Chapter 2 The Dust Settles before the Storm
Destruction, utter destruction was the best way she could describe the scene, such a quantity of destruction hadn't seen the light of day since Second Impact and the resource wars that followed. The thought itself made her radiation suit clammy and even more suffocating under the burning gaze of the sun.
Her Geiger Counter ticked as she hovered the device over the edge of a large, irradiated footprint. Only a measure of 350 μSv half of what this same spot was yesterday, still a dangerous amount of radiation in the long run. Though the Doctor wondered if any of them would last long enough, considering the foes they now had to face.
She gazed up noting the crumbling buildings of the city-turned battleground. Blood staining the stone red, some corroded through and some still hissed as the acidity of Gojira's blood slowly dissipated.
'Radioactive and Acidic, what a wonderful combination.'
The frankly overworked Doctor derided sarcastically to herself, walking over to gather a sample of the blood before cleaning crews and heavy duty-machinery would arrive to start the process of removing the radioactive material.
Her Gieger counter beeped rapidly as she approached the blistering puddle of oozing blood.
'5000 μSv, still fresh it seems,' she wondered before reaching for a special containment box, built with layers of lead and steel to prevent contamination.
"Disgusting stuff, whatever this 'blood' is." Misato called voice muffled by the gasmask and radiation suit fitted to her body. The Captain looked around pensively, eyes drawn to the deep claw marks gouged into a nearby skyscraper.
"Please don't touch anything Captain, it's still highly radioactive," Dr Akagi droned with a level of annoyance.
"What's with the 'Captain' honorific all the sudden? Don't you have any faith in me Rits?" Misato pleaded bashfully.
"Not when it comes to Radiation," she retorted, before returning to her sample collection.
"Anyways, onto business, they've got me out here doing damage reports and cost projections on all this, I think Nerv is prepared to quarantine and bury these last few blocks in cement due to radiation exposure," Misato explained dryly.
"I can't say I blame them, we've always rebuilt before, but this place looks… Dead," She added, before absentmindedly gazing up against the shattered towers and desolate shells of buildings which could have housed people, lives and families. She hated thinking about the personal side of all this destruction.
"I don't believe paving the place down will be necessary, radiation levels from Gojira seem to have a very short half-life," Dr Akagi explained, never turning her gaze from her work as she added.
"You see, this blood, while still very dangerous, is only half as radioactive as yesterday, it seems our Reptilian Foe burns bright but not for long."
"So, are you saying Gojira, might die naturally?" Misato questioned, trying not to let those hopeful embers light.
"Not at all, simply that by observation the radiation Gojira produces is more akin to nuclear weaponry than atomic energy spills. Though everything at this stage is strictly theoretical," Ritsuko clarified.
"So can I report that the official recommendation is to wait until radiation levels subside?" Misato further questioned hoping to get out of the stuffy suit she was wearing.
"Based on the radiation figures alone, I'd say 2 months until safe levels, a month if we conducted heavy duty decontamination work." She speculated, before quickly adding.
"But this is just for these few blocks, the burns and the path of destruction by the atomic breath may last longer."
Misato briefly nodded, beginning to turn on her heels she halted in her tracks, "How's the Kids, Rits, you know I worry about them?" Misato asked.
'here's the reason she came to see me,' Ritsuko sighed mildly annoyed by her friend.
"As far as I know they're not awake yet, but I have full trust in their recovery- despite the radiation." Misato sighed seemingly relived, thanking the Doctor before veering off to discuss with other Nerv personnel on site.
'To think I'd live to see both the Angels and Gojira return, God must be playing some sick joke on us' Dr Akagi mused to herself, sweat and exhaustion setting in from the heat and overall lack of sleep.
'Is this what I really signed up for, what I really want?' Doubt beginning to seep into her mind, working and churning this was hardly part of any scenario Gendo had described.
Audio/Visual Conference Room. (Human Instrumentality Committee)
"How could such a beast just waltz in undetected like that Ikari!" One of the SEELE members scolded.
"Do you have any idea the outrageous expense of your failure, Billions in damages," Another derided as the stoic commander sat in his usual manner, fingers laced together mind exploring his plans within plans.
"Enough!" Keel Lorenz shouted, even though the monolithic depictions of each of the member's showed no visual indication, Gendo could easily picture the deep scowl on the old man's face.
"Explain yourself Ikari or we shall remove you from Command." Keel warned, his patience already strained by the unexpected events.
"Nerv's scanning arrays are tuned to find Angels and so were not equipped to explain nor analyse the radiation produced by Gojira. As such, early warning was not possible until he was already attacking," Gendo placidly clarified.
"The Magi are now aware of Gojira's radiation signal and such we are able to track the Kaiju with relative accuracy," He elaborated, earning an array of scoffs and murmurs of excuses against him.
"You really believe this Monster to be Gojira, you fool Ikari!" Another member interjected.
"I am using the designation of the Kaiju so far, but by all measures this creature is most likely another of Gojira's species, Dr Akagi is working on theories to explain such," Gendo retorted, withholding his utter disdain for the old men.
The responding member tsked and scoffed, before addressing the council. "This still doesn't account for the discrepancy in the Dead Sea Scrolls. No beast or Angel fits this… Creature's appearance," He decried, spitting the last word out venomously.
Noise erupted from the Council as the SEELE members squabbled with each other like a pack of self-serving vultures. Gendo allowed a tiny smirk to form, finding a subdued sense of amusement from their fear.
"We all know that the Scrolls give little more than vague portents of events than detailed descriptions of what is to come. This beast is no threat to our scenario I can assure you." Gendo countered fuelling the fire of the council's discontent.
"Silence!" Keel's voice rang out loud and clear, cutting the noise with the knife of his own authority.
"Arguing will only bring us to ruin, it is clear that whatever this Kaiju may be- it is a threat to our scenario." Keel dictated, voice hinting that malicious rage that Gendo knew hid just beneath the surface.
"Repairs must be made; precautions prepared to maintain our schedule and prevent conflict with Human Instrumentality," Keel announced, before addressing the Commander.
"Ikari, we will look past this failure for now, since you have not fulfilled your usefulness. I expect this creature to be dealt with accordingly." He intoned voice slipping back into calm but measured spite.
"For now, maintain secrecy regarding the attack, if the Japanese public knew of the return of what they would believe to be Gojira, it would endanger us." Keel added before relaxing back into his chair.
Gendo stood up forcing attention towards himself as he made his move. "I believe stronger action must be taken to ensure the scenario's success," He began, piquing the interest and or ire of SEELE.
"We would be foolish to assume that like the Angels, Gojira would only attack Tokyo 3. We have no idea regarding its intentions but if he were to attack but one city, our plans would be stalled or at worst crippled. Failure is not an option, so I therefore recommend announcing the existence of Gojira to the world."
"What!?" Gasps and shouts of indignation erupted from Monoliths.
"Are you mad Ikari!" SEELE 02 accused spitting the words with venom and spite that would make a snake crawl in its skin. Gendo was unphased by their reactions, the old men had acted exactly as he expected.
With the cacophony of unpleasant obscenities reaching its peak along with charges of insanity and treason. The unofficial head of SEELE had heard enough of the squabbling, pathetic men that were his 'colleagues.'
Switching to a panel he muted all the other members aside himself and Ikari. "I have no patience for children pretending to be men, this meeting has devolved into mindless bickering." Keel began even though many were incensed by the muting and insults none dared opposed Keel.
"Ikari explain your reasoning as I assume, you of all people would not risk our scenario senselessly." His voice matched the cold calculating tone that garnered Gendo such an intimidating aura. A taste of his own medicine as the faceless voice of Keel chilled him.
"Our grasp on the people, despite what others may lead you to believe is teetering on a knife's edge, rebellion and terrorist attacks while many are fabricated distractions, others seek to remove our control."
"We're not Gods yet, and so we must consider all options available to us. If this Gojira is, despite all odds against it- the same creature from 1954 we can assume it shall do anything it's power to destroy humanity," Gendo intoned, voice growing solemn as he continued.
"Gojira is not a creation by God, he is a monster of Man's own making. And so, if the public were to find out that the Government, knew or had any indication of Gojira's existence and withheld such crucial information. Support in Japan would collapse.
Fear is the strongest emotion of all, but it can only go so far once you face a person with the choice between following orders and annihilation in atomic fire.
This is why the only course of action is to reveal Gojira's existence, for if we portray ourselves as saviours to the people against this Kaiju, they'll ignore what we tell them to." Gendo added, voice hinting a fire rarely seen by the council.
"If the use of the Evangelion's becomes necessary against Gojira, we'd rather let them be seen as a salvation for humanity rather than tools for instrumentality. The people will not judge from whom the Sword of their salvation arises, they will only judge its sharpness." The commander finished, his prophetic words echoing in the minds of the Council, particularly Keel, as Ikari resumed his seat.
The old men sat in silence for a few minutes deliberating on Ikari's words by themselves before concluding.
"Ikari, your reasoning is acceptable. Submit to us footage and censored documents of the attack on Tokyo 3, remove all overt descriptions of Project E during the battle. I trust your judgement on how to release these matters. But we need a Nerv member to present the findings to the public to prevent any connection to us."
"Understood, Dr Akagi will undertake the task." Gendo assured.
"Meeting adjourned" Keel concluded preventing any further discussion on the matter by the other members. The Monoliths switched off as Gendo was left in darkness. He sighed, relieved his plan was successful but uncertain of the events to come.
"The old men took it better than I expected." The Sub Commander observed.
"We must maintain this course correction for our scenario to succeed Professor." Gendo answered once again steeling his resolve.
"What of the Pilots?" The professor asked.
"We cannot rely solely on the Dummy Plug system or the Eva's themselves now, we must prepare the pilots for war." Gendo warned, a small smirk appearing on his face.
"Send for Inspector Kaji."
Hospital Quarantine Room 482: Occupants 3 (Quarantine Protocol Radiation Sickness.)
Pain, a deep aching pain, in all her limbs and joints. A dizziness and pounding on her brain as if she'd been through a tumble drier three times, than tossed down a cliff. Aches in places she didn't know could ache and most of all, no clue where she was.
That was the predicament of Asuka as she begrudgingly opened her eyes to the sterile white of hospital containment. Light filtered though as her eyes attempted to adjust to the new whitewashed surroundings.
Turning her head to one side she noted a glass of water on a table next to her bed and the pitcher from which to pour another if she so wished. Her throat was parched, drier than the Sahara and the Gobi deserts combined. Reaching for the glass, pain shot up her body. Her hand may have been willing but her body certainly couldn't pay that particular toll without a great deal of pain. She clutched her chest, ribs seemingly stabbing into her flesh as she groaned, a thousand little knives digging into her petite torso.
"Gott, agh- I feel like I got hit by a train." She growled gritting her teeth in anguish.
"Such a description I believe would be an understatement, as Gojira is much larger than a train." Rei replied placidly.
"Ahhhh!" The red head screamed startled by the bluenette's sudden appearance, well it was certainly not sudden, she had just failed to notice the quiet girl. Not that, failing to notice her was a difficult task.
Asuka immediately regretted her exertion as more shots of stabbing pain coursed through her.
"What the hell, you stupid Doll!" She cursed, causing Rei to tilt her head, seemingly intrigued by her outburst.
"Are you ok?" She asked shyly.
"Does it look like I'm ok idiot!" Asuka replied.
"I've got pains all over and you think to startle me like that!" Asuka derided obviously incensed by the blue haired 'Doll'.
"That was not my intention," Rei replied nonchalantly, unfazed by her fellow's pilots seemingly growing rage.
Asuka huffed, grabbing her glass with enough force that one might worry it would shatter in her hand.
'Stupid Doll, bane of my existence, can't even wake up without being surrounded by idiots… wait, why's Shinji in a bed next to me? Why's Wundergirl in the same Verdamnnt room as me!'
"What the hell are you two doing here?" She asked sternly, her frustration boiling over, though restrained to a degree by Asuka's desire not to injure herself further.
"We are in Quarantine; we all were inflicted with substantial doses of Radiation." Rei explained succinctly.
"What! You can't be serious; I'm locked up with you two idiots Arrrghh!" She screeched now beyond furious at her current situation. Rubbing her temples in frustration the fiery girl bemoaned her woes.
"Great, just Great, I almost die to that stupid Overgrown Iguana and now I'm going to get cancer in a few years because of some Verdamnt Radiation. And to pour salt on the wound I have spend my last moments on this god forsaken planet with a walking Doormat and a Windup Doll, just Perfect." Asuka decried, following her tirade with endless German expletives.
Rei was beginning to find Asuka's behaviour mildly annoying, a sensation she had not yet experienced. She would have to thank Pilot-Soryu for this discovery… later… much later or never might be preferable.
As Asuka continued to lament about the future loss of her Red Locks of hair in the throes of cancer, Rei found amusement in the knowledge her fellow Pilot was worried over very little.
"Dr Akagi informed me earlier that treatment for our Radiation sickness had been successful and no long-term affects should occur," Rei commented before returning her attention to the book she was reading.
"What are you stupid, why didn't you tell me before!" Asuka screamed with enough force that Rei was curious as to how Ikari could stay asleep with such… noises.
"You didn't let me finish my explanation," Rei retorted coldly growing a smidgen more annoyed with the current circumstances herself.
Asuka's mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish, fury boiling under her skin like magma.
"You're lucky I'm too injured to kick your ass Wundergirl!" she warned, fumes pluming from her ears, at least that's how Asuka felt.
Taking a few deep breaths she resigned herself sinking into her bed, 'great now both your body and your ego is bruised Asuka, great job' she derided herself sarcastically. 'I hate this.'
"I assume Commander's perfect Doll managed to kill that dumb lizard, didn't you?" Asuka accused. "We'd be dead otherwise," she added with a scoff.
"I was not able to kill Gojira, I merely managed to force his retreat," Rei recalled not even raising her gaze from her book.
"Yes! Take that Wundergirl! Owww damn it!" Asuka cheered pumping a fist in the air way too hard, causing pain to shoot through her. She hissed cradling her arm before blushing beat red as she realised how desperate that sounded.
Asuka's mood soured further, as she recalled how Gojira had almost killed her the utter helplessness and fear. She felt pathetic and she despised that feeling. It swirled in her guts like a pool of sickening black tar. A pool of shame.
"I hate this, I'm supposed to be the best pilot here, but I've been rescued twice now by an idiot and a glorified Doll," She berated to herself unaware how loud her voice really was.
Rei tilted her head as she let her book fall to her lap. The hardcover item resting quaintly on her hospital gowned thighs. Her usually icy stare, warmed a touch, despite Asuka's disdain for Rei. She sensed, a similar sense of uncertainty and fragility that Shinji showed her. That self-doubt, Rei couldn't quite place the feeling herself, as many emotions were still alien to her. This didn't mean she couldn't see the pain obviously in front of her.
"I would not doubt your skills Pilot-Soryu, your battle prowess is unmatched by Ikari and I," Rei assured, face displaying what Asuka could only describe as 'Concern?'
"Ikari may be powerful in Unit-01, but he lacks your refined skills in combat and could only match your ferocity- while Berserk," Rei continued, her expression unchanging, whether that was because of actual sincerity or a simple lie, Asuka couldn't tell.
"Shut up, I don't want your pity, you're only saying that, to save your ass for earlier." Asuka coldly sneered, but Rei was not deterred.
"I have no intention to pity you, I am merely stating a fact. The battle was your plan and it was successful. You protected Ikari, after he was wounded. You fought until your last stand, which gave me the opening I needed to attack and repel Gojira. Without your efforts and the wounds, you gave Gojira, we'd all be dead." Her soft voice spoke no lie and her eyes betrayed no emotion, which gave the impression of clear concise logic.
Asuka was stunned, perplexed, confuzzled even. Both by the volume of words and their meaning, 'Why would she care? She doesn't, she's just stating a fact, but she didn't have to.'
She stammered trying to produce a reply as her blush creeped back onto her face, the words having their desired effect.
"I-Uh- Well… Well, it's Good that at least one of you knows -th- their- their place!" Asuka proclaimed a little too cheerily, retreating to her bed sheets and averting her gaze from the Blue-haired girl that just unquestionably complimented her skills.
She was used to such compliments from those at school, but those were hollow and merely because of her status. Rei had no ulterior motive for her words and therefore Asuka couldn't shake the feeling that the Doll actually believed what she was saying.
Many minutes passed in silence, aside from the casual sound of a page turning from Rei. Asuka simply tried to stare out the window, no games, no TV, nothing to entertain her racing brain or distract her from those intrusive thoughts that eat at her like a swarm of rats. She even considered waking The Baka since, according to the clock it was past Midday, but she decided against such an action since she argued he wouldn't be that interesting either.
Letting out a deep jaded sigh, Asuka turned to look at Wundergirl. Her eyes trailed to the book in the bluenette's hands. The Kanji was difficult to read but she managed to figure out the title.
'Being and Time, why does that sound so familiar.' Asuka thought to herself. Racking her brain for answer after some minutes she narrowed it down to something from her time in college. Now, she was deeply intrigued.
"What's that?" Asuka demanded.
"What?" Rei replied.
"The book idiot, who wrote it?"
"Martin Heidegger, he's a German philos-"
"I know who he is Wundergirl, I'm German don't you think I'd know my country's own Philosophers!" Asuka interrupted, deriding the other girl's response.
Rei looked perplexed for a moment before returning to her book.
"It's good you're learning from the German classics, teach you to be a little less, you know… Doll-like." Asuka continued, arms waving in a proud manner, though not too proud since they still hurt, to emphasise the extravagance of her Germanic heritage.
Rei looked up again, her face displaying no indication that she was either annoyed or overly engaged aside from a small glint in her eyes.
"I find Heidegger's work… useful, though the German words are difficult at times." Rei explained her soft voice a clear contrast to Asuka's prideful reply.
"Of course, it's difficult for you Wundergirl, you don't have the understanding of his work like I do being a true German."
"So, you've read the book?" Rei retorted, causing Asuka to freeze as her brain cobbled together a 'suitable explanation.'
"Of course, I have! I just may have been half-asleep during that particular Lecture on it." She added, mumbling the last part rather embarrassingly. 'Not my fault Heidegger is so dense, it's like trying to read the German dictionary, if it was chewed up, mangled and spit out again to arrange the longest sentences imaginable.'
Asuka smirked, a brilliant idea coming to mind. 'Though she did remember the key parts of the book, she could prove her philosophical might to this usurper of her heritage!'
"Well then, since you're such an expert on Heideggerian Philosophy, how about I test you on it huh?"
"I never said I was an expert, but yes, a test would be useful to determine my retention of the information." Rei replied robotically, making Asuka roll her eyes at the 'perfectness' of the response.
"Fine then Wundergirl, describe to me how to live authentically according to Heidegger?" The fiery red-head asked with a smirk, hoping to send Rei for a mental loop.
"Living authentically is acknowledging that humanity is thrown into the world, thrown towards-death. That we should be more aware of Being in the world or Dasein as he described it," Rei began never stuttering only pausing briefly every now and then to choose her words, as if she we carefully playing possible responses endlessly in her head.
"Living, by acknowledging the parts of existence that make life unique and living freely for ourselves, despite the conditions we're born into. That is living authentically."
Asuka gritted her teeth annoyed at the admittedly, if she wasn't so frustrated, insightful response. Before a wide smirk creeped on her face.
"I wonder Wundergirl, are you living authentically- never questioning anything, always doing as the Commander says?" Asuka chided, itching to get a rise out of the other girl.
Rei, for a moment, looked actually perplexed for once, a reaction that Asuka savoured with a smirk.
"I trust the commander because he has treated me well in the past, he raised me but you're right to doubt that I am living authentically."
Rei paused for another moment, a brief look of longing glancing on her features, before tilting her head to face Asuka again. "Man dies constantly until the moment of his demise," Rei explained, as she stared blankly at Asuka. A groan to Asuka's left, interrupted their philosophical musings.
"God, ow, I feel like I was hit by a train," Shinji complained, before yawing broadly.
Rei opened her mouth to mention a similar response to what she told Asuka, before being interrupted.
"About Damn time you got up Third! I had to entertain myself with talking to this brick wall here." Asuka shouted, face red as she realised that they were all wearing nothing but hospital gowns.
"What are you doing in my room Asuka—Wait." Shinji looked around, seeing his fellow pilots all in the same room as him.
"I… uh Hi Ayanami." "Hello Pilot Ikari." Rei replied.
"Why are we all together?"
"We're currently radioactive, so we're in isolation," Rei explained simply while further answering Shinji's questions on how the battle went, his anxiety while not quelled, was soothed a touch.
"Excuse me!" Asuka interjected, face now red as her hair as rage built in her.
"You idiot what were you thinking, you almost ruined my perfectly executed attack plan!" Asuka accused her voice raising in pitch.
"Me, I lost my Eva's arm saving you Asuka!" Shinji shouted back,
"Did I ask you to save me again Baka Shinji!" Asuka derided right back.
Shinji sighed rolling his eyes, 'Same Asuka as always.'
"Well maybe the plan wasn't as good as you thought," Shinji argued, frankly grumpy and in need of a coffee and a long session listening to his SDAT player.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Asuka screamed.
"You're lucky I can't reach you right now Third, but I swear to whatever God is up there, that I'll kill you for suggesting such nonsense!"
Shinji recoiled, shrinking into his sheets desperately hoping in some vain attempt he could take back his words.
"Sorry." He replied timidly.
"You should be thanking me for beating back that stupid Lizard for so long, that and Wundergirl here, for being for being half as good a shot as you are a stupid Baka!" Asuka added puffing in exertion at her outburst.
"Wait did you just compliment Ayanami?" Shinji chortled
Asuka's eyes went wide as she sputtered half-baked excuses and mental gymnastics to deny that it was indeed compliment, well an underhanded one at least.
"Pilot-Soryu," Rei said, taking Asuka out of her rambles to Shinji.
"What?"
"Thank You," She softly replied, taking a brief look into her eyes before returning to 'Being and Time.'
Her response left Asuka even more frazzled and Shinji in fit of hysterics at her expense.
"Shut up!" She shouted childishly before pulling the covers over her head. 'Damn it you adorable Doll.' She grumbled to herself.
Author's notes: Hopefully formatting is fixed: Thank you for reading