___________________________
/ \
| Teineina Tenshi No Teze |
| (Kind Angel's Thesis) |
\_______________________/
Neon Genesis Evangelion and all character belongs to Gainax
Ranma ½ and all characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko
No copyright infringement is intended.
Thanks to my pre-readers:
Ben
aevan
Kevin D. Hammel http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~khammel/
Isawa Kazeko tanzelax@reviewpe.com
Blood Blade http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5920
Please distribute this work unaltered and crediting the author.
dzillman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dzillman/fire
What has gone before:
In the year 2000, Ranma was attacked by a demon summoned by Happosai.
In an attempt to save Akane, he travelled to the Antarctic to gain
power of a heavenly warrior Cologne told him about. Unfortunately, he
died in the effort.
It is now 2015, and Ranma has been reborn and recruited as the Fourth
Child for NERV. This is because the First Child, Ayanami Rei, has gone
missing. When Ranma was sent to do reconnaissance against the Fifth
Angel, it used its deadly particle beam to incapacitate his Eva.
daisanwa
(Story 3)
---------
Ranma languidly blinked his eyes as he felt someone move nearby. Slowly
focusing on the ceiling, he managed to see white tiles and a
fluorescent light. There was an omnipresent smell of antiseptic and
some other smell that he did not want to try and define. Hospital. He
was in a hospital. How did he get in a hospital? Akane must have given
him a good one this time.
Ranma sifted through his confused memories, trying to figure out why he
was here. The last thing he remembered was... pain... burning pain.
Slowly it came back to him: the Angel, the Evas... Akane. A tear
trickled down the side of his face.
From near the foot of his bed he heard a voice. Although it was soft,
he felt as if someone was jabbing an eight inch ice-pick into his
eardrum every time they spoke. "Ranma? Can you hear me? Ranma?"
The voice got up and walked to the door. They must have been muttering,
because they spoke softly enough that the idiot stabbing him in the
head eased off a little. "I... I hope he can hear me... Akagi-sensei
said he should be conscious now."
Rolling his head to the side, Ranma swallowed his bile and caught sight
of Shinji as he stood at the door way. "I'm awake... Ohhh, that hurts."
Shinji came back and sat by Ranma's bed pointing to a covered tray. "Dr
Akagi says that you might feel hungry." Actually, Doctor Akagi had said
that he would probably not want to eat for the next week, but they
should offer him some food anyway. It was a confidence thing, if they
made him think he could handle solid foods, he would be more likely to
get back in the Eva. When he got back from the mission, they could
offer him more hospitalisation and an IV drip while he recovered.
Sliding back in the bed, Ranma braced himself against the wall and
clutched his aching skull. He thought Shinji was supposed to be a quiet
guy. Why was he yelling every word now? Can't he tell I've got a
headache? Looking down at the food, Ranma's stomach rebelled. All he
wanted to do was be violently sick, but the teaching and habits of a
lifetime were powerful. Slowly he nibbled on a piece of toast. It took
a titanic effort to swallow, but Pops had always said: 'eat when you
can'.
Shinji smiled at Ranma. He must be better than Dr Akagi thought.
"Misato-san has a plan for defeating the Angel."
Taking out the little black notebook Misato had given him with Ranma's
briefing, Shinji sat on the edge of the bed. Since his eyes were
flicking over the list of points, he missed Ranma's wince at the slight
movement of the bed. "Here we go. Pilots Saotome and Ikari will
assemble at the cage at 1730 hours. After that, we go up to Mt Futago
and wait for a while. The actual operation will be starting at
midnight, but we need to be there before then."
Shinji looked up at the other boy. Since Ranma had come to his school,
Shinji had not had much chance to talk to him. It was difficult to tell
what he was thinking, but Shinji could guess. Shinji was not the one
that was suffering the bio-feedback trauma, but he did not want to get
back into the Eva. How would Ranma be feeling? His first time at
piloting an Eva and he had almost died. That description sounded
familiar to Shinji.
Ranma looked up and met Shinji's eyes until the other boy looked away.
Forcing out the words through the jack hammering in his head, Ranma
spoke tightly. "I'll be there. Ain't no-one that can keep me down. What
time is it now?"
Hiding his shock, Shinji covertly studied Ranma. Ayanami was strange
enough: she would do anything she was ordered. Somehow he expected that
if it was Ayanami lying in the bed, she would sit up and do whatever
she was told. Ranma was worse: he was eager to get himself killed. When
Shinji had seen Dr Akagi before coming here, he had caught some of her
previous chat to Misato. It was not a question of whether Ranma was
sick or ill, it was a question of whether he had survived the
experience or not. Much more time in the Eva and his mind would have
been ruined.
"It's 1630 at the moment, so you've got an hour. Take your time. If...
if you need any help, just call out for me."
Ranma waved weakly and Shinji left. As the medical door hissed shut
behind him, Shinji berated himself for being so glad that it was Ranma
there and not him. 'Someone had to pilot the Eva that time, why does it
hurt so much to think that someone else got injured when it could have,
should have, been me?' Pondering the question, Shinji walked off. Maybe
they won't really need Ranma after all, he hoped in vain.
Inside the medical room, Ranma swung his legs over the side of the bed
and fought down instant nausea at the movement. When his head had
calmed down and the room stopped rocking, Ranma slipped off the bed and
tottered on the floor for a moment before landing in a sprawl.
Clutching his head in agony, he rocked back and forwards trying to
ensure that nothing more embarrassing than collapsing happened.
*Saotome-san.*
*Saotome-san.*
"Shinji." He said weakly. He didn't even remember hearing the door
open. At least he had learned to talk softly enough now.
*No. Ayanami.*
"I... I thought your name was Ikari... Give me a hand, I need to get
up."
*I cannot.*
Raising his head from the floor, he finally saw there was no-one in the
room.
'Great. I'm finally going insane.'
*If you are going insane, you are even less suitable for an Eva pilot.*
Struggling to his hands and knees, Ranma decided to crawl to the
bathroom. Maybe his father had been wrong with that "eating whenever
possible" advice... it wouldn't be the first time Pops had been wrong.
*You must give control to me, Saotome-san.*
Halfway from the bed to the bathroom, Ranma collapsed to the floor
again as agony took over. After it subsided, he rolled onto his back
and contemplated the white ceiling tiles. Speaking to himself he
whispered. "Now I'm hearing voices in my head."
*No. You are the voice from my head. You have suffered severe mental
trauma. You must relinquish control to me.*
"Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy..."
*Pour cold water on yourself. I must have control to pilot the Eva.*
An idea grabbed Ranma by his very soul and shook him. He was crazy;
they even had a name for it. Multiple Personality Disorder. (He has
seen it in one of Kasumi's books when she accidentally left it open.)
That explained why he couldn't remember things before a few days ago:
he must have made some sort of other personality when he got hurt by
that Angel in the Antarctic. He really was talking to himself.
Slowly he turned and looked back at the bathroom again. Turning into a
girl wouldn't help. He knew from experience that all his injuries
carried over to his girl form. But... Oh, god, if he could get some
other personality to do everything, he could just sit back there and
feel sorry for himself. A slow grin spread on his face. Best yet, no-
one would see him while he was weak. Everyone would be saying: "Oh my,
who is that cute little red-head?"
Giving a low chuckle, Ranma crawled forward again. No-one keeps Saotome
Ranma down. Slowly, very slowly, he inched his way across the floor.
With an all mighty effort, Ranma reached the basin. Heaving himself up,
he reached out and splashed cold water all over himself.
Instantly he could feel the usual twitch as he changed sex, but this
time it was different somehow. The pain - all mental trauma - almost
vanished. What was worse, what was most terrifying, was the fact that
he (or she now he supposed) was moving. Ranma could feel herself
standing and walking. She paused briefly by the bed and ate some food.
It tasted... bland.
As he willed himself to chug down a jug of orange juice, he could feel
his traitorous body turning and leaving the room. While facing the
door, he could feel his arm reach out and touch the admission switch.
The door hissed open, and the female Ranma padded softly down the
deserted corridor.
*Hey! Hey! Go back! I wanna drink the juice!*
'I do not need any more food now, Saotome-san.'
*Hey! Whose the boss around here? This is my body, I say go back and
eat it!*
'Incorrect. This body is mine. I will pilot Unit-00 in the mission.'
Ranma was just about to pose some sort of scathing retort when a
thought hit him like a club over the head by Ryoga's umbrella. He had
been naked in bed.
*Stop! Stop! We're naked! We don't have any clothes on!*
Silence. Just the soft sound of bare feet that persisted on walking
despite his every attempt to stop them.
*Hey! Did you hear me? I said stop! You can't do this!*
'We do not have time to stop. You required forty-seven minutes to reach
the water. I must prepare for the mission.'
The strange detached feeling of someone else walking you along (while
naked) stopped for a moment. Another door opened and his body walked
itself into a locker room. Ranma was starting to get really freaked
out. Being in control of your body was one of the prime tenants of any
martial arts. Things got even worse when he saw a slender, pale hand
open a locker door and pull out a white plug suit.
Ranma had been a girl lots of times before, but this was definitely one
experience that he never wanted to repeat. He thought wearing a dress
was bad. Being in girl's body as it donned a skin tight rubber suit...
it made his skin crawl. Actually, it made him glad he never went out
with Kodachi, he could see her being into that sort of thing.
Wearing the plug suit, Ranma could feel himself turn and leave the
room. As the eyes swept across the room, he caught a glimpse in a
mirror.
*Stop! Stop! Go back!*
'As I said, Saotome-san, I do not have time to stop.'
*Yes, you do. Please, just one minute. Please... Look in the mirror.*
The point of view hesitated then turned back and looked into a small
mirror on the inside of the locker door.
*Gasp*
It... It wasn't him. It was someone else's face staring back at him.
Gone was the cute little red-head he had become attached to. Gone were
the shining blue eyes that could defeat every serving boy in any ice-
cream shop. Gone was the pert little smile. What started back at him
was a stranger, a demon in possession of his body. She had deathly
white skin, a small, thin mouth, and blue hair. Strangest of all,
staring at themselves in the mirror, were a pair of huge red eyes.
Ranma was still stunned and silent when his time expired and the
stranger running his body, her body, whatever, left the locker room and
began the trip to the Eva cage.
*Who... Who are you? You're not me.*
'I am Ayanami Rei, designated First Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit-
00.'
*GIVE ME MY BODY BAAAACK!*
* * *
'17:28', Shinji's chronometer said. Two more minutes and he would need
to call Misato and tell her that Ranma had not been able to make it on
time. She in turn would tell Dr Akagi, and Dr Akagi would send some
medical orderlies down. Shinji did not know the details of the plan
yet. All he did know was that to succeed, they thought they needed two
pilots.
At 17:29, Ayanami Rei walked through the doors to the Eva cages. She
looked as cool as an ice cube and as graceful and poised as a model on
the catwalk. Stopping in front of the stunned Shinji, Rei spoke softly.
"Pilot Saotome is incapable of piloting at this time. I shall pilot
Unit-00 during this mission."
Too stunned to speak by her sudden reappearance, Shinji could only nod
helplessly as she walked past and climbed into an entry plug. After his
initial hesitation, Shinji raced to his own plug. Ayanami was going to
have to explain this Misato, and he really wanted to hear what her
explanation was.
Inside Unit-00's entry plug, Rei slid into position and toggled the
microphone. "Captain Katsuragi, please reset all parameters on Unit-00
for me to pilot it."
There was a stunned silence on the comm-link for a moment, then an
image window appeared in the side of the plug. The window showed a
stunned Misato, with an equally stunned Ritsuko behind her. "Rei? Rei!
Where have you been?"
"I have been waiting. Please reset all parameters on Unit-00 for me to
pilot it."
Misato continued to gape like a fish at the amazing sight of Rei in the
entry plug: she had managed to hide herself so that not even teams of
NERV personnel had been able to find her in the last week. Suddenly the
girl was back again, and just in their hour of greatest need. Behind
Misato, Ritsuko had almost finished resetting the Eva's control
parameters.
Down in Rei's cockpit, there was a sudden strobing of colours, then the
inside of the plug seemed to vanish. All around her, Rei could see the
rest of the world. A slight tensing of her muscles allowed her to feel
the might of the Eva all around her. Synchronisation had been achieved.
Managing to cling to the original schedule by the skin of their teeth,
both Evas set out for a mountain exit. Walking up the lightly wooded
side of Mt Futago, the Evas stomped noisily, but their pilots and adult
advisors were all silent. At least, the adults were not talking to the
children; the supposedly mature adults were too busy yelling at each
other.
Inside the control room atop the three Magi supercomputers, Misato was
bawling out the head of security. "How on earth could you lose Rei in
the first place? She's an irreplaceable pilot, without her, we might
have had to use the Saotome boy just to provide a pilot! You've seen
what condition he's in."
"But---"
"Don't interrupt me when I'm shouting! It's bad enough you're goons
lost track of her, but now you let her back into NERV headquarters
without anyone knowing! How can you justify that?"
"She---"
"Exactly! She's just a girl. Obviously she's too dangerous for your
people to handle. Have you ever considered that this is just one little
girl? Someone that's never even raised her voice at anyone, let alone
studied espionage or infiltration? This little girl managed to make it
past all of your security, into the best guarded building in the whole
of Japan."
"I don't---"
"Of course you don't! You haven't had time to think about that. You're
too worried about how she not only made it in, you're worried about the
fact that she knew all about pilot Saotome being injured. THEN she
found out when we needed her. FINALLY, she made it past all your
security and the only person who saw her on the way to her entry plug
was Shinji!"
"We---"
"We couldn't stop her? Of course you couldn't: Rei's too big and mean
for your troops. I'm just glad she wasn't an assassin. Think how well
we'd be feeling tonight if you had let someone in, and they had decided
to kill Shinji. Exactly: there's no way that Ranma could hold the
positron rifle stable enough to shoot. All our work would be for
nothing."
"I'll---"
"I'll have a report ready for you as soon as this operation is
finished, Captain Katsuragi? I'm so glad you offered. Now get out of
here!"
Turning her back on the poor major that was in charge of security,
Misato stalked over to her chair and slumped into it. The head of the
internal NERV security actually outranked her, but since she was
directing the operation, and was directly appointed by Gendo for this
task, she was the one that got to kick his butt. This whole charade of
losing Rei then her turning up again was one big joke. It was a farce
from beginning to end, and Misato would personally ensure that heads
rolled.
Sneaking a glance up to the top command platform, Misato studied Gendo
for three seconds before returning her gaze to the latest update on the
power connections for the positron rifle. The only sign he had given to
indicate that he cared in the slightest about security or anything that
was actually going one was when he had briefly clenched his fists on
the table and studied them with a lowered head. His only words on the
matter: "Welcome back, Rei."
With both of the Evas now in place, Misato only needed one more thing
before she moved herself to Mt Futago also. By the rapid clicking of
heels on the floor, her last item was rapidly approaching in the form
of Ritsuko. The good doctor had gone down to medical to tell Ranma that
he was not needed for the mission, and to allow him to return to bed.
He was already late arriving at the Eva cage, but they would forgive
him of that minor transgression in the light of everything else that
was happening.
"He's gone!"
"Who? The Major? Humph! I didn't yell at him that much."
"No! Ranma. He's missing. Gone. Completely. No-one has seen him since
Shinji left sickbay almost two hours ago. All his clothes are still
there, and his plug suit is there too."
Misato growled low in her throat. Why did it all have to happen at the
one time? "All right. Call out security again. Get every spare medic in
on the search too. If he's as sick as you said, he should be pretty
easy to find."
As Ritsuko turned to give the orders, Misato rose to her feet and
grabbed a binder filled with the latest reports. "Ritsuko, you take
care of Ranma. I'll go and look after Shinji and Rei... and see if I
can get some answers from her."
Misato's high-speed drive to the hills around Tokyo-3 ensured that she
arrived only moments after the Evas. Although they had started with a
significant head start, they needed to be slow and cautious as they
passed all of the delicate electrical equipment. Misato, on the other
hand, apparently had no need to respect any sorts of road rules, and
made the trip at well above the maximum safe speed - even though the
maximum safe speed was already higher than the legal limit.
Misato was smiling as she climbed out of the car. Only two things felt
better than driving fast: drinking a cold beer in one go, and watching
all the boys watch her as she walked along. It was nice to see that
everyone still noticed her, despite the fact that she was almost old
enough to be Shinji's mother.
Speaking of Shinji, he was just climbing out of his entry plug now.
When she had first been told that she would be his commander, she had
thought about trying her usual philosophy for dealing with men: blow
their socks off with charm and good looks; hence the photo she had sent
him. Since then... Since then she had realised important things about
who she was and who Shinji was. He was not just a pilot, another
organic component for the Eva. He was a human being. A young boy who
needed love, compassion and support the same as everyone else.
Including her.
Watching Shinji as he patiently waited for Rei to join them, Misato
smiled. Rei was really quiet, but Misato could see that Shinji liked
her. Misato liked her too, even though she did not know her well. Like
herself, Rei seemed to have shut herself off from most of the world,
only doing her job and not much more. Misato was like that before
Shinji arrived. It was work and it was drink, that was all there was to
life. Even though he never said much, Shinji seemed to be able to get
behind her armour and see the real her. Maybe he was doing the same for
Rei. Misato know she enjoyed having Shinji live with her, it was so
nice having a friend there when you got home from work. Perhaps that
was what Rei needed to help her open up.
The two fourteen year olds were now standing in front of her, waiting
for their final briefing. Shinji was standing more confidently, and
Rei... Rei watched her with detachment. It almost looked as though she
was thinking about something else. Maybe she was just wondering how she
would explain to Misato about her little disappearing act. Misato was
wondering that too, but she had already decided one thing. Whatever
Rei's reasons were, Misato did not mind.
When Shinji had run away, Misato had scolded him. His one friend
abandoned him in his hour of need. She had almost lost someone she was
becoming very attached to, and NERV had almost lost their best pilot.
Perhaps she could learn from her mistakes and stop herself from doing
the same things to Rei.
"It's nice to see you again, Rei."
*Hey! What about me? Doesn't she even care that I'm not the pilot?*
'No. I am an adequate pilot.'
*Well, doesn't she care that you've been missing for ages while I've
been here?*
'No. It is not Misato-san's duty to care about me.'
*Huh? But... but you're a pilot and well, you're just a kid. Sure she's
gotta be worried.*
'I see no reason.'
Silence.
"Are you well?"
*'Well', in the sense that she's taken my body? Or do you mean 'well'
in the sense that she hasn't got massive feedback trauma from the
Angel? Or perhaps even the sense of 'well' that means she is just about
ready to pilot a giant killing machine IN MY BODY!?*
"Yes."
Ah, Rei was obviously as chatty as ever. "After I give you the final
briefing, do you think you could spare some time to talk to me about
where you've been, Rei?"
*Ha, ha, ha. I'm looking forward to hear you explain this one!*
"According to Ikari-kun's briefing to Saotome-san, I must be ready to
pilot the Eva at 23:30. I am available until that time."
Misato groaned softly at Rei's overly obvious interpretation of the
question. Misato was directing the operation, of course she knew that
Rei had time, it was just a polite way of asking if she was interested.
Pointing behind the children - and next to the Evas - Misato explained
how they would use a high powered positron cannon to punch through the
Angel's AT field at long distance. For a short period of time, all the
power in Japan would be at their fingertips.
Inside Rei's head, Ranma saw and felt everything she did. Despite the
fact that she was running the body, Ranma was starting to get a
headache. She never blinked. He had watched for it. In the entire time
that it had taken them to walk their Eva up the hill, then to greet
Misato-san, she had blinked three times; it wasn't natural.
Even worse was the way that she looked at their boss. Looking at
Misato's face as she talked was all Rei did. She did not look at her
body, she did not look at Shinji unless he spoke. She did not look
around. All she did was look at the one spot, watching it, but not
really learning anything from it. Ranma was trying to ignore what
Misato was saying and get some sleep when she came to the explanation
of the roles in the mission.
"Shinji will fire the particle beam."
"Hai."
"Rei, you will carry the shield. If the Angel tries to fire while the
particle beam is recharging, you'll need to protect Shinji."
"Hai."
"This is because Shinji's sync ratio is higher than Rei's. The best
precision and control is needed for this operation."
*Ha! See, I bet I'm better than Shinji is!*
Just as she was about to explain the problem in the mission, when Rei
spoke. It was such an unusual occurrence that Misato immediately
stopped talking.
"Is Saotome-san's sync ratio higher than Ikari-kun's?"
Misato had to strain to hear the words. Rei always talked in such a
soft, unassuming voice that against the backdrop of construction
vehicles and trucks, having a conversation with her was quite a
challenge. "No, Rei. Actually, Ranma's is exactly the same as yours."
*Humph. That's just because I've only had one go at piloting it yet.
Just you wait and I'll show you.*
After a moments silence, Ranma continued. *Rei... I'm sorry about what
I said earlier in the locker. I... I guess you're not really some sort
of demon. I was just kinda surprised to see you in control of my body.
But what I wanna say is that... well... I suppose we're gunna be here
together for a while, so I didn't want you angry at me or nothing.*
Silence
*Rei? We really gotta talk more. Do you hate me or something? I mean...
you never really say anything.*
'I do not hate you, Saotome-san. I have no need to speak to you at this
time.'
*Yeah, well... Maybe. Anyway, can you quit with calling me 'Saotome-
san'? No-one ever calls me that. I'm Ranma. Just Ranma. If we're
sharing this body, we might as well be on a first name basis.*
'I shall comply.'
Not noticing Rei's internal concentration - she normally looked like
that - Misato continued. "The shield will only last for twelve seconds
against the Angel's attack. Shinji, since the particle beam takes
seventeen seconds to recharge, you'll need to make sure that you hit
first time."
Shinji nodded and looked nervous. Rei simply nodded. She also blinked.
Once.
"Misato-san? What happens if the Angel fires while the particle
cannon's charging? You said that the shield will only last twelve
seconds..."
Misato looked at Shinji and wished he was just a little less
perceptive. "Don't worry Shinji. We're so far away, the Angel will
probably never notice our preparations. Even then, we have no evidence
that it can fire for that long. You'll be fine."
The children were silent at that one. Misato was not sure if that meant
they believed her, or if they realised what a load of garbage she had
told them. They did not have any evidence to suggest that they were in
danger... but they also had none to suggest they were safe. Misato's
gut feeling suggested that they were both in danger, but when the
option was to let the world be destroyed by the Angel, she had to take
the risk.
"So, Rei, do you want to tell us what you were doing for the last week
or so?"
"If you wish."
Shinji moved in closer to hear this. He had been really worried about
her when he found out that Rei was missing. She was just a girl, and
she seemed so... fragile.
"I was watching Ranma's actions."
"Huh? Sorry Rei, you'll have to speak up, it sounds like you said you
were watching Ranma."
Rei spoke up slightly, now she was almost at a normal conversational
level. Almost. "That is correct."
Shinji and Misato were both confused. How could she have been watching
what Ranma was doing? Most of the time Ranma was inside buildings, if
she wasn't there, how could she watch him?
That was not the only thing that confused Shinji. Apparently Misato had
missed it, but Ayanami had just called the Fourth Child 'Ranma'. There
was nothing wrong with that in itself, it was just the connection to
other things that confused him. Even after their time together, Rei
still called him 'Ikari-kun'. Stranger still, just a couple of minutes
ago, Ayanami had referred to the Fourth Child as 'Saotome-san', a much
more formal name, in keeping with the way she usually spoke.
"Ayanami... Why did you just call him Ranma? Did you meet him in the
infirmary?"
"He has requested that I use that name. But, no, I did not meet Ranma
in person."
Crouching slightly so that she could look Rei in the eye, Misato placed
a hand on the girl's elbow. "Rei, this is very important. When was the
last time that you saw Ranma? He's gone missing at NERV."
Rei hesitated thinking about the question. "The last time I saw Ranma
was exactly two days ago, at 7:18 in the morning."
Cursing to herself, Misato wondered if his location so long ago would
have any relevance. "What was he doing? Where was Ranma when you saw
him?"
Pause. "He was messing his hair. At home."
Misato snorted. That sounds about right. Ranma had about the wildest
hair that she had ever seen. It might have been about the same length
as Rei's but the only time it ever lay neatly on his head was when he
stepped out of the LCL. Even then it only seemed to take him moments to
make it into a great spiked mess again. She had never seen anyone take
that much interest in having a mess on their head. At least she thought
it was a mess, apparently Ranma had other ideas about style and
appearance.
"So was that when he told you to call him 'Ranma'?"
"No."
Sighing, Misato tried to remember that beating the truth out of your
irreplaceable pilots is not a good idea. Trying to find out anything
from Rei was like extracting teeth from an angry crocodile: It caused
you lots of pain, and you still did not get anything useful.
"Rei," she said slowly. "Where is Ranma now?"
"I do not know the location of Ranma."
Signing to the two children that she was through with the briefing,
Misato left them alone. She needed to watch the technicians working on
the particle cannon. They should be on schedule, but... Just as
importantly, she needed to speak to Ritsuko and find out if she had
found Ranma. He and Rei seemed to be a matched pair: they always
disappeared whenever the other one turned up. Oh, well, maybe he had
just gotten lost in NERV headquarters. Misato herself had done that a
few times.
Alone on the edge of Mt Futago, the two pilots sat between their
Evangelions. All three people stared out into the city at night. It was
still lit up at the moment, but that would change soon. According to
the schedule, they would be beginning to siphon power to Mt Futago...
now. With military precision, the lights went out below them. All that
remained was the blue, angular Angel, seemingly lit by it's own inner
source. Soon they would be going into action.
Although he felt sorry for Rei having to pilot the Evangelion, Ranma
tried to avoid clouding his internal voice with his true feelings.
*You've had more experience piloting these things than I have, Rei.
What do you think Shinji's chance's are of winning?*
'Ikari-kun will do his best.'
*But do you think he can do it?*
'He will do it because I shall ensure he succeeds.'
That did not sound too good. Actually, it sounded so bad, it almost
mimicked his assessment of the situation. They'd save the world - Ranma
knew he was good at that - his side never lost when it really mattered.
Whether Saotome Ranma would still be around to celebrate was another
matter. If it was martial arts he would have said in an instant that he
would have won and been celebrating with the best. But this... this was
giant robots and holy warriors, both of them almost gods in their own
power. In a battle between gods, what are the lives of men?
Ranma was relieved that Rei took her responsibility seriously. She
seemed to take her job as an Eva pilot more seriously than he expected
a fourteen-year-old girl to ever take anything. He had only known her
for a little while, but she never mentioned dresses, dolls or friends
at school. All she talked about was the Evangelion. He was going to ask
Rei why she piloted it when Shinji beat him to the punch.
Rei looked over at Shinji then back out onto the darkened city. Even
though she had not answered him, the young boy continued to speak. "I
think I do it because I want to belong. I want to feel wanted. Being an
Evangelion pilot makes me feel needed. How about you Rei? Why do you
pilot?"
"I pilot because Commander Ikari tells me to. I am an Evangelion pilot.
That is why I do this. Without piloting the Evangelion I am nothing."
Through Rei's ears, Ranma could hear the subtle sounds of movement. Rei
might have been a weak, young girl, but she seemed to be in good
condition: her vision was clear and her ears were good. "I don't want
to die piloting the Eva, Rei. I'm beginning to think that I want to
live through all of this."
"I will protect you, Ikari-kun."
Shinji might have lapsed into silence now, but Ranma gotten his second
wind - so to speak. He had been stunned by Rei's callous words, but he
could not let her go out facing death believing that no-one cared about
her as a person. *Come on Rei, you know that's not true. What about
your parents? I bet you're something to them.*
'I have no parents.'
*All right, what about the Commander and Doctor Akagi. They seem to
like you.*
'They do not like me. I am needed to pilot the Evangelion. If I do not
pilot it, I will be replaced.'
*Come on, Rei. They told me pilots are hard to find! They can't just
replace you.*
'They can. I am expendable.'
*WHAT? No-one is expendable! Rei, you're important to ---*
Ranma broke off as the body he was in rose to its feet and turned
towards Unit-00. He had seen it when Rei had looked at her watch, but
since he was not concentrating on it, he did not notice the time. "It
is time."
Watching through Rei's eyes, the Eva approached step by step. *Rei, I
want to say thank you. You're a good fighter and a nice person. Not
everybody would be willing to take these risks to save someone else.*
'You are welcome. It was interesting knowing you, Saotome Ranma. I
wonder if we will meet again when I am replaced?'
"Goodbye, Ikari-Kun."
As they climbed into the cockpit, Ranma snorted mentally. *You know,
before a fight your supposed to cheer people up. Make 'em more
determined to win. Make yourself more determined. You gotta get this
idea out of your head that you will die. You have to fight like you
want to live.*
There was silence as Rei synchronised with Unit-00 and picked up the
shield she would use to protect herself and Shinji. It was the bottom
heat shield from one of the latest orbital rockets. Misato had said it
would last for twelve seconds against the Angel's particle beam. Twelve
seconds then they would need to block the beam with their own body.
Misato had not told them how long the Eva would last with the Angel
burning through it. Ranma hoped he would not find out.
Rei piloting the Evangelion was the strangest experience Ranma had ever
tried. His link to Rei - whatever it was - distanced him one step from
all of her physical sensations. He could feel her tiredness or hear
what she heard, but it was all abstract in some way. Watching though
her eyes was more like watching television. Feeling her walk let him
know she walked, but it seemed to lack something. It was subtle
separation: he could feel her pain, feel the seat beneath her, but pain
never hurt _him_. _He_ was not the one that was tickled as they slid
into the smooth seat of the entry plug.
The Eva was always that step removed. You could move your body within
the cockpit, but simply by willing it, you could move the Eva. The
Eva's pain was yours too. Dr Akagi had once told him it was the same as
moving the Eva, he should be able to distance himself from it.
Unfortunately, that did not seem to work too well. The pain was too
immediate, too apparent to be ignored or disbelieved.
When he was not the one piloting the Eva, he was yet another step back.
He could feel Rei, feeling the Eva. When she picked up the shield, he
could feel the Eva's response to it through Rei. Having piloted Unit-00
yesterday, it felt particularly strange to be in the entry plug and not
be sending commands to the Eva, but to still be feeling everything it
did.
Experimentally Ranma tried sending a command to the Eva; just clench
the left fist. Nothing happened, causing him to sigh in relief. In an
emergency, Ranma was not sure that he could sit quietly on the
sidelines and let Rei pilot. This way it did not matter what he did:
the Eva was synchronised to Rei, not him: there was no danger of him
giving conflicting commands that would hamper them in combat. It would
not take his commands, and obviously did not send him the direct neural
feedback.
In a moment of revelation, Ranma realised that this was why Rei was not
suffering the same bio-feedback trauma that he was. The pain had fed
back into his brain, Rei would have known about it, but that was all,
the pain would not have been as real or immediate as it was for him.
It disturbed Ranma deeply that she was the one piloting the Eva. The
fact that he was not yelling and screaming at her to let him pilot
meant that he was giving tacit approval to this crazy plan. A crazy
plan that placed a young girl as shy and fragile as Rei in the path of
the enemy's fire. Ranma wanted to speak up and say something, but there
was nothing he could say.
Rei was right in every way. In his condition, he was not competent to
fight the Angel, and if they failed to protect Shinji, it would mean
more than just their deaths, it would mean the deaths of everyone on
Earth. It was amazing that a little girl like Rei had the strength of
character needed to be able to battle something like this. His father
had always raised him to think that girls were weak and needed
protecting. Living around Akane, Shampoo and Ukyo had taught him
slightly differently. The girls were not always weak, but they still
needed protecting.
Even though the girls he had known were stronger than most men, and
were willing to fight in battles that would have sent lesser mortals
running in terror, they still had human fears. Rei, on the other hand,
seemed to be as fragile as a flower, physically. The short glimpses she
had taken of her own body, combined with the way she moved and carried
herself had taught him that she was not a fighter. He could tell by the
very way that she walked and the way she stood that Rei did not have
any martial training. Despite all of that, Rei was a girl who was
willing to lay down her life for her friend and for all humanity.
He could not feel her inner thoughts, just those she chose to send to
him. He knew that she must be terrified, she just could not show it. At
the very least, there was a good chance that the Angel would manage to
shoot them and give her a short lesson in the pain he had suffered. At
the worst she would perish defending Shinji. Ranma could not remember
ever meeting anyone so willing to risk themselves to defend another.
Rei might be as fragile as a flower on the outside, but inside she was
high grade, double stressed, carbon steel. He could only watch and wish
her luck as Misato gave them the final call to ready for battle.
Kneeling behind the large, shuttle shaped shield, Rei's Eva crouched
beside Unit-01. Shinji was lying down holding the massive positron
rifle, looking for all the world like an emaciated blue sniper. It took
all Ranma's will power not to distract Rei with laughter. When Misato's
voice echoed through the cockpit announcing that the Angel was showing
signs of charging its own weapon, all thoughts of laughter evaporated
like yesterday's rain.
Rei's eyes were locked forward like a targeting computer. Her steady
vision did not waver one millimetre as she studied the Angel. Around
her there were sounds of the Eva, but that was all. Nothing penetrated
the entry plug to distract her, and even Ranma tried to hold his breath
so he did not disturb her intent concentration. Without lungs, it was
difficult to hold his breath, but he tried in a figurative manner.
A twitch appeared in the corner of Rei's eye to indicate that Unit-01
had fired the weapon. Instantly a brilliant blue beam lanced from the
positron rifle. Ranma almost had enough time to feel elated before he
spotted the dreadful pink beam arrowing from the Angel back at them.
Rei moved slightly, and Ranma could feel her dilemma. All her job was
to do was stand in the way of that beam and protect Shinji and the
vital equipment. However, if she moved now, it would block their own
attack, possibly ruining the only chance of defeating the Angel. The
fact that it would mean that Shinji's gun would slice their leg off
would not even enter her focused mind. For Rei it was simply victory or
death. Nothing but one would prevent the other.
The decision of what to do was rendered moot by the particle beams'
interaction. Encased in a magnetic "bottle" to protect the positrons
from reacting with the atmosphere they were flying through, each
shooter had missed the fact that the opposing forces would warp their
own containment and alignment. Twisting like mating snakes, the blue
and pink beams wrapped around each other before separating at wild
tangents from their original heading.
Power sufficient to run all of Japan for almost twenty seconds was
focused into Shinji's beam, and the Angel's was equally powerful.
Deprived of their rightful targets, the beams vented their titanic fury
against the unsuspecting city and the hillside near where the Evas lay.
Since Misato had the foresight to arrange the majority of the equipment
on the leeward side of Mt Futago, they were still in action, and Shinji
began his reload.
While Rei watched the target and monitored the radio, Ranma took a
moment to concentrate on what she could see of the city. Several
buildings had been smashed, but it looked like the city's special
defensive structure had saved most of it. Relaxing with relief, Ranma
realised that unlike most of his fights in the past, all the bystanders
were already well away and in shelters. There should be no casualties
from the stray beams.
The sense of motion confirmed his worst fears. Even as Misato was
telling that the Angel was powering up for another strike, Rei was
moving into position. They were barely two seconds into the recharge /
cooling sequence, and they were in trouble already.
"Goodbye, Ranma."
Ranma did not know which scared him more: the brilliant flaring light
of the Angel's beam as it started burning through their shield, or the
fact that Rei had just spoken out loud. Rei always seemed so careful
about what she said and did, she must be terrified to have made a
mistake like that. Just as bad, it meant that everyone tuned into the
Eva's comm frequency would have heard it. This was exactly how rumours
got started, and he had already had enough of them to last a lifetime.
Sitting in the back of Rei's mind, Ranma marvelled at what it was like
to be the ultimate observer of someone else's life. He could feel Rei's
heart rate and breathing increase with every second. The field of view
narrowed as she squinted until all he could see was the brilliance
flaring around the small vision slit in their shield. When Rei's eyes
flickered down to the shield itself, Ranma wanted to gibber in terror.
It was already a rosy red colour, and it seemed like barely five
seconds had passed. It must be longer, but the surreal dissociation he
was feeling deprived him of a true feeling for the time. Any moment
poor little Rei would be feeling exactly what he had felt just a day
before.
Then it happened. The Angel was through. Mentally Ranma gasped in
shock. Through their link, he could feel Rei's pain, even if it was all
in her head. It was the Eva being destroyed, not her, but the pain felt
so very real. Even distanced from it, Ranma was decidedly
uncomfortable. Responding in entirely natural ways to the agony around
her, Rei's brain dumped huge quantities of adrenaline into her system,
and she gripped the controls so tightly, Ranma was sure she would break
them.
No matter what the pain, no matter what the agony, Rei stood there.
While it felt like her flesh was being burnt from her bones, Rei kept
the Eva carefully in the beam's path, not moving a millimetre. Rei was
arching her back to the point of breaking as she fought against the
pain when it suddenly all stopped. Gone, there was no more pain.
Although Rei collapsed to the seat in total fatigue, Ranma managed to
capture a brief glimpse out the cockpit before her eyes closed. Shinji
had definitely fired, and the Angel had stopped, he hoped that meant
what he thought it did.
*REI! Rei! Are you all right?*
'I am... unwell.'
*Come on, Rei, stay with me. Feel that? Shinji's coming to get us.*
Indeed, first the Eva had been cradled in Unit-01's arms like it was a
sick child, then they felt someone ripping out the back of their skull.
While it was not the most pleasant way to be rescued, the sudden
cessation of bio-feedback from the Eva meant that their entry plug had
been extracted.
'I wish to sleep now.'
*No! Stay with me, Rei. Come on, you gotta try and conscious until help
gets here.*
'I do not... feel well. Please...'
*Hey! Feel that? It's Shinji! Come on, open your eyes Rei. You can do
it. Look at him. Come on, stay with us.*
As the vision slowly came into focus, Rei could just make out the shape
of the younger Ikari standing in the doorway of the entry plug in just
the same way that his father had only a couple of months ago. Oddly
enough, it seemed that every time someone visited her in the entry
plug, it felt as though she had just been through a wheat thresher. At
least this time none of the damage was real and physical.
Shinji's face slowly filtered through her consciousness. He was crying
again. "Why are you crying?"
"I... I'm crying because I'm happy..."
"I know I should feel something. But I do not know what I should do."
*Just relax, Rei. The medic's will be here soon. They'll take care of
you.*
"Smile... just smile."
Shinji reached in and offered his hand to the stricken girl that had
risked her life to save him. As she took his hand, Rei tried his
advice. Slowly, tentatively, she smiled. It was less a smile and more
the absence of the thoroughly neutral and slightly disapproving
expression she normally wore. However, it did seem to have an effect on
Shinji. Shinji seemed to have been stunned by something.
"Are you all right?"
Shinji blushed and pulled her out of the cockpit. Putting her arm
around his shoulder, Shinji carried Rei away from the pair of
Evangelions. The mechanical monsters could wait for another day, he
needed to get Rei to the doctors as soon as possible.
For her part, Rei cast a single glance back at their battered war
machines and then leaned more heavily into Shinji as the rescuers
arrived. Evangelion Unit-00 looked as badly as she felt, which was
little or no surprise. As she was lowered onto a stretcher and taken
away, Rei idly wondered if it could be replaced as easily as she could.
Probably not. Unit-00 was large and expensive. She was expendable.
Exhaling deeply, Rei lay back and watched the concerned face of Misato
who was walking beside the stretcher bearers. She knew the Captain was
saying something, but at the moment, she just could not understand what
was being said. It was all so hard. Everything was spinning, and her
stomach felt like it was revolting against her. Moaning, Rei tried to
raise a hand to her tortured head and hold it still, perhaps somehow
suppress the terrible throbbing.
Somewhere, as though from a far distance, she could hear Ranma talking
to her. She knew he was trying to give her some sort of good advice,
something useful, but all she really wanted to do sleep. Sleep and let
the pain go away.
*Rei! You're going to be OK. It's just in your mind. You have to try
and relax. Just calm down. Rei. Rei! REI??!*
"REI!"
Ranma looked around them quickly lay back down. He was in an ambulance.
It must have happened when Rei's eyes were closed and she was almost
unconscious. She had been sort of drifting in and out for a while, and
he had been trying to keep up a steady stream of reassuring chatter for
her. He did not know what would happen if she really went unconscious,
but he did not fancy being trapped in a completely immobile body.
His eyes were closed, but he could hear Misato's voice from beside him.
She was asking if Rei was all right. Ranma waited for Rei to answer,
since he was suddenly feeling very tired. "Come on, say something if
you're awake... Misato's probably upset."
The girl's eyes snapped open and began flicking around the room before
they anchored on the anxious face of Captain Katsuragi Misato. Then
Ranma realised something and closed his eyes instantly. It was him. He
was the one doing it. He was the one moving around. No wonder his last
few words to Rei had sounded different: he had actually said them out
loud! Misato must think Rei was delirious! Even as he lay there, he
could feel his reaction to the sudden tension and excitement. His
martial arts training had kicked in as soon as he perceived a threat,
and already he could feel the chemicals his body generating. The
sedative induced fog was thinning quickly, and he felt more alert.
Misato was asking how Rei was, but Ranma carefully did not answer. Rei
was silent in his head: unresponsive to all his queries. Following the
example that she had set, Ranma lay quietly on the stretcher and waited
for Misato to calm down. A slight movement of his fingers revealed that
he was definitely in a plug suit, which meant that he was still Rei.
So that's what happens, Ranma thought to himself. Rei's gone and I take
control. I wonder if that means she took control while I was asleep and
stuff? As the stretcher was carried out of the ambulance and Rei was
prepared for a long stay in the hospital, Ranma knew that he would have
to ask Rei next chance he got. Did she get up every night and wander
around as he slept? He knew he was a heavy sleeper. Heck, Nabiki had
proven that Rei would have been perfectly safe pouring cold water on
herself to change back to a girl and Ranma would not have woken up.
Somehow it disturbed Ranma that Rei had not done something like that to
him. He knew that if he suddenly had another personality trying to take
possession of his body, he would fight it every way he could. Rei had
not... but why hadn't she? Did she really have such a low level of self
esteem that she did not care that she had vanished off the face of the
Earth for two weeks when Ranma had arrived? They really needed to talk.
Finally they had Rei's body dressed in a simple hospital gown and in
bed. There was a oxygen mask on her face, and Ranma thought that the
funny smell meant that they must be giving her another sedative. Well,
time to see how long he could resist that!
Apparently Ranma could resist for long enough, because he was still
conscious when the last person had left the room. For some reason,
Misato and Shinji had hovered around for ages, talking to the orderly
and making sure she was all right. Finally they were gone and Ranma
ripped off the gas mask with a grateful sigh of relief.
His vision was cloudy, and his head felt like it was filled with cotton
wool, but Ranma knew that he would recover shortly. It took more than
just a few lungs of anaesthetic to knock him out. Laughing quietly to
himself, Ranma walked over to the bathroom and prepared to splash
himself with hot water.
Before he could even place his hands under the hot water to splash
himself, he was caught by face in the mirror. Was this really the same
face he had seen earlier today? All he could remember from then was
horrific red eyes and pale, dead looking skin. Now as he looked more
closely, he realised that it was just his fear talking when he had said
that. True, Rei's eyes were bright red; a strangely unnatural colour
for eyes. On the other hand, her hair was a very pretty shade of blue.
Natural, too, not like some girls he had known who had dyed their hair
for fashion. Somehow he could not see Rei doing anything purely for the
sake of fashion.
Turning her head slightly each way, Ranma gave herself a quick view of
her profile. It was amazing. Rei might have been albino, but she had
the bone structure of a model. Her face was... well... pretty good and
all that. Angelic would be how Kuno would describe her he thought.
Rei's face gave a very unladylike snort when Ranma realised how
inappropriate that particular comparison was in today's world. He might
have lost the cute little red head he used to be, but Rei might even be
a trade up, especially since it meant that he could get someone else to
sleep through classes for him now. Of course, he would never tell _her_
that.
Acting on impulse, Ranma gave the mirror a quick smile. It was only a
little one, more in keeping with how Rei had smiled, rather than his
own open grin. It did however make one thing perfectly clear: Ranma now
knew why Shinji had acted the way he did when he was helping Rei from
the entry plug. While emotionless Rei was pretty... Rei smiling...
Ranma shook himself and liberally splashed his head with hot water. It
might have been Rei's body, and he might just be a passenger, but there
was no way that he could let Shinji carry on like that. If Shinji could
make Rei smile like that too often, she might end up liking him. That
could lead to Rei kissing him, and... Ranma gripped the basin as he
fought the urge to throw up. Best to nip that one in the bud as soon as
he could.
Drying himself off, Ranma contemplated the short hospital gown he was
wearing and then catalogued his recent movements. If his memory was
right, his room should be just around here somewhere. If he was lucky,
no-one would have noticed his absence and he could grab his clothes and
get out of here.
Sticking his head out the door, Ranma took a quick look around. The
hall was completely deserted. Moving down the wall, he tried the next
door. A quick glance showed that all the hospital rooms looked the
same, but somehow he suspected that this might be his. After all, it's
got to be easier if all your patients are next to each other.
Walking into the room, Ranma almost ran straight into Dr Akagi. "D...
Doctor. What are you doing here?"
Catching herself up against the wall, the startled woman ran a hand
through her short blonde hair and looked at the young boy. How on Earth
could he be so healthy? "R... Ranma? You've up? Where have you been?
How have you been? I didn't think you'd be able to get out of bed yet,
let alone walk."
Something about that disturbed him, especially since he was supposed to
be the one piloting earlier, not Rei. Letting the remark slide, Ranma
put a hand behind his head and scratched. "Heh, heh. Well, I'm just a
real fast healer, you know?"
Putting her hands on his head, Ritsuko looked closely at his eyes and
examined his reaction. Speech clear, balance fine, pupils dilating
correctly. How could he possibly be healed this quickly? "The bio-
feedback had nothing to do with physical injuries. You... you can't
heal mental damage that quickly. Even under sedation, it would have
taken you at least forty-eight hours to recover. We would have needed
to stick you in a complete sensory deprivation tank to stop your body
feeding back on itself to recover this fast. I don't understand. How
are you even able to talk this clearly?"
Oh, boy! That was one thing he did not want to discuss. It was bad
enough when he had needed to explain that he used to change sex with
cold water. Now he changed people entirely. He needed help here. 'Rei?
You in there, Rei? Can you respond?'
The persistent silence told him that Rei was sleeping. He had already
learned that you needed to be careful what you said. If she did not
think she needed to answer a question, Rei would sometimes just ignore
you. Having gotten no help from his co-conspirator, Ranma decided to
see if Dr Akagi was as easy to side track and Akane had been. If he had
started this trick back then, she would have nailed him once then
stalked out of the room. If he was lucky, so would the doctor.
Reaching past the woman, Ranma grabbed his shirt from the closet. "Do
you mind if I get dressed?"
"Not at all. I'm a doctor... Oh, I see, you want me to wait outside."
For a short while, Ranma considered trying to climb through a
ventilation shaft and escaping that way, but decided against it. Better
just to face the music and spin his boss some sort of story. He had one
leg in his pants when the thought hit him. Next door was Rei's room. If
Dr Akagi went in there while he was getting changed, the whole thing
could end right then!
With deliberate casualness, Ranma pulled open the door to his hospital
room and stepped outside. Thankfully, the blonde woman was still there,
idly flicking though some notes on a clipboard. "I suppose you want to
go home now that you're better?"
Ranma nodded rapidly. The sooner he got out of here, the better.
Unfortunately Dr Akagi was not satisfied with letting all the mysteries
of the last couple of days just walk out of NERV's front door.
Especially since this particular mystery constituted 100% of NERV's
able bodied backup pilots at the moment. Although she led him to the
lifts leaving the hospital complex, Ritsuko kept a keen eye on the boy
she had recruited. "Care to tell me where you've been for the last...
twelve hours?"
"Umm.... Would you believe I went for a walk?" Quick, quick, gotta
think of a reason why I was missing... I know: lie! I'll just make
something up, she'll never see though it.
---
End Of Chapter