"Special Government train number three departing Shin-Miyashita station in two minutes, fifteen seconds," announced the female voice, lilting, melodious, throughout the station. Designed to sound perfectly accentless in both English and Japanese, the announcer's voice was nothing more to Misato than a malevolently pleasant computer voice.
Misato heard that same voice everywhere in this city. It was creepy. The same voice announced the arrival and departure of trains, the same voice read out the weather on the local radio, the very same voice kept intoning "please cross now" over and over again at the pedestrian crossings. It was almost as if the voice belonged to the city itself.
She took a glance around. The highrise buildings downtown, all made of specially reinforced concrete, their windows made from bulletproof Lexan. She had seen some of the complex gearing system that actually allowed these buildings to be lowered underground, out of harm's way. Scattered among the office buildings and a few apartments were the armament buildings. Anyone living here long enough can tell how they stand out among the glass and steel of the fortress city. Armament buildings have no residents, no workers. They merely stand there in silent vigil, awaiting the day that they will be used in battle. On that day, they will shed their windowless, monolitihic facades and reveal the weapons stored within. Laser cannons, missile racks, indeed, some armament buildings were little more than gigantic landmines, designed to detonate and take away any nearby attacker.
She tried to take a look beyond the skyline, past the city limits where new aparment buildings were fast taking root all around in the green hills of Kanto Prefecture. While few people actually wanted to live inside a city designed to be a battlefield, they would, paradoxically, feel safe to live near so many instruments of mass destruction.
She could see her own apartment building starting to take shape in the hills. Between the house payments, the car payments and the rent, she was much like other working people, perpetually broke. But she was, in many ways, lucky to be just another working stiff. While she was ready to accept a millitary life of privations and hardship in NERV, she was happy with her working life the way it is now. Sometimes, she almost forgot her millitary background. In fact, if it wasn't for the red service jacket she was wearing, there would be nothing to suggest to the casual observer that she was different from the other people, technicians, administrators and some scientists waiting for Government train number three. Her work, for now was pleasantly dull.
She didn't feel that way when she first came here, though.
There she was, in her dress uniform with the other officer cadets, waiting to receive her commission. She had felt silly wearing the outfit, no matter how many times everyone else told her how distinguished, even beautiful she appeared while wearing it. How long has it been, she wondered then, since the last time she wore a skirt that was past her knees? And there she was, standing in line with the other women officer cadets, wearing a black skirt that fell down all the way to her ankles. Her waistcoat was black too, with a stiff Mandarin collar she swore was made out of steel. Not only that, it was a total bitch making sure all her insignia, ribbons and decorations were put in the right places. The accursed thing was heavy, and to make it worse, she had to wear a tunic underneath it too.
But the discomfort did little to prevent her from feeling proud that day. It was her first day in Tokyo 03, the fortress city. She had gotten here along with the other cadets, just a few hours ago in the back of a three-tonner. Between the hustle and bustle she didn't get much of a chance to explore. She wondered then, what this place was. It was humongous, if impersonal. It was a gigantic hall, that she suspected was underground. It was bare of almost all furnishings except for the review stand where all the high muckymucks sat. There were many people on that stand she couldn't recognize, and she can tell by the looks in everybody else's eyes, that they, too, were dumbfounded.
Still, she had felt ten feet tall that day. She could see Donna, a few ranks behind her, out the corner of her eyes. Then there was Syazlin from Malaysia beside her, all smiling inside underneath the serious parade expressions. There were many other officer cadets she couldn't recognize, either from the other universities, or from other countries.
As she stood there in line, she paid little attention to the dull speeches. Then it was the turn of the chairman of the UN supervision committee to speak, some old German man, Keel something. He dropped a bombshell, and it took the ranks every last iota of discipline not to let out a collective gasp.
First of all was the announcement of the Gehirn merger. No, not just a merger, it was a takeover, like a little worm swallowing a python. The scientists from Gehirn were appointed to the major posts in the new, merged organisation. Even the agency's new commander and subcommander weren't millitary men, but senior scientists from the old Gehirn. Commander Ikari and Subcommander Fuyutsuki. If that wasn't crushing enough, the restrictions that were placed on the Tactical Division of NERV, as its armed branch was to be called, effectively ruled out much of a career for the assembled cadets. They were expected to perform their duties to the satisfaction of the scientists. It was crushing for many, perhaps all of them. However, in Misato's case, her commitment to NERV was more than simply a career orientation. It was a personal matter of vengeance. She had thought, then, how Ritsuko must be laughing her head off somewhere. Damn the woman.
After the parade, there was the worst part, or the best part. It was time for the new officers to open the envelopes. Each man and woman has previously been handed an assignment envelope that would determine their immediate future. All around her, she saw whoops of joy, or a groan of dismay when someone got a bad assignment. She walked over to Donna, who was reading her assignment orders, a serious look on her face, one hand holding the piece of paper, the other stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"Well, what'd you get?" Misato asked cheerfully.
"Observer corps. I've got this radar post in Canada I have to report to in a week," she said, a smile slowly coming to her face. "Possible promotion to Captain in two years. Not bad, isn't it, Misato?" she finished, brightly.
"I bet you it's somewhere in the Arctic," she replied, sarcastically.
"Who cares? When I make Captain, I'll just ask for a transfer. We've got observation posts EVERYWHERE, remember?" Donna replied, still not realizing the magnitude of the assignment. She pointed a finger at the unopened envelope in Misato's hand. "When are you going to open that?", Donna asked, curious.
"Hey! Where'd they send you two off?" asked a cheerful voice from behind both women. It was Kei, excitedly waving around her assignment orders. "What did you get?" asked Donna. "Madripoor!" Kei excitedly shrieked. "I'm in charge of the N2 silo operations! What about you two?" she asked.
"Well, I've got Canada, and scaredycat here's too scared to read hers," Donna replied cheerfully, pointing her finger at Misato for Kei's benefit.
Misato gave up. "All right, all right! Gee, you two girls are more excited about this than I am!" she said, mild exasperation in her voice, as her slender fingers found a grip and tore the envelope open. Inside was a sheet of paper, the assignment orders printed out on a bad dot matrix printer. Her eyes narrowed as she read the English orders, then, as if to confirm that there has been a terrible, terrible mistake, she read the Japanese translation as well.
Her friends noticed the sudden change in Misato's stance, her shoulders suddenly dropping, and the light of anger building up in her eyes. "Misato ?What's wrong? " asked Donna.
"I asked for a battle shift position," Misato snarled, her hands curling into fists, crushing the sheet of paper.
"What did you get?" asked both women simultaneously.
"Investigations.. I'm..I'm an MP," Misato said, contemptuously spitting out the words as both Donna and Kei stood in slack jawed surprise bordering on horror.
"But you scored highest on the Weapons Systems tests! Nationwide!" Kei asked, refusing to believe her ears.
Misato sighed slowly in resignation. Turning to her friends, she put a brave smile on "Well, I guess I'd better find Ritsuko and tell her the good news," and then she turned and walked away.
The high-pitched whine of the electric train broke her from her reverie. She joined the surging crowd that anxiously lined up behind the yellow safety lines, her arms protectively crossed, and eyes keeping a wary vigil for any perverts trying to sneak a hand under the black lycra of her miniskirt. The doors opened, and she stepped inside, taking a comfortable position at the back of the train. The doors gave the customary beeps and closed, and with a jolt, it made its way along the tracks to the complex tunnel systems that lead to the Geofront.
"Such a shitty little town," Patch mumbled to himself. There's hardly any people on the streets. There are no stray dogs wandering the alleys. Half the buildings here have no doors, no windows, no vents, no means of entry or exit. The asphalt on the streets are black, unfaded by the sun or traffic. The sun's too bright, too hot for some reason. Maybe all the metal in this town's reflecting sunlight and heat, he thought. The trees downtown are almost all fake. The endless pounding of construction work in the distance is the only sign of activity. There are yellow and black danger stripes everywhere, marking great empty squares in the streets and plazas.Probably emergency helipads or something, he thought.
This city is like a scar. A well-planned, symmetrical, architecturally splendid scar, but one nonetheless. Concrete cancer in the bright green countryside, he thought as he reached a pedestrian crossing, its light just turned red, even though there's no traffic visible as far as the eye can see. Unheeding the red light , he placed a foot on the curb, and was about to cross when the voice startled him.
"For your own safety,please wait until the signal light turns green before crossing," said the voice, in English, Japanese and a few other languages. It was a pleasant female voice, computer generated, the same one he'd heard a few times before in this city. He quickly took a glance either way. There was no traffic. He put his foot down on the curb again. As soon as he set his weight down on the asphalt, the computer voice came again, this time slightly louder, more urgent. It annoyed him. Snarling, he quickly drew out his claws from both hands, each almost a foot long, razor sharp and made out of adamantium, the hardest metal on earth. He whirled around, sizing up the enemy. The voice came from the crossing sign on his side of the street. Good. He swung wildly, his claws slicing the aluminium pole with ease, the crossing sign fell to the ground and smashed into pieces, sparks flying briefly from it. He contemptuously kicked the damned box, then crossed the street. For good measure, he kicked over several garbage bins, all almost empty, once he crossed the street.
Shitty little artificial city, he grumbled under his breath as he made his way to the train station. His uncovered eye widened at the sight of several hundred people all waiting at the lobby, while armed guards blocked the way to the platform. He made his way, unhurried to the lobby,pushing his way past several sweaty bodies. He grabbed someone at random.
"What's going on?" he asked, gruffly.
"Oh, we're just waiting for the NERV people to board their train. Happens everyday," said the schoolboy. He took a glance at the platform past the guards. He saw about fifty people, some in civilian clothes, some in the beige uniforms he found so annoying, and one woman in a colourful red jacket that stood out from the drab clothes of the others. She was nice to look at, compared to the other people she's standing with.
He saw the lot of them board their special train and leave. Good riddance, he thought. Were there no end to annoyances in this city? The guards opened the barred platform gates, and the crowd poured through, hoping to catch the next normal train before the next scheduled special government train.
This place is sad, Logan thought.
This place is huge, Misato thought. It has been almost a year since she started working in the Geofront, and it still continues to awe her with its sheer size. The train now no longer runs on the tracks, instead, clamps hold it securely along the thick steel cable running from the entrance tunnel to the ground.
The Geofront is a huge spherical cavern almost 10 kilometers in radius. Ritsuko told her it was more a natural structure that was filled in with soil, than a man-made area. Sunlight streamed in through several windows in the roof, in addition, powerful lamps affixed to the roof lit the huge cavern. Among other things, the roof held the complex gearing system that would bring the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3 to relative safety underground.
Here was the heart of her agency. She looked out the window to the Pyramid, her headquarters building. Surrounding it was lush greenery, and even pine trees. She was sure they were artificial, but Ritsuko did mention that they were trying to grow natural vegetation underground, with some success, so she couldn't really be sure. An artificial lake, large enough to house a small destroyer anchored in the middle lay in front of the pyramid. The sight was mind-boggling, and sometimes, it was kind of like the highlight of her day.
It took a while to find her office. She was always getting lost in the complex. The Geofront itself is huge, but the pyramid itself, including the Central Dogma, is a confusing maze of empty corridors, storage areas, tunnels, and many other things she never bothers to find out what they really are. Sometimes, she wondered about the sanity of the Gehirn scientists and engineers who designed this madhouse. Cursing at the fifteen minutes lost in the service corridors, she arrrived at her office. A swipe of her ID card opened the door, turned on the lights and activated the air conditioning system. She closed the door behind her. Her office was neat as always, reports, disks, and miscellaneous paperwork sitting on their allocated places on her desk. She had never made any conscious effort to keep the place neat, but this place continued to be the total opposite of her rented apartment.
She sat down, unlocked a drawer, and took out her gun. She reloaded
her service automatic. Then her eyes caught a glimpse
of the wall clock. She cursed briefly. It was almost
time for the boring part of today's duties. She locked
her door and began to undress, throwing her clothes into
a closet. Grabbing the standard beige uniform, she hurriedly put it
on, then checked and rechecked to make sure all her badges and insignia
and her MP armband was properly in place. Then like a
horse bolting the stable, she ran out of her office,
racing towards the nearest elevator.
"Shit! You're almost late!" shouted Eric. "Hurry up! They're almost
here!" he said, slight panic in his voice. Misato quickly took her place
alongside the door, then promptly assumed the ready position, still puffing
slightly from the rushing she did to get here. "How long till they get
here?" she asked, hurriedly. "Anytime soon," Eric said. "Now would you
please shut up? If the Commander saw us breaking ranks.."
She shut up. She was lucky enough to manage to catch her breath when they turned the corner and walked straight down the corridor. At their approach, both the MP's smartly saluted. Commander Ikari and Chairman Lorenz didn't even bother to move their eyes in Misato's direction. Subcommander Fuyutsuki smiled briefly, and the other members of the supervision committee merely grunted acknowledgement at her, as they walked past her and into the meeting room.
The door automatically shut itself with a heavy thud. Misato relaxed slightly. She had always wondered what went on in those meetings with the supervision committee. If only she were a fly on the wall...
No sooner than the five members of committee sat down, did they turn
an accusing look at Commander Ikari, who merely sat there coldly, his face
hidden behind steepled hands, his lips closed tight. Then they shifted
their gaze to Subcommander Fuyutsuki. The former biology professor shifted
a little under the withering gaze, but still maintaned his composure enough
to address the five men.
"Gentlemen..Chairman Lorenz," Fuyutsuki began to speak.
"The Lance of Longinus," Kihl Lorenz said, interrupting Fuyutsuki. "What measures have you taken to recover the Lance?"
"Remember. The Lance remains the only known object that can harm an Angel," said the committee member representing France.
"Gentlemen, the Lance remains lost somewhere in the Southern Ocean, where the Ross Ice Shelf used to be. Efforts are being made to recover it, but..."
"There is little we can do with this pittance you allocate to us," Ikari said, interrupting his deputy. His hands remained steepled, hiding his face. His cold, dead eyes stared back at Lorenz.
"Millions and millions of people die of starvation in Africa," shouted the committee member representing Russia. "And you keep requesting more and more money. To what end ? You've already diverted more money away from the Complementation project.."
"And the Complimentation project is the true destiny of man," said France. "Defeating the Angels serves no purpose unless Complementation happens."
Ikari did not even flinch at the probing questions. He knew the stakes. Behind the mask of arrogant old men are five of the most megalomaniacal beings alive. He knew their goals, having served them for the past few years, gaining enough of their trust to gain his current poistion. They wanted nothing less than the quest for godhood; Complimentation was the path that the twelve, five of whom sit before him now, have decided to set for humanity. Whether humanity liked it or not. Their plans and wishes conflicted with his own plans, and he will not be caught out by them so early in the game.
"Without the Lance of Longinus, we have no weapon that is proven to work," Ikari said again. "We cannot run before we walk. All the planning for Complimentation comes to nothing if we cannot defeat all seventeen Angels that are prophesized." continued Ikari, his voice still not betraying any emotion.
"What of the efforts at replicating the Lance? Have you.. diverted efforts from that area as well? " asked the committee member representing the USA. Fuyutsuki rose to the challenge, the former academic speaking in firm, no-nonsense tones "we hardly knew the original properties of the Lance in the first place. That information was held back from us, unfortunately," his eyes narrowed, giving poison dagger stares at each of the committee member "and there seems to be efforts from certain quarters to sabotage our efforts," he continued. He could feel the temperature in the room rise. He saw the five fists clench simultaneously, while Ikari was doing his best no to give anything away to them.
"I do not see why the Lance replica cannot be finished," said Lorenz. "You already have much of the needed raw materials. Enough adamantium for at least one miserable replica lance. Is that too much for humanity to ask of you?"
There was no reply from the two highest officials of NERV.
"The Japanese government is complaining that your footsoldiers are carrying weapons heavier than allowed under the treaty," remarked the member representing the USA.
Ikari smirked, but the gesture remained hidden behind his hands. "Gentlemen, the two guards you saw as we came in have nothing to protect us with except handguns. Seeing that the Geofront's anti-terrorist systems are only twenty-seven percent complete...." he paused, waiting for the committee to grasp his words " a relatively determined band of assassins have a healthy chance of bursting into this.." Ikari spoke now in a bored monotone that suggested that he couldn't care less if what he said were to happen, " very meeting room and massacre the whole lot of us," he said, his voice subtly menacing. Fuyutsuki's eyes narrowed as he cast a sideways glance at the commander. What is he doing? he thought. Playing mindgames with the committee?
"Germany will assume presidency of the Security Council next month. I will have them approve these additional requests of yours," Lorenz said, with no attempt to hide his growing contempt. "In the meantime, I suggest intensifying your efforts to either recover the original Lance, or produce a working replica,"
"Or else your tardiness will doom us all," said France, as all five committee members got up to leave.
Misato barely managed to get her ears away from the metal sliding door before it opened with an angry hiss. Five pairs of eyes coldly bore through her as she stood there in the doorway, a slightly surprised expression on her face, while Eric was trying hard, very hard, to act like a guard. Thinking fast, she quickly stood at attention and saluted. "Sir! Lieutenant Katsuragi at your service!" she said, hoping to recover from a potential career-limiting move, as well as possible grounds for court-martial. "I will escort you to the main gates, sir!" she continued, to receive incredulous looks from the committee.
"We do not need your help," said Chairman Lorenz. "We are familiar with the Geofront," said someone else. "Do not block the doorway, Lieutenant," said another one. She couldn't be sure which one was speaking, because her eyes were fixed on the sight of Fuyutsuki and Ikari staring right at her, with unkind looks on their faces. Sheepishly, she saluted and side-stepped, allowing the committee to pass.
Fuyutsuki spoke as the door closed again. "I think we have them," a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
Ikari grunted his agreement. "Without the Lance, we have some protection from them. They cannot start Complementation without it." Fuyutsuki nodded. "The replica Lance must not be built. But if we delay too long they will get restless again. They might even try to steal the adamantium again," Fuyutsuki said, gathering some papers and reports. "Another thing, Ikari,"
"Yes, Fuyutsuki-sensei?" Ikari said, disinterest rising in his voice.
"Something has to be done about all these murders of our staff. It's bad for morale."
"Indeed, Fuyutsuki. Take care of it, " Ikari said curtly, then got up and left, the two guards smartly saluting. Misato's heart almost stopped when she felt the burning stare of the commander go through her. But the moment passed and she sighed in relief as he wordlessly walked away, back to his office. If he wasn't going to do anything to her now, its' unlikely he ever would. There is salvation in insignificance.
Bright sunshine. It got a little warm out on the streets, warmer than usual this afternoon, but that's okay in his book. He'd been to enough dim, dark places to appreciate bright sunshine. He lit up a cigarette, inhaling hard. Wonder what she's doing now, he thought. His foot tapped the ground, wistfully, he imagined that somewhere down there, she'd hear it. He enjoyed his cigarette, pausing once in a while to take a look at the few cars that passed by. A NERV supply truck roared past him at high speed towards one of the tunnels that led to the Geofront underneath. The rumbling of the truck masked the sound of heavy footsteps coming his way.
A heavy hand landed hard on his shoulder, causing him to reflexively gasp and drop his cigarette.
"Kaji... Long time no see," Patch said to the surprised Kaji. He recovered quickly, though.
"Patch. A pleasure," Kaji said, hiding behind effected cheerful tones.
"Thought I'd pay you a little visit, seeing how you mucky-mucked round Madripoor last time,"
"Why, of course, Patch! My home is your home," Kaji said, slight sarcasm heard in his voice. Logan fought the urge to deck him one square in the jaw. "So what brings you to the World Headquarters of the only global alien defence agency in the world?"
"Business," Patch said, trying not to give away his plans.
"So, you need me to give you a tour of this great city of ours?" Kaji asked, his trademark nonchalance grating like a rat trying to gnaw its way out of a wooden box.
"Cut the bullshit. I need to find a neutral hole. And don't give me that innocent look. I know you know just what the hell a neutral hole is, so take me to one," Logan snarled.
"Won't open till about six," Kaji said.
"We'll wait," Logan simply replied.