Chapter 8: An Engineering Marvel
June 4th, 2016
The hospital ceiling stares down at Shinji as he finally wakes up. He just sighs and tries to get more sleep. However as he rolls onto his side, he notices there is another bed with him. Sitting up he notices that Rei is already awake and reading a book. Rei sees him awake and turns towards him while setting the book down on her lap.
"You are awake. It is about 11:00 in the morning, June 4th. And you have sustained minor injuries to the palms of your hands."
Shinji looks at his hands to see they are bandaged. "Did you get any injuries Rei?"
"No, however I put excessive strain on my body during the last attack and have been ordered to rest."
Shinji just sighed as he recalled yesterday's operation. A giant rushed operation, that failed. "Misato must've been desperate if she went with my plan."
Putting down her book again, Rei spoke. "When I woke up, Captain Katsuragi came in and filled me in on the situation… There was no plan B, as she put it. So when you offered her your plan, she didn't hesitate to accept it."
Shinji just stayed quiet as he thought of things. "What would happen if an angel got into the Geofront?"
"...In the event that an angel does breach the Geofront, and there is no way to eliminate it, then the Geofront will be sacrificed."
"W-what? Why? Oh my god." Shinji could not believe his ears. I don't know whether I feel better or not after hearing that. "How exactly? Does HQ explode?"
"Yes, there are a plethora of N2 mines surrounding HQ and the main shaft. Should an angel infiltrate it with no EVAs available, they will automatically detonate."
After some time Shinji spoke again. "Why are all the angels coming to Tokyo-3?"
"...I don't know."
Shinji just fell back onto his bed, he could feel the weight getting added onto his shoulders. He decided to think about something else until he was reminded about his last conversation with Rei, just before the operation started. Getting up he walked over to Rei's bed and sat on the edge.
"Last night, you said "Goodbye." as if you were never going to see me again. What's up with that?"
"Should the need arise, I can, and will be replaced."
"Rei don't say that. Another pilot being selected to replace you wouldn't feel right. You cannot be replaced. So don't go willy-nilly like that and say "Goodbye" as you did, it's too sad."
Rei just stayed quiet as she contemplated his words. He misunderstood what she meant about being "replaced", but obviously she stayed quiet. Rei decided to think back on their last conversation before the battle. She cannot say why, but she felt disturbed when Shinji said he wanted to be like her. She did not want him to be raised the way she was raised. Yet she was perfectly fine being raised that way herself… Or am I? She thought.
"I wish to be like you."
Shinji looked at Rei to find her staring intently at him. Crimson orbs peered into his soul. "I doubt you'd like it. Rei, what do you possibly see in me that you want?"
Rei just kept quiet in fear of accidentally revealing something. Despite appearances, Rei is very observant, and she has noticed Shinji's curiosity to find out more about the people he talks to. So instead she just looked at the window in the room, hopefully, Shinji won't misunderstand, and just drop the subject.
"Rei, despite us only having the EVA right now, as long as we survive this, I think someday we'll be glad that we survived. I don't know about the future, but until then let's live on. Hopefully, you and I can find something that helps us through this mess."
Rei just stayed quiet as she watched Shinji pat her bed before making his way towards his own.
The sound of construction surrounded Misato and Hyuga as they oversaw the repairs for Tokyo-3. The angel had done a lot of damage and is still causing indirect damage by leaving its giant corpse in the middle of the city. The angel died screaming as it turned into a giant, star with many points. Its drill still in place only because of friction. Thankfully for them, they don't have all too much work relating to the hole the angel made.
The drill itself was able to go through the 21 armor plates above the Geofront. Logically, this means it is harder and tougher than the armor itself. The plan is to essentially cork the hole up with the drill, any excess will be cut off and saved for other holes the Geofront may get in the future. The end of the drill, however, will be cut off, studied for a bit, then sent to the highest bidding mining company.
"The only thing is that it will be a pain to cut through it given how hard it is."
"Yes well using the angels against themselves does seem cunning, doesn't it. And besides, you can't deny the usefulness of the drill. Granted the angel did give us a lot of trouble for it."
"The only good thing an angel has to offer is its death." A bit too edgy for my taste. Misato thought.
"I can agree with you there Captain. Anyway, our intercept system in the entire E block needs to be, well, reset. Considering the fact that it's sunk. We'll be able to bring it back up by the end of tomorrow. Many of our defense capabilities are down, 56% is operational."
Misato tsked at that, the last two angels combined brought it down to only 76%.
"The angels probably won't give us enough time to get it to get us to 100%, so how long will it take for us to get us to 75%."
"Well, our guns are mainly outsourced to different companies all around the country, and some of these guns are very complex. Because of that, the Magi estimates we will be at 75% in around two months."
"Jesus, we should stop relying too much on them, they do jack shit, barely slowing them down."
"Expensive distractions."
Misato hummed in agreement, she wished she could unload some of the burden off of Shinji, but Unit-00 was still far from being combat ready, and Unit-02 won't be leaving Wilhelmshaven, Germany until the 9th. Misato sighed, she had a lot of work to do.
Inside one of the many offices in NERV HQ, was Ritsuko Akagi, who is currently one of the top contenders for the world's most overworked person. As usual, Shinji had answered zero questions for her and yet generated a thousand more. Not only was she stumped on how Shinji managed to create an explosion with his AT-Field, which allowed him to dodge the first beam attack. She was also stumped on how both Shinji and Rei managed to create an AT-Field strong enough to deflect a particle beam strong enough to vaporize a mountain.
Then there's the fact that Ramiel took two positron beams like they were nothing. The entire power output generated by Japan was not enough to kill the angel. In the end, they had to use Shinji's idea and reflect the beam back at itself. The operation was botched at best, She could only wonder how Misato felt about it all.
Ritsuko needed a break, looking around her office, she could see old papers, server racks, scale models, and a lot of other computer equipment. She just sighed as she got up from her chair with the intent to get a snack and a coffee from the break room. Opening up her door she found Maya Ibuki right about to enter.
"Ah, senpai. I was just about to come get you."
"For what?"
"One of the analysis teams finished their work on the AT-Fields deployed last night."
"Tell me they have good news, I've been stuck working on it for the past few hours."
"Senpai, you should leave some of your work to some of our teams, you're not the only scientist here you know."
"Yes yes, but I am the head of Project-E, so everything they do ends up on my desk anyway. So what do you have for me?"
"Well, Shinji's and Rei's AT-Fields were stronger than the angels by about 1.45% on average. Separately Shinji's was 1.6% and Rei's was 1.3%."
"That… has only given me more to think about."
"Sorry, anyway, both of their sync ratios climbed during the battle. Shinji's by 6% and Rei by 9%" Maya said while looking at her clipboard.
"They skyrocketed!"
"I know, which introduces the question why did only Shinji get physical injuries?"
With her excitement gone Ritsuko just hummed in response.
"Anyway, we've come to conclude that given the circumstances, pilot's sync ratios will rise when in immediate danger. We think that this will affect the defense system to just barely fulfill the needs of the pilot."
"In layman's terms, if the pilot needs to doge, their AT-Field will push them away from danger. And if they need to protect themselves from a particle beam that can melt mountains, they will compensate. Darn, the solution to a problem is often the easiest."
"Don't feel too bad senpai, you're just stressed from all the work they pile on you, and don't worry about a report, the analysis team is already working on it."
Ritsuko just hummed as they finally reached the break room. While she was glad she was done with the AT-Field problems, that just meant she had to work on the dummy system. I need to make preparations for the inclusion of the Second Child's brain images. She just sighed "Work work work. Oh, how's the construction on the Pribnow box, Maya?" She said as she started making a cup of coffee.
"Oh it's coming along, the whole Sigma Unit of the base is being constructed rather fast."
"Hmm, and the work on the simulation bodies?"
"Oh, they won't be ready for quite some time. However, I hear that in the 2nd Branch, new developments have been made in the generation of mitosis on the EVA scale. Once they finish up with that they'll send it over to us. I estimate we'll finish the simulation bodies in a few months. A massive jump from earlier."
"That's good. Repair times will be shortened quite a bit I guess." She said as she got her coffee, one for Maya too.
"Thank you... The Pribnow box, that's to help with the automation system correct?"
"Yes, once it's ready, we won't have to rely on children anymore."
"That's good, I can't wait until it's done."
Ritsuko just took a sip of her coffee. The dummy system. I wonder how it will perform. She thought
June 6th, 2016
15 huh. I hope Misato doesn't do anything special today Shinji thought as he got up from bed. As usual, Shinji was up before Misato was, walking over to the kitchen, he decided to make a simple breakfast for himself and Pen-Pen. Once that was over he walked over to Misato's room to wake her up. Only to remember that the last time she wasn't up already was because she probably took another double shift at NERV.
Going back to the kitchen he went and made a small breakfast for Misato, consisting of toast and miso soup. If she wanted to have a beer she could go get that herself.
Taking his leave he went to school. His classes were uneventful if not boring. He talked with his friends as they went home, the usual stuff you know? It didn't take long before he was home, what surprised him was that there was a package outside the door of the apartment. Taking it inside he found out it was for him and most likely from Kaji-san. Opening it up he found 3 things. The equivalent of 100 US dollars in yen, a playboy magazine, and a small box that held another data disk. And a note that says happy birthday.
The playboy was immediately tucked under his mattress, and the data disk was put into his computer. The yen was put on his desk, he had no idea what to do with it. Putting the data disk in his computer he found that there were more files on it than usual. However, he did recognize the names. Jet-Alone, and T-RIDEN-T. He thought.
Picking up the phone Shinji dialed Kaji's number and waited until it picked up. He then realized that time zones existed and decided to leave a message.
"Hey Kaji-san, I just wanted to thank you for the Package, I really appreciate it. You must've sent it in advance considering you're living abroad. Anyway, thanks again. Bye."
Hanging up Shinji just flopped onto his bed. He felt empty, today was his birthday and he could care less about it. Made him feel sad in a way. Deciding to get his mind off of it, he got up and started doing the household chores. Cleaning, doing laundry, and finally his favorite, cooking. He cooked up a simple dinner for his roommates, and while doing that he heard the hiss of the front door opening, revealing Misato with her hands behind her back and a mischievous grin.
"Misato?"
"Come here." leading Shinji to the table. "Tah-dah! Happy birthday!" She said while revealing a small chocolate cake.
"Y-you remembered?"
"Of course I did! You weren't here this morning so I couldn't wish it then. But I did now, and that's what counts."
Shinji just stared at the cake. "T-thanks Misato, I appreciate it." A little blush on his face, Misato reveled in that. After that was said and done, Shinji went back to cooking dinner, and Misato insisted she'd help. Shinji let her do the basic things, with his supervision of course, and they got done relatively fast.
"Ugh, I have that stupid presentation in a few days." Misato said starting a conversation.
"Presentation?"
"One of our competitors are trying to privatize the angel killing business by showing us up with a cheap robot called Jet-Alone."
"Isn't that a good thing? The cheaper part I mean."
"Most of the time, the more expensive a thing is, the better it is. And besides, it won't be able to even touch an angel because it cant project an AT-Field."
"I see."
"Yup, now enough about work. Let's eat that cake!"
June 7th, 2016
It was early morning, most people haven't even gotten out of bed yet.
"The government is silently pursing action, but that should be taken care of any day now… Do you want me to do something about that other project as well?"
"No, considering the material you sent me, everything should go as planned."
"I see, what about the other one?"
"Eliminate it, the only good thing that comes from them are trained military pilots."
"Well then, I'll let you get ready for your flight, I bet you have a lot to discuss with the committee."
"Mm" With that Gendo hung up. It was going to be a long day, discussing budgets for the upcoming EVA Units. Wanting to prepare for the meeting he took out a folder and started reading its contents.
Units-03 and 04 are nearing completion. Provisional Unit-05 has been completed and is currently stationed in Bethany Base. Unit-06, 07, and 08 are 25% completed. During today's meeting, discussions will be held about the budgets for Units-09 and 10, along with the construction of the new MPE Units, also known as the Mark.01 series, designed to cut down costs even greater.
2015 had seen a boom in new technology regarding the EVAs. New construction techniques, new repair methods, new software, new everything. So many advances in the fields, that even Fuyutsuki was giddy about it. This is the power of a united humanity.
Getting up from his chair, Gendo looked out his office window to see that light had just started pouring into the Geofront. The view was magnificent.
Today was… relatively alright Shinji thought. Today was parent-teacher conference, which could have gone better in his opinion. Much better. He hung out with Toji and Kensuke after class, for a bit, and took a sync test. That went well. And even talked to the counselor, Hitomi, she helped him deal with his responsibilities, and he enjoyed talking to her. No new updates for him from Kaji though. Which led him to now, sitting in front of his computer reading the new documents he got yesterday.
The first one was about Jet Alone, apparently, there is a plan to absorb the program into NERV, and send its assets to the 5th Branch of NERV in France. Where it will be adapted to support the EVAs in future missions. What is NERV planning to do with the EVAs once all the angels are gone? He decided to file that thought for later.
"Speaking of NERV, how many Branches are there?" He thought out loud. Loading another document he found out that there were 5 public branches and two other branches that have not been revealed. 6th Branch contains Golgotha Base and Bethany Base. While the 7th Branch only has Tabgha Base. No information on either of them. Sighing Shinji just went on to the other document. The one about the T-RIDEN-T from the JSSDF.
The T-RIDEN-T program is the Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force's (JSSDF) plan for any future conflict. The T-RIDEN-T is an all-environment combat vehicle. Able to perform activities on land, air, and underwater.
Carefully selected orphans from the age of 13-14, will be recruited into the training program. As of 2/22/2016, only three pilots have been selected. Training will last an expected 7-6 years, depending on the pilot's age. As of 5/12/2016, only two T-RIDEN-T Units are known to exist. However, due to recent events regarding pilot safety, and the recruitment of underage soldiers. A UN investigation will begin to take place on 6/8/2016. That's tomorrow! Shinji thought… This world I live in is so filthy.
The rest of the document was just specifications, nothing about the pilots. With nothing else to read, Shinji just shut down the computer and started his chores. Why do you even bother sending me this stuff Kaji? Is it because "Knowledge is power?" or something like that?
It was late at night, and two kids who should have been fast asleep, were actually wide awake, and about to initiate their ballsy plan.
"...Will Mana be alright?"
"She has assured us over and over again that she will be fine, despite the nature of her mission. She's a professional. And besides, it's not like she's actually going to follow through."
"I know, I know, I just can't believe we're doing this."
Two boys, named Keita Asari and Musashi Lee Strasberg were currently risking their lives late at night. To escape a JSSDF base.
"Neither can I. But were all sick of this place. You still have everything correct?"
"Everything is in my backpack ready to go. Are you sure this will work? We're only taking one unit, the prototype "Raiden" model. Why don't we take the "Shinden" model?"
"Great, let's do this. And to answer your question. The older model has a lot more back doors to exploit and whatnot." Swiping his id card through the reader, Musashi was able to get both of them into the T-RIDEN-T hangars.
"What if they just hire more pilots?" What about them?"
"Let's just worry about ourselves ok, now go to the terminal and initiate the startup sequence, I'll get the cockpit ready." said Musashi. Naturally, they only had a limited time to do this secretly until alarms started blaring due to the unauthorized launch of a multi-trillion yen machine. Working as fast as they could they had a total of 30 seconds of silence until red lights turned on and Klaxons outside started blaring.
"COME ON! GET IN!" Musashi yelled.
"Startup initiated! I'm coming! I'm coming!" Just as Keita got in and closed the cockpit, he saw people rushing into the hanger. Whether they were now yelling or shooting at them was now unknown.
"Is your thing working?"
"Let's hope so, or we won't be getting real far."
Initiating the six back thrusters, the T-RIDEN-T destroyed the entrance to the hanger as it seemingly jumped into the sky.
"How long is your thing going to last?"
"It's called a "jammer" dingus, and to be honest I don't know. Hopefully long enough for us to escape. This is a government controlled army you know? I bet they're already trying to re-establish connections with the unit."
"When is an army not government controlled?"
"Shut up."
"Not to mention it was written by a kid with barely any coding experience," Keita said
"Hey, it's gotten us this far." Musashi replied. After that was said both of them stayed quiet due to the stressful situation. The cockpit was small and cramped, and designed for only one person. This... Was going to be a long trip.
June 8th, 2016
"The JSSDF is in a frenzy right now, it's all over the news, and even people down here in HQ are starting to wonder if we'll get involved."
"In my defense, I haven't even done a thing yet. The UN investigation was supposed to start its investigation today. That was the plan." Kaji was a bit worried about Gendo's reaction to this, but so far he hasn't moved a muscle.
"Yeah well, they got NERV involved. Barely 30km away, I'm just glad you can't see it."
"Since it first crashed in the Hakone region, it now makes involves NERV right?"
"Correct, I assume at least. I've heard rumors from passerbyers that they plan on sorting Unit-01 to go and find it."
"My question is how the hell is the pilot hiding it?"
"I couldn't tell you. How are you gonna deal with Gendo?"
"I don't know he hasn't called yet. Maybe he's working on the Jet Alone plan. Anyway, how's Shinji doing?"
"To be honest, I don't know, he's hiding behind a facade of carefree, when really, everything is pilling up on him and is starting to stress him out. He goes on long walks after school or at night sometimes, listening to music. From what I'm getting at, it's just to run away to his own little fantasy land."
"Please keep in mind that he is a child. 15 years old now."
"I know, and were asking a lot of him, I understand. Did you hear? He snapped at his father at the last battle." Hitomi just sighs, this whole thing has just barely started and it's already overwhelming her.
"Yeah, I heard, I never expected anyone to yell at the commander, let alone his own son."
Hitomi sighed at the audacity of that. "When I told him to… talk, or let it out…"
"You meant with you right, not at his father."
"Yeah… I just wish we could entrust the EVAs to adults, and not kids… Why is that?"
"Were digging up a lot of information, and were trying to get that as well. But to be honest, we don't even know where to look right now. And thank you again for talking to Shinji."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I'll catch you later Kaji, I bet someone is just dying to see you right now."
"Heh, right."
With that said and done, Hitomi hung up and went back to work. Her conversation with Kaji was to inform each other of the new indecent involving the JSSDF. Not to mention there were talks of deploying Shinji to try and find it. Then there's the JA conference today At least Shinji won't be deployed for that.
"...Because of this, it has now involved NERV and we have been tasked to help find it. In the event you do find the missing T-RIDEN-T Unit, you are to subdue it. Try not to damage it too much."
"Ok, thank you." And with that Ritsuko sent Shinji off to the cages.
Turning to Misato she said; "Come on let's go to the conference."
"Wait hold on." Misato said while looking at Shinji. "Don't bother making dinner for me Shinji! I won't get back till late!" Shinji looked back and nodded in response. "I don't even see why we were invited, or why we have to come."
"Stop complaining, at least you don't have to be at your desk all day. And besides, you'll be traveling to old Tokyo, you like traveling right?"
"Not for work. And besides, isn't the site we're visiting called "Abandoned Zone 28"? And not Old Tokyo?"
"People call it Old Tokyo for convenience sakes."
"Hm, I wonder what those JA guys even plan to accomplish today." With that said and done, Ritsuko and Misato left HQ and boarded a VTOL which took them to Old Tokyo. After about 30 minutes of uncomfortable traveling, the pair arrived at their destination.
"Jeez, it's so hard to imagine that this was the capital of Japan 15 years ago. It was once a concrete jungle. Now it's just a smaller concrete jungle with some irradiated parts."
"Humanity fell to its knees after Second Impact, and then nearly killed itself with the resulting wars." Ritsuko said, looking at the giant hanger in the distance.
"I bet it'll be a hundred years before we're back to normal."
"Well considering the half-life of nuclear materials, it'll be about 20,000 years for some parts of the world."
Misato just sighed at that. "Of all places it had to be here… So, how did these guys get funding? The SSDF?"
"No, they weren't allowed to interfere with this, and besides, they already have the T-RIDEN-T."
"Which is now a thorn in our side..."
The humming of the entry plug was the only thing Shinji could hear while on his mission. NERV had located the T-RIDEN-T Unit after some investigation and found that it was currently hiding at the bottom of a lake. Shinji was also worrying about the pilot, What was it doing here? He thought. "Pilot?" ...out loud.
"O-oh, what? Did I say that out loud?" Shinji said embarrassed.
"Yeah, you did. Anyway, we have nothing for you to do here now so you can go ahead and start the shutdown sequence, and we'll take it from there." Makoto said
With Unit-01 Shutting down, and the procedures almost finished, Shinji was just about ready to go home and relax. Until he heard something on the comms.
"Spy! We have an unauthorized person on the premise!"
Canceling the shutdown sequence, Shinji moved Unit-01 to look at the perpetrator. Only to find that NERV was cornering a girl his age.
"What are you doing? That's not a spy!"
"Even if she's not, we'll have to detain her and question her. She did trespass onto our operation."
All Shinji saw were heavily armed men surrounding a scared girl. Just as he was about to intervene with Unit-01, he heard a massive splash behind him. Turning Unit-01 he then saw a massive mech jumping right at him. Colliding with Unit-01, it sent him onto his back, sending everyone on the surface to the ground. And Shinji began grappling with the T-RIDEN-T Unit.
Back at the command center alarms were going off due to the sudden attack.
"Great, just when we were about to withdraw, this happens. I was hoping to not get involved." Fuyutsuki said.
"Pilot, fight to disable, do not inflict any unnecessary damage onto the machine." Gendo said.
Shinji just grunted in response as he continued grappling with the T-RIDEN-T Unit, he was in a pretty bad place to begin with, there were many people surrounding him, and with one wrong move, he would crush them. He was also on his back, and anyone with a brain would know that this is a horrible place to be at during a fight.
He needed to fix that. Grabbing the head of the T-RIDEN-T, he willed Unit-01 to try and get himself on top of the Unit, however, as if sensing this motive, the T-RIDEN-T broke free of Unit-01's grasp, and backed away, near the lake. Whether this was to get a better fighting stance or to get away from the people on the ground Shinji couldn't tell.
Standing up, Shinji willed Unit-01 into a fighting stance and advanced toward the T-RIDEN-T Unit. The mech swung its equivalent of an arm first, Shinji being in the superior war machine, was able to dodge the attack with ease, plant his foot on the machine's side, and push. He was hoping that the T-RIDEN-T would just topple over, however, its pilot seemed to be more skilled than that.
That's right, there is a pilot in there! Shinji thought. However, unbeknownst to him or NERV, there were actually two pilots in the T-RIDEN-T Unit. I have to be careful.
"How do I shut this thing down?"
"We have very little data on the machine, try aiming for the legs." Makoto said.
No data? That's impossible, if Kaji was able to send me tidbits of info, surely NERV should have information on it.
Taking Makoto's advice, he advanced towards the T-RIDEN-T's legs. Only for it to jump into the air and land behind him. Shinji kept his eyes on it, and when he turned towards it he saw it send another kick his way. Thank god for reflex training. Shinji thought as he grabbed hold of the leg. Taking his other arm, he punched the knee joint, rendering that leg useless. They didn't feel that, did they?
The T-RIDEN-T pilots knew that the leg was useless and jettisoned it. The only downside to that is that now the remaining leg could not support the entire weight of the T-RIDEN-T Unit. So, it activated the six jet engines on its back and started hovering over the ground.
Jesus, this thing looks ridiculous. Shinji thought. However, as ridiculous as it looks, he did not expect it to ram into him so fast. As Shinji regained his footing, the fight would soon be over as the T-RIDEN-T Unit would fly away as fast as possible. Shinji would have chased it if his father didn't tell him to stand down.
"Stand down pilot, the Unit is crippled, and can only stay airborne for so long. Good job."
"Y-yes, sir."
And with that Gendo and Fuyutsuki left the command center. If it wasn't for the stressful situation Shinji would have heard his father praise him.
Meanwhile, back at Old Tokyo. Misato was currently bored out of her mind. Siting doing nothing while some guy presents about some robot that won't even come close to the EVA.
"Thank you for taking time out of your undoubtedly busy schedules to come and witness the demonstration you have all been waiting for. We at Japan Heavy Chemical Industries have worked day and night for the past half year to unveil our new product which we are so proud of. The demonstration will start shortly, while we wait for my team to prepare, we shall take the time to answer your questions now." Shiro Tokita said.
Without wasting a second, Ritsuko raised her hand.
"Ah, the famous Ritsuko Akagi. It's an honor to have you here." While that was being said, Misato could feel the eyes of roughly 100 people start to look at her and Ritsuko. They invited us here to make fun of us, that I do know.
Ritsuko then asked her question. "According to the briefing you just gave us, you stated that the JA is equipped with a nuclear reactor for its power source. However, don't you think that might be a bit too dangerous during actual combat?"
"Of course it's dangerous, did you expect us to sell our clients walking time bombs?"
Some of the people around the NERV party started snikering.
"The JA is currently a prototype, a proof of concept if you will. As we speak there are hundreds of engineers, and scientists working on the production model, with a much safer power source. But even then our prototype would still beat your EVAs in regard to operating time. Our prototype can run for 150 days consecutively."
This statement perked many ears up, and investors became more interested in the project.
"Whereas your EVA, can last for only 5 minutes."
The people around the NERV party started snikering… Again.
Ritsuko, not wanting to be humiliated, tried to one-up Shiro Tokita. "Yes, you are correct that our EVAs can only operate for 5 minutes when disconnected from our power grid. However, that power is what allows our EVAs to lift 50,000 tons… Easily. And run at around 200m/s indefinitely for as long as they are connected to power. I would also like to add that those "limits" are not concrete, and we are constantly pushing them higher and higher."
Ritsuko smirked as she suddenly heard the presentation hall go dead silent, with people muttering "50,000 tons?!" in hushed whispers.
"Yes, that is indeed impressive, however, our team thinks that an autonomous weapon such as our JA, is better than one that induces incredible mental stress onto its pilot." Tokita said while displaying a picture of EVA Unit-01 on all fours, its mouth restraints open just enough to see Unit-01 clenching its teeth. It looked like it was in pain.
That's from the fight with the 4th angel! Misato thought with wide eyes. What the hell is intelligence doing!?
Tokita continued. "Yes while in the end, your EVA is superior to our JA in a few ways. You have had 15 years to develop them. While we in just a mere six months were able to create mechanisms that allow our JA to lift up to 10,000 tons, and run at 150m/s. Let's also talk about the price alright? The repairs for the EVA cost just about as much as the GDP of a small country… We can make 10 JA prototypes with that same amount of money. The UN had to approve that colossal supplementary budget, that leaves over 20,000 countries starving."
Ritsuko had enough, she also had one more ace up her sleeve.
"I see you're trying to fool your investors into thinking quantity over quality is better. But I digress, it still remains that only NERV has the technology possible to defeat the enemy."
"The only thing I've been saying is that the EVAs are over 15 years old, while still impressive, are becoming obsolete. Just imagine what the JA could do, if it had the same 15 years of development time you had. Not to mention the AT-Field? We know about that too, and it's only a matter of time before JA can tear that down as well. NERV's time in the sun will not last forever."
With Ritsuko finally out of questions, she decided to sit down and wait until they were all dismissed to their own dedicated break rooms. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long. Inside their private room, Ritsuko pulled out the Jet Alone sample booklet and her lighter.
Misato was busy creating a bunch of dents in a random locker. While kicking it she spoke. "Shit how the hell did they even get that kind of information?!"
"There has been a massive leak of information from Section 2 a week ago."
Misato needed to collect her thoughts, so she calmed down. "Shit I guess PR is gonna have a hell of a time explaining some things. Will Shinji or Rei need to get involved? If these guys know about the kind of mental stress they go through, then…"
"No they're fine, PR has already dealt with it." Ritsuko said, throwing away the burnt booklet.
Misato sat down by Ritsuko. "How is this gonna affect the EVA program?" She asked.
"God only knows."
"I thought you didn't believe in god."
"It's just a saying."
Unit-01's Evangelion cage was almost always filled with life during the day, people scrambling to get it either locked or unlocked. Right now it was the former, with technicians connecting Unit-01 to many things. After that was done, Unit-01 would then be submerged into LCL.
"Unit-01 cooling process initiated." A robotic voice said.
"Alrighty Shinji you can exit the plug now." Hyuga said.
"Will do, thanks." Did I have to sit through the whole recovery process? He thought.
Up in the command center, Hyuga was working at his terminal making sure Unit-01 was properly locked down. He was just about done when he felt his phone vibrating, he fished it out of his pocket, accepted the call, and was greeted by an ear piercing.
"Hyuga!"
Recoiling a bit, he replied. "Y-yes Captain?"
"Prep Unit-01 for launch! Send it to the air base! And then tell them to send it to the my cordinates!"
"Roger! ...Um you do Have clearance for this correct?
"I've arranged this with Atsugi, so bring Shinji, and equip Unit-01 with the F module."
"Roger, is this an emergency?"
"Yes, this is an emergency."
"I'll see you there."
Taking a deep breath, he held it for one second and exhaled it. He had work to do. Shinji on the other hand had just gotten out of the shower, dried himself off, put on his clothing, and right as he left the shower rooms, he heard the announcement system go off.
"Third Child, please prepare for sortie, I repeat Third Child, please prepare to sortie."
Shinji just hung his head in defeat. Not noticing Rei walking by. She noticed him but decided not to engage. After getting into his plug suit, he made his way over to Unit-01 where he could hear nearly all the techs muttering things like "Damnit." and "We just got it locked down." However, when they saw Shinji get closer they all quieted up. It's not like they were the ones going into battle.
It took a total of 60 minutes to get from NERV, to Old Tokyo, then to nearly above Jet Alone. Shinji had just been staring at the door that separates him and Unit-01's entry plug. Two sorties in one day. So far, I haven't seen a hospital so at least I have that... Man, why was I picked to pilot?
"We'll be ready to drop in T-10min!" Hyuga said.
"Misato-san are you sure about this plan?" Shinji said while sitting in one of the world's largest planes.
"Look, Shinji, I know this plan is very risky, but I have to try, we can't rely on the 0.00002% chance of this machine stopping on its own."
"I know that, but I heard the inside is going filled with radiation, this whole thing is just too dangerous! What if it blows up?"
"Unit-01 will protect you from the blast."
"I'm not talking about that!"
Misato was surprised to get this much emotion out of him.
"...I'm flattered you're so worried about me, but If I don't do this, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
"Target sighted, we'll be dropping soon."
"Thanks, Hyuga, once dropped climb to a safe altitude."
Shinji just stared at Misato for about 30 seconds before shaking his head and getting up.
Shinji and Misato opened a door and went into an airlock, where slowly another door opened up, leading to Unit-01. It was in a large open area, for a teenage boy, even one who hates EVAs, it was still a pretty cool sight, it was also very loud. When he got to the back armor he pressed one of his hands on a barely visible hand reader, and a second later the armor opened up to reveal an entry plug. Before getting in, he saw Misato go down a catwalk to Unit-01's hand.
"Ready?!" Misato yelled to Shinji. It would be hard to hear over the rushing air.
"Yeah!" Time for another mission.
Once inside the plug, he initiated the startup sequence, and almost immediately he saw the countdown timer show up. As fast as possible, but also carefully, he maneuvered Unit-01's hand to allow Misato to climb in. After grabbing her he told Hyuga to get him into drop position and told Misato to hang on tight.
The ground shook when Unit-01 finally landed on the ground, and Shinji immediately took after Jet Alone, he didn't have much time left. He had 4 minutes and 30 seconds left when he finally got Misato to the rogue robot.
"Misato! I'm bringing you up now!"
Misato was just about to reach the door when she lost her balance and nearly fell off, she wouldn't have though because one, she grabbed onto a ladder, and two, Shinji moved Unit-01's hand just below her. Denting part of Jet Alone's body.
"Shinji! Be careful!" Misato said, and she made her way inside the hot interior of the robot. Shinji meanwhile, was struggling to keep it in place. He was keeping his hands on the front of the machine not expecting anything when Jet Alone suddenly grabbed both its arms and pushed Unit-01 away.
Now, Unit-01 could easily demolish Jet Alone, but it was currently a walking nuclear bomb, and Misato was inside. So keeping it still, while it was resisting was going to be a difficult task. He also had 2 minutes left in his battery, so whatever Misato was doing she would need to hurry it up. If the radiation doesn't kill me the stress will.
"Misato hurry up!" Shinji yelled, the worry could be heard in his voice. However, she wouldn't be awake to hear it. During the initial scuffle, Misato was jostled inside the machine, hitting her head and knocking her out instantly.
Shinji was still grappling with Jet Alone when he decided to take things into his own hands. He grabbed onto one of the control rods and started pushing them down. All while jet alone was trying to break free from Unit-01. Shinji was just about finished with the first control rod when his luck came back to him, and the mecha shut down. At least I don't have to push the other rods down. HE thought.
With a sigh of relief, Shinji shut down Unit-01, with less than one minute to spare. He immediately called the recovery team and wondered why Misato hadn't radioed in yet. He was starting to get worried.
"Misato-san?… Misato-san!"
It had been about two hours since the JA indecent, The NERV party went back to HQ to treat Misato, and let Japan Heavy Chemical Industries fix their own mess. In the medical ward, all Ritsuko could see was an incredibly worried boy sitting down on a bench. His leg was bouncing up and down with anxiety and he was deep in thought. She decided to give him the good news and walk over to him
Seeing her walk over, Shinji immediately got up, he had long gotten out of his plug suit and into his own casual clothing.
"Well, I can tell you that Misato is perfectly fine. No radiation on her, the suit kept her safe, and she'll just have to deal with a bump on her head for a few days." Ritsuko said.
Shinji released a breath that he'd been holding after hearing this, the only thing keeping him awake after such a hectic day was worry and anxiety. "Oh thank god."
"You seem to care a lot about Misato... Don't you?"
Shinji was taken aback by that question, he was not really expecting it.
"U-um, yeah, I guess I do."
"Heh heh, well at least she's getting proper meals with you around."
"It's the least I can do. She did take me in. I used to complain about how much of a slob she is." Ritsuko snorted at that. "But my friends convinced me that the reason why she's like that is because she considers me family."
"Family?"
"Yeah, I mean she's not so buddy-buddy with my father as she is with me right? So I like to think of it like that at least."
"I see, well, I'm glad for you Shinji-kun, you go home and get some rest, and I'll make sure Misato is alright."
"Thank you, Dr. Akagi."
As Shinji went home, Ritsuko could only feel envious, as she still had work to do. Walking over to Gendo's office, she was greeted by a man in a black suit. "Let's get this over with." he said.
"Yes, let's." and they walked into the office.
Their steps echoed as they made their way to Gendo's desk.
"Report." Was all he said.
"The recovery of Unit-01 is complete, no worry of radioactive contamination. Except for Captain Katsuragi's actions, everything went according to plan."
"Good work." Gendo said and looked over to the man in the black suit.
"All the assets from JHCI should be absorbed soon, so far there have been no difficulties. Engineers from the 5th branch are already getting prepared for the cargo.
"Good. Both of you are dismissed."
After they walked out Gendo leaned back in his seat. He had been doing paperwork nonstop since yesterday. The budget meeting went well of course, but it only introduced some disturbing variables. What do the old men intend to accomplish with all those Units? He thought. However, he wasn't thinking about Units-05 to 10. No those are only meant for insurance against the angels, useless in the grand scheme of things. No, he was thinking about the new Mark.01 series.
With the Evangelion Technology boom, back in 2015, construction of the giant bio-mechs became more and more affordable. The price of one 2014 EVA is equal to two 2015 EVAs and is now equal to 3.6 2016 EVAs.
Gendo could only wonder why the committee wanted an army of EVAs, a troubling thought on its own.