Chapter 39: Treading Carefully
During the evening, three people were assembled in Chief Yogosami's office. Ryu was sitting at his desk looking at his paperwork. Nami sat in one chair in front of the desk reading the classified folder they received a few days ago. Rayne sat in the other chair in front of the desk and looked deep in thought.
"…" the Chief said writing and signing a couple of papers. He stuck them in the out box and picked up another document to read.
"Chief?" Nami said looking up from what she was reading.
"Hmm?" he said. Prompting his right hand up on his desk with his elbow, he placed his head on it. He was skimming through the paper in his left hand.
"Have you thought of any method to gather information from the male pilot?"
"Other than doing an interview and search his home, nope," Ryu said without even looking up.
"You have no intention to do the operation?"
"I'm not obligated to…so no."
"I see," she said looking back at the folder and turning a page.
"What about you? Do you intend to try and get information?" he asked reading the second page of the document he was reading.
"If I have time to," she said not looking up.
"Seems like you have time right now."
"If someone wouldn't be so slow in signing documents, I might get spare time to do something afterwards."
"I see," he said looking at the third page and continuing to read at his pace. "Are you complaining that I take too much time reading documents?"
"You are the chief so you must be sure everything is right before signing it off," she said turning another page.
"Sorry for taking my time," he said half-heartily.
"Argh…I am so angry," Nami stated sarcastically.
The blonde then looked to her right at the young female officer. Seeing her with her hands interlaced together, she was staring at the ceiling. The secretary looked back at the documents in her hand. Ryu made some initials and signed the papers on the bottom.
"Have any ideas Rayne?" chief asked. Grabbing another document, he placed the finished ones in the out box.
"Other than asking nicely without pointing a gun to his head, not really," she said blinking a little.
"Hmmm," Ryu said sitting back in his chair and bring the document to his face a little.
"I take it you don't have intentions to gather information?" Nami asked.
"That is a good bet," Rayne said.
"Nice," the secretary stated turning another page in the folder before closing it. Placing it on the chief's desk, she gathered the out box papers and organized them. The man in the room let the paper droop down that he was looking at. Glancing at both of them, he looked at Rayne and got her attention.
"What surveillance do we have at our disposal for putting a tail on the kid?"
"Other than a couple of patrols near the outskirts of town, there aren't cameras or officers that go into the grass field," the young female officer stated.
"So basically," he said whipping the paper to be erect again and in front of his face. "We need extra budget money."
"It would lead to at least something to monitor his movements."
"How did the budget numbers look for this month Nami?" the chief asked reading another page that was attached to the one he was reading.
"Everything for spending and expenses has been allocated to max out our total allotted budget," Nami stated gathering one of her large folders and putting the signed documents in alphabetical order.
"Meaning we have little other money to spend or hours to assign someone for an extra patrol."
"For the most part yes."
"I see," he said then shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well. The operation will be on hold until the workload dwindles down or there is nothing to do. All in favor?"
"…" all three said and raised their hands. He lowered the document he was reading and counted.
"Overwhelming majority. Meeting is adjourned," he said going back to reading another document. Both women stood up and left to their workstations focusing on what work they had to do.
Since the conference meeting for the Info-Gave Operation, Angel activity has been very quiet at NERV HQ. To fill the time, computer drills and various tests and scans were done over various areas of the base. Any tests involving the Eva pilots were postponed for a week. This allowed the members involved in the Info-Gave Operation to recover and rest themselves from what was witness on the police video.
System checks were announced on the loud speaker which was done automatically by the MAGI super computer. To some extent, the computer could run the basic operations without the need of any operators. Even if an error occurred, it could correct the mishap and continue completing the task. While MAGI was going through its procedures, the bridge monitors were currently on break with each doing something. Maya was reading a romance/drama novel. Makoto was giggling over one of his manga series. Shigeru was playing air guitar while listening to music with headphones. Everyone knew that he was a fan of music and always was playing his guitar whenever he could.
A level above them in an observation room, Ritsuko and Misato were chatting without facing each other. The scientist pushed a button on the coffee maker for another cup of coffee while staring at papers on her clipboard. She wasn't paying too close attention to what her friend was saying. The aspect that the lavender haired woman was talking while looking through the observation window made hearing her a little challenging.
"A school field trip? A little too relaxed at times like this," Ritsuko said hearing Misato had stopped talking. Picking up her mug, she walked to where her friend was standing.
"Yeah. I guess with everything that is going on with the Angels and stuff, a trip away from here is a good escape," Misato said looking down at the people working below.
"You mean just Asuka?"
"…you do have a point. I can't say the other two children are really exasperated in not being able to go."
"Is that so?" Ritsuko ask flipping a page up.
"Yeah," Misato said. A silence went by between them until Ritsuko asked a question.
"How are the two handling what they saw last week?"
"You mean Asuka and Rei?" the Captain asked seeing the blond nod.
"…I don't know…" Misato said drinking the vending machine cup of coffee she brought with her. Ritsuko raised an eyebrow but didn't turn to look at her.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"…I don't know if what I did was right or wrong," Misato said with a soft sigh.
"I'm all ears if you want to talk about."
"Remember how Shinji acted as my butler," she stated seeing her friend nod but was still looking at her clipboard. "…I discharged him."
"…!?" Ritsuko said in surprise while taking a sip of coffee. Drinking a little too much, she gulped it down feeling the hot beverage burn her throat a little. Taking a quick breather, she composed herself.
"You…discharged him?" she asked seeing Misato nod.
"When was this?"
"The same day when we saw the police video. He visited my home that evening."
"…" Ritsuko said looking at her friend to see a solemn look on her face. "Given what they saw and what you saw, distancing yourself from him was a safe choice. Being that he is growing more unstable, it would be dangerous to have him keep visiting."
"…yeah…" Misato said sighing and drinking her coffee a little.
"Did something happen afterwards?"
"Rei had an emotional outburst and Pen-Pen has been depressed."
"Ayanami…did what?" Ritsuko said with surprise. Placing the coffee mug on a nearby desk, she was intrigued. Misato continued.
"Since then, the tension between both Rei and Asuka has been rough. Both of them tend to avoid being near each other. I was able to get them to sit at the dinner table together; however, it was not friendly. I told them to shape up for they are living with each other and are co-workers. Both complied but it didn't seem to lessen their tension…I'm not sure what to do at times."
"…I see…you said Ayanami had an emotional outburst…in what way?" Ritsuko said wanting to know the exact reason.
"I think she likes Shinji. When he left, Asuka was saying how much of a relief it was that he would never come back. She stated it over and over until Rei exploded and screamed at her."
"…" Ritsuko said in surprise. A part of her was shocked that the First Child would express something like that over anyone other than the Commander. Another part of her was elated from the aspect that there was someone else that could take Rei away from the Commander. Thus, what was happening between her and Gendo could continue without being jealous of the female Eva pilot.
"I-Is that so?" the scientist stated. Blinking and pulling her clipboard to her face, it hid the small smile that formed.
"…" Misato said not turning to look at her friend. Another silence went between them as Ritsuko calmed down. The lavender haired woman pondered something that she noticed from the female pilots and from what they said happened at school.
"Hey Rits…have you seen Shinji lately?" Misato asked out of curiosity.
"Hmm? No, I can't recall I have. Why?"
"Well, nobody has seen him since the evidence footage. Both Rei and Asuka haven't seen him at school for almost a week."
"That's a little troubling. He hasn't been going to school?"
"No…he has. Section-2 reports he does leave his home for school, enters school, leaves school, and comes back after school. Both girls haven't been able to talk to him or locate where he is…it makes me worried if I triggered something in him."
"…" Ritsuko said and took her eyes off her clipboard.
Looking at Misato, she still was looking at what other staff members were doing. Her face had changed the last time she looked at it. It was a little tense and had worry on it. Almost like she knew she did something wrong. Sighing, the scientist put on her imaginary therapist hat.
"I'm sure he's fine Misato. Remember, he is similar to Rei in behavior so he will keep things mostly to himself. Besides, I am sure there is a good reason why the girls haven't been able to converse with him at school. Possibly he is doing something during all the self-study time the pilots have. Also, he can take care of himself despite his mental disorder."
"…to the point of doctoring himself…" Misato muttered shivering from the memory of events after of the 5th Angel battle.
"If you're that worried about him, you could call him since you have both his cell and home number," Ritsuko stated then thought about the female Eva pilots. "It probably would make it easier for the girls if you gave them his number too. I'm sure Ayanami would appreciate it."
"…" Misato said after debating a little. She turned her head to look at her friend looking more relaxed than normal. It was different from her normal stiff look.
"…I'll…think about," the Captain said turning her head back to the window. She failed to notice the small smile that reappeared on the scientist's face as she went back to reviewing her paper readouts.
Inside one of the gymnasiums at school was an indoor swimming pool. On the walkways, there were reclining chairs and small white tables. Windows were on the adjacent wall of the entrance as light shined through. Only the First and Second Child were occupying the place.
Rei suited herself in a white one-piece swimsuit and dived into the water. The splash was small indicating good entry. She glided through the water holding her breath before coming for air about half the distance of the pool. She continued to swim laps.
'It has been days…Where the hell is he?' Asuka thought while entering the pool area. She brought along underwater gear with her because she felt like scuba diving. Originally planning on doing the activity at Okinawa, she would do it here instead. Hearing something surface from the water, a mop of blue hair came up sending small ripples through the water.
"Oh great…Wondergirl is here," Asuka muttered to herself. The hostility between them had died a bit; however, they were tense and cold with each other still. Ignoring the feeling of wanting to frown, she opened her mouth.
"Hey Wondergirl, where is Shinji?" she asked. Her voice boom and echo from the rooms acoustics without having to shout. Rei narrowed her eyes at her nickname from the redhead. It was a name she detested. She closed her eyes and decided to exit the pool.
"Well?"
"I do not know Pilot Souryu," Rei replied climbing out the pool.
"He is most likely volunteering."
"Well isn't he a swell guy," Asuka said sarcastically starting to get her scuba gear on.
"…" Rei said drying her hair with a towel nearby.
"Has he called you?" Asuka asked.
"No."
"Have you called him?"
"I don't have his number."
"Ehh? You don't?" the redhead said surprised a little.
"No."
"Huh. I guess thinking that you two were close was my imagination."
"…" Ayanami said not liking that statement.
She let the towel stay on her head as she started walking to the doors leading to the locker room. The emotions from a few days before did not surface as strongly. Feeling better at being able to control herself, her mind felt clearer as well. It allowed her to ponder what people said without having an emotional reaction that would cloud her thinking. Reaching the other side of the pool, she stopped and looked at the Second Child.
"Why do you say that?" Ayanami asked quietly seeing her putting her scuba gear on.
"Until that horror video, you two always hanged around each other like two sick love birds."
'Love birds?' Rei asked herself the meaning of the phrase.
She remembered going to a movie once where the phrase was used. It involved two people of opposite genders smothering their faces together. They weren't paying attention to the movie, only themselves as if they were in their own little world. It didn't take her long to imagine herself and Shinji in their place. She also thought of the Commander in the same way.
"We are not love birds," she said. Calmly turning her head a little, the action hid the small blush developing.
"Yeah, more like deadpan faced sloths," Asuka said smirking. Fastening the belts to secure the oxygen tank on her back, she checked to make nothing was loose. Checking around her two-piece red and white striped swimsuit, none of the equipment was snagging it. Satisfied, she crouched backwards near the edge.
"Back-drop entry!" she shouted dropping into the pool.
"…" Rei said turning her head.
Hearing the splash, the ripples appeared on the water from the entry point into the pool. Deciding that she would go change, she left the pool area. Taking the towel off her head, she started drying herself. Thinking back to the conversation with the Second Child, she did think about asking the Captain for the Third Child's number in previous days. However, she thought it would have been intrusive.
Thinking that it was just an emotional response from not hearing or seeing the male pilot, she reasoned with herself that their paths would cross at NERV. Going to the locker room, she changed out of her swimsuit and into her school uniform. Still being in self-study until the students got back from the school trip, she headed to the library. Despite reasoning with herself that worrying about the Third Child was not needed, a small part of her felt depressed from not seeing him, being around him, or talking to him.
An hour later, an earthquake sensor station picked up unusual activity within a nearby mountain. A VTOL was sent to the volcano that had the activity. The aircraft did a thermal-depth scan and sent the picture results back to NERV. In a darkened room, four people stood above a glass panel on the floor. The scan shots appeared on the ground monitor showing black and orange linear shapes of color and blurred images.
"These don't give us a clear image. But, this spot reported by Asamayama Earthquake Research Institute bothers me," Kozo stated.
"What did the MAGI say?" Ritsuko asked staring at the photos.
"A 50% chance," Maya stated.
"Is someone there already?" the Sub-Commander asked.
"Captain Katsuragi's team is already there," Shigeru stated.
At the research site, Misato was monitoring the footage coverage by the institute's volcano monitoring machine. It was being lowered down into the lava and giving continuous feedback of what was around it. The equipment hit a depth of 660 meters and continued its slow descent.
"That's the limit!" a researcher stated.
"Not yet, 500 more please," Misato stated.
The machine continued to be lowered till the computer's voice came on announcing the anti-pressure armor had cracked at the depth of 1200 meters. The researcher protested again, but the Captain stated that 300 more was needed and if the equipment did break NERV will pay for it. When it reached 1500, it found something.
"Contact with the monitor," Makoto stated.
"Starting analysis," the Captain ordered
"Okay," he said hitting the button. The data was being collected as the equipment started to compress together from the high temperatures and pressures. A few more seconds later, the monitoring computer wailed announcing the probe was crushed.
"How did the analysis go?" she asked.
"Barely got it. Pattern is Blue," he said.
"No doubt, it's an Angel," Misato said turning to all the institute staff members. "This lab is now under NERV's control. All events leading up to this point now are top secret."
All the researchers looked at each other. Though frowning, all of them nodded to the sudden change in plans. Misato left to make a call to the Commander requesting a strategic command. Gendo was in his meeting with the representatives of SELEE about taking the offensive of capturing the Angel. Though stating facts of past events and the high risk, the NERV Commander convinced them that it was an opportunity.
"Failure is unacceptable," the head of the SELEE members stated before all disappeared.
"Failure? In that case, it would be the end to humanity…Are you really sure you want to go through with this?" the sub-commander asked. He didn't get an answer from Gendo for he was smirking underneath his hands sitting down. He picked up his phone and called Dr. Akagi.
"Summon the pilots for the debriefing."
[Yes sir]
The call for the pilots went off. Ritsuko, along with Maya, walked to the lab with a glass-floor panel. It was used as a large monitor for showing scan pictures of topography and depth scans. When they entered the room, it was dark and cold. Their footsteps echoed loudly through the large space. Stopping at the floor glass panel, Ritsuko got out a remote and turned on the floor monitor. It gave a little light, but didn't illuminate much of the dark room.
Though they could see a little better, they didn't notice the other occupant that was staring at them in the room. After some minutes, the entrance doors opened then closed. The two female Eva pilots came and walked toward the lit monitor on the floor. They saw the head scientist and the lieutenant standing next to each other. Both didn't notice the other occupant in the room as it started walking silently toward them.
"Where is that sorry excuse of a Third Child? Have you seen him?" she asked the two adults. Both blinked and shook their heads.
"Misato stated that you two haven't seen him at school. Is that true?" Ritsuko asked the two.
"Yes," Rei said stoically with the red-head nodding.
"Something about the school staff asking him to volunteer for something," Asuka said with a frown. "That jerk never said anything to us for an entire week. That's including not seeing him either."
"Well, he will have to come here so you all will have a nice reunion," Ritsuko said. Seeing a smalll movement next to her, she saw the lieutenant fidgeting. The two pilots noticed as well.
"…" Maya said feeling goosebumps and getting colder. Paranoia hit her all the sudden as if someone or something was near her. It felt murky around her as she felt afraid to look around. Ritsuko was going to ask when someone asked first.
"Are you well Miss Ikubi?" a calm voice came to Maya's right.
The technician jumped a little with a short shout of fright. All slowly turned their attention to where the voice sounded from. Everyone felt a cold chill go through their spine as they froze. They didn't see a figure or an outline of someone. The only thing they saw in the dark room near them was a pair of dark magenta eyes that were shining a little more eerily than normal.
'Damn him and his ninja skills!' Asuka shouted in her mind. Trying to shake off the fear building up inside, she put her hands on her hips. Frowning at him, she puffed her chest out a little.
"So the Third Child finally decides to emerge from hiding," Asuka said in a mocking tone.
They didn't hear him walking toward them slowly. At first, the pair of eyes were moving forward slowly. They weren't swaying or blinking which caused Maya and Ritsuko to get the creeps. When he came near the light, they saw that he was in his regular clothes. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him physically. Despite that, his murkiness was stronger than normal. His eyes slowly moved down to look at the floor monitor. The rest didn't hear something slowly moving in the back of the room.
"Is this an Angel at its embryo stage of life?" he asked looking at the scan picture.
When no one said anything, he slowly moved his eyes up and looked at everyone. Maya was still shaking a little from him appearing. Ritsuko looked uncomfortable. Asuka's face was tense though still tried to look annoyed. Rei didn't move, but her eyes were staring at him a little surprised.
"Is everyone feeling well?" the Third Child asked. All four could only think about the police video when staring at him. No one continued to say anything until Rei took initiative. She wanted to talk with him, but the mission came first.
"Please explain the mission Dr. Akagi," Rei stated calmly and stared impassively at the chief scientist.
"Oh…" Ritsuko replied. Clearing her throat, she tried to push down the same eerie feelings she had before.
"Our main objective is to capture the Angel alive and preserve it in its original form as much as possible."
"If we fail?" the First Child asked first.
Something was causing her neck hairs to stand on end and tried to ignore it. Maya heard something faint. Looking slowly to her right, it was coming from behind the Third Child. She saw his eyes slowly move toward her. She immediately looked back to the female pilots and fidgeted more.
"Destroy it as soon as possible. Got it?" Ritsuko ordered.
"Yes," all three pilots replied.
"Very well. Who will do it?"
"Me! Me! I'll dive!" Asuka stated raising her hand as fast as possible. Shinji kept a straight face despite hearing his voices. They were all in different locations in the dark room.
'Someone's eager-'
'-to die-'
'-Hey now!-'
'-Don't you agree?-'
'-I'll kill you for ignoring me-'
'-A dreadful thought-'
'-yet-'
'-so much desire to-'
'-bleed…how many more humans should die from human hands-'
'-B-R-I-N-G-A-N-O-T-H-E-R-T-R-A-I-T-O-R!'
The voices interchanged rapidly with others with the last one whispering its vile breath into the male pilot's ears. A phantom sadist smile was felt on his impassive face while his hands burned from heavy usage of pounding and squeezing. Shinji's hearing vanished and was replaced with the sounds of a man pleading for his life while being choked to death. Hearing a chair being kicked and rope snapping tight, something like faint breathes were heard before nothing at all. Despite not hearing what the faux blonde was saying, he read her lips.
"Since A-17 was issued, we'll leave as soon as possible. Get ready."
"Roger" both female pilots stated while Shinji bowed.
The four felt his murky aura lessening and watched him. Like before, his figure darkened until all that was seen was the faint color and shine of his eyes. They watched in alerted silence as they saw his eyes moving toward the exit door without swaying. Reaching the door, Shinji spoke to them.
"Do you wish for the lights to be turned on madams?" he asked hearing his calm voice echo a little in the room. Ritsuko shook herself a little and felt a little calmer that he was at the door instead of next to them.
"No. Keep them off."
"Very well," he said. Watching him open then close the doors, Ritsuko turned to the other pilots.
"Asuka…Rei, see if you can grab more information about his activities from the past couple of days," she asked causing Second Child to look back at the scientist aghast.
"W-What!? You can't be serious!?"
"I am serious. Other than the volunteering activity you two mentioned, we don't know anything more about what he has been up to."
"Isn't Section-2 on surveillance of Pilot Ikari?" Rei asked. She was confused on how there wasn't more detailed information about his whereabouts and activities.
"Well…most of them watch him from a distance," Maya stated which caused everyone to look confused.
"Don't tell me they're afraid of him?!" Asuka asked astonished.
"I wouldn't know. They don't report much of anything about the Third Child other than when he enters and leaves his home," Maya said looking back at the Angel egg image.
"Anyway, this is under the accordance of the Info-Gave Operation orders," Ritsuko stated bring attention back to her. "Since you two have a bit more contact with him, you should be able to get some information out of him."
"Understood," Rei said with a determined face before Asuka could protest more.
"…fine," the Second Child said not wanting to be outdone by the First Child. All four turned to leave the room. While walking back, Rei was still feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
'Why? There was nothing here expect Ikari. He was already in the room before we got here…that would explain the sudden appearance…but if he had already left, then that would mean…'
Rei trailed off when she heard the exit doors opened when the female group was in front of them. There were three security personnel who opened the doors.
"Dr. Akagi. Head of Security," the middle man said with a salute. "By any chance have you seen Pilot Ikari?"
"…yes," Ritsuko said with a surprised blink. "He just left after our briefing. Is something wrong?"
"…" the lead man said with a poker face. "No, please continue where you were heading."
The four women looked at all three men. They were not expressing anything while gesturing them to continue. Nodding, they left the room. Rei felt the men's attitudes meant that something did happen as they went into the room. Two of the men closed the door. Glancing down the middle, the viewing passage between the doors got smaller and smaller. Before the doors closed completely, she saw the lights turned on and got a glimpse of what was on the back wall.
"…?" Ritsuko said noticing that Rei wasn't walking with them. The group stopped and turned around to see Rei staring at the doors.
"Hey Wondergirl, hurry it up!" Asuka stated continuing forward. Maya and Ritsuko saw her blinking then started walking toward them. Both women continue to follow Asuka to the locker rooms.
"Doctor…is something wrong with Ayanami? She looks paler than I remember," Maya whispered holding onto folders and documents to her chest.
"Probably because of Pilot Ikari's materialization appearance and creepiness," Ritsuko said. Remembering how he acted and feeling the creeps again, she shivered. Maya just nodded and felt the shakes as well.
Rei was walking slower trying to digest what she saw in the room. Her eyes were still wide from what was behind the male pilot during the briefing. Bringing her palms up to look at them, she saw her hands shaking a little. She heard a little bit of the security personnel speak before she started walking away.
'…if Ikari's actions are not predictable…and that is the fate of a spy…then,' Rei thought feeling her whole body flare up in goosebumps. She swallowed a lump of fear as she tried to not get too far behind.
'…I…I don't know if I wish to continue with this operation,' Rei thought. The image of a lynched man hanging with his hands cut off made her walk faster away from the room.