Disclaimer: Neon Genesis: Evangelion is not my property. It belong to
GAINAX and all affiliates. I am not asking for any money for this
written work. It is permissible to copy, quote, distribute, or in any
other way reproduce the following texts only if they contain this
disclaimer and credit to the author, or I will strike you down with
great vengeance and furious anger.
*Untitled/Part 3.5*
Gendo Ikari sat overlooking all of Central Dogma, observing the
various technicians checking various levels on various screens. This
test could be crucial turning point in Nerv's battle against the
Angels: to see if the DummyPlug could be used in an Evangelion without
a pilot.
He had told Seele that the DummyPlug was far too unstable, which was
true; it was capable of bringing grievous harm to the pilot, something
they would be concerned with. However, if there was no _pilot,_ there
was no problem. In Seele's eyes, this should make all the difference
when he had to explain this action to them.
"What's the status on Unit Zero?" he heard Ritsuko ask one of the
Lieutenants.
"All systems nominal. DummyPlug is ready for insertion."
"Commence activation!"
The sealed plug slowly twisted its was into Unit Zero. Lights and
displays came to life on the screens in Central Dogma, following the
plug's activation. Nothing went red.
Good.
Ikari smiled behind his hands. Perhaps this could mean the end of the
pilots...
"Abort test! Unit Zero is refusing the DummyPlug!"
As the plug un-inserted itself from the Eva, Ikari thought to himself,
_We need Rei back here._
In Terminal Dogma, Kouzou Fuyutsuki stared at the display that Ikari
had set up in Rei's room. This _is why he wanted Rei's stuff_, he
thought to himself. And, shortly after that: _This has got to be
stopped._
"Good to see you back, Fuyutsuki."
"What the hell are you trying to pull?"
Silent surprise from Ikari.
"What is wrong with you? Setting up Dogma like her room, you could be
declared mentally unfit, do you know that? You have to _stop thinking
about her!_"
After a long silence following the Sub-Commander's almost-whispered
words, Gendo said, "You're right. Clear it out. All of it. And..."
"Yes?"
"Arrange something for Rei and Shinji...get them out of the
city...away from here."
"I'll see what I can do...we need to keep our focus here, Commander."
"I know that."
"Don't forget it."
As Fuyutsuki left, Ikari could only think of one simple phrase: out of
sight, out of mind. Maybe this was too true in his situation. Maybe if
they were gone...
Ikari shook his head. This wasn't how he wanted it to be.
"A...holiday? What for?"
"Well, Nerv figured that, seeing as you two aren't needed on permanent
standby anymore, and school is out for a while, you could use some
time to...unwind."
"And..." He could see Misato was holding something back.
"The Commander specifically requested that you be relocated for a
while...away from the city."
"Oh."
"Here are the tickets. Remember to tell Rei that..."
Shinji began to zone out after Misato's comment about his father. Away
from the city? Away from the _Angels?_ Did he actually...care for
their safety? Or...
_Or was it a way of getting rid of them?_
"...You call this number. Have you got that, Shinji?"
"Yeah, I guess. I'll go tell Rei."
As Shinji heard Misato's car take off back to Nerv, he thought over
just why his father would get the two of them out of the city. He had
narrowed it down to three reasons; one, he wanted to forget about the
mistake of the two pilots that left by getting them out of the entire
city; two, deep down in his heart, he really did care whether he and
Rei lived or died; or three, he was suffering some kind of mental
breakdown due to extreme stress brought on by constantly being alert
for the next Angel attack. In the midst of his considerations, a
thought occurred to him; strangely, yet fittingly, it had Asuka's
voice.
_You're getting a holiday with your girlfriend, all expenses paid! How
could you_ not _want to go?_
"Yeah...what am I, stupid?"
"Hey, Rei..."
"Hmm?" Rei slipped a bookmark into the book she was reading and looked
up at Shinji standing in the doorway.
"Wanna take a vacation?"
Shinji stared at the large hotel in front of him, thinking how long it
had been since he had seen any building that even resembled this one.
Almost a year, now. In Tokyo-3, all buildings were either retractable
apartment blocks or weapons storage for the Evas. He had also noticed,
on the taxi drive from the airport, that there were no weapons
disguised as statues or fittings or whatever. It was something he had
gotten used to, but now in its absence, he could fully appreciate it.
Rei simply stared. She hadn't been outside of the militant area around
Tokyo-3 in her existence, or at least, no time that she could
remember. It was a relief to her, as it was to Shinji, not to see
giant sliding plates on the ground marked "Eva Socket'.
The plane trip was a unique experience for both of them. Shinji, who
had spent plenty of time in the helicopters that Nerv used, but never
actually in a plane, was quietly thrilled by the whole experience.
Rei, on the other hand, seemed to have developed a mild fear of flight
from somewhere, which Shinji found odd. He thought that she must have
been in one of Nerv's helicopters, at one stage or another. Had he
seen her in one? He may have, but the memory had faded. Anyway, Rei
had almost clung to Shinji during the entire flight. Not that it
wasn't a hard task to endure, being close to her, Shinji had thought
(on several occasions throughout their time in the air), and he had
secretly wondered to himself if this was a pretext for her to get
close to him. Possibly...
They had both been told to pack light, and that they had done; they
only carried three moderately sized bags with them, containing items
that couldn't be bought on the unlimited budget that Nerv had supplied
them with. Neither Shinji nor Rei could remember exactly all the items
that they had packed. Mainly because they had gotten...distracted
halfway through, thought Rei, remembering how Shinji had embraced her
while she was looking for something in her closet. That had led to one
of their heavier make-out sessions...the remnants of which she could
still feel on her lips.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Shinji asked, breaking the silence as
the two of them stood in the shadow of the hotel.
"Nothing, I guess...I wonder if we got a room with a good view?"
Nerv had gotten them a room on the second highest floor...not quite
the penthouse suite, but close. They had a good view from the hight;
unfortunately, most of the view was the vast cityscape. Not that the
city wasn't something to be impressed by, Shinji thought to himself,
sitting out on the balcony, idly watching the assorted vehicles pass
below him.
He heard the glass door slide open behind him, and Rei came out to
join him.
"How long do we have until school is back in again?" Rei asked.
"Five weeks, if I counted right...why?"
"We've got five weeks here...wow."
"Five weeks without having to think about Nerv or the Angels."
"Yeah, and five weeks to do this..."
Rei gave Shinji a passionate kiss.
An incredibly attractive man, who happened to be a spy for the
American government, was in the midst of kissing an incredibly
attractive woman, who happened to be a spy for the Russian government.
"I don't get it. Is she a spy?" asked Rei.
Shinji, who had been trying to follow the movie, without much success,
replied, "I think so."
"Then why is he trying to get information from her?"
"He changed sides about halfway though. Didn't you see that?"
"No. Too busy concentrating on other things, I guess..." She ran her
hand up Shinji's arm, and went back to resting her head on his
shoulder.
A few moments later, halfway through Shinji trying to figure out why
the attractive American man had shot someone, Rei asked, "Is this
making _any_ sense?"
"No...not really."
Rei extracted herself from Shinji's embrace and announced, "I'll be in
my room, reading, if you want me. This movie is making my head ache."
During yet another car chase involving the American spy, Shinji
decided that he _did_ want her.
Rei, as she had said, was in the separated bedroom, sprawled out on
her bed, reading the book Shinji had seen her reading for a while.
From what he could gather, it was a romance novel, set before the
Second Impact. Life, it seemed, was easier then. Maybe that was the
reason she became so attached to reading: escapism. He noticed
absently that Rei had changed her clothes to her sleeping attire: in
Shinji's eyes she looked unimaginably cute in the shorts and top she
slept in.
Shinji lay down in his bed, intending to sleep, but instead ended up
mindlessly gazing at the ceiling and absorbed deeply into his
thoughts. So deeply, in fact, that he didn't realise Rei had stopped
reading her book and now lay beside him, until he felt her breath on
his neck.
"Why did you move?"
"I'm cold," she replied, moving to embrace Shinji further. This was
definitely a pretext; she didn't feel cold at all. Still, what concern
was it of his? This was just like on the plane.
"What'cha thinking?" Rei asked.
"I was just thinking how much I'd like to do this." Shinji lent over
and kissed her on the cheek.
"That's funny."
"What do you mean?"
"'Cause I was just thinking how much I'd like to do this." Rei kissed
Shinji, strongly, on the lips.
After a few moments spent in comfortable silence, Rei asked in a voice
that was barely above a whisper: "Do you love me, Shinji?"
"Of course I do, Rei."
She moved in closer to Shinji, which he hadn't thought was possible,
and kissed the nape of his neck. She spoke again, an in that single
moment, Shinji felt that all noise, even the beating of their hearts,
had stopped.
"Make love to me."
He began to kiss her back, and asked, "Do you want that?"
"Yes...yes."
Rei lay awake, thinking of the night she and Shinji had just had.
Images flashed in her head in rapid succession; his lips over hers,
her hands through his hair, his hand at her breast. Rei smiled to
herself in the darkness, and thought, _We are now truly one: one body,
one mind, one soul._
In the morning, Shinji woke, feeling as though something was off-
centre, and realised where he was: no longer in Tokyo-3 in the
apartment, but in a hotel room with Rei in his arms.
A sleeping Rei in his arms.
A _beautiful,_ sleeping Rei in his arms.
He lent over to her, and kissed her in her sleep, thinking of how much
she was an angel, not those beings that he had fought in the Eva. He
slid out of the bed to get dressed.
"I wonder what Asuka would say about this?" Shinji mused out loud,
later in the day.
"_Asuka_ doesn't need to say anything," Rei replied, stopping any
further musings with a deep kiss.
-Derek Zischke
ageless_strange@optusnet.com.au
"Do you suffer from long-term memory loss? I can't remember..."
-Chumbawhamba
GAINAX and all affiliates. I am not asking for any money for this
written work. It is permissible to copy, quote, distribute, or in any
other way reproduce the following texts only if they contain this
disclaimer and credit to the author, or I will strike you down with
great vengeance and furious anger.
*Untitled/Part 3.5*
Gendo Ikari sat overlooking all of Central Dogma, observing the
various technicians checking various levels on various screens. This
test could be crucial turning point in Nerv's battle against the
Angels: to see if the DummyPlug could be used in an Evangelion without
a pilot.
He had told Seele that the DummyPlug was far too unstable, which was
true; it was capable of bringing grievous harm to the pilot, something
they would be concerned with. However, if there was no _pilot,_ there
was no problem. In Seele's eyes, this should make all the difference
when he had to explain this action to them.
"What's the status on Unit Zero?" he heard Ritsuko ask one of the
Lieutenants.
"All systems nominal. DummyPlug is ready for insertion."
"Commence activation!"
The sealed plug slowly twisted its was into Unit Zero. Lights and
displays came to life on the screens in Central Dogma, following the
plug's activation. Nothing went red.
Good.
Ikari smiled behind his hands. Perhaps this could mean the end of the
pilots...
"Abort test! Unit Zero is refusing the DummyPlug!"
As the plug un-inserted itself from the Eva, Ikari thought to himself,
_We need Rei back here._
In Terminal Dogma, Kouzou Fuyutsuki stared at the display that Ikari
had set up in Rei's room. This _is why he wanted Rei's stuff_, he
thought to himself. And, shortly after that: _This has got to be
stopped._
"Good to see you back, Fuyutsuki."
"What the hell are you trying to pull?"
Silent surprise from Ikari.
"What is wrong with you? Setting up Dogma like her room, you could be
declared mentally unfit, do you know that? You have to _stop thinking
about her!_"
After a long silence following the Sub-Commander's almost-whispered
words, Gendo said, "You're right. Clear it out. All of it. And..."
"Yes?"
"Arrange something for Rei and Shinji...get them out of the
city...away from here."
"I'll see what I can do...we need to keep our focus here, Commander."
"I know that."
"Don't forget it."
As Fuyutsuki left, Ikari could only think of one simple phrase: out of
sight, out of mind. Maybe this was too true in his situation. Maybe if
they were gone...
Ikari shook his head. This wasn't how he wanted it to be.
"A...holiday? What for?"
"Well, Nerv figured that, seeing as you two aren't needed on permanent
standby anymore, and school is out for a while, you could use some
time to...unwind."
"And..." He could see Misato was holding something back.
"The Commander specifically requested that you be relocated for a
while...away from the city."
"Oh."
"Here are the tickets. Remember to tell Rei that..."
Shinji began to zone out after Misato's comment about his father. Away
from the city? Away from the _Angels?_ Did he actually...care for
their safety? Or...
_Or was it a way of getting rid of them?_
"...You call this number. Have you got that, Shinji?"
"Yeah, I guess. I'll go tell Rei."
As Shinji heard Misato's car take off back to Nerv, he thought over
just why his father would get the two of them out of the city. He had
narrowed it down to three reasons; one, he wanted to forget about the
mistake of the two pilots that left by getting them out of the entire
city; two, deep down in his heart, he really did care whether he and
Rei lived or died; or three, he was suffering some kind of mental
breakdown due to extreme stress brought on by constantly being alert
for the next Angel attack. In the midst of his considerations, a
thought occurred to him; strangely, yet fittingly, it had Asuka's
voice.
_You're getting a holiday with your girlfriend, all expenses paid! How
could you_ not _want to go?_
"Yeah...what am I, stupid?"
"Hey, Rei..."
"Hmm?" Rei slipped a bookmark into the book she was reading and looked
up at Shinji standing in the doorway.
"Wanna take a vacation?"
Shinji stared at the large hotel in front of him, thinking how long it
had been since he had seen any building that even resembled this one.
Almost a year, now. In Tokyo-3, all buildings were either retractable
apartment blocks or weapons storage for the Evas. He had also noticed,
on the taxi drive from the airport, that there were no weapons
disguised as statues or fittings or whatever. It was something he had
gotten used to, but now in its absence, he could fully appreciate it.
Rei simply stared. She hadn't been outside of the militant area around
Tokyo-3 in her existence, or at least, no time that she could
remember. It was a relief to her, as it was to Shinji, not to see
giant sliding plates on the ground marked "Eva Socket'.
The plane trip was a unique experience for both of them. Shinji, who
had spent plenty of time in the helicopters that Nerv used, but never
actually in a plane, was quietly thrilled by the whole experience.
Rei, on the other hand, seemed to have developed a mild fear of flight
from somewhere, which Shinji found odd. He thought that she must have
been in one of Nerv's helicopters, at one stage or another. Had he
seen her in one? He may have, but the memory had faded. Anyway, Rei
had almost clung to Shinji during the entire flight. Not that it
wasn't a hard task to endure, being close to her, Shinji had thought
(on several occasions throughout their time in the air), and he had
secretly wondered to himself if this was a pretext for her to get
close to him. Possibly...
They had both been told to pack light, and that they had done; they
only carried three moderately sized bags with them, containing items
that couldn't be bought on the unlimited budget that Nerv had supplied
them with. Neither Shinji nor Rei could remember exactly all the items
that they had packed. Mainly because they had gotten...distracted
halfway through, thought Rei, remembering how Shinji had embraced her
while she was looking for something in her closet. That had led to one
of their heavier make-out sessions...the remnants of which she could
still feel on her lips.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Shinji asked, breaking the silence as
the two of them stood in the shadow of the hotel.
"Nothing, I guess...I wonder if we got a room with a good view?"
Nerv had gotten them a room on the second highest floor...not quite
the penthouse suite, but close. They had a good view from the hight;
unfortunately, most of the view was the vast cityscape. Not that the
city wasn't something to be impressed by, Shinji thought to himself,
sitting out on the balcony, idly watching the assorted vehicles pass
below him.
He heard the glass door slide open behind him, and Rei came out to
join him.
"How long do we have until school is back in again?" Rei asked.
"Five weeks, if I counted right...why?"
"We've got five weeks here...wow."
"Five weeks without having to think about Nerv or the Angels."
"Yeah, and five weeks to do this..."
Rei gave Shinji a passionate kiss.
An incredibly attractive man, who happened to be a spy for the
American government, was in the midst of kissing an incredibly
attractive woman, who happened to be a spy for the Russian government.
"I don't get it. Is she a spy?" asked Rei.
Shinji, who had been trying to follow the movie, without much success,
replied, "I think so."
"Then why is he trying to get information from her?"
"He changed sides about halfway though. Didn't you see that?"
"No. Too busy concentrating on other things, I guess..." She ran her
hand up Shinji's arm, and went back to resting her head on his
shoulder.
A few moments later, halfway through Shinji trying to figure out why
the attractive American man had shot someone, Rei asked, "Is this
making _any_ sense?"
"No...not really."
Rei extracted herself from Shinji's embrace and announced, "I'll be in
my room, reading, if you want me. This movie is making my head ache."
During yet another car chase involving the American spy, Shinji
decided that he _did_ want her.
Rei, as she had said, was in the separated bedroom, sprawled out on
her bed, reading the book Shinji had seen her reading for a while.
From what he could gather, it was a romance novel, set before the
Second Impact. Life, it seemed, was easier then. Maybe that was the
reason she became so attached to reading: escapism. He noticed
absently that Rei had changed her clothes to her sleeping attire: in
Shinji's eyes she looked unimaginably cute in the shorts and top she
slept in.
Shinji lay down in his bed, intending to sleep, but instead ended up
mindlessly gazing at the ceiling and absorbed deeply into his
thoughts. So deeply, in fact, that he didn't realise Rei had stopped
reading her book and now lay beside him, until he felt her breath on
his neck.
"Why did you move?"
"I'm cold," she replied, moving to embrace Shinji further. This was
definitely a pretext; she didn't feel cold at all. Still, what concern
was it of his? This was just like on the plane.
"What'cha thinking?" Rei asked.
"I was just thinking how much I'd like to do this." Shinji lent over
and kissed her on the cheek.
"That's funny."
"What do you mean?"
"'Cause I was just thinking how much I'd like to do this." Rei kissed
Shinji, strongly, on the lips.
After a few moments spent in comfortable silence, Rei asked in a voice
that was barely above a whisper: "Do you love me, Shinji?"
"Of course I do, Rei."
She moved in closer to Shinji, which he hadn't thought was possible,
and kissed the nape of his neck. She spoke again, an in that single
moment, Shinji felt that all noise, even the beating of their hearts,
had stopped.
"Make love to me."
He began to kiss her back, and asked, "Do you want that?"
"Yes...yes."
Rei lay awake, thinking of the night she and Shinji had just had.
Images flashed in her head in rapid succession; his lips over hers,
her hands through his hair, his hand at her breast. Rei smiled to
herself in the darkness, and thought, _We are now truly one: one body,
one mind, one soul._
In the morning, Shinji woke, feeling as though something was off-
centre, and realised where he was: no longer in Tokyo-3 in the
apartment, but in a hotel room with Rei in his arms.
A sleeping Rei in his arms.
A _beautiful,_ sleeping Rei in his arms.
He lent over to her, and kissed her in her sleep, thinking of how much
she was an angel, not those beings that he had fought in the Eva. He
slid out of the bed to get dressed.
"I wonder what Asuka would say about this?" Shinji mused out loud,
later in the day.
"_Asuka_ doesn't need to say anything," Rei replied, stopping any
further musings with a deep kiss.
-Derek Zischke
ageless_strange@optusnet.com.au
"Do you suffer from long-term memory loss? I can't remember..."
-Chumbawhamba