Interesting Times-Chapter Two

An Evangelion Fanfic by…

Disclaimer:

Neon Genesis Evangelion© copyright Gainax© 1997…or was it '98? Or maybe it was '95? I forget.

All characters from that series are owned by Gainax, ADV, or whoever they belong to, and they are not mine.

San Ayanami (or at least her name) created by the good people at Eyrie Productions.

Adrian Shepherd (or, more accurately, his name) created by the equally good people at Gearbox studios.

Juan Vasquez, John Harrison, Duke, and various other characters created by yours truly.

The title was inspired from a Terry Pratchett book of the same name, but otherwise has nothing to do with it.

Major thanks to Raven, for a concise review, and coincidentally, my first one.

Thanks as well to Over Amped Duracell Bunny, for his offer.

Author's Notes:

This is, as you have probably figured out already, the second chapter of my Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfic, Interesting Times. If you haven't read the first chapter, chances are you will have difficulty understanding this one. I suggest you read the first Chapter before you start this, but just in case…

The story so far…

The basic premise of this Fanfic is: Third Impact never happened, Gendo Ikari died, and the Three Children (Touji, crippled by Bardiel, is obviously no longer a pilot, and was evacuated along with the rest of the city during the final battle with the next-gen Evas.) resumed, or attempted to resume, their lives as normal. Unfortunately, certain powers that be have no intention of letting them do so, and attempt to murder the children, by sending in a commando team. The attack is narrowly foiled by Misato, and one of the commandos is taken alive. Oh yeah, and Ritsuko's not dead.

Hope you guys all like this one. Reviews are welcome, as is constructive criticism

But anyway, enjoy the fic.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Interesting Times-Chapter Two: Better the IEVA you know

"What's the status of the prisoner?" asked Misato Katsuragi as she strode into the control room. One of the monitoring screens was showing a visual feed from a prison cell deep in Central Dogma. The image displayed was of a dimly lit cell, with a figure crouched in the corner. Ritsuko Akagi turned around as her friend entered the room.

"About two hours ago, he attempted to use a suicide pill concealed in his mouth. The guards managed to get him to emergency before any major damage could be done. Fortunately, the poison was slow acting, but it did temporarily damage his vocal chords, which I think was the intention." Misato smirked, feeling a vicarious satisfaction that the former assassin was in pain.

As the two spoke, the figure on the screen, unnoticed by the two women, was moving. Slowly, deliberately, the prisoner walked over to a wall, placed both hands on it at head height, and banged his head into the wall. He repeated this activity for a few moments, to no apparent effect, until Ritsuko caught sight of the prisoner's activities. "Good God! Security, restrain the prisoner immediately!" Misato gaped, open-mouthed, as the detainee continued. A few seconds later, security guards piled on the man, wrestling him to the floor. Misato turned away, shaken. The man's blatant lack of concern for his own safety had startled her, though she had felt the same way a few times in her life. Whoever he is, he certainly has dedication. She shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts away, and left the control room, heading to the Children's temporary quarters in the base.

Inside the dark, soundproofed cell that had been displayed on the command centre monitors previously, Corporal Juan Vasquez sat, the taste of failure bitter in his mouth, mixed with the satisfaction of not completing his mission, not becoming a murderer of children. The 'suicide' pill was, in fact, no such thing. It was designed to render the vocal chords temporarily inoperable, making the interrogation of the captured operative much more difficult. The organisation Vasquez worked for did not throw away its agents, if for no other reason than their training cost too much to waste. It was this very training that made Operative Two so certain that his internment would not last. He also had no intention of dying here, or being interrogated more intensively. This last thought caused him a small flicker of surprise. When he had been taken prisoner, having been knocked unconscious during the failed assault on the Evangelion pilots, he had been expecting a full-blown chemical-assisted interrogation. Either NERV wasn't as tough as the briefings and Juan's initial impressions had suggested, or, more likely, they were waiting, deciding exactly how to dissect his psyche.

Either way, he didn't intend to find out.

During his second 'suicide attempt', he had managed to grab something from one of the guards who had tackled him: A small pocket-knife. Why one of the guards had been foolish enough to be carrying such an item didn't matter to Vasquez. The fact that he was now in possession of a weapon did. The grey prison overalls that he had been issued with were equipped with pockets, another foolish oversight, and one that Vasquez fully intended to take advantage of.

In the grim darkness of the prison cell, a bleak smile formed, glinting dully in the artificial twilight.

(Music: Angels, Neon Genesis Evangelion OST 1)

Not so far away, Misato Katsuragi walked as calmly as she could, towards the room where the Children were being held. Despite her formerly calm demeanour, she was in fact worried sick about her charges. Also, she hadn't figured out the identity of the attackers. SEELE hadn't made any more moves after their abortive attack on the GeoFront, and popular rumour around the base suggested that the ancient, secret organisation had disappeared from the face of the earth. Misato would have been happy to believe this to be true, but she was far too canny to let her suspicions slip.

The fact that, on the night of the attack, she had been otherwise occupied had slipped her mind.

In a room about a hundred yards away, the objects of Misato Katsuragi's concern sat, in various states of dishevelment. Predictably, the First Child was the most collected person in the room, sitting in her chair and observing Shinji. The Second and Third children were both in shock to some extent, but Shinji at least, had someone close to share his feelings with. With Asuka, she generally expressed her feelings at the top of her voice, to anyone within a hundred-metre radius. Rei, and to a lesser extent Shinji, both had trouble expressing their emotions, except under extreme conditions, like when they felt threatened. Now, though, it was those two, or at least Shinji, who were doing the emoting. Asuka, on the other hand, simply sat at the end of the room's only couch, staring into space, and taking no notice of Rei and Shinji's conversation. Few could have hazarded a guess as to what was going through her mind at that point, and fewer still would have decided to ask.

"Pilot Soryu, is something wrong?"

Perhaps the only thing that had sustained Asuka during her piloting career was her overwhelming desire to be the best. Her ego had managed to survive a few early blows, such as Shinji's assistance during her first battle, or needing to co-operate with him during her second. However, her ego was like a diamond, appearing impervious, but as fragile as glass when struck correctly. The final straw had been the attack of Arael, the fifteenth Angel. That experience had virtually destroyed Asuka mentally, but she had somehow managed to recover…just in time for SEELE's attack. It had been fortunate timing to say the least.

"Pilot Soryu?"

Or maybe unfortunate timing, because the experience of having her Evangelion utterly destroyed around her hadn't done much for Asuka's mental health. Misato had decided to attempt to build Asuka back up again, but unfortunately, the often short-tempered Major Katsuragi wasn't ideally suited to the task.

"Pilot…Asuka? What is the matter?"

God only knew what the result of these recent experiences would be.

Asuka was jarred from her melancholy introspection by a soft touch on her arm. She looked around numbly, and found herself staring into a pair of scarlet eyes. She blinked in surprise. Rei had never been this forthcoming before.

The Second Child opened her mouth, preparing a retort that never saw the light of day, as Misato hurried into the room. The normally laid-back Major looked distinctly harried, which was understandable given the amount of stress she had encountered recently. Casting a worried look around the room, as if checking for more unwanted intruders, she made her way over to the corner the Children were occupying.

"Are you all okay?" The question was said more to break the numb silence, than to get an accurate answer. Misato's query was met with a pair of slow nods, and a softly spoken 'yes'. The silence continued unabated for a few more seconds, and then Shinji voiced a seemingly obvious question that had not yet been asked.

"M-Misato…who were they?" The Major lowered her gaze, running her eyes along the dull white tile of the floor.

"We don't know yet, Shinji."

"Was it SEELE again?" After the climactic battle of Tokyo-3, the pilots had received a very comprehensive briefing about SEELE and NERV's original purpose, from the organisation's new Commander-in Chief, Kouzo Fuyutski. Shinji had originally been crushed at the amount of information and background that had been kept secret from him, and then outraged for the same reason. His anger had deflated not inconsiderably when he realised that the object of his anger was no longer around, his father having been killed in an explosion deep in the bowels of Terminal Dogma.

One thing Shinji hadn't been briefed fully about was Rei's involvement in the attempted Third Impact, and the enigmatic First Child had so far not revealed her origins to Shinji. In fact, the only surviving personnel who knew of Ayanami Rei's past were Kouzo Fuyutski, Ritsuko Akagi, and Rei herself. Oddly for Rei, (or perhaps not considering her new-found emotional freedom) she had not worked up the courage to tell Shinji.

I am afraid…because he might think differently of me…I don't want him to hate me.

This emotional turmoil was a relatively new feeling for Rei. She had acquired a sense of tact. The first Rei had not considered the effect the words 'you old hag' would have on Naoko Akagi, to her detriment, and the second Rei had not been overly thrilled with Asuka's invitation of friendship, but now, after a Third chance, the First Child was much further on her way to becoming human in an emotional sense.

"SEELE?" Misato shook her head. "They took enough of a beating during the battle here, and with their command structure decapitated, they're falling apart. They couldn't have launched the attack."

"Oh." The emotional security Shinji had acquired with the victory over SEELE had vanished with the revelation that there was obviously another enemy out there, one that was not nearly so clearly defined as the Angelic threat had been.

Shinji's shoulders slumped, and he almost felt like crying. It wasn't over; and it might never be as long as he lived. Then he looked over to his side, and saw Rei. The First Child was looking at Asuka. The Second Child seemed to be lost for words, which didn't look as incongruous as it might have, considering the circumstances.

"W-What is it, Rei?" Asuka's use of the First Child's name caused Shinji to blink. Asuka was obviously as disoriented as he was.

"I was wondering whether you felt alright…Asuka." The Second Child's mouth fell open. Shinji saw her shoulders tense, and braced himself for an explosion, but the outburst didn't come. Instead, Asuka slumped in her seat, tears springing to her eyes.

Shinji stared, wide-eyed. This was a sight he had never experienced before, and the feelings that accompanied the sight made him remember the night Kaji Ryouji had died. This time, though, there was no running away. Fortunately for Shinji, his participation was not required, because before he could figure out how to act, the First Child did. Rei moved closer to Asuka, and wrapped her arms around the crying Second Child. Asuka, apparently too far gone to notice the bizarre nature of the situation, leaned into Rei's shoulder. Shinji gaped. I never thought Rei was…and then he shook his head, ashamed at his assumption. He looked away, at Misato, who was staring shamefaced at the scene. A whirl of thoughts raced through the boy's mind, competing with each other to make themselves heard.

Look at yourself…

Just like the night Kaji died…

You didn't help Misato then, and you're not helping Asuka now…

But Rei's already…

Who do you think Asuka would prefer? The only reason she's clinging on to Ayanami is that she's having a mental breakdown, she doesn't know what she's doing…

Despite being immersed in thought, Shinji couldn't block out the sound of the Second Child's sobs, the noise raking across his soul like a lightning bolt of emotional agony.

Someone else was watching the scene as well.

On a small monitor screen, in the dark office of NERV's late Commander, Kouzo Fuyutski sat quietly, hands steepled in front of his face. It was a mark of how pre-occupied he was that he failed to realise that his position matched Gendo Ikari's habitual one almost exactly. Fuyutski would have shuddered at the thought. In the massive darkness of Ikari's office, the desk and the man at I seemed insignificant, a pinpoint of light and shadow on a monochromatic blankness, a wasteland of emptiness. As ever, the room's only decoration was the stylised Tree Of Life engraved on the ceiling, glinting mildly in the half-light.

Fuyutski shut off the monitor screen and gazed up at the ceiling, tracing the familiar patterns of the engraving with his eyes, while pondering recent events. He had gone over all records of the attack and subsequent events time after time, and they still yielded no clues to him. Mentally, he collated a few facts that he could remember off by heart:

Item: During the attack, Commander Ikari was not at his post.

Item: During the attack, Dr. Akagi was not at her post, though she explained that she had been searching for the First Child. She has not been questioned further as of yet.

Item: During the attack, Pilot Ayanami was did not report to her designated evacuation zone. This most likely saved her life, as that area of the Geofront was destroyed shortly after the initial engagements with the enemy, and their employment of an N2 device.

Item: Pilot Ikari was apparently stranded within Central Dogma at that time, in an area overrun by JSSDF troops.

Item: Despite this, he managed to make his way to EVA-01, which was activated consequently.

Item: During the time Ikari Shinji was exfiltrating the Geofront, Pilot Soryu powered up EVA-02 and successfully engaged the enemy's Mass Production Evangelions.

Item: The enemy EVAs exhibited startling abilities of regeneration, which compensated for their mediocre tactical ability and co-ordination, and were able to inflict severe damage on EVA-02, necessitating its deactivation in order to avoid fatal damage to Pilot Soryu's brain tissue.

Item: Shortly after the incapacitation of unit 02, EVA-01 made an appearance. Having made its way to the battle-field, the unit began an attack against the enemy Evangelions.

Item: EVA-01 showed similar powers of regeneration as its foes, and managed to destroy a number of them in quick succession.

Item: It must be noted that, during EVA-01's activation, all communication with the pilot was lost, and regained only after the battle.

Item: During the battle, Pilot Ikari's synch ratio was clearly extremely high, judging by the fluidity of the Evangelion's movements.

Fact: The higher the synch ratio, the more intense the neural feedback, and the more discomfort the pilot feels during a battle.

Item: Despite massive trauma sustained by EVA-01's extremities and torso, there was no visible reaction from the pilot in terms of piloting, in other words the pilot did not seem to be noticing the severity of the injuries vicariously inflicted upon him by the enemy.

At this last thought, a frown interrupted Commander Fuyutski's train of thought. He had never thought of the younger Ikari as a particularly stoic person, though he admired his occasional courage.

The Commander's eyes narrowed slightly, as a new possibility occurred to him. A few moments later, he reactivated his console and began a new entry, grimacing almost imperceptibly in the sparse illumination of Gendo Ikari's office.

Meanwhile, not very far away...

Chink. A few crumbs of paint cascaded to the cold floor of a dark detention cell. Inside, Corporal Juan Vasquez was scratching at the wall of his cell. He wasn't trying to weaken the cell's lock, which would have been pointless, as the door was made of metal and was alarmed to boot. He wasn't attempting to dig his way out either. He was slowly carving, a line into the wall, with his bare fingernails, where it would join several others, providing Vasquez' only sense of time. The lights were always off in the cell, giving no indication of time passing, and meals were delivered sporadically, in order to throw off any idea of the time or date.

The entire set-up was designed to inspire unease in the occupant of the cell, and make them more receptive to interrogation. 'Two' grinned at this, the expression turning into a grimace as his sore and itchy throat chose another moment to play up. One of the side-effects of the anti-interrogation pill he had taken was that it made eating, drinking, and even breathing into a painful exercise.

The commando's lean, unshaven features lightened momentarily as he remembered NERV's early attempts at interrogation. Their Section Two MIB's had tried to make him sign a confession, to which he had replied, (in cracked, painfully slow Spanish) "Sorry, I can't read this, I don't know English." The lie was obvious, but the agents were apparently willing to use a softly-softly approach with this prisoner, and a few minutes later, a new document was in front of him, written in his first tongue, to which he had replied (in English) "Thanks, pal."

Section Two had not been amused.

Later attempts were more physical in nature, with the revelation that speech was now possible for the prisoner, just extremely painful. The Agents hadn't cared about that last part, though…

…So now the former commando was back in his cell, trying to block out the unyielding, cold sensation of lying on a bare concrete floor, his time-keeping exercise accomplished. The reason Juan was able to mark time, and thus avoid disorientation, was because, at roughly ten minutes intervals, a patrol passed through the nearby corridors, and every so often, the noise of machinery could be heard faintly through the walls of the chamber.

In the upper corner of the room, the security camera sat, its unblinking features observing him coldly.

Several hundred feet above the cell, crouched around a display, were Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, the recently promoted Captain Maya Ibuki, and her fellow bridge crew Makoto Hyuuga and Aoba Shigeru. The feed from the cell had been adjusted to thermal imaging to provide a better view, and the group watched in silence as the prisoner stopped his activity and sat down, leaning against the wall, his posture indicating despair and a realisation of the futility of his situation. Ritsuko Akagi's eyes narrowed.

"Okay, Maya, turn it off." Immediately, the industrial humming noise which had echoed around the cell previously stopped.

At that moment, several thousand miles away…

Major Shepherd had not taken the news of the attempted assassination well.

Earlier that day, he had been summoned to a briefing room in the bowels of the facility, with no information as to why he had been summoned to the area. The room had been barely lit, with only the lights of activated but unoccupied consoles providing illumination, and a small amount of background noise as their displays flashed and whirred.

Why is it always so dark…? He wondered dispassionately, crossing to the small brightly illuminated area in the centre of the room. As he stopped, the room's monolithic communication screen lit up, and a sharply lit face appeared on it, regarding the Major as if he was an insect perched on the arm of some primeval deity. The image spoke:

"Major, our attempt to destroy NERV's Evangelion pilots had not met with success." Externally, there was almost no change to his features, apart from an almost imperceptible widening of his eyes, but internally, he was reeling. Attempt to what…!? Quickly, the officer recovered his composure, though to someone unfamiliar with the man, he would not have seemed to have lost it in the first place.

"Sir, I was not aware of this operation. What was its purpose?"

"Our projections indicate that the inevitable interference to our plans would be increased by the presence of an operable Evangelion, and thus we took steps to minimize this possibility."

"I see…why did the operation fail?"

"Unknown."

"Sir, what about the IEVA project? Will this…failure change the schedule in any way?"

"Affirmative. The project deadline is being advanced." The Major's eyes narrowed.

"Unacceptable. Our personnel are being pushed to their limits as it is."

"You will push them harder, Major. The consequences will be grave indeed if our demands are not met.

"Understood…sir." The image disappeared. Under his breath, the Major muttered an imprecation that even the room's concealed microphones would have been hard-pressed to pick up.

End of Chapter Two

Sorry for the long wait, everyone, I've been trying to imagine where this series is going, and I've been having some difficulty. But not to worry, more chapters will follow!

Once again, thanks to the people who have reviewed this fic, and once again, sorry for any mistakes in the text, please tell me if something is blatantly inaccurate.