Story based on characters created by and copyright to GAINAX. I don't owe Neon Genesis Evangelion, I never will. If asked, I'll delete everything. I'm not making money by my writing.
Version 01.01.02Thick, dark gray clouds covered the sun that dull morning. It was an awful day to do a trip. Still, he had no choice.
He sighed, looking out of the window of his train, scattered with drops of rain.
"The last time, it was a sunny day," he said aloud, gaining a strange from a woman sitting next to him. He pretended to not having seen her.
He recognized the hills that announced that soon he would be at the station of Tokyo 3. He wasn't exactly looking forward to reach the city and the people he would meet there, but ending the long travel was a nice perspective.
Still looking outside, he tried to remember on which hill he used to trek, remembering how sometime he had recurse to hitchhike to return home, when he was too tired.
Happier times, he thought, watching his bespectacled face staring back at him.
Encounters
Shinji was still stupefied, when the woman spoke.
"You're Shinji Ikari, aren't you?" she asked. He seemed more... no, just different than his picture.
"Katsuragi... Katsuragi-san ?" he queried tentatively, while debris had started to fall around them.
"We'll do the proper presentation later ! Now, enter the car !"
He obeyed immediately, rushing for the other door and jumping inside. She didn't let him the time to close the door before accelerating, just before a major piece of junk that was an aircraft hit the ground where the Renault was.
Misato looked critically at the missiles, steering savagely to avoid the debris falling down and the cars between the streets.
"Ha! No way those simple missiles could stop it! " She bellowed, but Shinji was too preoccupied in the task of fastening his belt to give real attention to the woman. He realized that his hands were trembling and his throat dry.
Finally, surely in his seat, he hazarded a look towards the monster, his higher portion still visible in the distance, while the aircraft continued to attack it.
"Well, I'm Misato Katsuragi, Shinji. Sorry, I'm a bit late" Misato had decided that talking with the boy wasn't a distracting task during a high-speed zigzag in a street with the risk of crashing against a car.
"... it was my fault," he replied "I should have waited you at the train station."
She spared a glance to the boy, raising an eyelid.
"You aren't easily impressed, are you ?" she asked, because his behavior was so apparently calm in that situation.
"... what is that... thing ?" he countered, too shocked to be frightened.
Misato frowned before answering, what was a smile gone from her face. That thing had affected him deeply... the moment, after ten years, had come.
"An angel"
Angel? He asked to himself. The car continued to run at his top speed, and he only prayed for his safety, becoming paler when the car sideslipped during a turn.
"Don't worry, I'm a good driver..." she tried to reassure him with a smile... without much results, because she avoided for a mere inch another car. Shinji had decided to keep his mouth shut, at least until the run through the city wasn't over...
He was surprised that the woman who had to pick him came driving a sporty car, even more surprised that some kind of monster had attacked the day he had come... and, he had the foreboding sensation that the day would become worse... he finally sighed in relief when they exited the city, racing over a large road.
His relief was short lived, because on the top of a hill, where they had a fantastic sight over the angel and the surroundings of it, Misato stopped the car, pulling out a binocular and starting to look at the angel.
"What are they doing? " the aircraft had started to retire and the fire had ceased.
"They wouldn't use a N^2 mine ! Shinji, stay down !" she cried, grabbing him and forcing him back to his seat.
The only thing he could see was a blinding light coming from where the angel was, and then a powerful wind, which made the car roll.
When he opened again his eyes, he found himself under Misato, who was trying to exit from the car.
Slowly, both of them pulled out their heads, looking back towards where the explosion was, the wind pulling back their hair and the light forcing them to keep their eyes half closed.
"That's the power of our final weapon!" a general bellowed, hitting the table with a close fist and looking triumphantly towards Gendo.
Arrogant... stupid arrogant Fuyutsuki sighed internally... but he wished that the angel was defeated. Better be looked scornfully by them, than have to face more angels.
"We have lost all signals due the interference. We'll have them back only in about ten second" Makoto explained, busy typing over his keyboard, the strings of commands flickering on his screen.
"There will be nothing, because nothing can survive that blast" a general liquidated the argument, then he spoke directly to Gendo "With that, your toy is completely useless" he smirked.
Gendo didn't move, waiting. If the General was right, his game would end, and it would be bad.
"We're receiving the first signals... energy signature in the middle of the area. External view back online" Makoto announced while the main screen returned to life, showing the clouds lifted by the explosion slowly settling again down. A massive, dark body was in the middle of the explosion, still covered by the clouds of dust. The old face in the middle of the chest was destroyed, but under that a new face was growing.
The angel was damaged, but it could be seen that it was growing and regenerating itself... fast.
A.T. Field... Fuyutsuki reflected. It was the reason because an angel couldn't be so easily defeated, as far as he has understood.
The general sat down again, their faces clearly angry for their failure. One of them smashed his close fist against the desk, swearing against the damn monster.
Soon, the non-piloted helicopter that was doing the recognition ceased to be. The angel had destroyed it.
"It's learning and adapting" Fuyutsuki added, and internally, as a scientist, he was fascinated.
"If it didn't, it wouldn't be a individual weapon and a menace." Gendo replied.
A light on Gendo's phone started to blink, and he picked up the receiver. At the same time, a phone rang over the desk where the generals were sitting.
Their conversation was longer, much longer than Gendo's, who simply listened, than said yes before hanging up.
Finally, a general raised his gaze towards Gendo.
"Our best weapon was useless. We must leave it to you"
Gendo stared back the generals, his expression not changing from their news, and then he stood up, preparing to walk away.
"Ikari, do you think you could stop it ?" a general asked, sarcastically.
Without turning to face them, Gendo answered, readjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose
."That's the reason why Nerv exists"
Following his leader, Fuyutsuki was deeply thinking.
'It's our duty to stop the angels, and it's one of the reasons why Nerv exists... but could we really stop it? We have no pilots and no Evangelion units ready to fight. The angel couldn't have chosen a worse moment' his reflections were interrupted by a dry order from Gendo.
"Start the preparation to send unit 01 in battle"
"Unit 01? But we don't have a pilot" Fuyutsuki objected, instantly knowing that he had been left in the dark about something again.
"Incorrect. A spare pilot is coming. He'll be here in time" Gendo announced coldly.
"I see," Fuyutsuki agreed, knowing perfectly what Gendo was intending. There was only one spare pilot that could work for unit 01... years of trials and tests, only to have confirmed what they already knew. Years wasted in searching why it had to be done in that way... still, he wished Gendo had told him what he was going to do.
"Old friend, the clock had started to tick, now" Gendo added cryptically, the corner of his lips slightly raising.
"Indeed," Fuyutsuki internally mused if really had started to tick when they discovered that thing in Antarctica and tried to understand it with the foolish of the science, or if it was ticking long time before... and he asked to himself why he had helped to restart that bloody clock again.
"I cannot believe they really used a N^2 bomb! They must have been desperate" Misato yelled, extracting herself from the car and looking sadly at it.
The once gloss appearance was now ruined, a side full with scratches, a bumper half disjointed... And the car was not lying on its four wheels, but instead on one side.
Slowly, Shinji exited from it, looking astonished at the monster visible in the distance. It was still moving, he was sure.
"Shinji, can you help me a bit ?" Misato asked, after having unsuccessfully tried to tip over her car.
"What I have to do ?" Shinji asked, while thinking that he surely didn't imagine that his day would be so... so strange. First, a monster, then, Katsuragi-san... then a big explosion. And now...
"Just help me to overturn my car, please... pull with me at the three"
He nodded, placing himself next to Misato, his back to the car, his hands grasping the gloss surface, trying to gain a better grip to help Misato, who was now ready to pull.
"Ready ? One, two, three ! Pull !" with their efforts combined, the car was again ready to move, on its four wheels.
"Thanks, Shinji"
"It was nothing, Katsuragi-san"
"Too much formalities, just call me Misato, Shinji" she said, looking inside the car.
She noticed that not only the exterior of the car was damaged, but also the interior: the battery was leaking fluid: they surely couldn't go too far. But she had a plan... having plans was her work.
Shinji was perplexed when Misato stopped inside a desert city, pulling out some tools from the trunk.
"Just follow me" she said when she noticed his perplexed gaze. He then looked wide-eyed when she started to break open the hoods of the parked cars and to pull out their batteries. His duty became soon clear: he had to pick them and bring them back to the car.
His disapproving gaze didn't stop Misato who robbed sixteen batteries, leaving a major number of cars with a damaged hood. Then, back to the car, she moved the batteries inside, starting to pull out some wire and to makeshift connections between them. Soon, the batteries were all wired together and the car ready to go.
Again on the road, she noticed that Shinji didn't have stopped to ogle the batteries, and then her.
"Katsuragi-san... are you sure that we can rob those batteries ?" he asked timidly.
"But off course ! It's a Nerv emergency and I have, as official of Nerv, all the rights to take them ! It isn't a robbery !" she explained smiling at him "you 're as touchy as a little man !"
"Are you sure aren't you childish ?" He asked back, regretting his words.
Misato's smile became forced, then she looked slyly at the boy sat next to her, preparing to get revenge for his remarks. She started to make the car sideslip, invading the opposite alley and going very, very near to a guardrail during a turn. The tires were crying and the car was a concert of noises, enhanced by her ruthless and furious way of driving.
"Aaaah ! I retire everything ! I'm sorry ! I'm sorry !" he begged closing his eyes and grabbing the seat until his knuckles became white, like if his life was depending on it.
Instantly, the car stopped his crazy course to return in the right alley, still going very fast.
They both stayed silent for a bit, each lost in private thought.
Shinji was looking outside the window, thinking again why he had decided to come to Neo Tokyo 3 after his father had called him. He never was comfortable around his father... or better, he never had the possibility to discover if he could be able to comprehend him. For what he remembered, he didn't see him for at least... too much time to remember him very well, except for his eyes and his gaze full of contempt. So, why was he going to see him? Surely it wouldn't be a pleasure... so why he hoped differently?/p>
I knew it... it was a mistake to came here
And yes, he was also thinking what kind of strange woman was sitting behind the wheel.
Misato, on the other hand, had other, important thoughts.
She picked up the phone, calling the HQ. Soon, Makoto answered. She simply asked to have a convoy ready for her to enter the Geo Front and confirmed that she had founded Shinji.
Then, she looked at herself.
My poor dress... and it was the only one that fitted me well... and now it's dirty, and torn... practically, to dump off. I have crushed my glasses, the JSSDF be damned with its useless mine ! And worse, my car... I have yet to finish to pay for it and for its modifies... its paint work, wasted, the front bumper is up with the adhesive tape, the right side is all dented... and I have just spent so much money... why I have to be so unlucky? Maybe I can put the repair bill under the voice 'damaged in service'... no, they surely won't pay me for it... damned restriction of budget.
Shinji interrupted her thoughts.
"Misato-san... why did my father want me back ?" he asked.
"... Isn't better ask directly to him ?" Misato replied. She didn't want to enter that topic. Moreover, the Commander didn't explain what was in his mind, like always.
"So, we are going to meet him" was his statement. Only because he has a use for me, he wants me back
From his appearance and his tone of voice, she could say he wasn't appalled a bit by the thought of seeing his father. She could understand.
"So, you don't like your father, do you?"
Shinji closed himself in an obstinate silence, his gaze fixed over his knees. She remembered herself when she was younger.
"You aren't alone" she said, a trace of sadness in her voice. She didn't know if she was going to say that she didn't like his father, or if she didn't like hers. Both, probably.
Shinji looked at her, surprised by her words.
She answered at the silent question in his eyes.
"Yes, I don't like much your father. But don't tell that aloud" she winked at him, and then she picked up some paper.
"Here, you can find some answer to your questions."
It was a folder, labeled 'for your eyes only'. Shinji started to read through it, without real interest. T was too much complicated to be appealing, too much thick to be easy to navigate, too little clear to be complete.
"So, this is my father's work," he said, even if he didn't understand what it was.
"Yes... you can call me... well, let's say a public international officer" it was enough correct, after all: she was working for a Agency at the orders of U.N., even if it was more like a façade: the kind of power Nerv had over Neo Tokyo 3 was absolute and dictatorial... It was only a step before martial law.
The truth was that U.N., or for what it mattered the government of Japan had no rights over Nerv, given its special status. A status just acquired with the arrival of the first... or, for who knew better, like her, the third.
"So, your noble work is 'protect the world'... like my father" Shinji quoted a line of text that caught his eyes from the document that was given to him.
Misato looked at him, puzzled.
"Are you making fun of me?"
He shook his head, "not at all"
During the conversation, Misato had driven the car to what seemed to be a train station. It was desert, but a big convoy had just reached it, running over a monorail. It was obviously a convoy studied to carry cars and other vehicles. Misato drove her car over a wagon, as she was used to do that maneuver.
When the car was in position, special grips grabbed its tires, blocking it on place, then the train started again. Shinji wasn't especially interested, but soon his opinion would change, after the train exited a gallery.
"That's... that's a real Geo Front !" he exclaimed stupefied from the sight he could now admire, flatting his nose against the glass of the window to have a better view of that special and unusual scenario, his eyes wandering around, looking something he had only heard about, or seen imaginary draws. He never thought that it could really exist something of that kind and be so spectacular.
Indeed, the view was spectacular. They were over a monorail, suspended high over the ground, so his gaze wasn't obstructed by anything. The Geo Front in itself was only a big, underground hole, but the man's work had dramatically changed it: there was a beautiful, blue lake, and green grass, and woods... the painted wall gave the impression of a real, cloudless sky, and also the illusion of the sun was recreated by big mirrors which caught the light from the outside, convoying it inside. In the center of the Geo Front, there was a overturn pyramid with square base, from which another pyramid, its color a dark shade of purple, generated. That was the HQ of Nerv.
"Impressive, isn't it? That's our Geo Front... HQ of Nerv, but also the base to rebuilt the planet... and the last fortress for mankind" Misato said seriously, but Shinji hadn't heard a word. The sight raptured him.
During all the way, until they arrived down, he stared around. Finally, they exited from the car.
Misato leaded the way to the gates for Nerv. She explained Shinji how to use his badge, then she made him enter ahead her.
Inside, the sight wasn't as impressive as outside, but impressive nevertheless.
Long, steel made corridors, illuminate by a powerful light... no windows, but them were unnecessary. The temperature was not too cold and not too hot. From gust of wind, Shinji guessed that it was conditioned air.
"Let's go!" Misato said, starting to unfold what seemed to be a plant. Shinji trotted behind her for a while, looking the empty walls of the structures and a long collection of closed doors and crosses.
When, after ten minutes, they didn't crossed someone else, Shinji started to doubt his guide. He had the nagging sensation that something wasn't right... like the fact that she was holding the map overturned.
We are lost, he thought without surprise. He had expected something like this. It was clearly his unlucky day... he let pass another five minutes, before timidly voicing his opinion.
Maybe I had to turn right... no, it was left, then the fifth corridor on the right, until we... Misato thought were interrupted again by a meek yet petulant voice.
"Misato-san... aren't we still arrived ?"
"Just follow me" she said.
"... Misato-san, we are lost, aren't we ?" he asked again, missing the irritation in her voice.
She inhaled hastily, while a single thought crossed her mind.
Busted! but she wasn't who she was for nothing. Her guilty face was covered by a smile when she turned towards him.
"Off course we aren't lost ! Maybe just a bit off from the right way" she narrowed her right index and her thumb, "just a tiny bit ! Don't worry, nobody gets lost inside the HQ of Nerv... I have everything under control"
Shinji nodded, hoping that it was really so. It wasn't like he was eager to face his father, but wandering without a goal was unnerving... and freighting, because sure as the sun he wasn't able to find the exit again.
After another couple of minutes, Misato showed that everything was under her control, putting in practice her best plan.
Operation "Ask Ritsuko" had started.
Under the water, or what kind of liquid it was, because it seemed too dense and oddly tinged to be water, there was someone... or something. Little bubbles were exploding on the smooth, calm surface of this pool. Its main function obviously wasn't swimming, because only a catwalk was the way to access it. Maybe it was a big, square tank half filled.
That didn't change the fact that the proof of the presence of something under the surface was still present. This something, with a more accurate exam, was a human being, because various items, like some clothes, were presents on the edge of the tank.
A dark shadows was moving under the liquid, next to one wall. The one under the liquid was dressed with a wet suit and a scuba, but the way the wet suit clad the body made obvious that it was a woman.
Here... it's ok even the 145 lock, and its connector she thought with a hint of satisfaction. She wasn't sure that it could work, but she wanted to be sure that everything was perfect, that no human errors could jeopardize the operation.
It wasn't her work to control that kind of details, but she liked to do it, she liked to be in the first line around her work: it wasn't enough to study something, she also felt the desire to do something more manual. She knew it wasn't the most proficient way to work for a chief whose duty was to plan and control the work of the others, but she had decided that in this case was absolutely irrelevant.
Besides, the work kept her mind busy: there were too many things that worried her, like what they could do if the plan of the Commander wouldn't work, or if they were defeated... he seemed self-assured like ever, but she knew better than the others how their hopes were frail.
Everything bet over a single unit... over a single..., she tried to get rid of that kind of thoughts, but it was really a big bet against the odds.
She had the suspicion that he hadn't told everything to her, otherwise she wasn't able to explain that kind of faith... or maybe it was simply desperation. Still, he wasn't a man prone to that kind of emotion.
The only thing she knew all too well was that every attempt to prepare the unit for active duty was unsuccessful. More than enough to worry her.
Did he plan to use her ? under the water glasses she frowned. She didn't want to think about her in that moment... better, she didn't want to think about her, period. But it was unavoidable, because they had to work together... and because she was stealing him
.no, he won't use her... she is obviously too precious to be risked... she thought with bitter sarcasm. He used her, like he used the others, but he was truly worried for her... that made Ritsuko mad. The young doctor never got that kind of attention. If she was enough lucky, she could hope he would save a tiny bit of his time for her... by far minor that the time he would gave to her, or to the project.
Still lost in thoughts, she finished her control, and then she exited from the liquid, just in time to hear the speakers call for her.
"Doctor Akagi is requested to contact immediately Captain Katsuragi. Repeat: Doctor Akagi is requested to contact immediately Captain Katsuragi" said the emotionless, computerized voice.
The doctor looked at the speakers like they had offended her.
She's lost... again, she thought, angry. It wasn't the first time that the Captain had lost her way inside Nerv. It was enough unnerving when her work was interrupted due this kind of requests, but now, during an emergency...
It seems that we're back young... she mused. It was funny how the old habits had returned so rapidly... and it was funnier that she wasn't able to be angry with Misato for long time. After all, who could be angry with her?
Old times...
She shook her head, unzipping her wet suit. Under it, she was wearing only a swimsuit with high legs, aquamarine colored. That left her long legs uncovered, and the elasticized tissue clung to her body, exalting her figure, which was in no way inferior to Katsuragi's, in that revealing outfit. Also her blonde hair, cut at shoulder length was particular, and her gray green eyes, always moving, examining and judging.
She decided to not loose time in dressing up: she grabbed only a white lab coat and her briefcase. A pair of tennis shoes completed her trim.
Now, where could she be ? she thought, walking briskly away from the tank, not forgetting to turn off the lights.
Meanwhile, Shinji was still following Misato inside an elevator. He had the nagging sensation that they were walking randomly, but after all, his guide made a call to someone.
He hoped that they would find them.
Misato, on the other hand, was trying desperately to remember where she had to go, and where she was supposed to be. Her plant had proved useless, and she wasn't still enough practice... after all, she had been transferred in the new HQ only for three weeks. The better surprise wasn't her transfer, and, truthfully, nor was the fact that she would command the operations against the angels, even if it was a good new.
The better surprise was found out Ritsuko working at her same project. Obviously, Misato knew that Ritsuko worked for Nerv: the doctor had started even before her. But she was surprised that they were going to work side to side, at the same level. Technically, Misato had a slightly minor grade than Ritsuko, practically Ritsuko overpowered her, because she was the responsible for the units, MAGI, and many other things.
She knows more things than me... Misato reflected one day, knowing that she was only a pawn inside the organization. An important pawn, but still a pawn.
That didn't bother her too much: what they gave her was enough, and surely, what she didn't knew wasn't necessary to perform well her duty: she trusted Ritsuko, and she was sure that she wouldn't hide nothing important from her, nothing she needed to know.
And, to see again Ritsuko was good. It was like returning back in the time... she remembered when she used to ask often Ritsuko advices, or notes, or other things. She had returned to her old habits: she had called Ritsuko many times, when she got lost inside Nerv, because she didn't want to ask someone else who could gossip about how she was incapable of orienteering inside the HQ.
Instead, the classical call for Ritsuko was professional enough.
The elevator door opened in front off them with a hissing sound, interrupting Misato's thoughts. In the frame appeared a woman.
"Captain Katsuragi, where are you going ?"
Ritsuko stepped inside, pushing Misato's chest with hers.
Misato faced her friend with a smile, sticking out a bit her tongue between her lips, doing a quite embarrassed face.
"Sorry, I lost my way" Misato replied.
"Just follow me, Captain" Ritsuko said, trying to convey more anger in her words, but in reality trying to not smile back. She admired the way Misato was acting, so calm in that situation. It was incredible how the Captain was able to smile in those hard moments, and it was good to see someone optimist, while she was naturally pessimist, considering how the optimist was someone who knew better than many other people what an angel could do.
"How is possible that you lost yourself here, at Nerv ? You had three weeks to learn where is the command center and the cages..." Ritsuko inquired, still a bit angry.
"Sorry, sorry" Misato replied waving a hand in front of her face, looking like a young girl in front of a teacher, excusing herself for having forgotten her homework. Inside, Misato was wondering why her friend was wearing a swimsuit... true, she had sent a revealing photo to Shinji, but she didn't think that also Ritsuko would try to do something like her...
No, wait a moment... she regained her control over her own thoughts, Ritsuko isn't the kind of person who does something like this without reason. Surely it's an accident that she's so dressed here at Nerv, and more surely she didn't dressed in this way for Shinji... I wouldn't have done something like that, so she surely wouldn't... but maybe she's less serious than me... she smiled at the thought, so many times proved false.
Ritsuko decided that it was better to let go the topic, so she took her time to give a good gaze to a bewildered Shinji.
'Things had started to be surreal' he thought frowning internally. A young woman dressed in a swimsuit and a lab coat had appeared from nowhere, becoming the guide... he couldn't imagine what was she doing so dressed inside the HQ of a military organization. He thought that it could be a dream.
After all, his father had called him, when he arrived to Neo Tokyo 3 he had seen a monster stomping over the houses and a young woman, who had sent him a fairly revealing photo had picked him up with a sporty car, driving like if the devil was chasing her, then he had seen a huge explosion and survived it, becoming accomplice in a battery robbery and now, inside a labyrinth full of closed door and endless corridors, a woman had found them, wearing a swimsuit. Maybe it was really a dream...
Too realistic to be a dream, and too strange, he remembered to himself. His dreams weren't so chaotic.
Ritsuko was aware that her strange outfit had attracted the attention of the third and she couldn't blame him for the indiscreet gazes he was giving her... she knew also that her credibility like a scientist had dropped even in Misato's eyes, who was openly looking at her, with an unexpressed question plastered on her face. Ritsuko decided to change the unexpressed topic of the thoughts of them.
"So, this is the Third Children ?" she asked, squaring openly Shinji.
Ritsuko caught that the boy looked immediately away, now that he had the attention of both women, not making eye contact, so unlike his father whose eyes tried to catch and swallow the eyes of who was talking to him.
He wasn't different from what Ritsuko expected, but that wasn't important. The most important thing would be if he could synch or not.
"Yes, he is. " Misato decided that it was the time to do some presentation, to make Shinji more at ease.
"Ritsuko, that's Shinji Ikari, Third Children. Shinji Ikari, let me present you Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, director of the first section of technological division... she is the chief of project E... and..." she couldn't resist, but she had to add something funny "... she has got a nice pair of legs, hasn't she?"
Shinji blushed immediately, while Ritsuko gave her a gaze of death. Misato smiled innocently, then Ritsuko sighed, offering her hand to Shinji, who took it hesitantly.
Ritsuko gave him a forceful handshake, noticing how he seemed embarrassed and sighing to herself.
If that's her idea on how make him comfortable... she must have sent something indecent to him, that's why she grinned like an idiot when I asked what she added to his parcel, Ritsuko remembered.
"Nice to meet you, Shinji" she said, ignoring Misato's comment.
"... the pleasure is mine" Shinji slurred out, not completely sure if it was the right thing to do and not knowing what the Doctor would think of him now that he had blushed like an idiot.
Misato's comment that hit the right mark: he had taken a look at Ritsuko's legs... and not only. To his defense, it must be said that nearly everybody would have looked oddly at Ritsuko and asked what was she doing.
After the comment, Misato decided to hold her tongue a bit, because Ritsuko seemed on the verge of exploding.
On her part, Ritsuko was fuming because she hadn't taken the time to dress herself, because her friend had made fun of her with a boy that had half her age... that kind of things could gave her a headache, in that kind of situation. And what was going to happen was enough to make her unhappy...
He's only a boy...She erased the thought. There was no place for pity nor disappointment, in that moment. Still, he was His son.
Shinji was simply trying to found a sense in which Misato said about him being the Third Children.
I'm a only child, from where does the Third stuff come out? even if puzzled, he didn't dare to speak, not after making a complete fool of himself, and surely not with a doctor so dressed.
Exited the elevator the guide had become Ritsuko, and they had changed pace: there was an aura of security around Ritsuko and the way she walked without hesitation at each turn, looking straight in front of her, without saying a word.
She didn't lose time, like she had memorized all the plan of Nerv in her mind... which was exactly what she had done. Her trip ended in front of a door, which led to an escalator.
Now, they could simply let the escalator do the work and wait to arrive to the cages.
"So, he's always so silent ?" Ritsuko asked directly to Misato, while Shinji seemed to try to disappear or at least to look like a wall.
"Yes, in that he's like his father... I mean, in being antisocial and wearing a long face" Misato answered.
Ritsuko looked to the boy, whose face had become longer at Misato's remark. The blonde woman concluded that something had happened between them, but she cannot put the finger on it. She hoped only that wasn't something that could restrain him from piloting.
Shinji, hearing Misato saying that kind of things, frowned. He didn't want to be like his father, and he never thought he was similar to him.
"Red alert. All the personal reaches the combat positions" the speakers boomed.
"It has already found us" Misato observed, frowning. If the angel had found them, they were in big troubles.
"So it appears... it was expected. Magi had esteemed that it's a sort of giant individual weapon with intelligence inside... with its own rationality. It isn't controlled from the outside" Ritsuko explained.
"So... it like an EVA"
"Yes, it is. The JSSDF wasn't able to stop it" Ritsuko replied evenly.
"I saw their bomb... they nearly destroyed my machine" Misato replied angrily.
"But they had damaged it, giving us some time" Ritsuko stated.
"So, what are we going to do ? We haven't much alternatives."
"The commander had ordered to prepare unit 01 for the fight"
"But does it work ? You said that it was impossible that it could be activated... and besides, we don't have any ready pilot" Misato asked thoughtfully after the initial surprise.
"I never said that, don't be silly. I said only that it's highly improbable that we could activate it, not impossible. Impossible doesn't exist" the scientist countered, before thinking to herself surely not with the evangelions.
"Do you have discovered something new about it ?" Misato asked.
"No. MAGI had esteemed the probability that we could activate it in 0,0000000001 %, like always... that's why we call it unit o-nine instead of 01..." it was a joke that the maintenance crew found funny, and even Ritsuko had found that nickname appropriate, for completely different reasons, unknown to Misato and to the crew.
Now, it was even more appropriate: the salvation of mankind from the angels, in the hands of an oni*.
"Ritsuko, aren't we going on the wrong way ? The command center and the Commander's office are in the other direction" Misato was enough sure that they were going towards the wrong direction, now.
"We aren't going to meet the Commander. First, I want to show something to Shinji"
The boy emerged from his thoughts that were wandering about the soon to be encounter with his father, when he heard his name.
"Something ? To me ?" he asked surprised. He didn't know what was so important to take the precedence over his father.
"Yes" the doctor simply answered.
Misato, seeing as the corridors were becoming larger, had some idea about what Ritsuko wanted to show Shinji, even if she didn't understand why her friend choose that moment... or maybe, Misato was simply trying to not understand.
During their walk, they passed in front of a strange yet scaring sight: from a damaged wall, a giant hand was protruding out, half closed in a spasm.
Shinji was too lost in his reflections, his eyes fixed on the floor, to notice it. Misato gazed distractedly at it, remembering the day if the test. She hoped nothing similar would happen now that they need their weapons.
The trip finished in front of a dark door made by steel. Ritsuko picked up her badge, and passed it in the electronic lock.
A green led flashed, then the door opened with a hiss.
"Be careful, inside it's dark... wait a moment while I switch on the lights..." Ritsuko said.
Shinji entered that dense obscurity along with Misato.
Now, Misato was sure about where they were: Ritsuko had led them to the cages.
The scientist found the switch, turning the big lamps on the ceiling on.
Suddenly, the light defeated the darkness, and Shinji and Misato found them in front of a giant, purple face. They both baked off few steps.
... when has Ritsuko become so melodramatic? Misato asked to herself. She was prepared, but the sight had made her gulp, even if she knew that what emerged from the darkness wasn't a demoniac apparition, but a man made creation... the kind of weapon she was going to use.
To Shinji, the sight was more terrific. For a brief instant, he would have sworn that the 'thing' looked at him, its eyes flashing with red light, moving to eat him, his own soul, but when he blinked, everything disappeared. It was only a joke made by his stressed mind.
The giant was unmoving, dead... or better, asleep, ready to awake and destroy.
This was his impression: that thing seemed eager to destroy, to kill. Obviously, it was a weapon... a dormant one, a god of war, a grinning devil... waiting to be awakened.
He felt little and insignificant, in front of that purple giant, dressed in what seemed to be an ancient samurai armor, with that horn protruding from the forehead of its helmet. The grin on his face was like a skeleton's teeth. The main body was only a dark shadow covered by the same fluid in which Ritsuko had swum before. Only a part of the massive shoulders, blocked by big pieces of machinery, were visible, emerging from the liquid.
Shinji understood that it wasn't a demon... not knowing that soon its opinion would change back to its first impression. It was something else.
"That's... that's a giant robot!" he exclaimed.
It was the same stuff that one could read in a comic... it was unbelievable, but after having seen a true, ugly, huge monster, Shinji had to accept even the reality of the giant in front of him.
"That isn't correct. That it's the multi purpose fighting machine, artificial humanoid Evangelion... the most powerful weapon ever made by man" Ritsuko explained.
She could have spoken in Russian, for Shinji. The only thing he understood was that it was a weapon, but he understood that without need for an explanation.
The machine in front of him seemed strangely familiar, now that he looked better at it... like he had seen it before, but he couldn't tell where, or when... he could only say that it was still scaring him, even now that he knew it was only a machine.
Probably, I'm remembering a robot from a cartoon which looked like it, he thought, even if he was sure that he never saw something similar on television.
That was the first encounter between the boy and unit 01 and it wasn't finished yet.
"So, that's my father's work" Shinji mumbled.
Before Ritsuko could reply, another person in the cage revealed his presence his voice echoing through the huge hangar.
"Exactly."
Shinji looked up. Higher than the head of the giant, there was a glass. Behind the glass, he saw the dark silhouette of a man.
He looked down, at his feet.
The voice spoke again.
"It has been a while".
Itch.
He laid the pen on the sheet he was writing, gritting his teeth. The itch had started again. Unyielding, implacable itch. He knew it was only a trick of his mind.
A dirty trick.
It was a kind of torture he never imagined.
It would start slowly, just a sensation of uneasiness on the back of his left hand. A negligible tickle of his nerves, but it would start to grow maliciously to slowly gain his full attention.
Growing subtle like a cancer, worming its way through his brain.
He tried to keep it away from his mind, busying himself in some task, but the itch only gained power the more he tried to ignore it.
Slowly, not only the back, but only the palm of his left hand would start to itch, then between the fingers. The itch would then move on, from the hand to the wrist, as if the tissue of his jacket wasn't cotton, but wool.
He could feel his skin, red and irritated from the prolonged contact with his clothes. If he closed his eyes, he can see the redder skin.
Some sweat forms on his forehead. He knew that soon the itch will pass, the same way it arrived: unnoticed.
Without knowing how, he would be again perfectly fine, no more itches on his left hand.
Still, this was only one scenario, just a itch he couldn't scratch.
There was another scenario. After the itch, the pain could start. A throbbing pain, through his flesh, would the bone, then dull ache would settle in.
But he couldn't fight that itch.
Sometime he desired to smash his left hand hard against the desk, shattering his own bones with a stone, breaking, gnawing away his fingers in desperation, but he couldn't do so.
He was ready for the pain: inside the first drawer of his desk there was a little bottle, filled with white pills. The best painkiller money can buy. He thought of them as a weakness, so he tried to avoid them.
After his first serious encounter with the pain after the itch, he changed his mind.
However, the pain was something he understood. It was an old friend visiting him again, the pain. Sorrow was his companionship, never leaving him, but pain would just drop by for a quick visit, shoved away by his pills.
He knew how to deal with pain, he knew how to deal with sorrow: there were ways to leave them behind, at least for a while.
The itch was another question. Itch would last, not letting him off the hook. Pills weren't effective against it. Nothing was effective against his itch.
As powerful as he was, it was a itch he couldn't scratch. An itch he wouldn't never be able to scratch.
He adjusted his glasses on his nose with his right hand, then he laid both his elbows on his desk. Only then he remembered that he could no more interlace his fingers together.
Turning his head, he looked at his left arm. Exactly where his left hand should have been, there was an empty space.
Covered by his jacket, there was the stump of his left hand. Hidden under the sleeve, there was a clear cut, halfway between elbow and wrist. It had been a miracle he didn't die for blood loss when it happened.
His eyes narrowed to tiny slits behind his glasses.
The itch was a constant reminder that they still had to pay for having interfered with his carefully crafted plans. Soon, he would meet them again.