3. wer ist der Feind? [who is the enemy?]
the memories came with the shakes. max began to convulse. it was early morning in tokyo
3--usually when her seizures came.
[the x5 children were marching in lockstep around the halls of manticore and bunker 12.
then they were practicing on the mats, sparring savagely with each other. then the tests, the
electrodes attached to her head..]
max reached for her bottle of tryptophan shakily, nearly knocking it over. she shoved six pills
into her mouth and clamped her eyes shut, waiting for it to take effect.
shinji had had to go to the bathroom, and peeked in on max. he was half asleep, and now,
seeing her shake like a blender, he rushed in wide awake.
"max-kun!" he shouted, rushing in, "are you okay?!"
she resolvedly pushed him away.
"i..i'm..okay.." she chittered as the tryptophan started to take effect, "it happens all the time."
she sat up.
"really?" he asked, "are you sure you're okay?"
now max was completely still. she wiped sweat from her brow.
"you know who i am, don't you?" she asked softly.
"not really." he admitted, looking at his hands, "all i know is that you're the fifth child."
"you must be the only one, then." she said, and gulped. she really didn't want to do this. but
she knew she would be working with him, and he would find out some way or another. especially
because of her seizures. "i..i was created by something called project manticore right before second
impact happened. i was created to be a super soldier. i've got feline and shark DNA in me along with human.
but...they screwed up when making me and my siblings. that's why i've got those seizures." she turned around
and pushed her hair aside to reveal her barcode. she could hear a gasp from shinji. he reached out to
touch the ridges of the black lines on her neck and she snapped back around. she couldn't handle that intimacy.
"it was etched into my genetic code." she said, pointing to it. "they were horrible
to us as children. whenever one of us didn't make the grade, or were caught with seizures, we were
taken away. cut up. vivisected without anesthesia. then...we escaped. only twelve made it. i didn't know
that til now. that's the only reason why i'm here." she looked back down at her naked toes. "i made
a deal with commander ikari to have him make dummy plug corpses for me and my siblings to throw lydecker
and the rest of them off my path."
"knowing my father, he won't keep to it." shinji said, making a fist.
"he's your father?"
"i wish he weren't...he left me as a child. i hate him."
"looks like we have something in common." max said quietly, looking at shinji. "we both hate our makers."
+++
max was called out of school again later that day.
"what is it now, misato-san?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"we know your intelligence levels are off the scales, so you're not in any danger
of failing in school. we need to start training you in your eva."
"are you sure? doesn't stability have to happen first?" max shot back.
"usually", misato sighed, "yes. but we no longer have time. the 16th and 17th angels
are going to appear soon, and we don't have time. if we don't get you trained, well, it could
mean the end."
"third impact." max said thoughtfully. "you got me there. when do we start?"
"now. get into your plug suit, and then you're going to get into your first real plug. we're going
to do an emergency syncro and then weapons training."
[weapons training..] max almost snorted to herself, [who does she think she's talking to? for god
sakes, i was trained as a child!]
"that's fine. what about shinji?"
"you'll be doing weapons testing with him."
after max got changed, she followed the instructions that ritsuko gave her from
the intercom. she headed into the plug and sat down.
"now, you're going to be kinda tossed upward as we insert the entry plug."
"ENTRY START!" maya said over the com. the plug was inserted into unit 02.
"how do you feel so far, max?" ritsuko asked.
"a bit strange." she admitted.
"it always is the first time. okay. intiate A-10 nerve connections."
the colours and screens changed around max as a liquid began to fill up the cockpit.
max felt an ancient stupid panic well within her. sure, she could hold her breath for about four minutes and thirty
seconds, but still..
"max, stop panicking." misato ordered her, "this is just LCL. it will automatically oxidize your blood. don't
hold your breath or panic, it screws up the readings."
she complied and let go of her breath. the liquid filled her and she wanted to vomit.
"everything okay?"
"i feel nauseous." she whispered.
"all normal. unit 02 has reactivated."
a collective sigh from the staff.
"sempai.." maya whispered to ritsuko, "i was afraid that it wouldn't go well."
"everyone was."
but with max's telescopic hearing, she heard maya in the control panel.
"how do you feel, max?"
"it's all so much clearer." she said in wonder. she always knew her sight, strength and other
senses were four times better than other normal humans, but still. everything
was so pure. this was just amazing.
"how do i move in it?"
"imagine it. the nerve connections should do the rest."
"my god, sempai! look at these readings!" maya pointed at the screen,
"her syncroratings are 167%! this is incredible!"
"max is in no danger of heading into klein space or an ego loop." hyuga said, monitoring
the readings.
max imagined moving her right hand, and it worked.
gendo watched, very satisfied with the results.
all of a sudden, the alarms started going off. max jerked at the loud sound, her arm
accidentally hitting the glass pane of control.
"sorry." she said.
"object has been identified crossing the tokyo-2 area!" hyuga reported, "damage also confirmed."
"pattern is blue!" maya shouted over the chaos.
"an angel!?" ritsuko gasped, "but we just had one last week!"
"looks like they're getting impatient, eh, ikari-kun?" fuyutsuki said quietly, then shouted,
"all hands, go to first stage alert!"
