Creation began on 08-01-15
Creation ended on 08-18-15
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: Demands
Two weeks at sea, and the wait was over for the Survey Corps. In front of the carrier was an island that seemed about eight miles across, quite big for, perhaps, thousands of people to live on.
"Looks like it's going to be a very good day," said Shinji to Kaede.
Taking a smaller boat (revealed to be a hovercraft by Shinji after he got a look at the vehicle), the Survey Corps traveled closer to the Island, finding the shattered remains of a former pier that looked ancient. Because the pier was useless, they just came onto the ground and stopped.
The path they found led them to a small town, covered in layers of dirt and weeds, occupied by some deers, squirrels, raccoons, birds and small bears.
"Let's start looking for Titans," Levi ordered, and the corps members spread out over the place.
-x-
Activating the Eva, Shinji, under orders from Levi, brought the purple giant to the island (after a corps member was able to confirm the shallowness of the water for the Eva to traverse in safely). With the Eva's eyes, the Survey Corps would have a better chance of finding any Titans and reclaiming the place for future habitation. But if he didn't detect any Titans, he would be informed of their presence by means of a red-colored, signal flare.
The trees are so dense, you can't see anything below it, he thought, trying to keep focused on the color of flares used on missions. Okay, red for spotting Titans, black is for spotting what they call an Abnormal, purple is for an emergency, blue is to retreat, and yellow is to indicate a mission has ended, either as a success or a failure.
"Facing giant people again, Third Child?" He heard a female voice that he now dreaded hearing, coming through to the intercom system.
He kept his calm and responded, "How and why are you communicating with me, Ms. Soryu?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out," the girl expressed.
He sighed and stayed on the task at hand, being on the lookout for a red signal flare.
"NERV knows the truth, and they want you to grow some sense and return with Unit-01," Asuka told him. "Just follow orders and return to NERV."
"I'm afraid I can't follow that order. I'm helping the people here retake the world and survive."
"Can you imagine how much the Eva would prove more effective against the Angels with an extended power source that comes from these giants that it has consumed? It would be a cakewalk! Imagine it!"
"I can…and it scares me what NERV would be capable of if they got a hold of this power. You'd be no better than the giants I've beaten. At least they have no desire for power or wealth. They just eat people…and they don't even need to. Could you imagine what might happen if they were able to cause problems in Japan? Or maybe Germany? They'd be just as problematic as the Angels are, and you wouldn't know how to stop them until it's too late. I'm not willing to take that risk."
-x-
Misato couldn't help but be impressed by Shinji's unwillingness to allow these giants to potentially invade this world and do whatever they did to the one he was now in.
"What harm would just two of them bring here?" Asuka asked.
"It wouldn't matter if the number were two or two-hundred," Shinji responded. "They're just too dangerous to let even NERV have, and need to be removed from existence."
-x-
And with that, Shinji terminated the communication between him and NERV. He really wanted the paramilitary agency to stop and leave him be; it was moot to try and convince him to try and return, as the repeated conflicts with the Angels, the lies and half-truths were beginning to weigh on his conscience because of the secrets nobody was willing to divulge on. And there wasn't much of this revolving around the Titans, as the Survey Corps, the Garrison and the access to copies of Eren Yeager's father's notes explained plenty of details. But what was depressing to him was the revelation that the Titans were once regular people long ago, until what was ambiguously assumed to be the Titan he learned of as the Beast Titan was the direct cause of their loss of free will and humanity.
Some of the corps members would've considered their deaths (because that was what it was to them now) a merciful release from an endless nightmare, and it took Kaede and her words of comfort to assure Shinji that, while he couldn't save the people that were turned into Titans long ago, he wasn't a murderer and that he was saving them all, the people that once lived within the safety of the Walls and were now living beyond them.
If the Beast Titan could turn people into Titans, nobody's safe from him, he thought, still looking for Titans and seeing none or a signal flare. It's a good thing we have him incarcerated where he can't harm anyone.
-x-
While the Survey Corps had the expansion plans in control, the Garrison were tasked with keeping the Beast Titan confined to his human form and isolated from the rest of the people.
Confined to a dungeon within Wall Maria until Unit-01 returned for them, the man was chained, suspended from the ceiling, and put in front of a loaded cannon in case he tried to induce a transformation in front of the Garrison members tasked with watching him.
"Once the expansion plans are complete, I can't wait to get out of here," one of the men expressed to his friends. I want to see what the rest of the world looks like out there."
"I know what you mean," one of them responded. "I hear that there's supposed to be an ocean as far as the eye can see."
"An ocean of sand. A vast desert of sand and rocks."
"Valleys full of lush vegetation and animals."
"Cities and buildings that reach into the sky."
"I tell you, it's our greatest miracle that that kid and his purple giant appeared and turned the tide around for us."
The Beast Titan couldn't forget about the power that giant possessed against his army of Colossal Titans, which should have been invincible against it, how god-like it was and unstoppable in its fury. Against a Titan made larger than it, the purple giant probably wouldn't have stood a chance, but there were no Titans that could reach above the height of the Colossal Titans without having to be reduced to crawling on the ground. And then, there was the Coordinate ability that was taken from the Titans, which could've been used to bring about the end of them if they managed to control it.
-x-
Standing outside the boundaries of Wall Sina, Bertolt Hoover, having hidden since his defeat at the hands of the purple giant, decided to return to the Walls to see if anyone was left after seeing the giant make several trips to and from the Walls, carrying a building in its hands. If there were people left, he just hoped he could help them without hurting them like before when he could turn into a Titan.
"May I be forgiven," he told himself, worried about what he would find on the other side.
-x-
With their base setup, the squadron tasked with retrieving the Eva began the preparations for traveling to what looked like a city nearby, populated by some people. It was hoped that they would cooperate…if given an incentive to relinquish Unit-01.
"Let's move out," the guy in charge of the squadron ordered, and the small band of soldiers left towards the city.
-x-
"…If there were people here before," went Armin, as he and the other corps members regrouped after searching the entire island, "they're not here, anymore, and it looks like the Titans never came here."
In the Eva, Shinji, who never saw a flare or found any Titans around the damaged settlement, was helping to clear away the damaged buildings by removing them from off the ground, putting them into a pile to be burned away. While the lack of Titan activity was a beneficial reprieve for the Survey Corps, the task of making the island habitable for people was another task, and Shinji hoped to bring people still behind the Walls to places like this island.
Maybe Kaede and I could find a place here or wherever is next on the expansion plan, he thought.
Meanwhile, aboard the carrier, Kaede was preparing a large pot of soup for the crew when they returned for mealtime, using the skills she acquired from Shinji.
I wonder how well their mission went, she thought, adding several chopped veggies to the concoction.
-x-
With the discovery of these colored containers that were soon understood as garbage and recycling bins for waste disposal and redistributing, the city that was now seeing quite an opportunity to be expanded upon was now looking cleaner.
As a pair of kids were playing with some balls they found, they noticed some people that they were sure didn't belong with them walking through the streets. They were tough-looking and wearing strange objects that weren't associated with the ODM gear they had seen.
"Who's in charge here?" One of the men asked the people present.
None of them responded to the question.
"Do any of you know how to speak?" He asked them. "Who's in charge here?"
"What do you want?" A woman responded, standing behind a compost bin.
"We're here for Shinji Ikari and Evangelion Unit-01," he revealed, holding up a picture of the boy and the Eva.
"Why? They haven't done anything wrong," said a little boy to them.
-x-
The trenches for the agricultural livelihood of the people were now straightened out and being set to grow different fruits and vegetables for the city.
Eren, in his human form, rested up for the remainder of the day while the two Titans, Sonny and Bean, were restrained and left alone to keep them everyone out of harm's way; just because Eren could control these two didn't mean that this control was currently absolute, and every precaution was necessary to ensure safety.
"Yeager!" He heard a man shout at him. "We might have a problem!"
"What do you mean?" He responded.
"Fifteen minutes, a foreign group of men came into the city and demanded the location of Ikari and his purple giant." The man explained the situation to him. "They have strange weapons with them."
"Lead the way," Eren ordered him.
-x-
"…I don't know what the next place we'll find will be like," went Armin during a conversation during dinner. "I just hope it's the same with the island: Titan-free."
As the corps members ate, in the kitchen, Shinji and Kaede were engaged in their own conversation about the expansion plans.
"You think there aren't any more Titans out there, Shinji?" Kaede asked him.
"Well, if they weren't on the island, there's a chance they're elsewhere," he explained his concerns. "With the minor exception of the two Titans we left in the city, the Beast Titan incarcerated back in the Walls, and Mr. Yeager himself, there haven't been any other sightings of Titans. But even if my arrival had something to do with the reduction in their activities, there should still be some wandering around. Hiding in large places that can provide cover for them, places we can't go yet, someplace."
"If there's one thing Titans are known for besides their mindless savagery against people," Kaede told him, "it's their unpredictability. Even though they were made from using normal people long ago, they're not the same as normal people, so they don't do things normal people can do. They eat without needing to, kill without a conscience directing them, and they'll surprise you in ways you don't expect them to when the opportunity to do so presents itself."
"And yet, the only things I've ever seen them do since my arrival…were try to harm my Eva and flee when they realized they were being targeted as food for it."
Rumble! They heard the carrier go as it either slowly turned in the water or a small wave hit its haul.
"Old, but still reliable," Shinji expressed.
"Yeah." Kaede agreed with him.
Suddenly, the speakers started up with static…and then a voice with some noise in the background.
"If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do…is to save every day till eternity passes away…just to spend them with you…" A man's voice went over the speakers.
"What is that?" Kaede asked Shinji.
"It's…a song," he revealed; someone must've tinkered with something somewhere on the carrier and found something to cause this song to be played and heard. "People would record their songs and give them to people to listen to over the years."
"…If I could make days last forever…" The song continued, and Kaede set her bowl down to stand up.
She started moving around on the floor, catching Shinji's eyes as she threw her arms in the air.
"…If words could make wishes come true… But there never seems to be enough time…"
Shinji finished his soup and got up.
As the song played on a loop, the others that heard it all nodded their heads in agreement over it being a good song.
"There never seems to be enough time," said Levi, wondering who or what caused this song to play.
-x-
Standing in front of the foreign men, Eren and Mikasa, wondering why these men were here for Shinji and his purple giant, had the civilians leave to their homes.
"State your business," went Mikasa to them.
"We're here to take back the Third Child and Evangelion Unit-01," the lead man uttered.
"You're from the world he's from?" Eren questioned.
"That's right," another man answered, having a jagged scar under his left eye.
"Well, he's not here," Eren told them. "He's currently across the ocean with a number of our group to expand mankind across the land."
"And the Eva?"
"The purple giant? They took it with them. In the face of Titans, it's their only protection."
"And you have no idea when they'll be back, do you?"
"They left over two weeks ago. It could be another two weeks before they return…or a month. Why do you want them back so much. Didn't he inform you that he declined on the opportunity to return?"
With that being said, it was common knowledge that Shinji had relayed to the Survey Corps that he had received contact from this organization called NERV from the other world, and they had made an attempt to retrieve him and the Eva, but he had turned them down for both literal and personal reasons. There was also the fear of what this NERV organization could do if they obtained any Titans for their own use, and not just an Eva that had gained a tremendous boost in power by eating Titans.
"We have our orders to bring the boy and the Eva back with us by any means necessary," a third man told them, slowly raising up one of his firearms.
"And that includes force?" Mikasa asked them, slowly raising up her blades.
"If he returns, give him this message," the lead man told the two. "His father wants them both back, and he won't be refused. Let's go, men."
They walked away, leaving the city and the people alone.
"I don't think they're willing to leave us unharmed," said Mikasa to Eren.
"If they're here for Shinji and the purple giant, then they're probably here for some of the Titans, as well," he agreed with her. "And it sounded like the both of them were viewed as property, possessions."
"It sounds like this NERV organization is a power-hungry bunch, and the purple giant is power incarnated, something they want by any means."
"And the organization is run by his father, who sounds as bad as Shinji makes him out to be."
The two agreed that when Shinji and the others returned, the operator of the purple giant would have to be informed of these men being here for him an his giant.
-x-
"…And these…diving suits were made to help people travel underwater?" Armin asked Shinji, who explained a question he was asked about the possibility of underwater travel.
"Yeah, Armin," he answered him. "The primary function of a diving suit is fight off hypothermia, ensuring the body's temperature is unaffected by the coldness of the ocean. In addition to that, we use oxygen tanks to give us access to breathable air while in an environment where air is nonexistent."
There was a reason to their conversation: Due to the unpredictability of the Titans, Shinji, who, like several of the others aboard the carrier, suspected that, while needing to require sunlight to stay active most of the time, the Titans could probably wander on the ground underwater, not needing to worry about breathing.
"…But we've never encountered a Titan in the water before," said one of the female members.
"That doesn't change the possibility that Titans could be underwater," said Kaede to her.
"But without sunlight, they wouldn't be as active as they are during the day."
"Wait, does it have to be sunlight only?" Shinji asked them.
"As far as we know, they always thrived on sunlight," said Armin to him. "What do you think?"
"What if Titans could draw power from an energy source that wasn't the sun, but was equally sufficient for them to be active? What if…they could derive power from the heat energy stored in the ground?"
"Could such a thing be possible?" Levi asked.
"Geothermal energy is considered a renewable source because it can't be wasted," Shinji told them, and then realized he had to explain what that was. "The sun heats up the ground, and the ground is able to absorb the heat and transfer it deeper into the planet, adding to the planet's internal heat core, which can be distributed out into the water through thermal vents, which are like volcanoes, only underwater, which heat up water to various degrees, resulting in places where there is heated water. Geysers, hot springs, even tar pits."
"It's better to take precautions than to believe there's no threat," said Kaede in acceptance.
"We're gonna need to find some suitable diving suits, then." Levi told them.
Some of the corps members groaned in acceptance over this decision, knowing it would be a risk because the Eva wasn't suited for underwater activity…and that Shinji couldn't swim worth a damn, having never took lessons.
"If it makes it any easier," went Kaede, defending Shinji's lack of abilities, "I can swim."
To be continued…
A/N: It's only a matter of time before NERV sends an Evangelion to retrieve Unit-01 and Shinji against their will and make an attempt to capture Titans. What do you think of Titans being underwater, though? Do you think it's possible? Read and review. Peace.