1 Dogma
Deep in Central Dogma, in a section that was practically sealed off to the rest of the agency, Ritsuko Akagi and Commander Ikari walked through a long, dimly lit corridor. She glanced at him, noting that his jaw was tightly clenched in serious determination. It was the expression he wore to committee meetings, it was the expression he wore in his office, it was the expression he showed Fuyutsuki, and even here, alone with her, the commander wore the same expression. Ritsuko felt slightly disappointed. At least, she thought, Misato openly displays her human side when off-duty. She spoke, breaking the silence that the two of them had held since coming here.
"Commander," she said, eliciting a mumbled reply from Ikari.
"About Kaji... You're not seriously going to offer him employment, are you?"
"I am considering it," Ikari said, momentarily pausing to push his glasses closer to his eyes. "He has proven himself useful."
"For all we know, commander, he probably had a hand in stealing it in the first place!" Ritsuko protested, her voice raised slightly. She checked herself. It was no good to be emotional here. "He could even be a mole for Lorenz," she suggested. He didn't take her bait, instead, he continued to walk faster, forcing Ritsuko to speed up to catch up with him. "You're counting on it, aren't you?" she asked, more insistently. "Keep your friends close," as she reached her hand out to grab his "and your enemies closer? Is that it?"
"Doctor," the commander said. "We have bigger problems to deal with than that simpleton. Lorenz grows impatient with each delay. If we were to tip our hand too early we lose everything," he briefly gave Ritsuko's hand a small squeeze before releasing it. "We will keep them distracted with the Lance of Longinus business for a little while longer. I don't care about the copies. We only need to recover the original from the Antarctic. The problem now is regarding Rei..." his voice trailed off.
"Rei?" Ritsuko asked. "It seems that Lorenz managed to develop one of his own..." Ritsuko's blood froze. It was bad enough that her work on Rei was destroying her very soul, but the very idea of Lorenz duplicating the work was inhuman. "He's even refined the process we used for Rei," he coldly said; "but unlike with Rei, there are no backups. It would be easier for us to find where he's keeping this girl, Trianna and.."
Ritsuko didn't want to hear any more and cut him off. "I am sure you'll find a solution, Commander. But if this is so, should I call off the operation to recover the adamantium?"
"No," was the curt reply. They came to the end of the corridor, where a thick steel door blocked their way. As Ikari slid his identification card he said to her "we have to keep up appearances, at the very least we should pretend we care."
Ritsuko felt her heart sink.
"Of course, Commander," she said.
The door slid open, and a little girl, physically about ten to twleve, stood in the doorway, as if to greet them. Her skin was pale, practically albino. Her gently rounded face contrasted with the elfin sharpness of her nose and jaw. Ritsuko found herself drawn to the eyes again, the girl's eyes were quite round and large, and her pupils were an inhuman shade of red. They were the windows to the soul, yet many times when she stared into those red eyes, she had felt sure there was nothing there. Her body seemed frail and slightly thin. She wore a thin green medical gown which hung from her body limply, the strings hanging untied behind her. Her short hair, a strange shade of blue that bordered on grey, was uncombed again. Ritsuko had been trying to teach her the basics of civilized grooming but just like with many other things, it seemed that she didn't care.
"Hello Rei," Ikari said, smiling warmly as his eyes landed on her form. The girl, Rei, smiled back, more an imitation of Ikari's smile than a genuine response. "Doctor Akagi's here. We will continue the sync tests now." Rei simply nodded and walked to the lab, as she had always done.
As Ritsuko followed Rei and Ikari into the labs, her eyes gazed at the tanks filled with liquid LCL and the dark, shadowy forms that floated within. She had helped to create and maintain these things in the tanks. Rei was the sin of Ritsuko's predecessors at Gehirn which she had willingly inherited. She had joined the ranks of those who tried to play God.
Ritsuko briefly wondered whether it was the same with the other girl, Trianna. Did Trianna's minders feel this way every time they look at her? Do they even consider her as a human being, or simply as replaceable meat? Did she look exactly like Rei if the data and methods were similar?
She shook her head, refusing to think about it any further, trying to concentrate on running the tests on Rei. It was for no less than the destiny of humankind itself, she repeated to herself. Only those with a particular genetic mutation can synchronize with the Evas well enough to even try piloting them. So far, NERV has been training a girl in Germany who had the mutation. Only one..
We need pilots for the Evas, she told herself over and over and over.Any way we can get them, she reminded herself.
It was like what Naoko told her when she first commented on the situation.
"If we can't find pilots, we'll make pilots."
"Try to synchronize again, Rei. If it still hurts, try and ignore the pain a little longer this time," said Ritsuko as she began.
Ritsuko wondered whether she was telling this to Rei, or herself.
Ready Room
"Damn that Ritsuko..." Misato mumbled under her breath as she slammed the phone hard onto the receiver. Where could she be, Misato wondered. The encounter with the shapechanger in Central Dogma came to her mind. It was stupid, plain stupid, for Ritsuko to disappear like this. What if that shapechanger wasn't dead?
"Problems with the icy blonde, darlin'?" Logan teased her. Misato bit her lip. She forgot about his inhumanly sensitive hearing. "Oh, it's nothing," Misato said with false cheerfulness. "I thought since I won't be around for a while, she might as well look after my car.."
He had heard this kind of talk before. Many times, at many battlefields around the world. He looked around the bare room, one of countless hundreds in the Geofront. A few lockers lined the far wall. They had each opened one and helped themselves to the contents.
Her beloved red jacket, blouse and miniskirt lay in a crumpled heap on the floor.
In its place, Misato now wore a one-piece, black jumpsuit. She stuffed ammunition pouches into its pockets, carefully zipping them closed. A wicked-looking combat knife hung upside down on her chest, suspended in its sheath by elastic webbing. The suit outlined her body well, he thought as he watched her pull her long hair from under the collar and tie it into a tight bun, then covering it with a black cap. Her expression was one of concentration, trying to make sure everything was done correctly. She checked her sidearm and knife to make sure they were secure.
He watched her in quiet appreciation. Misato looked hot in combat gear, he admitted to himself. Just like the time he saw her drunk stupid in the bar, her true beauty surfaced when appearance was the last thing on her mind. Misato paused to make sure she had everything she wanted, and he took the opportunity to speak.
"You're worried about not coming back, aren't you?" he asked.
He didn't need to wait for an answer. "You wanted Ritsuko to have your car just in case.." She didn't reply. "That's kinda sweet, tell ya the truth." Misato looked at him, her eyes kinder than they had been lately.
"So..."
"So..?" Misato asked, slightly puzzled.
"You still mad I saw your giant robot thing?" he asked. If Ritsuko could have the car, he could at least try to even things with her. She seemed to be in the right mood for forgiveness.
"Yes, I am," she told him. "But it doesn't mean I can't forgive you for it," she said.
"Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right?" she asked him, without bothering for an answer. "I understand obsession, Logan. At least, I used to think so, before I met you.." Misato's voice trailed off.
"Look at me, Logan. Risking my life for scrap metal. Because everyone tells me it's the only thing that can kill an Angel. Because I want to see them all dead. So I do all this," she said, her arms spread wide, trying to encompass the whole room in one gesture.
"Revenge for Second Impact," Logan said knowingly. "You and every other brown uniform in this pit"
Misato sat down besides him, staring off at the floor, an arm wrapped around his shoulders. She leaned into him, resting her head on his arm. "I figured I knew what I was willing to do to get what I wanted. Then I met you. You'd destroy everything you ever had, for knowledge that might only hurt you. I'm not sure if that's what I want, now." she said, pulling away from him. Misato's watch beeped, shocking her out of her reverie.
"Five o'clock. We just missed your funeral," Misato said, her lips barely moving, the humor failing to register in her voice. She had claimed that Logan killed himself in the holding cell, then forged Ritsuko's signature on the autopsy reports.Misato was an expert in forging that particular signature. An empty cardboard coffin was placed on the conveyor belt in the garbage incinerator for effect. As far as her superiors are concerned, the paper trail was closed. The deal was she would grant him freedom in exchange for his help, and she had lived up to her end of the bargain. "So I guess it's okay for you to be seen outside now. Do you remember the cover identity?" she asked.
"Sgt. Hugh Stanley, Tactical, Japan, 09153, or did I miss something?" he asked her back. Misato smiled. "What kind of stupid name is Hugh anyway?" he asked rhetorically. Misato felt the urge to to tell him not to make fun of the dead. The real Sgt. Hugh was one of the murder cases that she was investigating before she met Logan and her world turned inside out. Instead, she just stood there in front of him, and slowly brought her face closer to his. She closed her eyes and gently kissed him, his lips felt rough and tasted of tobacco. Just as she felt him overcome his resistance and beginning to respond, she broke the kiss abruptly.
"What was that for?" he asked, smiling. Misato merely smiled back, and slid her ID card into the reader, opening the door. Then he remembered why she was so desperate to call Ritsuko, and he let the matter drop.
"Remember our agreement, Logan," Misato said as she turned to walk away. He had been seen with Misato previously, and she didn't want to introduce him to the agency yet, so he has to make his own travel arrangements to Jasmine Falls.
A certain blue Renault Alpine came to mind.
Commander's Office
"Ikari!" the voice on the phone was insistent, demanding.
"No. This is Fuyutsuki," replied NERV's second in command. He was waiting in the office for the Commander to show up. He was certainly taking his sweet time with Rei in the Dogma. The affection Ikari showed the girl was disturbing, even more so when Fuyutsuki knew what the blue-haired girl really was. "What can I do for you, Chairman?" Fuyutsuki asked, already guessing the answer.
"Where is Ikari?" Lorenz asked, impatience evident in his voice. "Have you begun recovery?"
"We will make our move in a few hours," Fuyutsuki stated.
"Have Ikari telephone me at Kiellinghof when it begins," was the simple command. Then the silent click of a dead phone line.
Kiellinghof, Fuyutsuki thought to himself. Gehirn's old gene-splicing facility. So Ikari was right about that aspect of the game.
Misato saw the lights are on in the window where the Commander's office is. So it seems that Commander Ikari wouldn't be seeing the troops off on this mission after all. It had to be the deniability aspect, she consoled herself. She walked in silence with a few other black-clad operatives to the elevators that would take them out of the Geofront into the sleeping city of Tokyo-03 above. Nobody spoke a word as the high speed elevator silently whirred them above. From the elevators to the trucks, to the pickup zone in the hills surrounding the city. A few hours riding the helicopter to Aichi prefecture, and then, her date with destiny.
Ritsuko walked with Ikari along the corridor outside his office. It was brighter, cooler here, a direct contrast with the lower levels of the Dogma that they just left. The latest round of tests were complete, and she was glad for it. She saw Fuyutsuki in the commander's office as she stepped in after the commander.
"Ikari," Fuyutsuki said, in a tone that Ritsuko was beginning to recognize.
"Tell him I'm unavailable."
"That isn't wise, Ikari. We don't want to exhaust his goodwill."
Ikari slowly lowered himself into his chair. He faced both Fuyutsuki, his trusted deputy, and Ritsuko. He steepled his hands, resting his jaw on them, his eyes inscrutable behind the glint of his tinted eyeglasses.
"You're right, of course, Fuyutsuki-sensei. It is still too early in the game. We can't fight SEELE now"
"Call him at Kiellinghof when it's time," Fuyutsuki reminded him.
"The power of a God...." Ritsuko silently said to herself. That was the whole point of this, of everything. The Dead Sea Scrolls foretold it. She recalled the part that she was allowed to read. He who defeats the Seventeen Messengers from God would have ....
Ikari heard her, turning his eyes on her.
"No. That is what he wants," Ikari said. "We seek to make sure he doesn't get what he wants."
"He wants the adamantium," Ritsuko said, wiping her brow with the sleeve of her lab coat.
"He will not get what he truly wants," Ikari said, a hint of menace tinged his voice now.
Logan tried to avoid the eyes of the other people on the train, instead preferring to keep his gaze out the window, as the Geofront and the pyramid building grows smaller, the cable car being hauled up to be set gently down onto the city's train tracks in a few minutes. He did some quick mental preparations. It was almost 8 in the evening. Tokyo-03 was in the Tokai area of Kanto Prefecture. Jasmine Falls in Aichi Prefecture would be a few hours drive.
The @#%$ will hit the fan, so to speak, in the pre-dawn hours. By sunrise next morning, his quest would come to an end.
Deep in Central Dogma, in a section that was practically sealed off to the rest of the agency, Ritsuko Akagi and Commander Ikari walked through a long, dimly lit corridor. She glanced at him, noting that his jaw was tightly clenched in serious determination. It was the expression he wore to committee meetings, it was the expression he wore in his office, it was the expression he showed Fuyutsuki, and even here, alone with her, the commander wore the same expression. Ritsuko felt slightly disappointed. At least, she thought, Misato openly displays her human side when off-duty. She spoke, breaking the silence that the two of them had held since coming here.
"Commander," she said, eliciting a mumbled reply from Ikari.
"About Kaji... You're not seriously going to offer him employment, are you?"
"I am considering it," Ikari said, momentarily pausing to push his glasses closer to his eyes. "He has proven himself useful."
"For all we know, commander, he probably had a hand in stealing it in the first place!" Ritsuko protested, her voice raised slightly. She checked herself. It was no good to be emotional here. "He could even be a mole for Lorenz," she suggested. He didn't take her bait, instead, he continued to walk faster, forcing Ritsuko to speed up to catch up with him. "You're counting on it, aren't you?" she asked, more insistently. "Keep your friends close," as she reached her hand out to grab his "and your enemies closer? Is that it?"
"Doctor," the commander said. "We have bigger problems to deal with than that simpleton. Lorenz grows impatient with each delay. If we were to tip our hand too early we lose everything," he briefly gave Ritsuko's hand a small squeeze before releasing it. "We will keep them distracted with the Lance of Longinus business for a little while longer. I don't care about the copies. We only need to recover the original from the Antarctic. The problem now is regarding Rei..." his voice trailed off.
"Rei?" Ritsuko asked. "It seems that Lorenz managed to develop one of his own..." Ritsuko's blood froze. It was bad enough that her work on Rei was destroying her very soul, but the very idea of Lorenz duplicating the work was inhuman. "He's even refined the process we used for Rei," he coldly said; "but unlike with Rei, there are no backups. It would be easier for us to find where he's keeping this girl, Trianna and.."
Ritsuko didn't want to hear any more and cut him off. "I am sure you'll find a solution, Commander. But if this is so, should I call off the operation to recover the adamantium?"
"No," was the curt reply. They came to the end of the corridor, where a thick steel door blocked their way. As Ikari slid his identification card he said to her "we have to keep up appearances, at the very least we should pretend we care."
Ritsuko felt her heart sink.
"Of course, Commander," she said.
The door slid open, and a little girl, physically about ten to twleve, stood in the doorway, as if to greet them. Her skin was pale, practically albino. Her gently rounded face contrasted with the elfin sharpness of her nose and jaw. Ritsuko found herself drawn to the eyes again, the girl's eyes were quite round and large, and her pupils were an inhuman shade of red. They were the windows to the soul, yet many times when she stared into those red eyes, she had felt sure there was nothing there. Her body seemed frail and slightly thin. She wore a thin green medical gown which hung from her body limply, the strings hanging untied behind her. Her short hair, a strange shade of blue that bordered on grey, was uncombed again. Ritsuko had been trying to teach her the basics of civilized grooming but just like with many other things, it seemed that she didn't care.
"Hello Rei," Ikari said, smiling warmly as his eyes landed on her form. The girl, Rei, smiled back, more an imitation of Ikari's smile than a genuine response. "Doctor Akagi's here. We will continue the sync tests now." Rei simply nodded and walked to the lab, as she had always done.
As Ritsuko followed Rei and Ikari into the labs, her eyes gazed at the tanks filled with liquid LCL and the dark, shadowy forms that floated within. She had helped to create and maintain these things in the tanks. Rei was the sin of Ritsuko's predecessors at Gehirn which she had willingly inherited. She had joined the ranks of those who tried to play God.
Ritsuko briefly wondered whether it was the same with the other girl, Trianna. Did Trianna's minders feel this way every time they look at her? Do they even consider her as a human being, or simply as replaceable meat? Did she look exactly like Rei if the data and methods were similar?
She shook her head, refusing to think about it any further, trying to concentrate on running the tests on Rei. It was for no less than the destiny of humankind itself, she repeated to herself. Only those with a particular genetic mutation can synchronize with the Evas well enough to even try piloting them. So far, NERV has been training a girl in Germany who had the mutation. Only one..
We need pilots for the Evas, she told herself over and over and over.Any way we can get them, she reminded herself.
It was like what Naoko told her when she first commented on the situation.
"If we can't find pilots, we'll make pilots."
"Try to synchronize again, Rei. If it still hurts, try and ignore the pain a little longer this time," said Ritsuko as she began.
Ritsuko wondered whether she was telling this to Rei, or herself.
Ready Room
"Damn that Ritsuko..." Misato mumbled under her breath as she slammed the phone hard onto the receiver. Where could she be, Misato wondered. The encounter with the shapechanger in Central Dogma came to her mind. It was stupid, plain stupid, for Ritsuko to disappear like this. What if that shapechanger wasn't dead?
"Problems with the icy blonde, darlin'?" Logan teased her. Misato bit her lip. She forgot about his inhumanly sensitive hearing. "Oh, it's nothing," Misato said with false cheerfulness. "I thought since I won't be around for a while, she might as well look after my car.."
He had heard this kind of talk before. Many times, at many battlefields around the world. He looked around the bare room, one of countless hundreds in the Geofront. A few lockers lined the far wall. They had each opened one and helped themselves to the contents.
Her beloved red jacket, blouse and miniskirt lay in a crumpled heap on the floor.
In its place, Misato now wore a one-piece, black jumpsuit. She stuffed ammunition pouches into its pockets, carefully zipping them closed. A wicked-looking combat knife hung upside down on her chest, suspended in its sheath by elastic webbing. The suit outlined her body well, he thought as he watched her pull her long hair from under the collar and tie it into a tight bun, then covering it with a black cap. Her expression was one of concentration, trying to make sure everything was done correctly. She checked her sidearm and knife to make sure they were secure.
He watched her in quiet appreciation. Misato looked hot in combat gear, he admitted to himself. Just like the time he saw her drunk stupid in the bar, her true beauty surfaced when appearance was the last thing on her mind. Misato paused to make sure she had everything she wanted, and he took the opportunity to speak.
"You're worried about not coming back, aren't you?" he asked.
He didn't need to wait for an answer. "You wanted Ritsuko to have your car just in case.." She didn't reply. "That's kinda sweet, tell ya the truth." Misato looked at him, her eyes kinder than they had been lately.
"So..."
"So..?" Misato asked, slightly puzzled.
"You still mad I saw your giant robot thing?" he asked. If Ritsuko could have the car, he could at least try to even things with her. She seemed to be in the right mood for forgiveness.
"Yes, I am," she told him. "But it doesn't mean I can't forgive you for it," she said.
"Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right?" she asked him, without bothering for an answer. "I understand obsession, Logan. At least, I used to think so, before I met you.." Misato's voice trailed off.
"Look at me, Logan. Risking my life for scrap metal. Because everyone tells me it's the only thing that can kill an Angel. Because I want to see them all dead. So I do all this," she said, her arms spread wide, trying to encompass the whole room in one gesture.
"Revenge for Second Impact," Logan said knowingly. "You and every other brown uniform in this pit"
Misato sat down besides him, staring off at the floor, an arm wrapped around his shoulders. She leaned into him, resting her head on his arm. "I figured I knew what I was willing to do to get what I wanted. Then I met you. You'd destroy everything you ever had, for knowledge that might only hurt you. I'm not sure if that's what I want, now." she said, pulling away from him. Misato's watch beeped, shocking her out of her reverie.
"Five o'clock. We just missed your funeral," Misato said, her lips barely moving, the humor failing to register in her voice. She had claimed that Logan killed himself in the holding cell, then forged Ritsuko's signature on the autopsy reports.Misato was an expert in forging that particular signature. An empty cardboard coffin was placed on the conveyor belt in the garbage incinerator for effect. As far as her superiors are concerned, the paper trail was closed. The deal was she would grant him freedom in exchange for his help, and she had lived up to her end of the bargain. "So I guess it's okay for you to be seen outside now. Do you remember the cover identity?" she asked.
"Sgt. Hugh Stanley, Tactical, Japan, 09153, or did I miss something?" he asked her back. Misato smiled. "What kind of stupid name is Hugh anyway?" he asked rhetorically. Misato felt the urge to to tell him not to make fun of the dead. The real Sgt. Hugh was one of the murder cases that she was investigating before she met Logan and her world turned inside out. Instead, she just stood there in front of him, and slowly brought her face closer to his. She closed her eyes and gently kissed him, his lips felt rough and tasted of tobacco. Just as she felt him overcome his resistance and beginning to respond, she broke the kiss abruptly.
"What was that for?" he asked, smiling. Misato merely smiled back, and slid her ID card into the reader, opening the door. Then he remembered why she was so desperate to call Ritsuko, and he let the matter drop.
"Remember our agreement, Logan," Misato said as she turned to walk away. He had been seen with Misato previously, and she didn't want to introduce him to the agency yet, so he has to make his own travel arrangements to Jasmine Falls.
A certain blue Renault Alpine came to mind.
Commander's Office
"Ikari!" the voice on the phone was insistent, demanding.
"No. This is Fuyutsuki," replied NERV's second in command. He was waiting in the office for the Commander to show up. He was certainly taking his sweet time with Rei in the Dogma. The affection Ikari showed the girl was disturbing, even more so when Fuyutsuki knew what the blue-haired girl really was. "What can I do for you, Chairman?" Fuyutsuki asked, already guessing the answer.
"Where is Ikari?" Lorenz asked, impatience evident in his voice. "Have you begun recovery?"
"We will make our move in a few hours," Fuyutsuki stated.
"Have Ikari telephone me at Kiellinghof when it begins," was the simple command. Then the silent click of a dead phone line.
Kiellinghof, Fuyutsuki thought to himself. Gehirn's old gene-splicing facility. So Ikari was right about that aspect of the game.
Misato saw the lights are on in the window where the Commander's office is. So it seems that Commander Ikari wouldn't be seeing the troops off on this mission after all. It had to be the deniability aspect, she consoled herself. She walked in silence with a few other black-clad operatives to the elevators that would take them out of the Geofront into the sleeping city of Tokyo-03 above. Nobody spoke a word as the high speed elevator silently whirred them above. From the elevators to the trucks, to the pickup zone in the hills surrounding the city. A few hours riding the helicopter to Aichi prefecture, and then, her date with destiny.
Ritsuko walked with Ikari along the corridor outside his office. It was brighter, cooler here, a direct contrast with the lower levels of the Dogma that they just left. The latest round of tests were complete, and she was glad for it. She saw Fuyutsuki in the commander's office as she stepped in after the commander.
"Ikari," Fuyutsuki said, in a tone that Ritsuko was beginning to recognize.
"Tell him I'm unavailable."
"That isn't wise, Ikari. We don't want to exhaust his goodwill."
Ikari slowly lowered himself into his chair. He faced both Fuyutsuki, his trusted deputy, and Ritsuko. He steepled his hands, resting his jaw on them, his eyes inscrutable behind the glint of his tinted eyeglasses.
"You're right, of course, Fuyutsuki-sensei. It is still too early in the game. We can't fight SEELE now"
"Call him at Kiellinghof when it's time," Fuyutsuki reminded him.
"The power of a God...." Ritsuko silently said to herself. That was the whole point of this, of everything. The Dead Sea Scrolls foretold it. She recalled the part that she was allowed to read. He who defeats the Seventeen Messengers from God would have ....
Ikari heard her, turning his eyes on her.
"No. That is what he wants," Ikari said. "We seek to make sure he doesn't get what he wants."
"He wants the adamantium," Ritsuko said, wiping her brow with the sleeve of her lab coat.
"He will not get what he truly wants," Ikari said, a hint of menace tinged his voice now.
Logan tried to avoid the eyes of the other people on the train, instead preferring to keep his gaze out the window, as the Geofront and the pyramid building grows smaller, the cable car being hauled up to be set gently down onto the city's train tracks in a few minutes. He did some quick mental preparations. It was almost 8 in the evening. Tokyo-03 was in the Tokai area of Kanto Prefecture. Jasmine Falls in Aichi Prefecture would be a few hours drive.
The @#%$ will hit the fan, so to speak, in the pre-dawn hours. By sunrise next morning, his quest would come to an end.