Nihao and welcome to part four! So what's going to happen to Rei? No idea. Oh, wait.....yes I do. But you don't. Read on if you want to find out. Heck, read on anyway. Lights, camera, action......
P.S. In this here little world of mine the eighth angel never attacked. It was having lunch with Bardiel that day.
Synchronization
Part four: Confinement
Rei awoke. It wasn't a normal awakening, when one slowly comes into reality, but rather a jolt from unconsciousness. She sat upright.
"Where am I? This is not Ikari's residence." Rei looked around the dark room. Her eyes spotted a lamp near her bedside so she turned it on. Her new room consisted of three walls, with a mirror in one corner, a closet in the next, and a small bathroom door on the third wall. It wasn't unlike her old apartment except for one thing. The fourth wall was completely transparent. And Commander Ikari was staring at her intently from behind it.
"Commander." Rei said simply. Somewhere deep down she'd expected this to happen. Just when she was getting used to her new family- //Are they my family? I care for Ikari and Major Katsuragi watches over me. Is this not a family?//- the Commander took her away.
Gendo stood outside the Plexiglas that separated him from Rei. "Rei. Can you hear me?"
Rei nodded. Her eyes moved from the Commander to a speakerphone on the wall. "Yes."
"Are you alright?" Gendo knew she was, the vital signs monitor was showing all green.
"No."
Gendo raised an eyebrow. "You are not? What seems to be the problem?"
"I miss my family." Rei said. To her the words felt like it was the thing her life was missing.
"You have no family. Rei, who are you?"
Rei looked quizzical, an expression she had seen Shinji make whenever Asuka was talking to him about life in general. "I am Rei Ayanami, designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 00, and I do have a family. Ikari and Major Katsuragi are my family.
Gendo was afraid this would happen. "Flood the tanks." He said. From behind him Ritsuko nodded and typed into her laptop. Three nozzles opened up from the walls and yellow liquid started pouring out.
"LCL saturation commencing." Ritsuko said. "Complete." She said a second later.
The room was filled entirely with LCL and Rei floated suspended in the warm liquid. //It smells like blood.// Rei noted.
"Rei, we are going to check your memories for possible signs of contamination." Gendo said calmly.
Suddenly it felt like there were two in Rei's mind. //W-who are you?"// she asked. The second entity inside her mind didn't answer. Instead it probed deep into her memories, cataloging everything. //No...that is personal....stop...please stop!// But the intruder made no move to leave.
//Rei.// A voice said. Rei could easily identify it as the Commander's. //Rei. I need to make sure you haven't picked up anything that would not be.....useful.// The coldness got to Rei even inside the warm LCL.
Outside the glass Gendo stood, his glasses picking up the electromagnetic impulses emanating from Rei's brain while he dissected each bit of information "Dr. Akagi." He said finally.
"Yes, Commander?" She asked, although she didn't need to hear Gendo's answer. She already knew what he wanted her to do. And she was anticipating it greatly.
"Dispose of this one. Prepare another for the procedure." With that he left Rei curled into the fetal position hands clutching at her head from the recent intrusion.
As Gendo walked down the corridors of Central Dogma he contemplated his son's actions just days before. While he wished he could just dump Shinji's memory and make him the timid person he always was, Gendo prided his son for his boldness and determination. Even if it almost cost him his life.
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"Father!" Shinji had yelled from the door to Gendo's office. Fuyustki had turned around, amused at the boy. Gendo didn't even look up.
"What have you done with Rei?!" He demanded. Shinji took a step into the office.
Kozo slid his hand over the security button and replied. "We are busy. I told you to come back later."
This didn't deter Shinji. "Father. Answer me, dammit! Where's Rei?!"
"It is none of your concern, pilot." Gendo said. "Now leave."
"Don't give me your bullshit! It is my damn concern!" He took another few steps toward Gendo.
"It was a matter of Nerv, not of the pilot. Rei, or anything else concerning the First Child is strictly classified, do you understand, Third?" Gendo finally looked up from the document he was reading. He thought he'd see Shinji looking down and retreating but instead his view was dominated by Shinji's face. Fuyuski was slumped on the floor, and the security button had been completely ripped from the desk.
"Listen here, Father-" Shinji said the word 'father' with such anger and coldness that one could easily doubt that Shinji was even Gendo's offspring. "I want to know where Rei is. She was happy with us. Happy! do you know what that is?"
Gendo stood up, dwarfing Shinji. "That is not your business, pilot. Neither is Rei's location."
The door flew open and seven guards rushed in and grabbed Shinji. Gendo smirked and held up a handheld emergency call button. "Put him in the detention sector twelve. I will decide his punishment."
"Damn you Father! Get offa me! Don't think this'll stop me!" The guards dragged Shinji from the office and down the corridor. Three levels down they threw him into a cold damp cell, with cuffs around his ankles and wrists. The door locked, pitching Shinji into darkness.
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Asuka woke up the same Rei did. She was having a nightmare, one more terrible than those of her mother. Shinji was in trouble. He was going to die and it was up to Asuka to save him.
"What? Save the idiot? Why should I? She asked the person across from her. The other person watched her coolly. "You must, because you love him." She said.
Asuka eyed the other girl carefully. //Haven't I seen you before?// She wondered. The other girl nodded. "Yes you have, Pilot Soryou. Now please go save Shinji." Asuka's eyes widened.
"What? Rei? What are you doing here?" Asuka asked angrily. Rei didn't respond. Instead her form shifted from hers to Asuka's and soon Asuka was looking into a mirror image of herself.
"You love him, duh." The other Asuka said, a bit annoyed that the true Asuka wasn't helping Shinji.
"I do.....No! Not that idiot." Asuka said and folded her arms. She didn't have to help that idiot. When had he ever helped her?
"But you must." Asuka turned to see Rei staring at her. Asuka backed away until she ran into the other Asuka.
"Come on! What are you waiting for?" Misato yelled from beside Rei. Next to her Dr. Akagi appeared. "We're running out of time! Just do it!" Asuka closed her eyes. She didn't have to do anything, she fell to her knees. "Hey! Asuka! Are you going to help Shinji or what?" Hikari asked, hands on her hips.
"Yo! Go save Shinji!" Kensuke said. Toji stepped up next to him, making a circle around Asuka.
"Shinji needs your help! Go!"
Asuka curled into a ball. "No! I don't have to help Shinji! I don't have to help Shinji! Not Shinji! No!
That's when Asuka awoke, she threw the sheets off her bed and plopped onto the floor. "Damn.....what was that about?" She asked.
"What was what about?" Misato said from outside her door.
Asuka recovered her composure in record time and laughed. "Ha! Just thinking about a TV show, that's all."
Misato looked skeptical. "Since when does Shinji star in a TV show?"
"W-what? Shinji? What does that idiot have to do with anything?" Asuka said, frowning.
"You kept screaming 'that idiot's' name." Misato said and turned away. "By the way, have you seen him around?" //I wonder how much she knows.//
Asuka blinked and followed Misato into the kitchen. "No...he ran off towards Nerv yelling about his father and Rei."
"Hmmm, I guess you'll find out eventually. Shinji is being held prisoner in Nerv. I don't know what the punishment is going to be....but..." She wiped a tear from her eye. "But I'm sure Commander Ikari will make it severe."
"Shinji....what did he do?" She tried to sound cocky, almost mocking, but the fear crept through her voice.
Misato watched the young pilot for a second. //I'm not supposed to say anything about this...but the way Shinji has been talking about Asuka, I'd say she needs to know.// "He assaulted Commander Ikari."
Asuka stared. When the realization that Shinji did something bold, and by himself sank in, Asuka was already on her way to Nerv. //He went to go ask the Commander about Rei....No, he wasn't going to ask. He was going to demand it. What did Rei do to make Shinji so....forward?// "That idiot, always getting himself into trouble."
Asuka swiped her card through the access slot and entered Nerv headquarters. She didn't know what she was going to do....but whatever it was had to do with Shinji.
"Good afternoon Asuka." Ritsuko said. Asuka whirled around and faced the scientist.
"Where's the idiot?" She asked.
Ritsuko didn't know who she meant by idiot, but she assumed it was Shinji, since he'd been missing with no real explanation. "He's.......in a synch test." She lied.
"Don't give me that! I know he's been taken prisoner! Just tell me where he is! I need to talk- So I can laugh at him for getting busted." Asuka hoped the doctor hadn't caught that last part. But Dr. Akagi wasn't a doctor for nothing.
"You want to talk to him? Reports say that you two have been, I think Rei used 'hanging out'." Ritsuko said, amused.
"Yeah? So? Just tell me where the moron is-" A blast and several alarm klaxons interrupted Asuka's sentence.
"An Angel attack!" Dr. Akagi shouted. "Come on, Asuka. Get to the Eva cag-" An explosion ripped the nearby wall into shreds, sending a cloud of debris over Ritsuko. After the dust had cleared Asuka ran over to the doctor's side. "Dr. Akagi! Are you okay?" She saw that Ritsuko was covered in a pile of I-beams and shrapnel.
"Asuka......." Ritsuko managed. "H-he's....in...detention block....twelve....go to him..." And with a last wince of pain the good doctor was dead.
"Oh.....oh my god! Oh my....dammit!" The scared and angry redhead ran down the corridors of Nerv.
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Outside a spider like Angel was stomping into the city. Frightened motorist bailed out of their vehicles as it came stepping around buildings, heading straight towards Nerv.
"Where's our defense force?" Misato yelled into a comlink. She looked into the view screen and saw the lumbering beast advance through several defense lines. Then it began oozing acid, melting the armor plating.
"The 18th armor plate has been corroded!" Makoto shouted "It's through! It's headed for Central Dogma!"
Maya scanned her screen. "A power surge is advancing! It's headed here! Estimated time of arrival is twenty seconds!"
"Our surge protectors can't handle this amount of energy!" Aoba yelled.
Twenty seconds later all lights blanked out, including the emergency lighting. Stuck in the dark Misato had only one option. " Everyone retreat! Get out of here!"
Asuka was running through a dark corridor when the emergency hydraulic door shut in front of her.
"Damn, I can't get through! How am I supposed to get to the Eva cages?" She looked around, searching for a crowbar or something to pry open the door, but instead spotted an escape. "The air duct!"
Asuka pulled off the grate and climbed in. As she crawled forward explosion after explosion rocked the small metal vent. She saw a fork up ahead a passage to the right and left, with light coming from the one on the left.
"Looks like I'll be taking the left route. That stupid Shinji better not be dead when I get back." She turned and followed the promised light. Another thirty feet and one more fork presented itself. "Where now, the light ends here." Asuka asked.
"Major Katsuragi! The Angel is in the GeoFront!" Makoto shouted as he ran along, laptop in hand.
Misato looked over to him, running down the emergency exit bunker corridor. "Where is Rei and Asuka? I want those Evas deployed now!"
"I can't locate either of them! Both units are still in their cages!" Makoto said as they reached the surface.
Asuka covered her head as a blast caused pieces of the air duct to fall. "Shit! Where am I?" The next thing Asuka knew an explosion blew the air duct into tiny pieces of shrapnel.
Continued..........
*Author's notes. So I've never seen episode eleven, or whenever the ninth Angel attacked. But I have seen Genesis: 10, the one where the Angel Zeruel attacks, so this is a lot of that action with the ninth Angel stuck in there. Oh well. Also to clear a few things up.....this isn't really a defined Shinji/Asuka or Shinji/Rei fic. In the end Shinji will end up with one of them, but who depends... On a last note, thanks to my pre-reader Melkor. Dude you rock!