its pile of goop, the substance lied motionlessly. The readings from equipment gave notion that it was dead having no more energy to use.
"That," Shinji said calmly.
Hearing no reply, he blinked and turned his head to the left. Ritsuko was frozen with a scared face. Blinking, he turned his head to the right and looked up. Misato was in the same expression and seemed like a statue. He felt her hands gripping his shoulders tighter. Turning his head back to the window, he stared forward.
"May I ask that you let go Miss Misato?" he asked. Moments passed by with nothing said or moved. Shinji was getting a little better at physical touch but could not stand it very long. He felt his arms starting to give little violent trembles.
"Miss Misato, please let go of me," he asked again.
The Captain didn't register his voice. Frozen in place, she was still in disbelief at what happened. She remembered seeing a horror movie with Ritsuko that had something like what she just saw. The scientist remembered the movie that Misato was thinking about and thought how scary it would be to see it for real. Seeing it just froze her in terror.
When the male pilot still didn't get a reply, his limbs were starting to spasm. It made breathing difficult as he was slowly losing physical control. He had a fair idea that his voices were laughing at the practical joke, but they were silent. Trying to walk away, Misato's firm grip and being close to the window gave little leverage for him to use. Grabbing and prying her hands off his shoulders, he put them at her side. Walking away from the Captain, his limbs started to calm down. Getting between them, the Third Child looked at both.
"Dr. Akagi...Miss Misato...are you both feeling well?" he asked with an expressionless face and tone.
All he got was low conversation noises from down the hall. Both were still unresponsive. He called them again and got the same thing. Unsuccessful in getting them out of their stupor, he turned to his side and looked at the weakened window. Stepping back a little, he sprinted a few steps forward. When at the right distance, he jumped and dropped kick the window.
Upon impact, the glass instantly smashed forward sending shards into the observing room. The impact sounded like a small explosion which shook up the two women. Going through the window and landing on his feet, he instantly walked to be out of sight. Passing the substance, he heard the company in his head giggle. The voices were making sounds and visually making the goop move toward him.
Not turning around, he saw a hatch door in the corner of the room's ceiling. His voices giggled more disorderedly at him. A sudden feeling of many small teeth brushing his calves, rear, back, and head made his eyes widen a little. Bolting forward, he jumped at the ladder. Grabbing it near the halfway point, he climbed it to the ceiling. Climbing it, he went through the hatch door not reacting to the pulls he felt on his legs.
Reaching outside of the room, Shinji closed the door and looked around. The open hallway was below him and not many people were looking. At the end to his left, the Commander, Sub-Commander, and a couple of scientists were walking away from the Angel core sample. They were heading to the room that he and the two women were in. Seeing them go in or converge around the doorway, he dropped down to the hallway.
Landing quietly, his voices asked him to go to the Angel core. Not sure why or going to question it, he walked toward the damaged red orb. None of the men at the door entrance noticed him. Upon the window bursting forward, both Misato and Ritsuko blinked. Getting out of their stupor and realizing the glass broke, both looked in fear again at the substance. The Captain backed up slowly while the scientist saw something on the computer. The energy read out from the sensors inside showed a flat line.
"...Rits…" Misato whispered while turning her head little. "What are we going to do?"
"You can relax. Whatever was left in it has died," the faux blonde stated with relief.
"It's dead? Thank god!" the Captain stated. Sighing in relief, she then noticed something was amiss.
"Wait, where is Shinji?"
"What happened here Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi?" asked Kozo who first appeared in the room.
Looking at the doorway, both saw the Commanders and a couple of scientists. Ritsuko told what happened regarding about an energy residue that was left in the sample in the next room. Also, she stated that the sample tried to leech through the window at Misato.
"I want a report on this Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi as soon as possible," the Commander stated coldly as usual.
"Yes sir," both women said. The group walked out leaving the two women behind in a disoriented state. As both Kozo and Gendo entered the hallway outside, they saw someone standing in front of the core sample that could be used. Both saw the Third Child standing there, noticing that he had earphones on.
Both blinked and saw the Third Child's front side. He walked forward towards them. The Sub-Commander was surprised how quickly the boy turned around, almost like he didn't. Gendo stared coldly as the Third Child moved towards him. Stopping some feet away, he bowed and walked passed them down the passageway. He didn't have any expression on his face.
"…" the Sub-Commander stated.
Feeling a slight shiver, he got a murky feeling about the pilot. He seemed puzzled how the Third Child acted around his father. Believing that any child who was abandoned by their parent, they would have resentment, anger or something of that nature. However, there seemed to be none. Strangely, he behaved similar to the First Child. It made him wonder what exactly happened during the unknown 11 years of his growing up.
"..." Gendo stated. Ignoring what he saw, he continued walking toward the core with the others following around him.
Ritsuko and Misato were still in a disoriented state. The scientist typed into the computer to see if any of the sensors had a visual into the room. Finding one, it showed that they weren't seeing things. When the sample went back to being on its table, they saw the boy trying to snap them out but they didn't respond. Then, they then saw how much the boy didn't like to be touch for his limps were trembling violently and quiet visibly. They were then curious on how Shinji woke them and got the answer when he shattered the window. Both made their report.
The next day at school, it was a nice day out with not a cloud in the sky. PE was in session with the girls swimming and the boys playing basketball. Most of the boys would sit on the bench-stands, but that didn't go to waste for them. They all had a somewhat good upshot view of the girl's swimsuits at the pool. Despite some female students knowing that the boys at the bleachers were ogling them, one particular person wasn't there.
Rei sat in her usual spot outside of the pool and next to the chain linked fence. She was staring into the void of things that only she knew of. She heard a couple of the girls talking about how the boys down there were perverts for watching them. She didn't care and continued her void.
"Man, this is quality TV aye?" Toji said with a sigh. Hearing the grunts of approve from others, the jock got next to Kensuke.
"Whatcha' starin' at Aida?"
"Nothing in particular," Kensuke said. There was a hint of redness on his cheeks still staring at the girls. Thinking of what to do to not be a target, he thought about the male pilot.
"What do you think Ikari would stare at?"
"Hmm," Toji stated and looked harder at the girls. "…Horaki...I think?"
"…I would say Ayanami?"
"Eh?! Why would ya say her?" Toji asked still staring at the girls.
"Come on Toji, they both act the same. Plus they're both the most exotic rated people in the school which adds to our fund money," Kensuke explained and continued to stare.
"Oh yeah," Toji said in semi-realization, semi-knowing it already. When a couple of girls pushed their rumps out, most of boys leaned forward and made a low sound of interest.
Rei turned toward them expecting to find the Third Child with them but he wasn't. She was about to lose interest when she saw a lone figure jogging along a turn on the track. Watching the figure turn, he was not going slow or fast. As he was about to go out of view, he suddenly stopped. The figure then turned toward her, bowed, then went back to jogging.
Rei's eyes widen a little to find the Third Child alone on the track. However, it was the odd feeling that he knew that she was staring at him. She turned back to stare at the floor, but turned back to the track when she saw him come into view again. Watching a couple of times, she stopped and just watched the floor the rest of the period. More questions about the boy came to mind.
For most of them, Ayanami couldn't answer them or seem satisfied with one answer. She held them for another time. Later inside NERV HQ, the two pilots went through a synch test which both improved. Shinji increased his percentage very little each time and Rei was back to where she was before her accident. Both Evas were locked in by shoulder restraints in an Eva cage.
Shinji was still in his Eva for the cool down session while Rei was done with hers. The First Child was out of the entry-plug and checking on readings of her Eva. Hearing footsteps from behind her, she continued looking at the displays readout
"Rei…" Gendo stated. She her turned her head toward him, she stood up.
"…Unit-00s reactivation test is finally coming up tomorrow."
"Yes sir," Rei said as she turned toward him.
"Are you scared?"
"I'm all right, don't worry," Rei said. Getting on the catwalk, she walked a little to be in front of him.
"I see. I'm sure it'll go smoothly this time," he said with a softened face.
"Yes sir," the female pilot said looking a little pleased from his expression.
[We'll get you out in a second Shinji.] Misato said. Shinji just nodded.
'See you next time Shinji. Bye,' Yui said cheerfully.
'Good day Miss Ikari,' he thought with a bow.
Opening his eyes, he saw a scene between the Commander and the First Child. Blinking, he looked at her Eva. He felt something very vague as he stared at it. The war machine almost seemed to emit an emotion. The presence in the Eva seemed strangely similar to Dr. Akagi.
His voices were shouting at him of family, pain, loneliness, loss of love, and murder. They went a step further and added a flashback of someone chocking a small child. Blinking, the flashback went away. Not reacting to it, the company in his head told him to make first contacted. Nodding internally, he closed his eyes concentrating on the remaining power his Eva had.
Inside Unit-00, a female human spirit stared with burning hatred at the two figures on the catwalk. In an act of revenge, she made syncing with the blue haired pilot harder by resisting. But at the same time, she didn't do that much for the resisting was done by the pilot herself. She smiled when the first reactivation test was disastrous. But, she frowned at the sight of the commander running toward the fallen pilot when the test almost ended fatally.
She didn't make contact with the other Eva for knowing who was in it. The feelings between them were probably mutual, but never tried to confirm it. Hearing about a back up pilot; however, the spirit hadn't seen him yet. She wondered what sort of mischief she could cause for the female pilot when a voice called out to her.
'Greetings, Dr. Naoko Akagi.'
The entry-plug for Unit-01 ejected and Shinji stepped out. He stood half in the shadows and saw multiple things. One, Rei and Gendo were looking at Unit-00. Two, a commotion was going on in the observing room. He could hear Ritsuko, Misato, Maya, Makoto, and Shigeru shouting what he thought sounded like disbelief. The last thing was Unit-00's head turned toward him a little even though it was off-line.
'...!?' the human spirit said. Hearing her name and where the voice came from, it was from the other war machine. She saw entry the plug ejecting.
'So, that's the new pilot?' Naoko thought with wonder. She waited and found the person standing half in the shadows. She zoomed in.
'…It's his kid!? But how, wasn't he said to be dead!?' she thought in shock. Looking quickly at Gendo, the spirit smirked evilly.
'Lying, two timing bastard…'
Naoko stared back at the other pilot to see if a good view would come. Shinji stared at the Unit-00 a little longer. A sensation went through him giving him a vague feeling that Yui was laughing. Blinking, he stepped onto the catwalk. Answer a couple of questions for the technicians out on the connecting catwalk, he stared walking down to the main walkway area.
Gendo and Rei stared at the Eva-00 who just moved its head a little by itself. Seeing it stare at something, both turned toward the source. Seeing the Third Child, he was walking across the Eva cage. Both heard a commotion in the control room when they heard something move again. Turning back toward the Eva, its head moved very slightly.
Rei saw from the corner of her eye that the Commander was in a state of surprise which was rare to see him like that. She saw his head move very slowly as it continued to watch something. Turning back around, the Third Child made it to the wall. Instead of the exit to his right, he turned left. There was another set of exit doors on the other end of the catwalk.
Rei concluded that the Eva was watching Shinji for a reason unknown to her. The result added more questions that she couldn't answer. Everyone in the observation was watching in disbelief as Unit-00 was moving on its own and watching the Third Child. This of course shot everyone's curiosity through the roof. Naoko took Shinji's entire figure and listed the first things that came to mind. She did not care if it was immature or improper.
'My, my how handsome you look from the last time I saw you…Shinji I believe,' said to herself while watching him. Despite him walking, the spirit saw his eyes slowly turn toward her direction. They stopped at the corner of his eyes and bore at her while continuing to walk.
'Hmm, you have pretty eyes…but weren't they blue…I don't remember. Now if they didn't have that gloomy shine…' the spirit trailed off seeing the odd shine fading away.
'That's better,' she thought with a small smile. Looking at his build, her smile grew a little more. Seeing as he was nearing the exit, she was about to turn away into her prison void. However, the pilot was still staring in her direction while walking. It almost felt that he could feel her presence and made a pondering comment.
'I wonder what he would look like if he smiled?'
Blinking in surprise, his expression changed. His last steps before turning to the exit, he put on his lady-killer smile. His voices were giggling, laughing, chuckling, cackling, and mocking him as he tried to resist. They were able to break through his resistance and change his stoic expression. All of them knew the spirit was watching him and enjoyed Shinji's irritation for getting unwanted attention.
'...' Naoko said and just stared. In her form of nothingness, she imagined herself sitting and leaning forward on a table. With her right arm prompting up her chin in hand, a wicked smile came. Thoughts of multiple things came to mind dealing with the Third Child. Not only that, but how to corrupt Gendo using his child as the source.
In the locker room, Shinji changed out of his plug suit. He only had his underwear on when Misato and Ritsuko came in. He turned and looked at them impassively for a moment then started putting his pants and shirt on. Both looked at something else till he fully dressed. However, the Captain looked back from the corner of her eye.
'I thought I saw scars on his thighs…maybe it was my imagination.'
When both heard the sound of a buckle, they turned around to see the pilot bowing to them. He stood there looking at them seemingly waiting for them to speak. The NERV scientist asked a series of questions which he answered mostly yes or no to. Both women felt that he was holding information but decided what they had was good enough for now.
"Is there anything else you need?" Shinji asked.
"No Ikari, that is good for today," Ritsuko stated. She made her last note on her clipboard.
"Oh hey Rits, you're coming over right?" Misato said. Realizing and stating before forgetting, the scientist nodded.
"Great! Why not you come over as well Shinji?"
'You are so going!' the enthusiastic voice stated in his head.
'Second on that,' another voiced stated a little older than the others.
"Very well." He turned and got his watch and back pack on.
As the three walked together, the Captain tried to persuade Shinji to let her drive him to her place. He countered saying only if he was order to. After Misato grinned and ordered him, they went to the parking garage. Once in her car, the three went to Misato's apartment.
Ritsuko had a fair idea why he didn't want to be in the car with Misato driving. Zipping through the city wasn't exactly relaxing or enjoyable to any extent. She looked back at him who just stared forward with hands at his sides. There wasn't any emotion of than impassive on his face. She turned back and counted another near-miss accident on her mental check board.
The three reached her apartment in one piece. Entering her home, Misato saw Ritsuko mentioned that the apartment smelled fresh for once. Frowning at her comment, both saw the male pilot go ahead of them. When the scientist turned into the living room, the apartment looked mostly clean. The Captain saw the surprised look on the other's face.
"If this was your doing Misato, I would be shocked," Ritsuko said as she sat down at the dinner table.
"I would be as well," Misato added in as she sat down adjacent from her. They talked a little bit till Shinji placed drinks in front of them. He was in an apron.
"Dinner will be ready in around forty minutes," he said. Misato popped open her beer and took a drink. Ritsuko looked at her drink then at Shinji.
"It is a cocktail," he said. Nodding her head, she took a sip.
"This is pretty good," Ritsuko said in surprise. Bowing, the male pilot went back into the kitchen. Misato placed her beer down and saw a smirk on her friend's face.
"Working him as a servant I see."
"Hardly, he just asks me to do things."
"Oh, why would that be the case?"
"He says doing "butler" stuff serves more of a purpose coming here," she said drinking her beer again.
"..." Ritsuko said feeling that something was hiding. There had to be a different reason the boy came to visit Misato and it wasn't for sightseeing. She skipped the subject and talked about something else with the Captain.
After the alotted time for the meal, dinner was at the table and Ritsuko looked at all the meals. Even the smallest parts looked good visually. The doctor even saw that Misato's pet penguin's meal looked good. Both were about to eat till they noticed something missing. The Third Child hadn't sat down and was in the kitchen cleaning dishes.
"Hey Shinji, get your butt in here and eat!" Misato shouted into the kitchen.
Ritsuko sighed and took a bite of dinner. Startled, she was surprised on how good and interesting it tasted. A few moments later, the Third Child came out. He sat across from the scientist and got his helping. The Captain smiled and happily munched on her food. Ritsuko continued to eat while watching the boy eat.
He ate in smaller portions toward Misato's size of eating. Almost every time he ate, he seemed to have his eyes closed. It reminded her of how a royal female would eat. She also noticed that he wasn't bothered by her friend's behavior which was a surprise. The scientist thought given his mannerisms and strictness, he would have riled at the Captain. However, it intrigued her how the teen can just take a ranting and still be calm. She also took his demeanor as something to just to relax, also like a homey atmosphere.
"Dinner was really good," Ritsuko said with a small smile. Misato confirming with a grunt while drinking her beer.
"Thank you," Shinji said. Giving a small bow, he kept a stoic face. He gathered the dishes and went to the kitchen to clean them. Both women went on to talk about other things such as work, what is going on in the world, and shows. When it came around to the subject of cooking…
"Seriously Misato, your cooking could be rated as a level three bio-weapon which could be of use some day," Ritsuko said with a smirk.
"I'll have you know that my cooking isn't bad. Shinji likes it," Misato said confidently.
"...!?" she said surprised. Thinking about it, she wondered if he was a considerate person.
"He probably says that to keep you from feeling bad," Ritsuko said with another smirk. Seeing her get up, she went into the kitchen and opened her refrigerator. Retrieving something from it, she came back with a leftover meal she stated that she made.
"Why not you try it, you won't believe your tongue," Misato said with grin.
"I'll pass on that one."
"What!? Come on, please?" the Captain asked with a pleading voice and face. Ritsuko harden her face while looking at her, but then sighed. The scientist looked in the bowl and found nothing off color or anything.
'Appearances can be deceiving,' she thought. She picked up a fork and stabbed a small portion of the leftover. Looking it over, the rice and toppings seemed to look normal; however, there was a red sauce on them.
'…Curry…' she thought with a nervous gulp.
Sighing internally, she took a bite. Her expectations of Misato's bad cooking were not there. The leftover meal tasted semi-good with the curry. But the curry was the signature bio-weapon on food. It wasn't half bad which was surprising. She looked at the Captain then back at the food.
"You made this?" Ritsuko asked in disbelief.
"Yup," Misato said as she sat in her original spot. She saw the scientist giving her a look of disbelief which made her smile.
"Shinji has been giving me a few pointers."
"Ah...that is a relief," Ritsuko stated with a sighed in relief. "For a minute there, I thought someone abducted the real one and put another that could cook. Hmm, that could be an improvement."
"..." Misato said. Giving her a glare, the faux blonde held up her hands and giggled. Shinji came out of the kitchen having put all the dishes and silverware away.
"Is there anything that is needed?" he asked.
"..." the lavender haired woman said and sighed. "Shinji, take a load off. Pull up a chair and chat with us for a bit."
A moment passed by as the male pilot just stared at Misato. The Captain was determined to break through his stare and to win the contest. Ritsuko watched in amusement. The pilot blinked then bowed.
"Very well," he said. Going to where he was at dinner, he sat down. Both women looked at him expecting him to say something. A few moments passed and nothing happened. He just stared forward which started to make Ritsuko feel slightly uneasy.
"So Shinji, how is your place going?" Misato asked. Despite saying it, images of what she saw crept into her mind.
"It is fine," Shinji said. Without moving, his eyes slowly turned toward her.
"Is it…clean?" she asked and trailed off while drinking her beer.
"...?" the scientist said.
Raising an eye brow at her, she glanced at the Third Child who just nodded. He slowly moved his eyes and made eye contact with her. It made her feel uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat. Misato sighed in relief which Ritsuko shifted her gaze to look at her. Curiosity came to her mind of asking but ignored it and took a sip of her drink.
"Oh, here take this," Misato said. Getting out a card, she slid it across the table. Watching the card, he caught it before going over the edge.
"It's your new security card," she stated. He nodded.
"Oh, take this too Ikari," Ritsuko said. Reaching into her coat pocket, she pulled out another card. She handed it to Misato who handed it to him.
"I keep forgetting to give her it. Sorry, but could you drop it off at her place tomorrow before you go to HQ," she asked. Shinji looked at the card while his voices were making noises of ghosts in an old haunted house. A little boy giggled from time to time which amplified each time he giggled. Misato saw that he was staring at the card a little bit. Despite his face never changing expression, she decided to put her move on.
"Like what you see?" Misato asked in a teasing voice. Shinji looked up slowly from the card at Misato who was grinning. His voices continued their process making it hard for him to hear what the two women were saying.
"That is a possibility," he said. Slowly standing up, he walked over to where his backpack was in the living room.
"Ohh, you like to leave people on the edge don't cha," Misato stated finding humor in what he said.
"...people end up dead...from that process Miss Misato," he said calmly. Closing his bag, he stood up and turned around. Ritsuko and Misato's eyes widen a little. An uncomfortable silence filled the apartment when the Captain broke it.
"Uhh…right."
"Is there anything else that is needed?" the boy asked. Misato shook her head. He bowed and left for home. Once the door closed and footsteps couldn't be heard, Misato turned to Ritsuko.
"What was that all about?"
"..." the scientist said. She was looking at her drink taking in what the boy said. Blinking, she looked up to see the Captain looking at her.
"Hmm, about what?"
"About what he said, leaving people on edge makes them dead in the end. Do you think he's depressed or something?" Misato wondered.
"..." Ritsuko said giving a slight frown. "He has schizophrenia Misato."
"Oh yeah-you know, he doesn't seem to show signs of it. Do you think he takes medication or had training of some sort?"
"..." she said with an annoyed face. "You saw his record."
"Yeah, yeah I know…but do you think he had?"
"It could be a possibility," the scientist stated. Sitting back in her chair, she folded her arms across her chest.
"But I've tested and asked him...there aren't any meds in him."