Shinji's Decision
Part 7 - pre reader release v1: 15/4/2001
v2 released 12/5/2001
By Jeff Mullier
Email: jmullier@idl.net.au
Copyright notice
Neon Genesis Evangelion and associated characters are copyright Gainax and associated companies.
Author Notes
I hope I haven't made any of the characters act wildly out of character. Also this fic contains spoilers. It takes place after episode 24 and ignores events in episodes 25,26 & the movies.
Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated.
Sorry about the sudden change in writing style from script to prose. But I was doing some experimenting with my writing style and rewrote part 1 as an experiment. After doing that I couldn't bring myself to go back to writing in script format. I will go back and change parts 2 to 6 as time permits.
Thanks to Greg Thomas, Leonard Chee and Phillip Penty for pre reading this part.
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Shinji's Decision
Part Seven - Farewell/ The gift
Nerv hospital room 107 the next morning
Shinji is sitting up in bed with a nervous expression on his face. The door opens and Misato walks in dressed in her operations division black dress uniform, she is carrying a suit bag which she hangs up on a coat hook. She then sits down on the edge of the bed next to Shinji. She smiles as she greets Shinji, "Good morning Shinji, how are you feeling today?"
Shinji nervously replies, "Um…. A lot better thanks Misato."
"You're nervous about going to your father's funeral aren't you? You don't have to go if you don't want to. It's not to late to say that you don't want to go."
"I…I….don't feel comfortable going but ……but I…..I can't run away from this. This is one time I won't run away from father."
"That's the spirit."
Shinji gives a weak smile as her replies, "Thanks Misato."
Misato gets up and retrieves the suit bag, "Here is your uniform Shinji. I will help you put it on. It has been modified so you can put it on around your casts."
Offended by the suggestion that he will need help in dressing himself, Shinji tells Misato, "I can dress myself Misato."
"Are you sure?" She smiles and ruffles his hair as she tells him, "Anyway I won't be seeing anything that I haven't seen before."
"Misato!"
"Now get up and stand still while I help you put your uniform on." Misato then gets the dress uniform out of the suit bag and helps Shinji step into the uniform trousers. She then helps him put on the shirt and then the jacket for his uniform. Both have been modified by not having a right sleeve, the right collar and shoulder of both has a buttoned joint as well so they could be put on around the shoulder cast. Misato then helps Shinji put on some shoes, once they are finished she stands back and studies him, she then tells him, "You don't look too bad Shinji, go over and have a look at yourself in the mirror." Shinji slowly walks over and looks at himself in a mirror located on the far wall. A surprised look appears on his face when he sees how he looks. The dress uniform consists of a red shirt with, black trousers and jacket. The jacket and trousers have a silver trim; the jacket also has red cuffs and collar. Once he has done this Misato tells him, "Now that you are dressed, there are two ladies outside that would like to see you."
Shinji asks, "Two?" 'I know that Asuka is going to the funeral; Rei must be going as well? But why? Is it because of father? I had hoped that she wasn't going to be his puppet any more.'
Misato doesn't answer as she walks over to the door and opens it. Asuka and Rei walk in; they are both dressed in their black Nerv dress uniforms. Asuka is pushing a wheelchair.
Shinji stares in surprise at just how good Asuka and Rei look in their dress uniforms. Their uniforms are similar to Misato's, being a black two piece dress with silver trim and red cuffs and collar. He eventually manages to stammer, "Huh………Wow! You two ….look…… great."
After seeing Shinji's reaction Asuka gives him a warm smile and replies, "Despite the bandages you don't look too bad yourself Shinji. Do you realise other than wearing the same old shorts and a T shirt around the house, I have only ever seen you wearing either a school uniform or your plug suit."
Shinji blushes as he replies, "Thanks Asuka."
Shinji then asks Rei, "Um Rei, what are you doing here? Are you going to the funeral because of my father?"
With a determined tone in her voice Rei replies, "No, I am not going because of my feelings for the commander. What you said to me before you tried to kill yourself made me think about my feelings towards the commander. I decided that the reasons that he was always so concerned for me was mainly due the purpose that he had me made for, the other being I was a constant reminder of why he fought against the angels due to who's image I was made. And for that I will never forgive him."
Asuka stares at Rei after hearing her talk like that. 'Whoa! Wondergirl sounded pretty pissed off at the commander then. This Rei is definitely different to the one that was killed against the sixteenth angel. It would appear that this Rei may actually have some feelings, as well as being able to think for herself. Perhaps she isn't the commander's doll any more.'
Puzzled for what other reason that Rei would want to go to the funeral, Shinji asks her, "Well why are you going to the funeral then Rei? No one has ordered you to have they?"
"No, they have not. I thought that you may want another of your friends with you at the funeral. If you don't want me to go I will respect your decision."
Embarrassed by Rei's answer Shinji replies, "N..nn..no Rei you can come, and thank you. In fact I would like to thank all three of you for coming."
Misato looks at her watch and tells the three pilots, "Come on everyone lets get going." Shinji sits down in the wheelchair and Misato pushes him out of the room, Rei and Asuka follow.
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Tokyo 3 Cemetery
A small group of representatives from various international governments are sitting down in several rows of chairs on one side of the grave. Surrounding the area are several Nerv security personnel. Set back two hundred metres from the grave site on a nearby road are several outside broadcast vans for various national and international media outlets. The reporters and camera crews for these vans are standing behind some barriers located halfway between the vans and the grave site.
A Nerv limousine pulls up on a nearby road and Misato, Kaji, Rei, Asuka and Shinji get out of it. Shinji gets into the wheelchair and Misato starts to push it towards the grave site. One of the reporters sees them and yells out, "There they are, the pilots! And commander Ikari's son is with them!" Some of the reporters break through the barriers and start to rush towards Misato and the pilots but several Nerv secret service agents quickly block the reporters' way. At the same time several of the reporters start yelling questions at the pilots. Shinji sees all the reporters and hears some of the questions that they are yelling at him and the other pilots and frowns. Asuka places a reassuring hand on Shinji's left shoulder. Shinji tenses up when he feels the hand on his shoulder and he then turns to see who it is. When he sees that it is Asuka who is smiling at him he relaxes and returns her smile.
Once they realise that they are not going to be answered and also due to the efforts of the Nerv secret service agents the reporters soon fall silent again, by this time Shinji and the others have reached the grave site. Gendo's headstone is bedside Yui's and his coffin has already been placed in the grave and the grave filled in. When Shinji sees the grave his expression darkens and he whispers, "…..Father….."
Soon after Shinji and the pilots have arrived Fuyutsuki begins the funeral service. "This will only be a short service as Commander Ikari was not a religious man."
"Gendo Ikari, some would say that I was probably his only friend, but that is untrue. For I never really knew the true Gendo Ikari, only his wife Yui saw the true Gendo. But I did know one thing about him; the loss of his wife Yui to Unit 01 in a test in 2004 changed him totally. For everything he did after that day was to ensure that his wife's death was not in vain. Because of this most people would say that Gendo Ikari was a cold and ruthless man. But he had to be for mankind to be victorious in the war against not only the angels, but also against his own species. For there were those amongst us who planned to use the technology of the evangelions and the angels to raise themselves to the level of gods. The task of preventing the zealous madmen of SEELE achieving their aim was that which drove both him and his wife. It would unfortunately cost both of them their lives and almost their son's as well."
"With the destruction of the first angel and with it Unit 01, all of the known methods that SEELE could have used to carry out their insane scheme, were eliminated. So he took the opportunity while they would have been preoccupied by what had just happened, to eliminate these madmen for good. Why did he kill himself afterwards? He apparently decided that some of the things that he had to do to stop SEELE, made him almost as bad as them and with no purpose left to continue, he took what he thought was the honourable option and took his own life."
"We will now have a minutes silence to remember the commander and all those others who have been killed in the war against the angels." The group by the grave fall silent for a minute; once the minute is up Fuyutsuki speaks once more, "That is all." Fuyutsuki then starts walking towards another podium which is closer to the reporters and their cameras. Once he his near them he stops and waits for Misato.
Once Fuyutsuki has announced the end of the funeral Shinji relaxes slightly. He turns to Misato, Rei and Asuka and thanks them.
Misato replies, "It was no problem Shinji, now go over to the limousine and wait for me. You too, Asuka and Rei. I shouldn't be long, Kaji will be with you."
Misato then walks over to where commander Fuyutsuki is waiting for her. Kaji and the three pilots start to head towards the waiting Nerv limousine. Once Misato has joined him Fuyutsuki steps up to the microphones, Misato stands to his side and slightly behind him. Fuyutsuki then speaks into the microphones, "I have no prepared statement, and so I am open to questions from the media."
Several reporters start yelling questions, Fuyutsuki points at one who asks, "Commander Fuyutsuki, so with the angel threat over what is going to happen to Nerv?"
Fuyutsuki replies, "Direct control of all of the branches of Nerv will be transferred to the UN. Any evangelion related equipment and materials from those branches will be transferred here to Tokyo 3 and placed in storage."
"Including the mass production series that this SEELE organisation was going to use to attack Tokyo 3?"
"Yes. The completed units will be transported here and placed in deep cryogenic storage. The remaining evangelions currently held by Nerv will be placed on a much reduced alert status."
One of the other reporters yells out, "Why bother to keep Nerv at all? Isn't there more important projects for the United Nations to be spending its resources on?"
"Although we do believe that the angel attacks are at an end, we cannot entirely rule out the possibility that there may be further angel attacks. So Nerv will keep its base in Tokyo 3 as well as its monitoring stations intact, although on a much reduced alert status. Nerv will also in conjunction with the United Nations, monitor and prevent any attempt by any organisation or country to develop evangelion technology."
"Why is that?"
"So to prevent them trying to initiate a manmade third impact. At this stage we do believe this to be a very unlikely scenario, but the consequences of totally ignoring the possibility are too great."
"Some people would say it is dangerous placing so much power in the hands of Nerv."
"Nerv will be monitored by representatives of both the Japanese government and the UN to prevent any attempt by Nerv to misuse the resources under its control."
"So have you been appointed the new commander of Nerv? And if so has a new deputy been appointed?"
"I have officially been appointed the commander of Nerv. Since I wish to retire soon, it is not a post I intend too hold for any longer than eight months." He points to Misato standing behind him, "Major Katsuragi, Nerv's director of operations is acting deputy commander for the present. As for a new deputy one has yet to be officially appointed."
"Will the rebuilding of Tokyo 3 continue despite the setback of the most recent explosion?"
"Yes. Both the UN and the Japanese government have approved the plans to continue the rebuilding of Tokyo 3. With the threat of a all out assault on the city now eliminated, it has been decided to increase the speed of reconstruction."
"Will we be able to interview the pilots?"
"Not at the moment. They have all just gone through some rather stressful experiences. They need time to recover."
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The ruins of Tokyo 3 - the same time
One of the many Nerv recovery crews is searching through the rubble by the edge of the new crater looking for remains from either Unit 01 or the angel. Several members of the crew are working their way through the remains of a supermarket. An adjoining recovery crew is preparing to remove Unit 01's right hand from the rubble. One of the crew members turns to one of his fellow crew members and comments, "What a mess, and to think that this is the second time that one of those poor kids have felt that they had no other way of defeating the angel other than self destructing their evangelion and nearly killing themselves in the process."
The other crew members replies, "Yes, first that Ayanami girl and then commander Ikari's son. If the angel was so tough why did they take so long to send out an evangelion and why did they only send one, Unit 02 still exists."
After hearing this a third crew member joins the conversation and tells them, "Apparently they were lucky to launch even one evangelion, that's why the angel was bombed with an N2 mine."
"Why were they so lucky?"
"All of the pilots have been through hell, and from what I have heard they have reached their breaking point. Considering what they have all been through I don't know what has kept them going so long."
"What do you mean?"
"According to the rumours, the first child couldn't synchronise with either of the surviving evangelions. The second child was in hospital in a coma due to suffering a breakdown caused by the after effects of the fifteenth angel. Ikari's son was in just as bad a shape, apparently three days before he did this the poor kid was admitted to hospital after a suicide attempt."
"The poor kid, he has to cope with quite a few stressful situations of late."
"Yeah and having a cold bastard like commander Ikari as a father wouldn't helped at all. The commander couldn't even be bothered living with his own son, so he sent him away. When he ordered his son back to Tokyo 3 he still had no interest in him, so his son instead lives the that babe of an operations director, major Katsuragi."
"Yes, our illustrious late commander Ikari was definitely a cold bastard, treating his own son like that. They are burying that cold so and so today, I reckon good riddance, even if he did end all of this."
"Yeah, you think that they could have let us have the day off."
"Come on this is still Nerv we are talking about here."
The recovery crew leader walks over and in a rather annoyed tone orders the three crew members, "Stop gossiping you lot and get back to work."
All three crew members quickly reply, "Yes sir." They all quickly start scanning the area again; soon afterwards their sensors start to detect something. A member of the crew whose sensor is going wild yells out to his colleagues, "I am picking up readings of something buried over here!"
"Check all of your readings, we will have to be careful if it is part of the angel."
"It isn't the angel, it is part of Unit 01……..wait a minute these readings aren't right!"
"What do you mean?"
"From the initial readings it would appear that the remains were part of Unit 01's chest components. After what happened any remains should be completely silent, but I am picking up strange energy readings."
The recovery crew leader after hearing all the commotion comes running over. He soon sees what the fuss is about and orders, "Get some recovery machinery in here immediately and start removing the rubble covering it." He then turns to another of the recovery crew members and orders, "Someone get hold of the command centre for me."
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Command Centre - Nerv headquarters - soon afterwards
Maya is talking on the phone to the recovery crew. Once she has finished she turns to Ritsuko, "Doctor Akagi, the sixth recovery crew have just found a section of Unit 01's chest components."
Ritsuko comments, "If Unit 00 is any thing to go by I would imagine that there isn't much left of it."
"No, apparently it is rather large section. That's not the only unexpected item that the crew reported, they also detected faint strange energy readings from the remains."
Ritsuko's eyes widen in surprise, "IMPOSSIBLE! Are there any signs of contamination by the angel?"
"They report that there are no obvious signs or readings that indicate contamination by the angel."
"Get me a visual of the remains immediately. Tell the crew that once they have uncovered them, that they are to move the remains to one of the repair cages."
"Yes Doctor."
Five minutes later Shigeru reports to Ritsuko, "Receiving visual of the remains now, putting it on the main screen."
The image of the bloodied and torn section of Unit 01's chest appears on the main screen. Everyone gasps in shock due to what is the most disturbing feature, for at the centre of the remains is the dimly glowing orb of Unit 01's core.
A shocked Maya manages to ask, "…..is that….."
Realising at the same time what the remains contain, a stunned Makoto asks, "….Unit 01's core?"
Ritsuko frowns when she sees that Unit 01's core is still intact. 'That explains the source of the strange readings, but just what is the cause of them? The core should be completely silent after what has happened. Unless………… yes, that could be it.' She then turns to Maya and orders, "Get them to bring it to the repair cages IMMEDIATELY."
Maya answers, "Yes Doctor," she then picks up the phone handset and passes the orders on to the recovery crew. Ritsuko also picks up a phone and calls commander Fuyutsuki.
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Tokyo 3 Cemetery
The funeral service and press conference has just finished and Misato and Fuyutsuki are making their way back towards the several Nerv limousines waiting to take them back to headquarters. Asuka, Rei, Shinji and Kaji are already waiting by the cars. Fuyutsuki's phone begins to ring he digs it out of his jacket pocket to answer it. Before he answers it he walks a short distance away from Misato so to be out of earshot. Once he is out of earshot he answers the phone, "Fuyutsuki here."
Ritsuko's voice comes over the phone, "Doctor Akagi here sir, we have an interesting situation regarding some remains of Unit 01."
Alarmed by the possibilities of what could have happened with Unit 01's remains, Fuyutsuki asks, "I see, I hope what little remains of it hasn't been infected by the angel?" 'That would be all that we would need, having what's left Unit 01 possessed by an angel. In our current state there would be nothing we could do to stop it.'
"No, it hasn't been contaminated, however the recovery crews have reported strange energy readings coming from the remains of Unit 01's chest components. The source of these rather unexpected readings is Unit 01's core, which appears to still be functioning.."
Upon hearing this Fuyutsuki pales and a stunned look appears on his face. Misato who is watching Fuyutsuki sees his reaction and frowns. 'Just what in the world could be happening now that would cause the commander to react like that?'
Quickly recovering from what Ritsuko has told him, Fuyutsuki orders, "Get it moved to headquarters immediately and prepare to undertake a full series of tests. But do not even start inserting the probes until I arrive, understood."
"Yes sir. It is already on its way to headquarters."
"Good I will be there as soon as I can. Goodbye." Fuyutsuki ends the phone call and walks back over to where Misato is standing. "Colonel I will let you finish everything up here, once you have finished get to headquarters as soon as you can."
Worried by what could possibly be happening, Misato asks, "What's going on sir?"
Fuyutsuki smiles and replies, "It would appear that Unit 01 could have one last surprise in store for us." He turns to leave before Misato can ask him exactly what he means. Before he starts to walk away he says to her, "Goodbye Colonel Katsuragi, I will see you when you get back to headquarters."
Stunned by what Fuyutsuki has just told her Misato struggles to reply, "…..Ah…goodbye sir. I will be there as soon as I can." 'Just what in the world did he mean by Unit 01 having one last surprise? I wouldn't have thought that there was enough of Unit 01 left for it to be able to do anything. Just what in the world is it doing now?'
Misato walks over to where Shinji, Rei, Asuka and Kaji are waiting. She turns to the two female pilots and asks, "Asuka, Rei, something has cropped up at headquarters would you two mind staying with Shinji at his hospital room until I am finished?"
Rei quietly replies, "It would be no problem major."
Asuka answers, "Yeah, no problems Misato. But just what's going on?"
Worried by what the reason could be Shinji frowns and asks, "It's not an angel I hope?"
Misato gives a reassuring smile at the three children as she tries to think of a suitable white lie to tell them why she has to hurry off to headquarters. 'How do I answer this without worrying them too much or making it obvious that I am lying to them. I don't like lying to them, but until I find out what is happening I think that it is the best course of action.' She soon comes up with a likely sounding excuse and tells them, "No, it isn't an angel, it's just a snap inspection of Nerv by the inspector general of the UN."
Although Misato's hesitation in replying appears to have gone unnoticed by the children, Kaji does notice it and wounders to himself, 'What is going on now? There is no inspection due by the UN and the Japanese government knows what is going on and is satisfied with the situation at the moment. Has some part of SEELE survived? I will ask Misato once we have dropped the children off at the hospital.'
Asuka however did notice Misato's hesitation and thinks, 'Yeah right Misato. Something has happened and you don't want to tell us. Why? Don't you trust us?' Annoyed she tells Misato, "Well just don't take too long"
Misato smiles at Asuka and replies, "I will try not to Asuka." 'I think Asuka suspects something, well there is not much else I can do.' "Come on lets get going."
Everyone including Kaji gets into the Nerv limousine waiting to take them back to the geofront and Nerv headquarters. Once everyone is safely in the car it drives off heading towards an entrance to the geofront.
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Fifteen minutes later - evangelion repair cage control room
Commander Fuyutsuki enters the command centre, he immediately looks down through the viewing window and shakes his head when he sees that the remains do indeed contain Unit 01's glowing core. He turns to Ritsuko and comments, "I shouldn't really be surprised at it surviving. Unit 01 has always had a knack of doing the totally unexpected."
Ritsuko replies, "Yes, it has. The core is remarkably intact."
"You may now proceed with inserting the probes, we have to find out what is causing these energy readings. Have the bakelite and the lasers ready just in case the worst happens. Inform me once the probes are ready."
"Yes sir."
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Nerv Hospital room 107
The door slides open and Shinji enters in his wheelchair being pushed by Kaji. Misato, Rei and Asuka follow them into the room. Kaji parks Shinji's wheelchair beside the bed, but Shinji remains seated in the wheelchair. Rei and Asuka sit down in the chairs next to the bed. Misato looks at the two girls and tells them, "Well, I will come back as soon as I can and get you. I shouldn't be more than a couple of hours; if I am going to be longer I will let you know. Bye." Misato then walks out of the room and Kaji follows her, the door closes behind them.
No sooner have Misato and Kaji left when Asuka turns to Shinji and Rei and tells them, "I think that it is more than a sudden visit by the inspector general of the UN that Misato had to go to headquarters for. She seemed worried about something, I think that she definitely hiding something from us."
Rei replies, "If it was an angel, major Katsuragi would have one of us attempting to synchronise with Unit 02."
Asuka angrily snaps at Rei, "Just you listen here wondergirl, no one is piloting Unit 02 but me, understand?" She then calms down a little and adds, "Anyway when I saw it last it was deep in cryostatis."
Shinji attempts to calm down Asuka by telling her, "Don't worry about it Asuka. I don't exactly think that I could pilot at the moment, and Rei couldn't start it last time. So I am sure that if they needed someone to pilot Unit 02 they would choose you. And of course you would show us how it ought to be done."
Asuka confidently replies, "You are damn right there Shinji."
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In a elevator heading towards the repair cages
Misato and Kaji are standing silently in the elevator, the only noise being the clicking of the floor indicator. Misato has a worried look on her face, Kaji is looking at her trying to work out what is going on. Deciding that there are too many things that could have happened to cause her to react like she has, so he asks her, "So what's going on Misato? You wouldn't be in such a rush for a UN inspection."
Looking a little embarrassed at not yet having told Kaji the truth, Misato looks at him and replies, "I am sorry Kaji, I would have told you right away but I didn't want to alarm the children, especially Shinji."
Kaji frowns at hearing this and asks, "Why? What's happened now?"
"I don't really know. All that commander Fuyutsuki said was that it appeared that Unit 01 had one more surprise in store for us. That is all I know."
Kaji nods after hearing this and replies, "With Unit 01 anything could happen."
"That's what's worrying me."
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Five minutes later - repair cages
The door to the cage control area opens and Misato rushes in, Kaji follows. They both make their way to the cage observation window so they can see what part of unit 01 has survived and causing all the commotion. As soon as Misato sees what part of Unit 01 is sitting in the cage she immediately stops and stares at it in shock. She soon recovers enough to ask, "What the hell? ……Is….that Unit 01's core?"
Fuyutsuki replies, "Yes, it is the core."
Seeing the core still intact Kaji contemplates, 'Well this is certainly a surprise. Just what is going to happen now?'
Still recovering from the shock of seeing Unit 01's core Misato asks no one in particular, "How? I thought that the core was the source of the explosion initiated by the self destruct command."
Ritsuko answers Misato's question, "Normally it would have been, and the only explanation I can come up with is that it was Unit 01's S2 organ that exploded. As for how the core survived so intact I can only guess that it was somehow ejected just prior to the explosion similar to Shinji's entry plug."
Maya walks up to Ritsuko and informs her, "All of the probes have been inserted doctor."
Upon hearing this Fuyutsuki asks Ritsuko, "I take it that all possible precautions are in place?"
Ritsuko replies, "Yes sir, they are."
"Very well. You may proceed with the analysis then doctor."
Ritsuko answers, "Yes sir." She then turns to Shigeru and orders, "Activate the probes."
Shigeru replies, "Activating the probes, no problems detected."
Maya soon reports, "Data is being received, transferring it to the Magi."
Five minutes into the analysis a warning buzzer starts to sound. After checking the readings on his console Makoto announces, "The energy readings coming from the core are starting to increase dramatically."
After quickly scanning the data Ritsuko orders, "Shut down the probes."
Shigeru enters some commands on his console and then informs Ritsuko, "Shutting down the probes, switching to external sensors only."
The warning buzzer still continues to sound, Maya notifies Ritsuko, "The energy readings have increased tenfold and are still increasing."
Watching all of the commotion going on Misato wonders, 'Just what in the world is Unit 01 doing now?'
Several screens fill with warning messages denoting a waveform pattern detection. After studying the readouts, a surprised Maya reports, "Waveform pattern detected, pattern is green!"
Upon hearing this, a smile appears on Fuyutsuki's face. Ritsuko notices Fuyutsuki's reaction, 'Commander Fuyutsuki doesn't seem at all surprised by this. It looks like he suspected that this would happen once he saw that the core was intact and giving out a strange energy reading.'
Worried by the unusual green pattern waveform, Maya asks, "Doctor Akagi, what do we do? A green pattern waveform, how is that coming from the core? What are we going to do?"
"There is nothing that we can do, it is out of our control. Although if what I suspect is happening is correct, the best thing we can do is let what's happening take its course. The appearance of the green pattern waveform explains everything."
Puzzled why Ritsuko and commander Fuyutsuki do not seem concerned by the green pattern waveform, Maya asks Ritsuko, "What do you mean? It hasn't been contaminated by the angel has it? We ran all the tests and they were all negative."
Ritsuko shakes her head and answers Maya's question, "No, it's not an angel. It would appear that Unit 01 has finally decided to give up something that it took 12 years ago." Ritsuko then laughs and continues, "I could just imagine the expression on that bastard Ikari's face if he was alive to see this."
Puzzled by what Ritsuko has just said Makoto asks her, "What do you mean?"
"It would appear that it going to release its original test pilot, Yui Ikari."
Upon hearing this, a stunned silence falls over the command centre. Makoto finally realising what Ritsuko has just said yells, "WHAT!!!!!!!!"
"She was absorbed by Unit 01 in an activation test in 2004. All attempts to retrieve her failed."
When Misato hears Ritsuko's explanation of what the core is doing she contemplates, 'If it is Shinji's mother I can just imagine Shinji's reaction. After everything that has happened to him he deserves this to happen. I will miss living with him though.' Misato then asks Ritsuko, "But I got the impression off Shinji that his mother couldn't come back."
Ritsuko replies, "Yes, that is true, unlike Shinji after the fourteenth angel she couldn't leave Unit 01 by her own will and all attempts to bring her back have failed. Since Unit 01 is effectively no more, it would appear that it has finally decided to release her. As for why it has now decided to release her, I think that you summed it up once when you commented, 'who knows what lurks inside that black box.'"
"I see."
Maya reports, "The strength of the green pattern waveform is increasing, a definite ego border is appearing within the core."
Ritsuko turns to one of the bridge technicians and orders, "Alert the medics to report to the cage."
Fuyutsuki and Misato leave the command centre and head towards the cage. Kaji remains in the command centre looking through an observation window at the core below. Just before Fuyutsuki and Misato reach the area of the cage where the core is situated, the intensity of the glow coming from core increases and it releases a gush of LCL. Amongst the LCL is the unconscious naked form of Yui Ikari, once the discharge of LCL has stopped the core darkens and falls completely silent.
Once he sees that it is indeed Yui, Fuyutsuki softly mutters to himself, "Yui……… you have returned." 'Doctor Akagi was correct I could just imagine Gendo's face if he was alive to see this happen. I wounder if Gendo was still alive, would you forgive him? You may have told Shinji that you understood Gendo's actions since you were absorbed by Unit 01, but if you knew the full story of what he has done I doubt that you will be so forgiving.'
Misato smiles as she thinks, 'Shinji is going to be so happy when he hears about this.'
The medics have placed Yui on a stretcher and placed a blanket over her and are preparing to carry her off to the hospital when she regains consciousness and turns towards Fuyutsuki and Misato. Blinking her eyes due to the bright light, Yui weakly asks Fuyutsuki, "What…. I am alive…..Professor Fuyutsuki……. I….I am out of Unit 01, but how?"
Fuyutsuki smiles at her as he replies, "I don't know Yui. Now just take it easy and get some rest."
Yui then looks at Misato and asks her, "Major Katsuragi, how is Shinji?"
Misato looks at Yui with a puzzled expression while she wonders, 'How does she know my name? Probably from Shinji's memories that's how.' "……A…..a few broken bones from being thrown about in the entry plug, but other than that he is fine."
Yui smiles at hearing this and replies, "Thank goodness." She then turns and looks at Fuyutsuki again and asks him, "Where's Gendo professor?"
Realising that he cannot avoid telling Yui the truth Fuyutsuki answers, "He is dead Yui, I will explain later. Now get some rest."
Yui gasps once she hears his reply and then sadly whispers, "Gendo……." She then falls unconscious again. The medics then walk off towards the hospital with Yui on the stretcher, Fuyutsuki and Misato follow.
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Nerv Hospital room 107 - fifteen minutes later
The three pilots are sitting watching television in an attempt to pass time. Bored with the program Asuka impatiently tells Shinji and Rei, "Gee Misato is taking her time, I knew that something is going on. I was right. There is something going on and it's not an inspection by the UN either."
Rei comments, "It would appear so."
Shinji asks the two girls, "What do you think could the reason be then?"
Their conversation stops when the door slides open and a grinning Misato walks into the room. They all turn towards Misato; they all immediately notice the big smile on Misato's face. Wondering why Misato is smiling like that Asuka ponders, 'Just why is Misato smiling like that? It wouldn't be from an inspection by the UN either, just what has happened?'
Seeing the puzzled look on the children's faces Misato tells them, "Shinji, Asuka, Rei, I have an apology to make regarding the reason I had to rush off to headquarters for."
In a rather irritated tone Asuka asks Misato, "We suspected that you weren't telling us the truth, so what was the real reason Misato?"
"I didn't have to rush off to headquarters due to a sudden visit from the inspector general, I had to go there because of what the one of the recovery crews had found."
A worried Shinji asks Misato, "…..Not the angel?"
Misato quickly reassures Shinji, "No, it wasn't the angel, it was part of Unit 01."
Shinji frowns at hearing this and asks, "What was so urgent about a piece of Unit 01 surviving? It's not like it will be of any use, Unit 01 is destroyed, it was blown into a million pieces."
"That's what I thought, apparently by some miracle the core survived."
Realising what this could mean an annoyed Shinji asks, "What's so special about that, surely Ritsuko and the commander don't want to rebuild it?"
"No, they don't. Unit 01's core is no longer of any use. But it did do one last rather unexpected action before it fell totally inert."
Misato's answer only manages to confuse Shinji, so he asks her, "Huh? I don't follow you Misato, even if most of the core did survive, what in the world could the core do?"
"Shinji I have some wonderful news for you. Before it shut down for good it, the core decided to give us something back. I should actually say someone."
Puzzled by what Misato has just said, Shinji looks at Misato, his eyes widen as he realises who Misato is talking about. He hesitantly asks her, "……....You mean m…mother?"
"Yes, your mother."
Finding it hard to actually believe what Misato has just told him a stunned Shinji says to her, " ………….but that's impossible ……"
Asuka exclaims in surprise, "What!!!!" 'Shinji's mom is out of Unit 01! I should be jealous of you Shinji, but I can't bring myself to be.'
After hearing this Rei contemplates, 'Mrs Ikari, Shinji's mother and the person who's image I was made in. Since Shinji considers himself almost to be my brother, could I call her my mother?'
Misato replies, "Yes it took everyone by surprise."
Shinji stands up out the wheelchair and prepares to run off to be with his mother. Anxiously he asks Misato, "Where is she Misato I want to see her? Is she all right?"
Misato smiles at Shinji's reaction and tells him, "Calm down Shinji, she is fine. She is asleep in room 115 just down the hallway."
Shinji rushes out of the room and starts racing towards room 115. Misato, Asuka and Rei follow but at a slower pace.
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Nerv hospital room 115
Yui is laying asleep in bed when Shinji comes racing into the room. When he sees that it is indeed his mother laying asleep in the bed, his eyes brighten and a joyous smile rapidly appears on his face. He races over and hugs his mother as well as he can with one arm in a sling. Starting to sniffle he greets her, "Mother…..."
Yui is startled by the noise and wakes up, she looks at the tearful face of Shinji and smiles and returns his hug.. "I am here Shinji." She then notices that his right arm and shoulder are in a cast and that he has a bandage over his forehead, "Oh my poor Shinji."
Shinji sits down in a chair beside the bed and starts to cry, "Mother you are back. How…….. I thought you said that you couldn't come back."
"As far as I knew I couldn't leave Unit 01, I don't know what happened. I guess that Unit 01 decided that it didn't need me any more."
The door slides open and Misato stands in the doorway. She asks, "Do you mind if we come in as well?"
Yui answers, "No, come in Misato, I take it that Rei and Asuka are with you?"
"Yes they are."
Misato, Rei and Asuka all walk into the room. Asuka and Misato despite having seen the photo of Yui quickly look at Rei and then back at Yui again.
Rei blinks and looks at Yui with a thoughtful expression on her face. 'Mrs Ikari, the person from whose DNA the commander made me from. When Shinji showed me that photo I could see why he had feelings for me, but seeing her in person makes it that much clearer.'
Misato contemplates just how similar Rei and Yui are in looks, 'I should have been prepared for this by having seen the photo of Shinji's mother. But seeing Yui and Rei close together like this is just too damn spooky. Other than her hair and eye colour Rei looks just how I imagine a young Yui Ikari would.'
Asuka also comments to herself on the similarity between the two, 'Despite seeing that photo it still didn't show just how much Rei looks like Shinji's mom, other than the hair and eye colour.'
Yui greets the two girls, "Asuka, Rei, I am pleased to finally meet you two."
Asuka is the first to return Yui's greeting, "Mrs Ikari."
Almost straight after Asuka, Rei also returns Yui's greeting, "Mrs Ikari."
Yui smiles and comments, "All three of you look quite smart in your uniforms. It seems strange seeing all of you actually in the flesh like this. Especially you Shinji, you have grown so much. You have become quite a handsome young man."
After hearing his mothers comment Shinji blushes and shifts slightly in the chair which causes him to grimace slightly as the pain from his shoulder registers, Misato notices this and asks him, "Is your shoulder starting to hurt Shinji?"
Shinji defensively replies, "No. I am feeling fine."
Misato frowns at Shinji as she replies, "Come on Shinji, I know that you are overdue for your course of painkillers. Its time you went back to your room and got some rest."
Yui tells him, "Shinji, do what Misato tells you. It is for your own good. I will still be here in the morning."
Shinji reluctantly replies, "Yes mother." He then leans over and kisses his mother. Once he has done this he starts to slowly get up of the chair he is sitting in.
Misato turns to Rei and Asuka and asks, "Rei, Asuka can you two please help Shinji to his room? I will be along in a second."
Asuka answers, "Sure Misato." She offers a hand to Shinji and with a smile on her face she orders him, "Come on baka, we don't want you injuring yourself any further." Rei also gets up and walks on the other side of Shinji. With Rei and Asuka on either side of him Shinji slowly leaves the room. Once Shinji and the two girls have left, Yui remarks to Misato, "Both Rei and Asuka really care for him, don't they?"
Misato replies, "Yes they do in different ways. Although I would never have thought that it possible for either of them. Asuka due to her aggressive and self centred personality. Though recent events appear to have changed her somewhat. Rei,…..well this Rei is different from the…..last one. She is a little more 'human', and is showing a little more emotion. Although the Rei killed in the battle against the sixteenth angel was starting to open up a little, especially towards Shinji. It is even suspected that she self destructed Unit 00 to protect him."
"Yes they have changed a lot recently, including Shinji."
"Yes they have."
"Misato, I would like to thank you for looking after Shinji for me. I know that he has gone through some rather traumatic incidents during his time in Tokyo 3. If it wasn't for your support he would either have left Nerv and Tokyo 3 long ago, or he would have tried to kill himself much earlier than he did."
Misato replies, "Thanks. Unfortunately he has been through a lot especially these past two months." She pauses and frowns, "I should have tried harder though. I should have seen what he did that night coming and tried to stop him."
"You did your best. You haven't exactly had an easy time yourself I gather."
"No I haven't. None of us have. It would appear that anyone who has become too close to the evangelions has been cursed by them."
Yui sadly replies, "I am afraid that you are right Misato. If I knew what was going to happen I would have never gotten involved with project E. By the time I realised what was happening it was too late, so I decided that I had to stop SEELE from carrying out their insane scheme." The two then fall silent, and after a minutes awkward silence, Yui then asks Misato, "Misato, exactly what did my husband do? And how was he killed?"
Misato replies, "I think that commander Fuyutsuki could answer that better. I will tell him that you would like to see him if you like."
"If you could please."
Misato then calls commander Fuyutsuki on her mobile phone and once she has finished she tells Yui. "He should be along soon." Well I better go and see how Shinji is now, Mrs Ikari."
"Please call me Yui, Misato. Or do I have to call you Miss Katsuragi or major Katsuragi?"
Misato gives an embarrassed grin as she replies, "No, Misato will be fine. I will see you tomorrow then."
"See you tomorrow, Misato."
Misato then walks out of Yui's hospital room and heads for Shinji's room.
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Five minutes later Yui hears a knock at the door and answers, "Come in."
Kouzou Fuyutsuki walks in and greets Yui, "How are you feeling now Yui?"
Yui replies, "Tired and feeling a little weak, but other than that I feel fine."
"That's good to hear, considering just how long you have been trapped in Unit 01."
"Yes, nearly twelve frustrating years."
"I couldn't even imagine just how frustrating they were. So do you have any idea what happened? Why Unit 01 released you after all these years?"
"Not really, I remember sensing Shinji's decision to self destruct Unit 01. I was then somehow speaking to him while he was in the entry plug afterwards, after that not a thing until I woke up on the floor of the repair cage."
"I see."
Yui then asks Fuyutsuki, "Professor what happened to Gendo?"
"When Shinji self destructed Unit 01 to destroy the angel, Gendo saw everything that he had worked for since you were taken by Unit 01, go up in smoke. Since it looked very much like Shinji was dead and with Unit 01 destroyed he thought that he had lost all chances of ever getting you back. I think that he then realised that he had sacrificed too many people on the path to his goal and that he had failed both you and Shinji. I suppose in an attempt to redeem himself, he then did two rather unexpected things."
"Why what did he do?"
"The first was that he released the truth about second impact, SEELE, the Dead Sea scrolls and the evangelions to the public. The second being that he then eliminated all of the members of SEELE and those of the committee. Once he had received confirmation that this had been carried out, he then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head."
Yui gasps in shock and asks, "Why……why did he do that."
Fuyutsuki reaches into his pocket and gets out the letter that Gendo wrote to him. He hands it to Yui and tells her, "This may explain why."
Yui then reads the letter, and when she finishes Fuyutsuki tells her, "You do know Yui that his sole purpose for continuing after you were absorbed by Unit 01 was to initiate third impact so he could be reunited with you. The only reason that he continued to obstruct SEELE from completing their original scenario was that if they succeeded it would have prevented him from carrying out his version of third impact. We were all lucky that Adam escaped when he did, for next week Gendo was going to have Adam implanted into his hand and then start third impact using Rei as a means of controlling it."
"I…I suspected that… he was doing that, but I would have never expected the extent of just how far he would go to be reunited with me."
"Yes, nobody was going to stop Gendo in his pursuit of his goal. He had used and discarded many people in his pursuit of being reunited with you. Both doctors Naoko and Ritsuko Akagi for starters, I suspect even the first Rei who Naoko killed for some reason was really a victim of Gendo's manipulations."
"If you felt Gendo's actions so distasteful, why did you continue being his assistant?"
"I had no choice if I wished to live. Remember what I told you that day in 2003 on the banks of Lake Ashinoko? SEELE would have made me disappear, lets say Gendo would have had a similar fate for me if I left him after the day you disappeared."
"I can see now why he felt that he was no better than SEELE. What he said in the letter to you was right; I probably would not have forgiven him. I don't know if I can even fully forgive him now, even after what he has done to redeem himself."
"Well I better let you get some rest. Goodbye Yui."
"Goodbye professor."
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Fuyutsuki has only been gone for a few minutes when the door slides open and Ritsuko walks in. She sees that Yui is awake, "Ah you are awake."
Yui looks at Ritsuko and replies, "Yes I am Doctor Akagi." 'What's she doing here? I thought that Gendo had imprisoned her after she destroyed the dummy plugs.'
"If you are up to it I would like to ask you a few questions and take a blood sample. I will do the remaining tests tomorrow morning."
"Go ahead."
Ritsuko gets out a syringe and takes a blood sample. She then asks Yui, "How do you feel?"
"A little tried and weak, its almost like I have a slight case of the flu."
"Well you do have to get used to having your own physical body back."
"Yes. Doctor Akagi how long will I have to stay in hospital?"
"If there are no problems with the tests tomorrow morning you should be able to leave by the afternoon."
"So you are the current head of project E?"
"Yes I am."
"I thought that you were in arrested after destroying the clones. So how come you are now free? Did professor Fuyutsuki release you from custody?"
"No, your husband decided to release me soon after Shinji self destructed Unit 01. So do you have any idea why Unit 01 decided to let you go after all these years?"
"I don't know. After talking to Shinji in the entry plug afterwards, I then felt everything slowly slipping away as Unit 01 shut down for good but suddenly the core spat me out and I was on the floor of the repair cage. That is all I know."
"I see. Well I suppose once you are rested, that you will want your old job back?"
"No. I want to make up for lost time with Shinji. I have had enough of project E to last me for some time."
"I think that we all have."
"Yes. I am just glad that Shinji doesn't have to go out and fight in that monster that was Unit 01 anymore. The only advantage I could say of my being trapped in Unit 01 was that I was able to help him those times."
"That was you? I suspected that it may have been, due to what was happening when Unit 01 went berserk, as well as when Unit 01 wouldn't sync with either the dummy plug or Rei."
"Yes, although I was caught by surprise when the dummy plug was first used. I don't blame you for destroying that abomination of a system Doctor Akagi. And we won't discuss the real reason of why you destroyed all of the clones. Other than from what I heard that was just one more way that you followed in your mother's footsteps."
Ritsuko angrily answers, "I am not my mother."
"Is that why you dyed your hair blonde? So you looked even less like her?"
Ritsuko scowls after hearing this and cynically replies, "But that didn't stop me being manipulated by that scheming husband of yours."
"Doctor Akagi, I know that my husband manipulated both you and your mother. While I probably could never forgive your mother if she was still alive, since I suspect that she may have had something to do with my being absorbed by Unit 01. I feel that I can forgive you however, because of how you have helped Shinji. Even when you reminded Shinji of what happened to me, when you showed Shinji the truth about Rei. You were also good enough to give Shinji that photo of me. You have no idea of how much that meant to him."
Ritsuko is surprised by Yui's statement, "…I….I never would have thought….."
Yui yawns; Ritsuko sees this and tells Yui, "I will let you get some sleep Mrs Ikari. I will see you in the morning for some more tests."
Yui replies, "Yes. Goodbye Doctor Akagi."
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Japanese Prime Minister's Office Tokyo 2 - later that night
The prime minister and interior minister are sitting down in lounge chairs while drinking tea and discussing the funeral of Gendo Ikari earlier that day. The prime minister asks the interior minister, "I have heard that something happened at Nerv during the funeral."
The interior minister replies, "Yes, you could say that. Agent Kaji has just informed me exactly what happened. A rather unexpected development I must say."
"And what did he have to say?"
"Unit 01's core had remarkably survived intact. The fact that it survived intact was not the cause of all the fuss. It was because of what the core did that was so unexpected."
"Which was?"
"It would seem that Ikari was a little premature in assuming that his wife was lost to him forever."
Shocked by what this means, the prime minister asks, "You mean it released his wife, after all these years?"
"Yes, by all indications so far, uninjured and unaffected by her ordeal in Unit 01."
"So do you think that this will change anything?"
"Not as far as I know. I have ordered agent Kaji to discreetly visit her tomorrow and ask her some questions."
"It will be interesting to find out her views on several issues, especially those involving the early days of Gehrin. Since she was involved with the evangelions right from the very beginning, even before her husband was."
"Yes it will be. Because of that it will be rather interesting to find out what she thinks of Fuyutsuki's proposal for the second angel."
"Yes, how is that proposal going?"
"The UN and the other interested parties are still trying to decide what to do."
"I did notice one interesting item in that regard at the press conference that Fuyutsuki gave today, that being that he didn't mention that angel at all. Neither did the information that Ikari released to the press."
"Neither mentioned Ikari's real goal or why Unit 01 was so special either."
"Well I suppose it doesn't really matter now does it?"
"Not really. The explanations that have been made public are good enough."
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Well that is it for part 7. Again any comments etc appreciated.
Stay tuned for part 8 – Housewarmings/ Welcome Back