Chapter 7: Fragments
It is odd, trying to focus on what other worlds have in store for me. It has always been in the back of my mind, this link to other versions of me. I have learned much of what this world had in store for me when I arrived in it, much as that information became somewhat moot for me. But I have also seen other lives. Distant lives. Impossible lives.
Even now, I wonder at this world where I must hurt Shinji in order to save him, seemingly less so than in most other lives I have witnessed the scattered pieces of, but still, I hurt him regardless. Even watching from afar, it wounds my soul.
But I know I only see so much.
- Personal journal of Kaworu Nagisa
Geofront, Another World, Late December 2015
Ymris stepped out of the only working elevator she could find, making her way to the ruins of the Geofront surface, and swore that she could see at least one of the Hells reflected back from the sight as a shiver went down her spine once again against her will.
It was a dark, desolate view, shrouded in dust and ash, the only light attempting to pierce through it from above being that of the distant moon. Rubble was strewn everywhere, cloaked in shadow the further into the distance it went. But most of all, it was silent, now. There were no cries of torment, no shouts for help. Simply a deathly peace, draped over everything much like the fog draped over the landscape.
Within the fog, however, two forms glowed with a brilliant light. Unit-01's green light, slowly fading, showed its limp form in the arms of the new Evangelion. Its body and parts of its arms glowed a bright orange, and it handled the fallen Unit-01, with the massive spear lanced through its back and out its stomach, with almost tender care as it floated into the air, taking Unit-01 with it.
After a moment, both Evangelions were out of sight. 'Who was that?' Ymris thought with no small amount of amazement. 'There's no Evangelion I know of that's like that.'
She once again cursed their lack of Receptor archives. They could have found the ones that at least partially matched this Echo, and known about this madness in advance. But those were in the custody of Receptorist Jameson, who had been very cautious about allowing access to them. Now, they didn't even have that. They would have to find those elsewhere in the Worldsea after they got off this Echo. 'If we ever do manage to leave.'
She shook her head as she began to look around. Tavis was excited at the prospect of adding to the Revival, replenishing what was lost many times over, from the sound of his tone regarding the survivors he and the others were marshaling along. He was hopeful. It was good to see him be that way.
But she wouldn't see that. At least, not for a while. For now, she would have to find Major Katsuragi and direct her towards helping anyone else trapped in the HQ. And from there… well, she'd see what happened.
The fight with the 10th Angel had trapped many inside the massive complex, as her Sight showed her many souls, like clusters of stars, huddled together in the distance at varying depths within the earth.
She brought her gaze up, scanning the world around her. Nothing. Nothing…
There! Only somewhat in the distance, a small group of souls, no more than a half a dozen, clumped together as they stood their ground. Ymris closed off the Sight and began to make her way over to them.
After a few minutes of picking her way across and over the rubble with a grace that belied her true elven ancestry, the group came into sight.
It was the command staff, with a wide-eyed Major Katsuragi sitting down in the center, knees hugged to her chest, her gaze fixed on the point where both Evangelions had disappeared from sight.
She walked slowly over to the group, First Lieutenant… Hyuga, that's who he was, looking over as she appeared from the fog.
He crouched down, speaking to Major Katsuragi with muttered words as the others in the group noticed her. She did nothing, continuing to only stare at the open night sky.
A woman in a white lab coat, Doctor Akagi if she remembered correctly, walked over to her as she stopped. "Technician…" she began, trailing off as she looked at her tattered name patch.
Ymris snapped a salute. "Technician Tennison." she lowered the salute as she stepped forward. "There's a lot of people still trapped down in HQ, ma'am. I was sent to find the command staff, see what we can get together to get them out."
Doctor Akagi nodded. "Well, we'll see what we can do to get things sorted. But right now…" she trailed off, looking back at Major Katsuragi with a worried look. "We're sorting some of our own things out right now."
Ymris walked over to Major Katsuragi, crouching down as First Lieutenant Ibuki examined her, and saw that her gaze was… empty.
She activated her Sight and looked at Katsuragi's soul. Guilt, anger, sorrow, fear, all those and more swirled within her like a mighty tempest, shocking her to silence.
Ymris sighed quietly and stood, looking over at Doctor Akagi. "If you could spare…" she looked around the small group. "Perhaps Lieutenant's Aoba and Hyuga, I can go back down and start getting people up here."
Doctor Akagi looked at her and nodded. "That sounds... about as good as we can do right now." she sighed.
Ymris nodded as the Lieutenants in question walked over to her, and began to walk away from the group.
"Asuka."
Ymris blinked as a quiet gasp rippled through the group, as she turned to look at Major Katsuragi, who now stared at her, a desperate look in her eyes.
"Find Asuka." she said again, her voice shaking slightly. "We… we can't lose her… too."
With that, Major Katsuragi looked back up at the sky. But now, a longing filled the empty space in her eyes.
. . .
As the three left to go back into the HQ, Ritsuko looked back at Misato, and couldn't help but feel some sympathy for her. After all this, to lose the young Mr. Ikari… it must have been quite a blow for her.
She kneeled next to her as Lieutenant Ibuki stood from her examination. "Misato…" she said quietly. "Are you able to keep going?"
It was silent for a moment as Ritsuko waited for her answer. Her brow furrowed slightly. "Misato?"
"How did you know?" It was only a whisper.
Ritsuko blinked even as she felt a dagger of fear sink into her chest. "What?"
"How. Did. You. Know?" Misato enunciated, and she looked over at Ritsuko.
Ritsuko's heart nearly stopped when she saw the look that Misato gave her. She looked like the commander on his days when he was unamused by her advances, full of cold condemnation and utter contempt.
"Because… because..." Ritsuko said, stammering slightly. She wasn't ready for this. Of all the times for this to happen, why now? Why here? Her breath began to quicken slightly.
Misato now turned her body to face Ritsuko fully, and slowly gripped her lab coat. "You knew exactly what was going to happen. I saw the look on your face as you watched me tell Shinji it was okay to end the world. So how? How did you know Unit-01 could do that? How did you know that Shinji could do something like that?"
Her eyes were on fire now. Ritsuko felt that if they burned any hotter, she'd be turned into ash herself, floating away to join the rest of the stuff floating in the air. "Why is Shinji gone? Where is he going?"
"I… I don't know where he went, Misato." Ritsuko said, desperately trying to get herself under control. "All I know…"
"Are the secrets that Commander Ikari told you, right?"
All eyes turned to look at Inspector Kaji, who stood back with a sad look on his face. "It seems we've all been keeping secrets." Kaji said sadly.
He made his way over to Misato, crouching down and putting his hand on her cheek. "Misato." he said quietly, his expression unexpectedly serious.
Misato looked over at him, and after a moment, the fire in her eyes died. Tears welled up in its place. "Kaji…" she whispered. "I… I lost him."
Kaji was silent as he pulled Misato into a hug, and she sobbed into his chest. The sobbing was the only thing that broke the dead silence for a few moments.
Kaji looked over at Ritsuko, who sat back with an exhausted, stunned expression on her face. "We'll need to talk." he whispered, and Ritsuko choppily nodded.
Kaji sighed quietly as Misato's sobbing came to an end, deep breaths presaging Misato looking up at Kaji, then at Ritsuko.
"I'm…" she took another deep breath. "I'm sorry." she said, composing herself as she stood, Kaji and Ritsuko standing with her. "We need to find the rest of the staff. We'll need to relocate, find Commander Ikari."
Kaji put up his hand. "I probably wouldn't advise that. After what we've seen, and what I'm about to tell you…"
Misato stared at Kaji silently for a moment. "You mean… he knew about this, too?"
Kaji was silent as a thoughtful look came to him. After a moment, he finally seemed to come to a decision. "Yes." he said with a serious expression. "In fact, he was probably betting on something like this happening. Not this early, but…"
Misato's eyes widened. "This… this was what NERV's mission was? Destroy the Angels, and end the world?"
Kaji nodded. "Yes. Why? I don't entirely know. I was still digging through a lot of stuff. Both the Commander's and Ritsky's."
He put up his hands as he shrugged at Ritsuko's shocked glare. "Sorry, Rits. The Japanese government and SEELE ask for a lot." he paused as he put his hands down. "Well, I don't know if either of them will care much anymore."
"SEELE?" Misato asked, her eyes narrowed. "What's that?"
Kaji sighed. "That… is going to take a lot of explaining."
. . .
As Ymris picked up and moved the last piece of rubble blocking the doorway in front of her, she wiped the sweat from her brow as Hyuga and Aoba walked into the room, calling out for anyone who was trapped inside, she looked around, shining her flashlight into the dark hallway that stretched into the distance.
She looked for an indication of what floor they were on and eventually found a hall number a few dozen feet away from her, the half-ruined sign still reading 'Hall 72, Level 4'.
'Well, we've made quicker progress than I might have thought.' she wondered. Even still, it was more than likely that the moon was setting. It would be a new day soon.
And there were still many people they needed to get to soon, she thought, as Hyuga and Aoba made their way to her side. They had a long way to go before they reached the floor with the Medical Center that Asuka was in. And that was on top of getting everyone freed and sent up to the surface that was on the way there.
"Alright," Hyuga said as he walked back to the other's side, "that's everyone on this level we can reach."
There were others that they couldn't get to, even with the subtle application of Ymris's Interfacing. They did their best. And right now, that was all that really mattered. "Let's move on." Hyuga continued after sighing quietly.
As they found an elevator shaft and pried the dead doors open, they began to descend down the emergency ladder, and Ymris blinked as she felt the singular earring she wore vibrate slightly. It was a long-range connector, allowing for someone to link to her soul even from miles away.
"Good morning." Tavis said through the link.
"Is it really morning?" Ymris replied, a slight grimace on her face as she processed the image of the sun rising over the ruins of Tokyo-3 that Tavis sent. "Got it. Descending a ladder over a very deep elevator shaft. Put a pin in the pictures for a little bit."
"Sorry." Tavis said, a guilty tone to the word. "Anyways, we found someplace for the survivors who are with us for the night. There's a lot who just want to go back and find some of the others, unsurprisingly. But there are a few who are actually genuinely interested in the faith. I'll keep working with them while we're on the way to Matsushiro."
"You're going all the way out there?" Ymris asked in surprise as they got off on the next level.
"It's out of the way, it should have all the supplies we need, and we should be able to start a new mission there, nice and quiet for the moment."
Ymris gave a mental shrug as she unclipped her flashlight from the chest strap it hung from, and began to scan around for blocked doors. "Well, if you can convince enough people to start a mission, then at least I'll have someplace to come back to."
"That you will. But right now, keep close to the Colonel. I'd rather have someone I trust close to her if she tries to do something."
"Sounds like a wise course of action." Ymris replied. "I'm in the process of retrieving Asuka. We're probably getting close. We'll talk later."
"Sound's good. Good luck." Tavis said.
"You too." Ymris replied, and the link was severed. She took a deep breath, and almost ran into Hyuga as he suddenly stopped and took his phone out.
"Wait a minute." he said, pulling up a map of the HQ as Aoba and Ymris came around to peer over his shoulder.
"We can use the vent maintenance system here to make our way down to the Medical level quickly. There's even a way back up to the 1st level, winding though it may be. I'm not sure if it's clear though."
Aoba looked over at Hyuga with a deadpan expression. "And you didn't think of this before we ran the risk of falling down several elevator shafts?"
Hyuga raised his hands defensively. "Look, the world just nearly ended. I'm still a little frazzled, okay?"
It was silent for a moment as a somber look crossed all their faces. "Yeah." Aoba said after a moment, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I guess I can't really blame you for that. Let's get everybody here safe, then let's check out to the Medical Center."
The others nodded and got to work.
. . .
Misato held her head in her hands, silently processing everything Kaji and Ritsuko had told them as she felt more than saw the first rays of the morning sun. Other NERV employees had begun to trickle their way to the surface with Tennison, Aoba, and Hyuga coming back only recently, and Ibuki sat with them in between going out and directing them towards what was left of the command structure as far as they knew.
Was this it? Was it going to come to this, regardless of whether or not they beat all the Angels? Had they even done that with this last one?
All those questions and more spun around in her head like a cyclone, drawing all thoughts towards them.
After a moment's more contemplation, Misato took a deep breath, then looked up at who she was with. "So, what's next, then?" she said quietly, looking intently at Kaji.
Kaji puffed his cheeks for a moment. "Well… I think we'll probably need to go check on Asuka. If she's still in quarantine, then Ritsuko will probably need to vet her before we move her."
Ritsuko nodded as she stood. "Hopefully, there's still power down there. Hopefully, the backup generators down there didn't get damaged."
The others nodded silently as they stood as well. "Alright. Let's go. I have a lot I need to chew on before I make a decision."
. . .
As they descended back into the ruins of the HQ, entering the path that Hyuga had sent them single file, Misato's mind whirled. Could she trust NERV anymore?
No. That was an obvious answer to a stupid question. NERV had been made into puppets. By Commander Ikari, and his apparent masters within SEELE. NERV's mission, to save humanity from the Angels, was, if not a lie, then a convenient half-truth, designed to strip humanity of its free will.
'Well,' Misato thought as she descended through the dark maintenance halls, 'they'll find that my will is a little tougher than they think.'
Misato blinked as she felt the cool breeze of an air conditioning system hit her skin, chilling the sweat that had become part and parcel of going what was essentially underground.
"Oh, good." Ritsuko said ahead of them. "That AC probably means that the backup generators are still online."
"That'll keep the process of getting Asuka nice and simple." Ibuki said behind her, and Misato nodded.
"Good. I want to get out of this place as soon as possible." Misato said as they finally emerged into the Medical Center.
It was a clean, mostly white room with doors leading to different rooms for patients, most small and only used for examinations. Ritsuko ignored these doors, Ibuki joining her side as they came to a stop in front of a door that was clearly marked 'No Access Without Prior Authorization'.
The lights left overhead flickered as Ritsuko swiped her ID across the scanner, and the door hissed open.
As the group walked into the room, Ritsuko walked over to the diagnostic panels, while Misato made her way to the observation window, looking down on the wide, spacious room that held the sarcophagus-like quarantine chamber that Asuka rested in. It glowed red, as did the seven strange pillars that were marked with small symbols.
It looked far too similar to a tomb. Misato could not shake the thought as she stared, dimly feeling Kaji join her at her side in looking down at the sight. Finally, she took her gaze from the sight and looked over at Ritsuko and Ibuki as they studied their screens intently.
"So, what's Asuka's status?" Misato asked.
"So far so good…" Ritsuko said, trailing off as she focused, her brow furrowing. "We'll go ahead and start lifting her out of stasis."
As she finished speaking, an alarm sounded on the monitor, drawing all eyes to Ritsuko as her eyes widened. "That's… that's impossible!" she said, her jaw slack in shock.
"What is it?" Misato asked, walking over to the monitor, slowing to a stop as her own jaw dropped.
A patch of red, small compared to the wireframe of Asuka's body, flashed red in the area around and over her right eye on the monitor.
"Is that…" Misato asked, not daring to complete the question.
"Angelic corruption." Ritsuko said, her calm voice only betraying a hint of fear.
Misato looked over at Ritsuko. "How's that possible? Didn't she go in there with no physical contamination?"
Ritsuko shook her head slightly. "That's what I'm asking. There should be no way that physical Angelic corruption could seep into the quarantine chamber when she only went in with a chance at psychological damage. Unless…"
"Unless?" Misato asked with an arched eyebrow. "Unless what?"
Ritsuko shook her head again as her lips became a thin line. "I have several theories. Wild guesses, really, but I want to be sure. So we can't wake Asuka up yet. I'll need to study her, to ensure that the corruption won't spread when we do wake her up."
Ritsuko looked over at Misato with a serious look in her eyes. "And we will wake her up, Misato. I promise."
Misato said nothing, only sighing as she looked back up at the screen. "Can we move the quarantine unit itself?"
Ritsuko looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I mean… it's possible." she said slowly.
"Good. Then let's get some technicians back in here, get it extracted." she sighed quietly as she looked over at Kaji. "You and I have some planning to do, and some calls to make. If we can."
Kaji nodded. "If you're thinking what I think you are… Then I think we can make it work. Maybe."
. . .
Classified Location
Images flashed through Asuka Shikinami-Langley's mind. Ones she could not fully understand. Pieces of memories that weren't hers. College classes taught by professors she had never met, yet cared for deeply. Demonstrations of impossible feats, gone as quickly as they came. Was this a dream?
No, she thought, as she came upon a scene she recognized. It was a nightmare.
Unit-01 lay beneath her as she choked it. No. No! Shinji may have been an idiot, but he didn't deserve this! Stop it. Stop it!
Then, Unit-01's eyes turned red, and its mouth opened in a low growl. Its strength seemed to return to it as it threw off the hands that pinned its arms, its hands around her neck in a second.
It hurt. Why did it still hurt?
Unit-01 threw her onto the hillside, and she impacted with a force that would have driven the air out of her lungs. Why didn't it?
Then, Unit-01 began to tear her apart. What was Shinji doing? Why? Stop! Stop! Please!
But Shinji didn't hear, as he raised his hands above his head, and brought them down in a hammer blow to her face.
It felt like the world exploded into fire and darkness. Then, she slowly began to open her eyes, dull pain in her head causing her to groan softly as she began to shift.
As she finished opening her eyes, she found that one of them was bandaged up, blocking her sight of a medical room filled with diagnostic devices that bobbed up and down slowly. She felt a strange weight around her neck, edges of something poking into her collarbone.
As she reached for the bandages covering her eye, a voice from behind them spoke up. "Don't take those off."
Asuka blinked. That voice was familiar. It took her a moment to place it, but she realized it as Doctor Akagi came around to the side without the bandage. "Those are important."
"Why?" Asuka asked groggily as the doctor pulled out a phone and stepped away for a moment, speaking quiet words she couldn't hear before pocketing it. "Why shouldn't I take these off? Where am I?"
Doctor Akagi turned to face her, and Asuka couldn't quite suppress the shiver she felt as the doctor looked at her. "You currently have traces of Angelic contamination in and around the right zygomatic area."
Asuka's blood turned to ice. "How?" she asked in a whisper.
Doctor Akagi sighed as she shook her head. "Right now, we still don't entirely know that. All I know is that, after the battle with the 9th Angel, you were badly damaged when Unit-01 crushed Unit-03's Entry Plug. You didn't have any physical Angelic contamination when we put you into quarantine. But you somehow gained it at some point in the time before we extracted you from the quarantine unit. So now, we have to monitor it."
Asuka's hand brushed over her neck, feeling the two boxes that sat on either side of it.
"And is this the monitor?" she asked, looking at the door behind Doctor Akagi as it opened, Misato and Kaji stepping through with concerned and relieved looks on their faces.
Doctor Akagi nodded. "Yes, actually. What you're wearing is supposed to run diagnostics on the contamination, as well as work in tandem with the specially prepared bandages in containing it."
Asuka nodded slowly as she finally sat up in the medial bed. "And does this thing have a name?" she asked, looking intently at Doctor Akagi.
"It's called the DSS Choker." Doctor Akagi said. "It's a prototype right now, so don't expect to wear that version of it forever. I'm still doing some fine-tuning of the design."
Asuka nodded, as she looked at Misato and Kaji. "Where's that idiot Shinji? I'd think that he'd want to bow and scrape in apologizing, being the way he is." she paused for a moment. "And why are we floating?"
It was silent for a moment as a look of sadness flashed across Misato's face. "Shinji… isn't here." Misato finally said as she stepped forward. "And to answer your question on why we're floating, we're currently somewhere off the coast of Africa."
"What?" Asuka said incredulously as she processed what she'd just heard. "Why?" It was a question for all of what she had heard.
"Shinji…" Misato started, then paused as she took a deep breath. "Shinji is missing in action after the battle with the 10th Angel. After-"
"After what?" Asuka asked, fighting the tightness in her chest and too proud to admit that she was failing. "Misato, how long has it been since I went into quarantine or whatever?"
It was silent for a moment. "Misato, answer me." Asuka said.
"It's been two and a half years, Asuka."
Misato's words hit Asuka like a brick to the head, and Asuka laid back down on the bed as she processed the time that had passed. "And… what about the idiot?" she asked numbly.
"During the battle with the 10th Angel, Unit-01 awakened after Unit-00 was consumed by the Angel." Doctor Akagi said, stepping forward.
"Figures he'd get angry over the doll." Asuka muttered as Doctor Akagi continued.
"As Unit-01 defeated the Angel in its awakened state, it caused what we've termed 'Near Third Impact'. Tokyo-3 was leveled, and the event caused the rest of the world to spiral into chaos. We've started recording the growth of material similar to what the cores of the Evangelions are made up of growing out from Tokyo-3."
Doctor Akagi paused to let Asuka take it all in. "Before Third Impact could fully take effect, an unknown Evangelion stopped the process with a lance-like weapon, then carried Unit-01 away. What remaining satellites we have working show that Unit-01 is currently entombed in orbit."
It was silent again as Asuka processed this.
"That idiot." she whispered.
. . .
Misato sat in her quarters and pondered on the device in her hand.
It was a bulky handle, not unlike the control stick of an aircraft, with a small monitor on the back, and a trigger where her index finger now lightly rested.
It made her so angry, treating Asuka like this and not telling her. She thought back again to the discussion, as she often had in the weeks since Ritsuko had presented the control for the DSS to her.
"You're telling me that you've strapped a bomb to Asuka's neck?" she had said incredulously. "No. You're going to take it off. Now."
"We can't risk that, Misato." Ritsuko had said. "If the Angelic corruption spreads, if Asuka develops an AT Field, what's going to stop her?"
"She's a child, Ritsuko!" she had shouted. "You don't seriously think Asuka could… could turn into an Angel? Do you?"
"That's the thing, Misato. We don't know." Ritsuko had replied, voice as hard as steel. "And until we can definitively prove that she's either completely clean of Angelic corruption or that she won't try to end the world after what's inside of her has taken over, we can't afford the risk. Period."
It had been silent then, as she contemplated what Ritsuko had said.
"You know I'm right."
And the worst part was… she did.
She took her finger off the trigger, and lightly pressed the remote to her forehead. 'Asuka… I'm sorry.'
. . .
Ymris, or as she was now called, Head Engineer Tennison, leaned against the railing of the cruiser that carried many of the NERV personnel on it and looked off into the distance at the cargo ship that carried the quiet, bestial form of Unit-02 over the crimson waters of a quiet ocean.
It had been surprisingly simple to get it out. The UN, or at least what was left of it, pulled an obscure part of the Vatican Treaty out of the document, stating that an Evangelion had to be repaired as quickly as possible in facilities that were ready for it, to reduce upkeep costs. As NERV-HQ was in ruins, the next best place was NERV-2 in Germany.
After that, with Unit-02 and its original core secure, all they had to do was... vanish. And vanish they did after Misato and Ritsuko told the now-former UN rear admiral what was going on.
She could have gone back to the rest of the Revival. Said that her task was done for the most part. Tavis would disagree, but she could whip up some Seer Marbles, keep an eye on things without leaving the new Matsushiro Mission, the area now wreathed in a protective mist that surrounded the mission for miles, along with a maze of jutting spires of rock where spectral spirits, courtesy of Aaminata, prowled and turned away unwanted visitors.
And yet, she stayed. Why? What kept her here? Who kept her here?
She felt the earring she wore pulse as someone, most likely Tavis, reached out to her.
"So," he said with a chipper tone, "how are things going for the new head of Engineering?"
"Well enough." Ymris replied with a slight smile on her face. "Still think I'm not the most qualified for the position, but… I'm all they have left, really."
"Excellent." Tavis said, no small amount of satisfaction evident in his words. "I'm starting the mid-day sermon if you're free."
Ymris smiled slightly. "I'm just staring at the open ocean alone right now, so I can catch at least the beginning of it if nothing else."
"Alright. I'll patch you in, then." Tavis said, and the bond between their souls became slightly stronger.
Soon, her vision blurred, and as she focused, she saw through Tavis's eyes, as he entered the doors of the mission's chapel. Two simple doors were flanked by two large, open windows that allowed light into the stone building.
Within was the congregation. It was a small thing, comparatively, only about 30 or 40 souls. But compared to when they had come, it was a massive improvement. Most were those that had joined Tavis and the others on their trek to Matsushiro, though there were some in the group that had joined from the countryside after being offered clean food, water, and shelter, valuable commodities in the post Near Impact world.
Tavis walked in and talked with many of them, catching up on births and birthdays of children, how the harvest of one of the now newly interfaced farmer's crops was coming along, and offering guidance and advice, at least as best he could, on a variety of questions and concerns. More and more, Tavis was becoming more than just the initiate she had met digging into the history of the Unity. He was coming into his own as a Voice of the Guides.
Finally, Tavis made his way to the raised stone podium, and the congregation took their seats in the somewhat more comfortable padded chairs.
"My friends, my brothers and sisters in the Unity, it's good to hear you're all doing so well. Congratulations especially to the Maeda's on the birth of their twins." Tavis said, and Ymris felt a slight smile on his face.
"Today, I want to speak on perseverance. I have no need to remind you of the hardships that we've faced over these past few years. But I can say with no small amount of certainty that these trials, however much of a burden they may have been, have ended with us becoming closer."
"There is little doubt that we face even greater trials in our future. Whether personal in scale, such as the birth of a child, or a challenging harvest, or something grand, such as the Near Third Impact over two years ago. But we are strong. Especially together."
"With the direction that the Guides have given us, their wisdom has helped to make us a stronger people, a more united people. And the Guides still speak to us today. They still speak to those who will bring true Unity to pass."
He paused for a moment as a quiet murmur passed through the congregation, and Ymris couldn't help but share in their questioning. What was Tavis waiting for?
"I have heard the voice of the Guides. I have spoken with them. And they have given me a direction for us to take."
A gasp went through the crowd, and Ymris felt their shock along with her own, and Tavis's satisfaction at the reaction. She had never heard of anyone in recent memory who had direct contact with the Guides. What had Tavis done to get their attention? Or did he seek them out?
Regardless, Tavis continued. "They ask us to prepare to remake this world, to restore it to the beauty and peace that once reigned on it. They direct us to find and harness powerful tools in order to do so. These tools, the Mass-Production Evangelion, may be familiar to some of you, depending on your position in what was NERV."
Another murmur rippled through the congregation, and Ymris's wondering became deeper.
"I know that the task ahead seems large. It is. I'll not sell it short. But I have faith in us. Especially as we come together. Because it will be our hands that make this world whole again. It will be our efforts, small though they may be alone, that restore things to the way that they should be. And the Guides know this. They know that we have been prepared to take on the challenge. Together."
"Thus, this thing will require my attention. I will appoint a director to oversee this mission while I, and a chosen few, are away seeing to this task. I will speak to some of you more in-depth as we formulate a plan."
"Have faith. We will succeed. Even though we may be asked to do things that we feel may be impossible. Have faith that the Guides will show us the way. For the Unity."
"For the Unity." came the reply from the congregation, and Ymris had to stop herself from echoing the words as well. It was a bold move, no doubt about it. But if the Guides willed it… they had to act. There was no question. They would not waste their first words to others in years on a trifle. They would always act to unite others under their care. Always.
"I have to go, now." Ymris said as the sermon concluded, and Tavis stepped off the podium. "Good sermon, if you could call it that. Nice and short."
"That's all that's needed. After all, there's work to be done, now." Tavis replied. "Good luck where you are."
"Thanks." Ymris said, her words quiet, and the connection faded, then disappeared. And Ymris looked at the scarlet ocean and the ships that floated on it.
Ymris took a deep breath. So, it would begin.
"So."
Ymris jumped slightly. She looked over and saw Asuka Shikinami-Langley, the right side of her face bandaged in white gauze bearing strange markings as she looked intently at her with her remaining piercing blue eye.
"You're the new engineer for my Unit-02, are you?" she said, a serious look on her face.
Ymris nodded and looked over to the cargo ship with a quiet sigh. "Yes. Technically, I'm going to be in charge of any Evangelions that we pick up."
Asuka's visible eyebrow rose. "Evangelions, plural? You mean that we're getting more?"
Ymris nodded. "Yep. We'll be picking up Unit-08 for Ms. Makinami while we're repairing Unit-02."
Asuka's raised eyebrow became a frown. "Repairing? What happened to my Unit-02, Tennison?"
Ymris's mouth became a thin line. "Well… while you were out of action, the 10th Angel attacked."
Asuka nodded as a grimace crossed her face. "Yeah. Heard about that. And about what that idiot Shinji did."
Ymris blinked, and the Sight refocused her view to the realm of the soul. She could see the anger in her soul at the boy, that much was expected. But there was also… guilt? That was interesting. But that wasn't her current concern.
"Yeah." Ymris continued. "Pilot Makinami took Unit-02 out to face the Angel, and… well, Unit-02 lost an arm to the Angel."
A flame lit up in Asuka's eye. "So this other pilot stole my Eva and got an arm taken off for her troubles? How much of an idiot is she?"
"Well, actually not much of one." Ymris replied. "She held her own for quite a while and even assisted Ayanami in Unit-00 with getting the N2 missile to impact the Angel after it took off the Unit's arm. She's tenacious if nothing else."
"Maybe. But that's my Unit-02 that she's gotten banged up. And it looks like we don't even have the repair facilities at NERV HQ to get it patched up." She pouted.
"That it is." Ymris replied with a level expression. "And… like you said, we don't have top-of-the-line facilities where we're going. We'll likely have to replace Unit-02's arm cybernetically."
Asuka opened and closed her mouth wordlessly for a moment, her visible eye wide with shock and anger. "I… I…"
Then, she sighed explosively. "Fine. I guess it'll have to do for now."
"It may have to do forever, depending on the circumstances." Ymris said sympathetically.
"Yeah, yeah." Asuka replied, rolling her one eye. "Now, do you know where this Makinami girl is? I'm going to have words with her concerning my Eva."
"She's somewhere on the ship, I'm sure." Ymris said with a shrug. "You'll have a lot of time for words, too. We won't be stopping until we reach NERV-2."
Asuka nodded. "Alright. Thanks." she said absentmindedly.
And with that, she stalked away, seeming intent on finding Pilot Makinami as she scanned the deck of the cruiser.
'Yes.' Ymris thought as she watched the angry, bitter young woman disappear from sight. 'It truly has begun, hasn't it?'