CHAPTER 18
Shinji wandered around the apartment like a zombie fresh out of the crypt. He gazed around with glassy eyes at the rubbish dump that he called his home. The bins had not been emptied for weeks so trash just built up around the kitchen and dining area. He looked at Misato's door, which had a 'do not disturb' sign on it.
"Misato's shutting herself up," he whispered as Pen pen walked by. He looked over the hall where Asuka's bedroom door was just open with no light shining in it. Shinji walked over to the door and lightly pushed it open. Darkness. There was no sign that anyone actually lived in there. It stunk of closed up room and Shinji backed off.
"Will she ever come home?" he asked to no one looking at the phone. He wanted to call Mia but chose against it. She was the only one that he felt could help him but she had her own problems that even he couldn't help. He heard the phone ring and looked over at it. It rang once. Twice. Three times. Fourth. Misato answered and grunted at the person on the other line. She hung up the phone and looked at Shinji.
"Another Angel is approaching" she said bluntly reaching for the phone again and calling Mia. The call was short and Misato grabbed her jacket immediately after hanging up.
"Lets go," she said icily and Shinji followed her unwillingly to the elevator. Mia was already dressed in her suit on her way down. She cracked a small smile at Shinji and Misato but neither returned a smile.
"You were dressed quick" Misato said raising an eyebrow at Mia.
"Intuition I suppose" Mia said quietly as they headed for the car and sped off towards Nerv. The second they arrived Asuka had already been launched as a back up for Rei.
"Can we use unit 01?" Maya asked.
"No I do not have the authorization to release it, the commander is the only one" Misato said looking at Mia.
"Launch unit 03 away from the city and use it as a 3rd back up to attempt to lure it out of the city" Misato ordered and Mia walked briskly to the launch cages.
"We can use unit 2 as a decoy" the commander said as unit 03 was launched. Mia gazed up at the angel. It was a giant ring circling around above the mountains. She couldn't see Rei but her Eva grid showed where she was. She engaged the sense mech and waited for information. Nothing.
"Come on" she hissed waiting. Suddenly without warning the angel broke into a string and sped at Rei. No one had time to move as it was like lightning striking through unit 00's stomach. Rei grabbed it with her free arm and shot at its body ineffectively. It began to contaminate unit 00 spreading into its nerves.
"Launch unit 02!" Misato ordered as Rei was pushed back into the mountain squirming helplessly. "Lift off unit 02" Misato ordered and Asuka didn't move. "What is she doing?!"
"She can't think her synch ratio is under 10%," Maya shouted and Misato's blood ran cold.
"Retrieve her!" Misato snapped.
"I want Evangelion 01 launched" Commander Ikari ordered.
"What?" Misato asked.
"I said launch it!" he snapped.
"Mia move in and get some heat off Rei" Misato ordered before turning to the commander. "Until Shinji gets there," she added.
"Yes ma'am" Mia agreed running toward the angel. It's whip like image turned at her. She froze and grabbed her controls readying herself to strike but it swung at her and threw her 200 meters back before turning at Shinji.
"Ikari!" Rei said trembling tears rolled from her eyes. "Does my mind want to become one with Ikari?" she asked herself as Shinji darted around. Mia was beginning to stand up as she reached for her rifle. The angel shattered Shinji's rifle like glass and Mia aimed at the angel. "NO!"
Rei got up from her seat and let her AT field merge with the angel taking the D-mode control and pulling it. "I won't retreat," she whispered and the last image she saw was a smiling Gendo Ikari.
The explosion was enormous. The ground shook. Black smoke filled the air. A blanked of dust shrouded the light from touching everything. Death.
Shinji froze unable to cry, unable to move and unable to think. Mia just stared at nothingness. The angel was gone. Rei was gone.
* * * * *
Mia tried to backtrack over her last days that had been a total blur to her. Everything faded in and out as the sun rose and fell before her eyes. She had hardly eaten or moved from the floor in her lounge room. She felt completely alone.
"Rei is alive," she whispered to herself. It was unbelievable and impossible however true. How could she be alive? She had self destructed to save Shinji and herself.
Shinji had spoken of the dummy system and how it had been totally composed of Rei's soul. He spoke of Rei and his mother possibly having a connection, how he had seen his mother's death. But it felt like nothing to Mia.
She stood up and waked into the bathroom clutching her stomach. She winced in pain and looked into the mirror. What was wrong with her? She stared into the mirror and saw a ghostly figure looking at her with pale skin and glassy eyes. Who was this person?
"Who are you?" she whispered icily and grabbed her throat. What was happening to her? Her phone rang and she walked out to it on wobbly knees.
"Yes hello?" she whispered.
"Mia Zaharia?" a voice asked.
"Yes" she tried to speak properly but her voice wouldn't work.
"We need you at HQ for a test. The 4 children are required," he said hanging up. Mia hung up and grabbed her suit sitting on the floor to put it on. Four children, that means that Asuka is OK. She though heading out the door whilst supporting herself n the walls.
* * *
By the time that she had arrived at HQ three children were being briefed. Rei, Shinji and another guy. No Asuka. She looked at him puzzled.
"Mia this is Kaworu Nagisa" Misato said and Mia looked suspiciously at him.
"Hello you must be the fourth child," he said over kindly and she nodded.
"I take it you are Asuka's replacement" Mia said coldly.
"Now if we can all have you in the plugs we can begin the test" Maya said and Mia walked slowly following the three children. Misato pulled her aside.
"Are you alright Mia?" she asked and Mia closed her eyes and nodded.
"Just over tired" she lied heading for the entry plugs.
"Mia doesn't look well" Maya stated the obvious.
"No she doesn't" Misato added as the monitors opened.
"This can't be possible." Maya said as commander Fuyutsuki looked over her shoulder.
"He is amazing," he said referring to Kaworu. "He synchronized perfectly with unit 02 before we reconfigured its core"
"That is strange" Misato said looking at Mia's scores. "Mia has increased by 40% even though she looks so sick" she stated puzzled. "Do we know what is wrong with her?"
"The Magi aren't designed for human health status but they seem to be completely baffled on her medical. It will take approximately 4 ours for them to reach a conclusion on her as long as she stayed in the tube" Maya answered and Misato nodded.
"Keep her in there, I want to know exactly what is wrong with her and why" Misato ordered and Maya nodded.
After an hour of sitting and waiting while the magi corrected any updates r such the children finally heard the voices of central command.
"Right, thank you all. You may all get out now, except Mia" Maya said and Shinji looked over at the plug that Mia was concealed in. Why was she staying?
* * * * *
After the tests Shinji walked outside of central command and half waited for Kaworu, half just not wanting to go home. He sat and stared at nothingness jumping once the doors opened.
"Hi, you weren't waiting for me were you?" Kaworu asked smiling sincerely.
"No, not really waiting" Shinji said feeling his face go red with embarrassment.
"What are you doing then?" Kaworu asked.
"Well usually after tests I just take a shower and go home, but I don't really like to go home these days" Shinji said quietly.
"The fact that you have a place to return to will lead you to happiness" Kaworu said smiling almost as if he were wearing his heart on his shoulder.
"You think so?" Shinji said, he had never considered home in that way before.
"I want to talk to you some more, may I join you?" Kaworu asked.
"Where?" Shinji asked having a mind lapse.
"To the shower of course"
"Oh, sure" Shinji said suddenly feeling a wave of awkwardness sweep over him.
* * *
"Have the Magi reached a conclusion yet?" Misato asked edgily.
"Just one more minute" Maya said watching Mia through the screen. "It is almost as if she is sad, maybe something that has effected Asuka is effecting her?" she suggested.
"No, Asuka's level dropped, Mia's is rising. And from what I know Mia has not suffered and forms of suicide in her past. Only her fathers death." Misato added.
"You mean that she is Dr. Zaharia's daughter?" Maya asked stunned, she had never considered it. "Well that would make sense her being the fourth child and all. That must have torn her apart, his death I mean"
"Yes, but Mia has a unique personality, she can change herself to suit others, that's what she does to survive. That's why she has the closest Eva to unit 01" Misato said thinking aloud as the Magi beeped loudly.
"Oh the medical." Maya said typing away busily. "What?!"
"Show me" Misato edged to the screen. Mia's medical showed just above the boarder line of dead, however all of her organs were functioning properly.
"That's not possible. She is breathing fine and her pulse is normal but the Magi are confirming a cell break down in her system, like the angel that fooled us as a form of bacteria. She has cell reduction and bio contamination everywhere. how is this possible?"
"I have no idea, classify this as top secret information. The commanders must not know and neither can she. We can not lose her to a decrease in her ego and if Ikari finds out he wont use her as a pilot and Shinji will be alone" Misato ordered sternly. Maya hesitantly locked down the information and downloaded it to a disk handing it to Misato.
"What do we tell Mia?" Maya asked quietly.
"Stress overload" Misato said quickly. She held down the button and spoke into the microphone. "OK Mia you can get out now"
Shinji wandered around the apartment like a zombie fresh out of the crypt. He gazed around with glassy eyes at the rubbish dump that he called his home. The bins had not been emptied for weeks so trash just built up around the kitchen and dining area. He looked at Misato's door, which had a 'do not disturb' sign on it.
"Misato's shutting herself up," he whispered as Pen pen walked by. He looked over the hall where Asuka's bedroom door was just open with no light shining in it. Shinji walked over to the door and lightly pushed it open. Darkness. There was no sign that anyone actually lived in there. It stunk of closed up room and Shinji backed off.
"Will she ever come home?" he asked to no one looking at the phone. He wanted to call Mia but chose against it. She was the only one that he felt could help him but she had her own problems that even he couldn't help. He heard the phone ring and looked over at it. It rang once. Twice. Three times. Fourth. Misato answered and grunted at the person on the other line. She hung up the phone and looked at Shinji.
"Another Angel is approaching" she said bluntly reaching for the phone again and calling Mia. The call was short and Misato grabbed her jacket immediately after hanging up.
"Lets go," she said icily and Shinji followed her unwillingly to the elevator. Mia was already dressed in her suit on her way down. She cracked a small smile at Shinji and Misato but neither returned a smile.
"You were dressed quick" Misato said raising an eyebrow at Mia.
"Intuition I suppose" Mia said quietly as they headed for the car and sped off towards Nerv. The second they arrived Asuka had already been launched as a back up for Rei.
"Can we use unit 01?" Maya asked.
"No I do not have the authorization to release it, the commander is the only one" Misato said looking at Mia.
"Launch unit 03 away from the city and use it as a 3rd back up to attempt to lure it out of the city" Misato ordered and Mia walked briskly to the launch cages.
"We can use unit 2 as a decoy" the commander said as unit 03 was launched. Mia gazed up at the angel. It was a giant ring circling around above the mountains. She couldn't see Rei but her Eva grid showed where she was. She engaged the sense mech and waited for information. Nothing.
"Come on" she hissed waiting. Suddenly without warning the angel broke into a string and sped at Rei. No one had time to move as it was like lightning striking through unit 00's stomach. Rei grabbed it with her free arm and shot at its body ineffectively. It began to contaminate unit 00 spreading into its nerves.
"Launch unit 02!" Misato ordered as Rei was pushed back into the mountain squirming helplessly. "Lift off unit 02" Misato ordered and Asuka didn't move. "What is she doing?!"
"She can't think her synch ratio is under 10%," Maya shouted and Misato's blood ran cold.
"Retrieve her!" Misato snapped.
"I want Evangelion 01 launched" Commander Ikari ordered.
"What?" Misato asked.
"I said launch it!" he snapped.
"Mia move in and get some heat off Rei" Misato ordered before turning to the commander. "Until Shinji gets there," she added.
"Yes ma'am" Mia agreed running toward the angel. It's whip like image turned at her. She froze and grabbed her controls readying herself to strike but it swung at her and threw her 200 meters back before turning at Shinji.
"Ikari!" Rei said trembling tears rolled from her eyes. "Does my mind want to become one with Ikari?" she asked herself as Shinji darted around. Mia was beginning to stand up as she reached for her rifle. The angel shattered Shinji's rifle like glass and Mia aimed at the angel. "NO!"
Rei got up from her seat and let her AT field merge with the angel taking the D-mode control and pulling it. "I won't retreat," she whispered and the last image she saw was a smiling Gendo Ikari.
The explosion was enormous. The ground shook. Black smoke filled the air. A blanked of dust shrouded the light from touching everything. Death.
Shinji froze unable to cry, unable to move and unable to think. Mia just stared at nothingness. The angel was gone. Rei was gone.
* * * * *
Mia tried to backtrack over her last days that had been a total blur to her. Everything faded in and out as the sun rose and fell before her eyes. She had hardly eaten or moved from the floor in her lounge room. She felt completely alone.
"Rei is alive," she whispered to herself. It was unbelievable and impossible however true. How could she be alive? She had self destructed to save Shinji and herself.
Shinji had spoken of the dummy system and how it had been totally composed of Rei's soul. He spoke of Rei and his mother possibly having a connection, how he had seen his mother's death. But it felt like nothing to Mia.
She stood up and waked into the bathroom clutching her stomach. She winced in pain and looked into the mirror. What was wrong with her? She stared into the mirror and saw a ghostly figure looking at her with pale skin and glassy eyes. Who was this person?
"Who are you?" she whispered icily and grabbed her throat. What was happening to her? Her phone rang and she walked out to it on wobbly knees.
"Yes hello?" she whispered.
"Mia Zaharia?" a voice asked.
"Yes" she tried to speak properly but her voice wouldn't work.
"We need you at HQ for a test. The 4 children are required," he said hanging up. Mia hung up and grabbed her suit sitting on the floor to put it on. Four children, that means that Asuka is OK. She though heading out the door whilst supporting herself n the walls.
* * *
By the time that she had arrived at HQ three children were being briefed. Rei, Shinji and another guy. No Asuka. She looked at him puzzled.
"Mia this is Kaworu Nagisa" Misato said and Mia looked suspiciously at him.
"Hello you must be the fourth child," he said over kindly and she nodded.
"I take it you are Asuka's replacement" Mia said coldly.
"Now if we can all have you in the plugs we can begin the test" Maya said and Mia walked slowly following the three children. Misato pulled her aside.
"Are you alright Mia?" she asked and Mia closed her eyes and nodded.
"Just over tired" she lied heading for the entry plugs.
"Mia doesn't look well" Maya stated the obvious.
"No she doesn't" Misato added as the monitors opened.
"This can't be possible." Maya said as commander Fuyutsuki looked over her shoulder.
"He is amazing," he said referring to Kaworu. "He synchronized perfectly with unit 02 before we reconfigured its core"
"That is strange" Misato said looking at Mia's scores. "Mia has increased by 40% even though she looks so sick" she stated puzzled. "Do we know what is wrong with her?"
"The Magi aren't designed for human health status but they seem to be completely baffled on her medical. It will take approximately 4 ours for them to reach a conclusion on her as long as she stayed in the tube" Maya answered and Misato nodded.
"Keep her in there, I want to know exactly what is wrong with her and why" Misato ordered and Maya nodded.
After an hour of sitting and waiting while the magi corrected any updates r such the children finally heard the voices of central command.
"Right, thank you all. You may all get out now, except Mia" Maya said and Shinji looked over at the plug that Mia was concealed in. Why was she staying?
* * * * *
After the tests Shinji walked outside of central command and half waited for Kaworu, half just not wanting to go home. He sat and stared at nothingness jumping once the doors opened.
"Hi, you weren't waiting for me were you?" Kaworu asked smiling sincerely.
"No, not really waiting" Shinji said feeling his face go red with embarrassment.
"What are you doing then?" Kaworu asked.
"Well usually after tests I just take a shower and go home, but I don't really like to go home these days" Shinji said quietly.
"The fact that you have a place to return to will lead you to happiness" Kaworu said smiling almost as if he were wearing his heart on his shoulder.
"You think so?" Shinji said, he had never considered home in that way before.
"I want to talk to you some more, may I join you?" Kaworu asked.
"Where?" Shinji asked having a mind lapse.
"To the shower of course"
"Oh, sure" Shinji said suddenly feeling a wave of awkwardness sweep over him.
* * *
"Have the Magi reached a conclusion yet?" Misato asked edgily.
"Just one more minute" Maya said watching Mia through the screen. "It is almost as if she is sad, maybe something that has effected Asuka is effecting her?" she suggested.
"No, Asuka's level dropped, Mia's is rising. And from what I know Mia has not suffered and forms of suicide in her past. Only her fathers death." Misato added.
"You mean that she is Dr. Zaharia's daughter?" Maya asked stunned, she had never considered it. "Well that would make sense her being the fourth child and all. That must have torn her apart, his death I mean"
"Yes, but Mia has a unique personality, she can change herself to suit others, that's what she does to survive. That's why she has the closest Eva to unit 01" Misato said thinking aloud as the Magi beeped loudly.
"Oh the medical." Maya said typing away busily. "What?!"
"Show me" Misato edged to the screen. Mia's medical showed just above the boarder line of dead, however all of her organs were functioning properly.
"That's not possible. She is breathing fine and her pulse is normal but the Magi are confirming a cell break down in her system, like the angel that fooled us as a form of bacteria. She has cell reduction and bio contamination everywhere. how is this possible?"
"I have no idea, classify this as top secret information. The commanders must not know and neither can she. We can not lose her to a decrease in her ego and if Ikari finds out he wont use her as a pilot and Shinji will be alone" Misato ordered sternly. Maya hesitantly locked down the information and downloaded it to a disk handing it to Misato.
"What do we tell Mia?" Maya asked quietly.
"Stress overload" Misato said quickly. She held down the button and spoke into the microphone. "OK Mia you can get out now"