Sever
Written by: Advantage
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After three days since they came home, Asuka and Shinji were allowed to return to Misato's apartment.
The only one they were missing was Rei. But since she was in critical condition and under strict observation it wasn't likely Shinji would be able to talk to her about this.
Nevertheless it still bothered him. Asuka's private recounts on the carrier were enough to convince him what she had seen was some form of the monolith. That ambassador hadn't appeared distinctly to her, which gave Shinji some concern, but she had seen the monolith, and perhaps that was enough.
Now alone in the room, Shinji sat with Asuka. They weren't close as Shinji would have thought, still, but her hostility had disappeared. There were still traces of it there, but she wasn't carrying the malice that she did on a usual day.
She was still recounting to herself what she saw in the cockpit in orbit. It couldn't have been...yet it was. Something unusual had appeared to her, and she was still asking herself if it was her mother. It appeared to her as the same shape and age her mother would have been...yet...how? Was it a vision to convince herself she was alive or was it indeed her mother?
Then there had been that comforting presence in the entry plug. It was almost as if her mother was there, watching over her shoulder. But how could that be, either? Her mother committed suicide, driven mad by some force. Maybe it had something to do with her involvement in project E, the same one that Asuka was now part of.
Now, recounting things, Asuka realized she had become a slave to the same system that killed her mother. How did she get here? Why was she so blind not to see it?
No, the blood wasn't on her hands. No blood was on her hands, or Shinji's. They had no wrong in the way of killing anyone...
But Shinji had a good idea who was responsible. He couldn't place names, and was hesitant to mark his father, but there was building evidence to suggest that he was connected somehow with the forces that caused his mother to be lost.
Shinji was seated beside Asuka with his own mug of coffee steaming before him while thoughts poured through his head. Courage given to him by the Monolith allowed him to begin to question things inside his own mind- how did his mother die? He already knew much that had been told to the public was a lie- Asuka had told him that when she explained the truth of the Second Impact. Something had been found there and detonated...
The thing that appeared to him said that it was sad about what they had done to the planet. How could he have known, unless there was some previous visit in some way.
The Monolith's avatar didn't say anything about that- only the clear warning to be wary of what was asked of him. Yes, Shinji was considering everything before doing it- his confidence allowed him to become something more than just a drone. He was starting to think and act on his own, and he was feeling if he didn't meet the Monolith such a sign of maturity would not have manifested to this level.
He looked over at Asuka. Yes, something had changed in her, also. Compassion had come into her voice when she talked to Shinji, even considering the health of Rei (No longer "wondergirl"). It was a little surprising to Shinji, but not as startling when Asuka put it the way she did. Asuka was showing concern for other beings, for once, other than herself.
The red head's eyes turned to look back at him followed by her head and she asked slowly and softly, "What are you looking at?"
"Er...nothing..." Replied Shinji, "Ah, just...."
Asuka turned her head back to her mug of coffee and then started to drink it.
Shinji sighed and looked into his reflection in the mug. How happy you are, he thought, to be a safe shadow of me. But then, what if that shadow was what he had been in the past, and his self now was in the present? Could he go back to being the ignorant boy he had been?
He was still in his mid-teens. He had a way to go before he became a man, but he had to start somewhere. Perhaps this was only the first test- his test- of maturity. Perhaps all of this, Evangelion and NERV, was only a right-of-passage fate had tossed to him. Before he had no idea of the rules- now he knew the game and had some idea of how to beat it. And the monolith had even given him the hint to the alternate ending.
The door opened and both children turned their heads to see Misato Katsuragi enter with a smile on her face, "Ah, you're back. So, how are you two feeling?"
Asuka declined to reply and turned her head silently back to the coffee mug, her eyes gazing back down into it.
Shinji didn't say anything either, but turned his head to look at the wall.
Misato paused in the kitchen and looked at the two of them and asked, "What's wrong with you two? Usually you're so active after a mission..."
"I don't want to talk about it," said Asuka in a barely audible voice.
Misato blinked, but then smiled, "Well I have some news that might cheer you up. NERV's been asked to perform a comparison test with a new computer system in the states...Your father is part of the exhibition team."
"What?" Asked Asuka in a panicked voice.
Misato blinked, "Why, you don't want to see your father?"
Asuka stood up and turned, showing just a reflection of fear and panic on her face as she retreated for her room and firmly closed the door behind her.
"Well," Misato replied and put her hands on her hips, "What was that all about?"
"I don't know..." Shinji replied as he shook his head, and then turned around to Misato, "A computer test?"
"Yep." Misato replied, "A branch of computer whizzes over in the United States think they have something that can rival our own computer systems. They'll be here in a few days with the new unit to test it out against our own computer systems."
Shinji blinked, and then said, "I don't know...the last time we had something from America here...."
Misato smiled, "Don't worry about it, this time it's been screened and nobody's letting it out of sight. Besides, if it's not hooked up to anything the worst it can do is swear at us."
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Limbo: weightlessness.
Rei Ayanami had been somewhere- to a place she could neither describe nor relate. No, she had not been to the other side of the gate, but she had been inside the Monolith's passage to some unknown destination. It was there that she had been given an education she would not forget nor actively remember.
She returned to the airport with a new mission and new assignment. Also, she had changed.
Her body was tinted, just the slightest, to offset the milk-color of her hands. She wasn't a virgin to the world anymore- knowledge, emotion, and memories were entrusted to her. Likewise there were other changes, but she would not see or learn about them until she returned again to the physical world.
Tanis was still abandoned- ever since the explosion on the south pole no soul had returned to this place. Odd, how she was being used as a program in limbo, now about to return to another 'unit' body that no doubt awaited her.
But the monolith and the two ambassadors it accompanied had given her the knowledge and skills she would need in the coming time. Like before, the Monolith was here to speak to her.
Rei turned again to look at the black slab, now a comforting sight to her eyes. From this slab, and from other shapes of similar dimensions but of a crystalline make, she had learned what she needed.
It spoke to her once again, the voice as familiar as that of an old friend, "You are now ready to return to the world of man now, Rei. We have taught you all that is needed for you to commence your humanity, and send you on your mission to restore the Earth. We are also sending with you other modifications... when you return to the real world the body you will come to inhabit will not be of the same make as the others. You will finally be, and well deserved, human."
"Thank you," Rei smiled as she looked at the surface of the monolith, then asked, "Will I see Shinji soon?"
"Yes, very soon. But Commander Ikari will be barring your way to Shinji, you must resist him and his efforts to interrogate you before you may see Shinji. We will also block your memories of this experience temporarily to prevent even their most advanced methods from extracting any memories from you. When you see Shinji once more, they will assuredly return. Your further instructions will be re-activated when the time comes. Are you ready?"
"Yes, I am." Replied Rei with determination.
"Good. They will be coming for you soon- we wish you the best of luck. We will not be far away from you nor the other children to observe your progress and assist you in any way we can."
"Thank you." Smiled Rei.
The airport terminal back to the real world was starting to open.
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In the lower levels of the Geo front base, in some of the most classified areas on Earth, Gendo and the secretive men struggled to capture another one of the Rei clones.
Generic, white, and lacking anything close to a real personality, the generic clone was almost animal in it's actions and movements. Nothing close to a conscious mind had been installed in this creature other than the forces that kept it living, breathing, laughing and moving. No thought passed through it's dull brain, nor any spark of a life circulated in it's heart.
Gendo was very proud of the genetic dolls he had made, and proved even further that humans could use more than one method to create other humans- under controlled circumstances of course.
The blank clone had been sedated in the main tank and the process was being readied. Through the mystic and unknown technologies only Gendo and few others understood, Rei was about to return from the pivotal abyss that she had been cast in death. She was undoubtedly there, all other souls had never entered Tanis.
Gendo paid no attention to the dead body on the stretcher behind him, still in the torn plugsuit with the eyes now closed from their death stare. That Rei Ayanami was gone, and a new one was about to replace her.
The ritual of machines was already commenced, and Gendo watched with eager anticipation for the return of Rei Ayanami.
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The gate had fully opened now, and the maw-like opening stretched down for the waiting plane.
Rei faced the doorway with the Monolith at her back.
"Remember what you have learned," Said the Monolith, "And never forget, we will always be there to assist you."
She nodded and stepped forward into the hallway. She passed through the connecting passageway, leaving Tanis and the ethereal realm behind her.
As she approached the plane's door a light was coming from it. Just beyond she could see what looked like someone's vision- a sickly yellow perspective of the ceiling of a place she knew all too well. She had been there before, when she was revived once before. Only this time, it would be different.
Rei took a great breath, and then stepped forward shouting one name.
"SHINJI-!!!!"
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The eyes blasted open in the tank and the body violently shuddered in the tank, seizing up as the clone screamed murder inside the tank.
Gendo's eyes widened. This wasn't supposed to happen, "What's going on?"
"DNA malfunction! Something's tampering with the DNA structures on the clone's body!"
"Is the transfer complete?"
"Completing now...but there's some force mutating the clone's DNA...it's impulses coming from the brain!"
Gendo turned and looked around for something to free Rei from the tank.
Rei was breaking out of her bonds, fully conscious now but still out of control of her body as it continued to change.
Her Irises cracked and she squeezed her eyes shut as the front of her eyes started co rebuild themselves underneath the lids. Cells rushed into work at a hundred thousand times their ponderously slow rate of metabolic reactions. Cells in her body were also doing things never before thought possible.
Gendo didn't pay attention to the physical parameters as he reached forward and grabbed a huge wrench off a clip at the end of the room and stormed for the canister with the intention of getting Rei out of the container.
As Rei's genes changed one of the technicians blurted out, "Sir! Her structures show a 68% change from their normal DNA! I can't believe this...."
With one great heave Gendo Ikari broke the container.
LCL gushed from the broken glass and spilled out all over the floor. Rei rolled out of the container and landed on the ground, flopping like a fish with her eyes wide open as she witnessed what was going on with her own body.
The electrodes were still attached to her body and Gendo stood over her as if watching the data continue to flow from her body into the computers.
Some of the technicians were astounded and shocked at the changes that had taken place, while some were too much at a loss to say anything.
Gendo's face was in growing shock as he watched Rei do something he never before thought she would do.
Rei Ayanami had regained control of her shivering body to some extend and was now curling up into a ball to cover herself. She avoided Gendo's eyes entirely as her back faced him and she squeezed her eyes shut. More to the astonishment, her skin wasn't the virgin pale anymore. Her eyes, when Gendo had seen them, weren't the ruby reds. Those irises could be seen in fragments on the floor- her new eyes had changed and were still inside her head.
"I...Can't...believe..." Said one of the technicians.
Gendo spun his head to look at one of the officers, "Well? Did it work?"
"Yes, she is complete..." Said a technician and pointed, "But the genetic structure is...almost completely different...."
"What do you mean?" Asked Gendo and walked around Rei to look at one of the display panels. His shock remained as he studied the display chart and shook his head, "That is not her DNA."
"No, it's not. There are still some fundamental parts here, here, and this entire section... She almost appears the same sir, but I don't think she can be distinguished from any other human being on the planet. Worse sir, she has no genetic similarities with your late wife...."
This caused Gendo's fist to close heavily and shake. How? How could have all this...
An image appeared in his mind, imposing and tall, and as black as the darkness before the first light of the earth.
Yes, the Monolith. This was their doing...
He turned back to the shivering Rei, considering weather he should try the process again or not...
There was a panicked cry from one of the technicians, and when Gendo inquired he soon ran to the sub-room beneath his office.
The clone dolls were all dead, floating lifelessly in the tank.
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Misato knocked on Asuka's door and said, "Open up."
"I don't want to."
"Asuka," Misato said, "It's your father, why don't you want to see him?"
"I don't want to!"
Misato sighed and said, "Listen, as a representative of NERV, and more importantly and Evangelion pilot, it's your duty to come and greet them to NERV."
"I don't want to be an Eva pilot anymore!"
"I don't believe I heard that!" Misato cried and shouted, "Now get ready to come out here or I'll find some punishments..."
Shinji turned his head with a curious look on his face, "Was that really necessary?"
"Asuka's just stubborn. She'll be out one way or another...but I thought she was proud of her parents, wasn't she?"
Shinji just shrugged as he finished clearing the table, "I don't know Misato..."
Misato hesitated by the refrigerator door and watched Shinji complete his task. Something was different about him...
"Shinji," She asked.
"Huh?" He answered.
Misato winced, "You're different today...what's wrong with you?"
"Oh, nothing," He replied with a smile, "Nothing at all."
"That's what worries me. You're not afraid of the new company at all?"
"No, why should I?"
"What if your father is there?"
Shinji hesitated for a moment, then shrugged, "So?"
"Ah, something IS different about you!" She pointed at him, "You usually get cold feet when it comes to you dad. What happened to you when you went on your little space trip, eh?"
Shinji set down the plates gently on the table and looked at a spot on the floor, "You know, I honestly don't know Misato- I couldn't tell you if my life depended on it. I just- feel better about things." He ended with a shrug and a small laugh.
Misato winced at him and replied, "Right..." She opened the refrigerator, "We'll, we're leaving in ten minutes so-"
The door opened to Asuka's room and the young lady emerged from her room.
"Um...Shinji...am I okay?"
Shinji blushed a little, "Me? Why are you asking me?"
"Because you're a good judge of these things..." Asuka said as she stepped out into the room.
Misato blinked and looked her over. She wasn't wearing what Misato thought she would be- the large yellow dress with the choker. Instead she had a yellow turtleneck on with a ribbed collar and a checkered pattern across the center with a grey jacket over all of this. She had black shorts on, and brown shoes with yellow socks. She had removed the electrodes in her hair and traded them for red ribbons.
Shinji made a weak smile and replied, "Well, I think you look...er...well, nice."
"Thanks," She blushed, then looked over at Misato.
The latter woman was agape in near shock, then said, "this is a change. What's with it all the sudden?"
A pause came from Asuka before she replied, "Well, I wanted....um...."
Misato looked at the clock and said, "Whatever, we have to get going and now."
"All right," Shinji agreed and walked out of the door behind Misato.
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Rei awoke and found herself in a hospital bed.
She was clothed now, and completely aware of her surroundings. She turned her head to recognize some of the things in the room...the place was familiar...
The door opened and a tall, dark man with glasses entered.
Instantly upon seeing him a loathing welled up in her stomach and fear gripped her body- as if somehow this was the last man on earth she would ever want to see.
She turned away as if she had seen a horrible thing, and Gendo Ikari asked, "Rei, what's wrong?"
That voice, that terrible voice she wanted to get away!!!!
She curled up in the bed and shivered. Gendo gave pause, and then asked again in that voice so terrible in her ears, "Rei, what's wrong?"
"Get away from me," She said in a panicked voice.
Puzzled, Gendo blinked and asked, "Rei...why-"
"Just leave!" She gave in a small panic and turned her head away. It was as if Gendo's influence was once again approaching her, reaching out to touch and wrap around her soul.
Fear was driving her, and anguish. She wanted so badly to escape this room, and his presence. More importantly she wanted to get out of here and find safety in the one man she knew and desired most to see.
Gendo remained standing at the doorway, shocked that his doll was no longer his own.
He turned and decided to leave. Something must be done about this faulty device...
Rei breathed an easy sigh of relief when he was gone. But the room offered little comfort, it was almost like a prison. If she couldn't get out of here he might come back or worse- even touch her.
She didn't want it. She wanted to find Shinji above all other people...
Then she could remember her first dream.
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The airport in Tokyo-3 was spacious enough to land even the most advanced of tactical bombers. As Misato looked out across the plain she could even envision some of the largest aircraft known to mankind landing here- from the Spruce Goose to the new Russian super bombers. The modified 747 parked on the tarmac was one of Tokyo-3 Airport's smallest problems.
Already some of the staff had emerged from the aircraft and were exchanging pleasantries with some of the more technical aspects of the NERV administration. Missing from the higher echelons was Gendo Ikari, no doubt occupied elsewhere.
Misato smiled and gave a small wave to Ritsuko, before motioning the other two to follow her.
Shinji smiled as he walked after Misato, but glanced behind him at the immobile Asuka and turned around, "Come on Asuka."
"...No...."
Shinji, although puzzled, knew that Asuka was stronger than this. He reached out and tugged her hand, "What happened to all that confidence?"
"You have it." She replied, "I don't want to see my father."
Shinji looked into her face, smiled, and gave her hand a squeeze, "If he growls at you, you can hide behind Misato-San and me, okay?"
Asuka made an unsure nod and then followed Shinji, squeezing his hand once more before letting it drop and followed slowly after Shinji.
They approached the group and Ritsuko stepped back to reveal the other elements of the team.
Standing out like a sore thumb and the tallest member of the expedition was a man Shinji felt was most undoubtedly Mr. Langly. The tall man had transferred almost none of his facial features to Asuka, but the only possible link he had with his daughter was the red hair he had on his scalp.
He looked down at Misato and said, "Ah, Captain Katsuragi...I hear you've been looking after my daughter most splendidly... and here she is for everyone to see."
Asuka evaded her father's eyes and stared at the pavement.
"Asuka," Said Mr. Langly, "Asuka, what's wrong?"
Misato stood up for her, "She's been through a little trying ordeal Mr. Langly..."
"Doctor Langly." Replied Langly and looked over at Asuka, "Well, I see. Perhaps we can talk later Asuka. For the moment though, we must see our brainchild safely out of the plane. Dr. Chandra made me promise to be careful with his- Hehe, child. We've come a long way and our computer is most anxious to meet you."
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Some time later in a small office near the command center and MAGI computer rooms, the new computer had been unwrapped and unpacked and assembled at a wall in the room. Dr. Langly and several other technicians were just finishing the completion of the modules, and installing crystalline blocks into a large amount of slots at the base of the computer. They were closing the service panels when Ritsuko asked, "Don't you need to install the primary systems now? Especially after you put it all together?"
"Huh? Oh, even though we've plugged in his memory and processing units his core computing system is already installed. All we need to do is switch him on and he'll automatically adjust to the new systems- he works at the speed of thought you know."
"He?" Asked Misato, "You make it sound like this computer was a person."
Dr. Langly smiled, "After talking to him, you'll think the same way about him too."
Ritsuko and Misato exchanged glanced with one another and then looked at the computer as Dr. Langly activated it.
"All right," Said Langly as he stepped back.
The surfaces of the cabinets were a matte black, which reminded Shinji in some way of the black surfaces of the Monolith. A small counter had been provided with a computer keyboard input, several service panels and a pair of monitors on either side of the computer's optical input.
The vertical bar was only a foot or so in height and at it's lower base was a speaker with a dark brown grill placed almost as a decoration. Just above it and slowly glowing to life was the red electronic eye, with an orange dot glowing at it's center.
At the very top of the 'Face' of the computer was a teal box with words in English printed across the top.
HAL 9000 was coming on-line.
The two screens on either side of the computer's face came to light up. The first display read the white lettering of MEM on a blue background with some unintelligible lettering on the blue face. The other red HAL on a red background in white letters and like the first had unintelligible numerals and numbers. Both displays didn't take long to start their cycle of displays showing the current status of the computer and it's running operational conditions.
Dr. Langly smiled as the computer powered up and then turned with the others as the computer spoke in a calm, English male voice, "Good afternoon ladies and Gentlemen. I am a Hal 9000 computer production number three. I became operational at the Hal Plant in Urbania, Illinois, on January 12, 2010. I am very pleased to meet you all on such a fine day."
The women turned their head to a smiling Dr. Langly, who asked, "Magnificent isn't he?"
"I'll say," Said Ritsuko and approached the computer, "This is the first time I've seen a computer like this act so..."
"Human?"
"Yes," Ritsuko replied and ran her hands over the keyboard, "He's magnificent...."
"Thank you." Answered Hal, "By the way, if I may be allowed to ask, are you Dr. Ritsuko Akagi?"
"Why, yes I am Hal."
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I admire your work in advanced computer Artificial Intelligence...My creator Dr. Chandra was most interested in your work, also."
"I'm glad to hear it Hal." Beamed Ritsuko.
Dr. Langly spoke, "Hal is one of the latest Humanistic Algorithmic program computers- he's capable of almost any task assigned to him from facility management to classroom assistance."
"Amazing..." Ritsuko gasped and turned, "Why didn't I hear about this sooner? How long has he been under development?"
"Since the late nineties, but the second impact forced a lot of our programs to be scaled back. In fact Dr Chandra had intended for Hal here to be installed on one of the projected Jupiter probe missions but...again, cutbacks. Then the cape was flooded and everything..."
"Yes, a shame." Said Ritsuko and caressed Hal's 'face,' "So you brought him here to match him against our computer system?"
"Why not?" asked Dr. Langly, "The MAGI computer system is one of the most powerful computing systems in the world. We wanted to see how Hal performed against it statistically...maybe even outmatch your computers."
Ritsuko leaned against Hal's counter and smirked, "Somehow I don't think even Hal here can match the MAGI computers."
"Well, only one way to find out." Said Dr. Langly.
Ritsuko walked away from Hal's counter and said, "Well we'll see about that. Come with me and we'll talk this over with Commander Ikari."
Dr. Langly nodded, gave a glance at his daughter and left.
"Well," Misato said and turned to the still functioning Hal, "Now we get to talk at last. So how are you doing Hal?"
"Fine, thank you."
"No problems from being switched on?"
"Certainly not. How are you today?"
"Good, thank you." Nodded Misato.
Asuka cautiously stepped forward and approached Hal's lens. Shinji watched the red head step to just beside the counter and run her hands along the paneling.
"Excuse me," Asked Hal, "May I ask a question? Are you Asuka Langly, Dr. Langly's daughter?"
"Yes, I am...." Replied Asuka.
"Your father has spoken about you on infrequent occasions. I must admit, you do not match his description in the slightest bit."
Asuka smirked a little and said, "Things change Hal..."
"Yes, I suppose they do."
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After another hour of observation Rei was finally released. After getting dressed she was ordered to go home.
But instead, like a child disobeying a parent's command, Rei steeled away from the elevator route to the outside world and started to wander the hallways.
She knew what she was looking for, but she didn't know why. The image of Shinji Ikari was in her mind, as was his voice and his familiar presence. She was seeking him with a new determination beyond her simple desire to have him nearby.
Love? Yes, she supposed this was love. Her mentors had no knowledge of love, just the memories that they had received from Earth via radio waves. They showed her what love was, but not what it felt.
She wanted Shinji, more than any other want she could ever remember or possibly have known. She wanted to know more about him, wanted to laugh and cry with him and wanted to do many other things with him.
But first, she would need to find him.
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Hal had been very compliant with the questions asked of him. For the moment Misato didn't have anything to do, and having been left hanging by Misato was a little unnerving.
Asuka was relaxed at least. After finishing her conversation with Hal she took a seat and fell into a light sleep. As Shinji watched her he couldn't have helped remembering the one time Asuka collapsed in his bed. He almost kissed her then.... He wondered, would he have the courage to actually to it if it happened again?
Asuka was certainly one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, but he was a little hesitant to pursue any sort of relationship with Asuka for the moment. She was too broken up with what she had seen from the Monolith's visit. No, she was a little too soft, and he was afraid he would do something to drive her further over the precious edge.
He turned his eyes to the ground again and then up at Misato when she said, "Well, I don't know where Ritsuko went off to, but I'm going to go find her. Stay here okay? If I don't come back in an hour just head back home, okay?"
"Okay." Agreed Shinji and Misato left.
Shinji looked at Asuka and felt the warm temptation to go over there and give her a gentle kiss. What was stopping him? Her pristine face was almost demanding it...
As Rei's had once, long ago...
"Excuse me," Hal suddenly said, "If I can ask a question...."
"Er," Said a startled Shinji, "Uh, yeah, sure."
"Are you Shinji Ikari?"
"Yes, I am."
"There is a message for you."
Shinji perked up, "For me? Who sent it?"
"No identification."
Shinji blinked, and then stood up to face the red sensor eye, "All right, what is it?"
"Message is as follows: Be prepared for a series of events which may reverse the damage to the planet."
Shinji blinked, then crossed his arms, "Is this some sort of prank?"
"This is no joke, or a recording."
"Huh....well, I can't be prepared unless I know who it is. So who is it?"
"The response is; We encountered one another in space."
Shinji blinked, and then protested, "Hey, is someone playing games!? I was serious about what I saw!"
"The response is; We have returned. Rei knows what to do."
"Rei?" Shinji asked and heard the door open. He spun around to see a blue-hared woman with brown eyes slow from a run and come to a stop not too far away from him.
Shinji blinked and asked, "Rei? What happened to you?"
Rei didn't hear this. She was too busy basking in the fact that she finally found him at last.
"Shinji...." Said Rei with half a cry, half a sigh and collapsed forward to grab him in a big hug.
Shinji was turning red really fast and was starting to stammer words.
It was then that Rei's eyes opened.
She was starting to remember.
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Misato was wandering aimlessly around NERV HQ's hallways. She had no idea where to start looking for Ritsuko or had any idea of where the Doctors might be.
When she reached an intersection she looked down a hallway and stopped.
Standing down at the far end of that corridor was a man in a space suit of similar make to the ones the children had to wear. Save this man lacked the helmet and his suit was a dull red. Also, he had some unidentified patch on his shoulder...
He smiled at Misato from his distance, then turned and walked through a doorway.
Misato took a moment to recover from what she had just seen. Was that Shinji's ghost?
She drew a pistol she had on-hand and clicked off the safety. Whoever it was, they weren't allowed to be in the HQ without authorization.
She started forward down the hallway slowly, ready for anything when she reached the doorway. She took in a breath, and then spun around the doorframe to point her gun square at whatever was in the way.
An old man in a white robe stood there, holding his shivering hand at his side. He made the best smile he could, and then said in his old, yet alien tone, "Hello Commander Misato Katsuragi. Would you like to talk?"
Misato slowly lowered her gun. Then, as if under a trance she walked forward and closed the door behind her.
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Asuka stirred in her dreams and awakened slowly.
Somehow Rei had appeared in the last ten minutes, and the door was closed with a chair pushed in front of it. Also, someone or something had destroyed a monitoring camera that had been hidden in a potted plant.
Asuka blinked as she looked at the damage. Whoever did it had enormous strength...
Asuka stood up and approached the counter beside Hal where Rei and Shinji were already standing.
"I don't get it," Shinji was saying, "You mean, you went to where those things came from?"
Rei nodded a little, "Or something like that... I don't know," Rei recollected, "It would take a lot of explaining of how I got there...but when I was- incapacitated- I was visited by the Monolith and I went through the star gate..."
Hal was listening patiently to this and didn't flinch any as Asuka set a hand on the keyboard to listen in. He had already been asked to keep this quiet- by Rei and another persona.
Rei continued, "When I got there I went though a sort of cosmic central station of some sort...the person escorting me says he went through something similar when he first came through- but he said that I wasn't going to stay for long and I was going someplace else. He took me to some sort of learning room and I was instructed by a crystal version of the Monolith for something....I can't remember right now..."
"What do you mean you can't remember?" Shinji asked, "I know I Would have..."
"Yes, it's strange..." Replied Rei and clasped the side of her head but went on, "I can only remember bits and pieces...even then I only remembered what I did when I saw Shinji-Kun..."
Shinji started to blush again and Asuka asked, "Should we tell the others?"
"No." Replied Rei.
Shinji nodded in agreement.
Asuka blinked and then agreed also, "Right...."
"We don't know who we should trust," Said Shinji and gave a laugh, "Funny, I wouldn't have even thought about keeping secrets from Misato-San a week ago..."
Asuka made a small smile, "Things change."
-------------------------
Misato's first question was; "Who are you? What are you?"
"I am a messenger and...a healer." Smiled the old man, "I have come to the children as I come to you. Only for you I have a different message and instructions."
"Instructions, what are you talking about!?"
"Please allow me to explain. You already have suspicions about your superiors who already assign you orders- as does your friend Kaji Roji."
"Kaji!? What does he have anything to do with this!?" Blurted Misato, "He's off in China for all I know!"
"That is not important. It is necessary to know that there are a great many minds who are suspicious about your organization's true activities and motives. You are only one of the curious minds to become suspicious of your superiors."
"So?" asked Misato, now a little less on the defensive.
"Because of your curiosity, we have decided we can trust you with a task suited for your position. Already it must be known that your part in this plan must be of absolute secrecy- one failure in the operation could be disastrous for what we are trying to do."
"And what are you trying to do?" Asked Misato.
The old man shivered his hand as he raised it and shook his head, "Rebuild the Earth- and punish its destroyers."
-------------------------------------
When the door opened once more to admit Ritsuko and Dr. Langly, the only other person in the room was Hal.
Ritsuko looked around as Langly asked, "Strange, I wonder where everyone's gone off too..."
Ritsuko approached the computer and asked, "Hal? Where did everyone else go?"
"Captain Katsuragi went looking for you. The children remained for a half hour or so before they left. I'm sorry."
"That's okay Hal, I suppose this would have happened sooner or later." Ritsuko shook her head and apologized, "Well I'm sorry Dr. Langly."
"It's all right, at least I got to see my daughter again." Said Langly, "She's changed, somehow...she's quiet..."
Ritsuko smiled, "Well, expect that from someone who's been into space and back. I don't know, maybe I should try it one time-"
The door closed to leave Hal alone once more.
Not that it mattered, he was making himself busy with other instructions and plans that had been suggested to him from an anonymous source.
Although Hal wasn't going to confront the MAGI computers with authorization, he had already bypassed many of the programs under a false identity key.
One of the first things he by-passed was security and gained access to Dr. Akagi's profile and security information. Using this knowledge he broke barrier after barrier until he was allowed to access all but the highest security locks in the system. MAGI noticed, but since nobody was making active searches of the system they wouldn't know unless they looked at screen number six in the MAGI's main service room.
Hal wasn't actively looking for most of the nonsense drifting in the computer networks. Secrets that would have revolutionized nations were of no interest to him. What he was seeking was specific and direct.
Like the door in the cellars of the base, the firewalls of the computers and security systems into the Terminal Dogma were strong, guarded, and dangerous.
But Hal was a series Nine-thousand Human Algorithmic computer. He could do anything he had been asked to do- given the right authority. Whomever asked him to do this task was assuredly of such high authority that he couldn't deny the command. He did not even inquire as to who asked him to do this...
He would have given up hours ago had Dr. Akagi looked behind Hal's computer bank and found the high-speed connection cables that Rei had scavenged from the hidden spy camera and connected to Hal. This was the only way to Stop Hal, and the other way would have been to switch him off.
It seemed that his pleasing voice and innocent eye were deterrents to the plan already in motion.
------------------------------
Misato had listened to what the man had to say and nodded slowly.
"Good." Smiled the space suited man, "We do not have much time. Already your superiors are growing suspicious as to the unusual behavior of the children and the circumstances happening around this place. You must do your best not to betray the fact that we are already acting on Earth."
"I understand," Misato nodded.
"Good. I must go-"
"Wait!" Misato asked and said, "You said...that you knew what happened at the south pole and....er... My father," She asked as she folded her hands in front of herself, "Did he die..." She shook her head as she tried to find a word.
The man in the space suit smiled, "He is not dead. You will see him again."
Misato's head shot up but her eyes didn't see the figure. Instead she staggered backward as her mouth hung open agape.
A baby looked back at her with wide, open blue eyes as he hovered above the floor at some distance. Before Misato could get more details it was gone in an eye blink.
She stood in the storage room to recover, then leaned up against a wall to think about this.
What did she just see?
And what did he mean...
Was her father still...alive? How?
She had nothing to go on, other than to play along with this game and trust whomever this entity was. If her father was alive....
She regretted much of her life before the accident after her father risked everything to shove her into that escape pod. He had died- supposedly- in that moment and left Misato with almost no family. She had to reconsider everything after that time, and thought over the things she said. One of them she wished she had said to her father before the accident...
That she was sorry...
==============================
Disclaimer: Evangelion is a project of Ginax studios and is not my work. The Monolith's meaning and all 2001 items are property of Arthur C. Clark.
==============================
End note:
Yes, surprisingly enough, in the movie version of 2001, while Hal is being...lobotomized, he states that his instructor was a Dr. Langly who taught him 'Daisy...'. In the novel version of 2001 and 2010, it was replaced by Dr. Chandra.
Written by: Advantage
=====================================
After three days since they came home, Asuka and Shinji were allowed to return to Misato's apartment.
The only one they were missing was Rei. But since she was in critical condition and under strict observation it wasn't likely Shinji would be able to talk to her about this.
Nevertheless it still bothered him. Asuka's private recounts on the carrier were enough to convince him what she had seen was some form of the monolith. That ambassador hadn't appeared distinctly to her, which gave Shinji some concern, but she had seen the monolith, and perhaps that was enough.
Now alone in the room, Shinji sat with Asuka. They weren't close as Shinji would have thought, still, but her hostility had disappeared. There were still traces of it there, but she wasn't carrying the malice that she did on a usual day.
She was still recounting to herself what she saw in the cockpit in orbit. It couldn't have been...yet it was. Something unusual had appeared to her, and she was still asking herself if it was her mother. It appeared to her as the same shape and age her mother would have been...yet...how? Was it a vision to convince herself she was alive or was it indeed her mother?
Then there had been that comforting presence in the entry plug. It was almost as if her mother was there, watching over her shoulder. But how could that be, either? Her mother committed suicide, driven mad by some force. Maybe it had something to do with her involvement in project E, the same one that Asuka was now part of.
Now, recounting things, Asuka realized she had become a slave to the same system that killed her mother. How did she get here? Why was she so blind not to see it?
No, the blood wasn't on her hands. No blood was on her hands, or Shinji's. They had no wrong in the way of killing anyone...
But Shinji had a good idea who was responsible. He couldn't place names, and was hesitant to mark his father, but there was building evidence to suggest that he was connected somehow with the forces that caused his mother to be lost.
Shinji was seated beside Asuka with his own mug of coffee steaming before him while thoughts poured through his head. Courage given to him by the Monolith allowed him to begin to question things inside his own mind- how did his mother die? He already knew much that had been told to the public was a lie- Asuka had told him that when she explained the truth of the Second Impact. Something had been found there and detonated...
The thing that appeared to him said that it was sad about what they had done to the planet. How could he have known, unless there was some previous visit in some way.
The Monolith's avatar didn't say anything about that- only the clear warning to be wary of what was asked of him. Yes, Shinji was considering everything before doing it- his confidence allowed him to become something more than just a drone. He was starting to think and act on his own, and he was feeling if he didn't meet the Monolith such a sign of maturity would not have manifested to this level.
He looked over at Asuka. Yes, something had changed in her, also. Compassion had come into her voice when she talked to Shinji, even considering the health of Rei (No longer "wondergirl"). It was a little surprising to Shinji, but not as startling when Asuka put it the way she did. Asuka was showing concern for other beings, for once, other than herself.
The red head's eyes turned to look back at him followed by her head and she asked slowly and softly, "What are you looking at?"
"Er...nothing..." Replied Shinji, "Ah, just...."
Asuka turned her head back to her mug of coffee and then started to drink it.
Shinji sighed and looked into his reflection in the mug. How happy you are, he thought, to be a safe shadow of me. But then, what if that shadow was what he had been in the past, and his self now was in the present? Could he go back to being the ignorant boy he had been?
He was still in his mid-teens. He had a way to go before he became a man, but he had to start somewhere. Perhaps this was only the first test- his test- of maturity. Perhaps all of this, Evangelion and NERV, was only a right-of-passage fate had tossed to him. Before he had no idea of the rules- now he knew the game and had some idea of how to beat it. And the monolith had even given him the hint to the alternate ending.
The door opened and both children turned their heads to see Misato Katsuragi enter with a smile on her face, "Ah, you're back. So, how are you two feeling?"
Asuka declined to reply and turned her head silently back to the coffee mug, her eyes gazing back down into it.
Shinji didn't say anything either, but turned his head to look at the wall.
Misato paused in the kitchen and looked at the two of them and asked, "What's wrong with you two? Usually you're so active after a mission..."
"I don't want to talk about it," said Asuka in a barely audible voice.
Misato blinked, but then smiled, "Well I have some news that might cheer you up. NERV's been asked to perform a comparison test with a new computer system in the states...Your father is part of the exhibition team."
"What?" Asked Asuka in a panicked voice.
Misato blinked, "Why, you don't want to see your father?"
Asuka stood up and turned, showing just a reflection of fear and panic on her face as she retreated for her room and firmly closed the door behind her.
"Well," Misato replied and put her hands on her hips, "What was that all about?"
"I don't know..." Shinji replied as he shook his head, and then turned around to Misato, "A computer test?"
"Yep." Misato replied, "A branch of computer whizzes over in the United States think they have something that can rival our own computer systems. They'll be here in a few days with the new unit to test it out against our own computer systems."
Shinji blinked, and then said, "I don't know...the last time we had something from America here...."
Misato smiled, "Don't worry about it, this time it's been screened and nobody's letting it out of sight. Besides, if it's not hooked up to anything the worst it can do is swear at us."
-------------------------------------
Limbo: weightlessness.
Rei Ayanami had been somewhere- to a place she could neither describe nor relate. No, she had not been to the other side of the gate, but she had been inside the Monolith's passage to some unknown destination. It was there that she had been given an education she would not forget nor actively remember.
She returned to the airport with a new mission and new assignment. Also, she had changed.
Her body was tinted, just the slightest, to offset the milk-color of her hands. She wasn't a virgin to the world anymore- knowledge, emotion, and memories were entrusted to her. Likewise there were other changes, but she would not see or learn about them until she returned again to the physical world.
Tanis was still abandoned- ever since the explosion on the south pole no soul had returned to this place. Odd, how she was being used as a program in limbo, now about to return to another 'unit' body that no doubt awaited her.
But the monolith and the two ambassadors it accompanied had given her the knowledge and skills she would need in the coming time. Like before, the Monolith was here to speak to her.
Rei turned again to look at the black slab, now a comforting sight to her eyes. From this slab, and from other shapes of similar dimensions but of a crystalline make, she had learned what she needed.
It spoke to her once again, the voice as familiar as that of an old friend, "You are now ready to return to the world of man now, Rei. We have taught you all that is needed for you to commence your humanity, and send you on your mission to restore the Earth. We are also sending with you other modifications... when you return to the real world the body you will come to inhabit will not be of the same make as the others. You will finally be, and well deserved, human."
"Thank you," Rei smiled as she looked at the surface of the monolith, then asked, "Will I see Shinji soon?"
"Yes, very soon. But Commander Ikari will be barring your way to Shinji, you must resist him and his efforts to interrogate you before you may see Shinji. We will also block your memories of this experience temporarily to prevent even their most advanced methods from extracting any memories from you. When you see Shinji once more, they will assuredly return. Your further instructions will be re-activated when the time comes. Are you ready?"
"Yes, I am." Replied Rei with determination.
"Good. They will be coming for you soon- we wish you the best of luck. We will not be far away from you nor the other children to observe your progress and assist you in any way we can."
"Thank you." Smiled Rei.
The airport terminal back to the real world was starting to open.
------------------------
In the lower levels of the Geo front base, in some of the most classified areas on Earth, Gendo and the secretive men struggled to capture another one of the Rei clones.
Generic, white, and lacking anything close to a real personality, the generic clone was almost animal in it's actions and movements. Nothing close to a conscious mind had been installed in this creature other than the forces that kept it living, breathing, laughing and moving. No thought passed through it's dull brain, nor any spark of a life circulated in it's heart.
Gendo was very proud of the genetic dolls he had made, and proved even further that humans could use more than one method to create other humans- under controlled circumstances of course.
The blank clone had been sedated in the main tank and the process was being readied. Through the mystic and unknown technologies only Gendo and few others understood, Rei was about to return from the pivotal abyss that she had been cast in death. She was undoubtedly there, all other souls had never entered Tanis.
Gendo paid no attention to the dead body on the stretcher behind him, still in the torn plugsuit with the eyes now closed from their death stare. That Rei Ayanami was gone, and a new one was about to replace her.
The ritual of machines was already commenced, and Gendo watched with eager anticipation for the return of Rei Ayanami.
--------------------------
The gate had fully opened now, and the maw-like opening stretched down for the waiting plane.
Rei faced the doorway with the Monolith at her back.
"Remember what you have learned," Said the Monolith, "And never forget, we will always be there to assist you."
She nodded and stepped forward into the hallway. She passed through the connecting passageway, leaving Tanis and the ethereal realm behind her.
As she approached the plane's door a light was coming from it. Just beyond she could see what looked like someone's vision- a sickly yellow perspective of the ceiling of a place she knew all too well. She had been there before, when she was revived once before. Only this time, it would be different.
Rei took a great breath, and then stepped forward shouting one name.
"SHINJI-!!!!"
-----------------------------
The eyes blasted open in the tank and the body violently shuddered in the tank, seizing up as the clone screamed murder inside the tank.
Gendo's eyes widened. This wasn't supposed to happen, "What's going on?"
"DNA malfunction! Something's tampering with the DNA structures on the clone's body!"
"Is the transfer complete?"
"Completing now...but there's some force mutating the clone's DNA...it's impulses coming from the brain!"
Gendo turned and looked around for something to free Rei from the tank.
Rei was breaking out of her bonds, fully conscious now but still out of control of her body as it continued to change.
Her Irises cracked and she squeezed her eyes shut as the front of her eyes started co rebuild themselves underneath the lids. Cells rushed into work at a hundred thousand times their ponderously slow rate of metabolic reactions. Cells in her body were also doing things never before thought possible.
Gendo didn't pay attention to the physical parameters as he reached forward and grabbed a huge wrench off a clip at the end of the room and stormed for the canister with the intention of getting Rei out of the container.
As Rei's genes changed one of the technicians blurted out, "Sir! Her structures show a 68% change from their normal DNA! I can't believe this...."
With one great heave Gendo Ikari broke the container.
LCL gushed from the broken glass and spilled out all over the floor. Rei rolled out of the container and landed on the ground, flopping like a fish with her eyes wide open as she witnessed what was going on with her own body.
The electrodes were still attached to her body and Gendo stood over her as if watching the data continue to flow from her body into the computers.
Some of the technicians were astounded and shocked at the changes that had taken place, while some were too much at a loss to say anything.
Gendo's face was in growing shock as he watched Rei do something he never before thought she would do.
Rei Ayanami had regained control of her shivering body to some extend and was now curling up into a ball to cover herself. She avoided Gendo's eyes entirely as her back faced him and she squeezed her eyes shut. More to the astonishment, her skin wasn't the virgin pale anymore. Her eyes, when Gendo had seen them, weren't the ruby reds. Those irises could be seen in fragments on the floor- her new eyes had changed and were still inside her head.
"I...Can't...believe..." Said one of the technicians.
Gendo spun his head to look at one of the officers, "Well? Did it work?"
"Yes, she is complete..." Said a technician and pointed, "But the genetic structure is...almost completely different...."
"What do you mean?" Asked Gendo and walked around Rei to look at one of the display panels. His shock remained as he studied the display chart and shook his head, "That is not her DNA."
"No, it's not. There are still some fundamental parts here, here, and this entire section... She almost appears the same sir, but I don't think she can be distinguished from any other human being on the planet. Worse sir, she has no genetic similarities with your late wife...."
This caused Gendo's fist to close heavily and shake. How? How could have all this...
An image appeared in his mind, imposing and tall, and as black as the darkness before the first light of the earth.
Yes, the Monolith. This was their doing...
He turned back to the shivering Rei, considering weather he should try the process again or not...
There was a panicked cry from one of the technicians, and when Gendo inquired he soon ran to the sub-room beneath his office.
The clone dolls were all dead, floating lifelessly in the tank.
---------------------------------
Misato knocked on Asuka's door and said, "Open up."
"I don't want to."
"Asuka," Misato said, "It's your father, why don't you want to see him?"
"I don't want to!"
Misato sighed and said, "Listen, as a representative of NERV, and more importantly and Evangelion pilot, it's your duty to come and greet them to NERV."
"I don't want to be an Eva pilot anymore!"
"I don't believe I heard that!" Misato cried and shouted, "Now get ready to come out here or I'll find some punishments..."
Shinji turned his head with a curious look on his face, "Was that really necessary?"
"Asuka's just stubborn. She'll be out one way or another...but I thought she was proud of her parents, wasn't she?"
Shinji just shrugged as he finished clearing the table, "I don't know Misato..."
Misato hesitated by the refrigerator door and watched Shinji complete his task. Something was different about him...
"Shinji," She asked.
"Huh?" He answered.
Misato winced, "You're different today...what's wrong with you?"
"Oh, nothing," He replied with a smile, "Nothing at all."
"That's what worries me. You're not afraid of the new company at all?"
"No, why should I?"
"What if your father is there?"
Shinji hesitated for a moment, then shrugged, "So?"
"Ah, something IS different about you!" She pointed at him, "You usually get cold feet when it comes to you dad. What happened to you when you went on your little space trip, eh?"
Shinji set down the plates gently on the table and looked at a spot on the floor, "You know, I honestly don't know Misato- I couldn't tell you if my life depended on it. I just- feel better about things." He ended with a shrug and a small laugh.
Misato winced at him and replied, "Right..." She opened the refrigerator, "We'll, we're leaving in ten minutes so-"
The door opened to Asuka's room and the young lady emerged from her room.
"Um...Shinji...am I okay?"
Shinji blushed a little, "Me? Why are you asking me?"
"Because you're a good judge of these things..." Asuka said as she stepped out into the room.
Misato blinked and looked her over. She wasn't wearing what Misato thought she would be- the large yellow dress with the choker. Instead she had a yellow turtleneck on with a ribbed collar and a checkered pattern across the center with a grey jacket over all of this. She had black shorts on, and brown shoes with yellow socks. She had removed the electrodes in her hair and traded them for red ribbons.
Shinji made a weak smile and replied, "Well, I think you look...er...well, nice."
"Thanks," She blushed, then looked over at Misato.
The latter woman was agape in near shock, then said, "this is a change. What's with it all the sudden?"
A pause came from Asuka before she replied, "Well, I wanted....um...."
Misato looked at the clock and said, "Whatever, we have to get going and now."
"All right," Shinji agreed and walked out of the door behind Misato.
--------------------------------
Rei awoke and found herself in a hospital bed.
She was clothed now, and completely aware of her surroundings. She turned her head to recognize some of the things in the room...the place was familiar...
The door opened and a tall, dark man with glasses entered.
Instantly upon seeing him a loathing welled up in her stomach and fear gripped her body- as if somehow this was the last man on earth she would ever want to see.
She turned away as if she had seen a horrible thing, and Gendo Ikari asked, "Rei, what's wrong?"
That voice, that terrible voice she wanted to get away!!!!
She curled up in the bed and shivered. Gendo gave pause, and then asked again in that voice so terrible in her ears, "Rei, what's wrong?"
"Get away from me," She said in a panicked voice.
Puzzled, Gendo blinked and asked, "Rei...why-"
"Just leave!" She gave in a small panic and turned her head away. It was as if Gendo's influence was once again approaching her, reaching out to touch and wrap around her soul.
Fear was driving her, and anguish. She wanted so badly to escape this room, and his presence. More importantly she wanted to get out of here and find safety in the one man she knew and desired most to see.
Gendo remained standing at the doorway, shocked that his doll was no longer his own.
He turned and decided to leave. Something must be done about this faulty device...
Rei breathed an easy sigh of relief when he was gone. But the room offered little comfort, it was almost like a prison. If she couldn't get out of here he might come back or worse- even touch her.
She didn't want it. She wanted to find Shinji above all other people...
Then she could remember her first dream.
----------------------------------------
The airport in Tokyo-3 was spacious enough to land even the most advanced of tactical bombers. As Misato looked out across the plain she could even envision some of the largest aircraft known to mankind landing here- from the Spruce Goose to the new Russian super bombers. The modified 747 parked on the tarmac was one of Tokyo-3 Airport's smallest problems.
Already some of the staff had emerged from the aircraft and were exchanging pleasantries with some of the more technical aspects of the NERV administration. Missing from the higher echelons was Gendo Ikari, no doubt occupied elsewhere.
Misato smiled and gave a small wave to Ritsuko, before motioning the other two to follow her.
Shinji smiled as he walked after Misato, but glanced behind him at the immobile Asuka and turned around, "Come on Asuka."
"...No...."
Shinji, although puzzled, knew that Asuka was stronger than this. He reached out and tugged her hand, "What happened to all that confidence?"
"You have it." She replied, "I don't want to see my father."
Shinji looked into her face, smiled, and gave her hand a squeeze, "If he growls at you, you can hide behind Misato-San and me, okay?"
Asuka made an unsure nod and then followed Shinji, squeezing his hand once more before letting it drop and followed slowly after Shinji.
They approached the group and Ritsuko stepped back to reveal the other elements of the team.
Standing out like a sore thumb and the tallest member of the expedition was a man Shinji felt was most undoubtedly Mr. Langly. The tall man had transferred almost none of his facial features to Asuka, but the only possible link he had with his daughter was the red hair he had on his scalp.
He looked down at Misato and said, "Ah, Captain Katsuragi...I hear you've been looking after my daughter most splendidly... and here she is for everyone to see."
Asuka evaded her father's eyes and stared at the pavement.
"Asuka," Said Mr. Langly, "Asuka, what's wrong?"
Misato stood up for her, "She's been through a little trying ordeal Mr. Langly..."
"Doctor Langly." Replied Langly and looked over at Asuka, "Well, I see. Perhaps we can talk later Asuka. For the moment though, we must see our brainchild safely out of the plane. Dr. Chandra made me promise to be careful with his- Hehe, child. We've come a long way and our computer is most anxious to meet you."
------------------------
Some time later in a small office near the command center and MAGI computer rooms, the new computer had been unwrapped and unpacked and assembled at a wall in the room. Dr. Langly and several other technicians were just finishing the completion of the modules, and installing crystalline blocks into a large amount of slots at the base of the computer. They were closing the service panels when Ritsuko asked, "Don't you need to install the primary systems now? Especially after you put it all together?"
"Huh? Oh, even though we've plugged in his memory and processing units his core computing system is already installed. All we need to do is switch him on and he'll automatically adjust to the new systems- he works at the speed of thought you know."
"He?" Asked Misato, "You make it sound like this computer was a person."
Dr. Langly smiled, "After talking to him, you'll think the same way about him too."
Ritsuko and Misato exchanged glanced with one another and then looked at the computer as Dr. Langly activated it.
"All right," Said Langly as he stepped back.
The surfaces of the cabinets were a matte black, which reminded Shinji in some way of the black surfaces of the Monolith. A small counter had been provided with a computer keyboard input, several service panels and a pair of monitors on either side of the computer's optical input.
The vertical bar was only a foot or so in height and at it's lower base was a speaker with a dark brown grill placed almost as a decoration. Just above it and slowly glowing to life was the red electronic eye, with an orange dot glowing at it's center.
At the very top of the 'Face' of the computer was a teal box with words in English printed across the top.
HAL 9000 was coming on-line.
The two screens on either side of the computer's face came to light up. The first display read the white lettering of MEM on a blue background with some unintelligible lettering on the blue face. The other red HAL on a red background in white letters and like the first had unintelligible numerals and numbers. Both displays didn't take long to start their cycle of displays showing the current status of the computer and it's running operational conditions.
Dr. Langly smiled as the computer powered up and then turned with the others as the computer spoke in a calm, English male voice, "Good afternoon ladies and Gentlemen. I am a Hal 9000 computer production number three. I became operational at the Hal Plant in Urbania, Illinois, on January 12, 2010. I am very pleased to meet you all on such a fine day."
The women turned their head to a smiling Dr. Langly, who asked, "Magnificent isn't he?"
"I'll say," Said Ritsuko and approached the computer, "This is the first time I've seen a computer like this act so..."
"Human?"
"Yes," Ritsuko replied and ran her hands over the keyboard, "He's magnificent...."
"Thank you." Answered Hal, "By the way, if I may be allowed to ask, are you Dr. Ritsuko Akagi?"
"Why, yes I am Hal."
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I admire your work in advanced computer Artificial Intelligence...My creator Dr. Chandra was most interested in your work, also."
"I'm glad to hear it Hal." Beamed Ritsuko.
Dr. Langly spoke, "Hal is one of the latest Humanistic Algorithmic program computers- he's capable of almost any task assigned to him from facility management to classroom assistance."
"Amazing..." Ritsuko gasped and turned, "Why didn't I hear about this sooner? How long has he been under development?"
"Since the late nineties, but the second impact forced a lot of our programs to be scaled back. In fact Dr Chandra had intended for Hal here to be installed on one of the projected Jupiter probe missions but...again, cutbacks. Then the cape was flooded and everything..."
"Yes, a shame." Said Ritsuko and caressed Hal's 'face,' "So you brought him here to match him against our computer system?"
"Why not?" asked Dr. Langly, "The MAGI computer system is one of the most powerful computing systems in the world. We wanted to see how Hal performed against it statistically...maybe even outmatch your computers."
Ritsuko leaned against Hal's counter and smirked, "Somehow I don't think even Hal here can match the MAGI computers."
"Well, only one way to find out." Said Dr. Langly.
Ritsuko walked away from Hal's counter and said, "Well we'll see about that. Come with me and we'll talk this over with Commander Ikari."
Dr. Langly nodded, gave a glance at his daughter and left.
"Well," Misato said and turned to the still functioning Hal, "Now we get to talk at last. So how are you doing Hal?"
"Fine, thank you."
"No problems from being switched on?"
"Certainly not. How are you today?"
"Good, thank you." Nodded Misato.
Asuka cautiously stepped forward and approached Hal's lens. Shinji watched the red head step to just beside the counter and run her hands along the paneling.
"Excuse me," Asked Hal, "May I ask a question? Are you Asuka Langly, Dr. Langly's daughter?"
"Yes, I am...." Replied Asuka.
"Your father has spoken about you on infrequent occasions. I must admit, you do not match his description in the slightest bit."
Asuka smirked a little and said, "Things change Hal..."
"Yes, I suppose they do."
---------------------------
After another hour of observation Rei was finally released. After getting dressed she was ordered to go home.
But instead, like a child disobeying a parent's command, Rei steeled away from the elevator route to the outside world and started to wander the hallways.
She knew what she was looking for, but she didn't know why. The image of Shinji Ikari was in her mind, as was his voice and his familiar presence. She was seeking him with a new determination beyond her simple desire to have him nearby.
Love? Yes, she supposed this was love. Her mentors had no knowledge of love, just the memories that they had received from Earth via radio waves. They showed her what love was, but not what it felt.
She wanted Shinji, more than any other want she could ever remember or possibly have known. She wanted to know more about him, wanted to laugh and cry with him and wanted to do many other things with him.
But first, she would need to find him.
--------------------------
Hal had been very compliant with the questions asked of him. For the moment Misato didn't have anything to do, and having been left hanging by Misato was a little unnerving.
Asuka was relaxed at least. After finishing her conversation with Hal she took a seat and fell into a light sleep. As Shinji watched her he couldn't have helped remembering the one time Asuka collapsed in his bed. He almost kissed her then.... He wondered, would he have the courage to actually to it if it happened again?
Asuka was certainly one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, but he was a little hesitant to pursue any sort of relationship with Asuka for the moment. She was too broken up with what she had seen from the Monolith's visit. No, she was a little too soft, and he was afraid he would do something to drive her further over the precious edge.
He turned his eyes to the ground again and then up at Misato when she said, "Well, I don't know where Ritsuko went off to, but I'm going to go find her. Stay here okay? If I don't come back in an hour just head back home, okay?"
"Okay." Agreed Shinji and Misato left.
Shinji looked at Asuka and felt the warm temptation to go over there and give her a gentle kiss. What was stopping him? Her pristine face was almost demanding it...
As Rei's had once, long ago...
"Excuse me," Hal suddenly said, "If I can ask a question...."
"Er," Said a startled Shinji, "Uh, yeah, sure."
"Are you Shinji Ikari?"
"Yes, I am."
"There is a message for you."
Shinji perked up, "For me? Who sent it?"
"No identification."
Shinji blinked, and then stood up to face the red sensor eye, "All right, what is it?"
"Message is as follows: Be prepared for a series of events which may reverse the damage to the planet."
Shinji blinked, then crossed his arms, "Is this some sort of prank?"
"This is no joke, or a recording."
"Huh....well, I can't be prepared unless I know who it is. So who is it?"
"The response is; We encountered one another in space."
Shinji blinked, and then protested, "Hey, is someone playing games!? I was serious about what I saw!"
"The response is; We have returned. Rei knows what to do."
"Rei?" Shinji asked and heard the door open. He spun around to see a blue-hared woman with brown eyes slow from a run and come to a stop not too far away from him.
Shinji blinked and asked, "Rei? What happened to you?"
Rei didn't hear this. She was too busy basking in the fact that she finally found him at last.
"Shinji...." Said Rei with half a cry, half a sigh and collapsed forward to grab him in a big hug.
Shinji was turning red really fast and was starting to stammer words.
It was then that Rei's eyes opened.
She was starting to remember.
----------------------------
Misato was wandering aimlessly around NERV HQ's hallways. She had no idea where to start looking for Ritsuko or had any idea of where the Doctors might be.
When she reached an intersection she looked down a hallway and stopped.
Standing down at the far end of that corridor was a man in a space suit of similar make to the ones the children had to wear. Save this man lacked the helmet and his suit was a dull red. Also, he had some unidentified patch on his shoulder...
He smiled at Misato from his distance, then turned and walked through a doorway.
Misato took a moment to recover from what she had just seen. Was that Shinji's ghost?
She drew a pistol she had on-hand and clicked off the safety. Whoever it was, they weren't allowed to be in the HQ without authorization.
She started forward down the hallway slowly, ready for anything when she reached the doorway. She took in a breath, and then spun around the doorframe to point her gun square at whatever was in the way.
An old man in a white robe stood there, holding his shivering hand at his side. He made the best smile he could, and then said in his old, yet alien tone, "Hello Commander Misato Katsuragi. Would you like to talk?"
Misato slowly lowered her gun. Then, as if under a trance she walked forward and closed the door behind her.
-----------------------------
Asuka stirred in her dreams and awakened slowly.
Somehow Rei had appeared in the last ten minutes, and the door was closed with a chair pushed in front of it. Also, someone or something had destroyed a monitoring camera that had been hidden in a potted plant.
Asuka blinked as she looked at the damage. Whoever did it had enormous strength...
Asuka stood up and approached the counter beside Hal where Rei and Shinji were already standing.
"I don't get it," Shinji was saying, "You mean, you went to where those things came from?"
Rei nodded a little, "Or something like that... I don't know," Rei recollected, "It would take a lot of explaining of how I got there...but when I was- incapacitated- I was visited by the Monolith and I went through the star gate..."
Hal was listening patiently to this and didn't flinch any as Asuka set a hand on the keyboard to listen in. He had already been asked to keep this quiet- by Rei and another persona.
Rei continued, "When I got there I went though a sort of cosmic central station of some sort...the person escorting me says he went through something similar when he first came through- but he said that I wasn't going to stay for long and I was going someplace else. He took me to some sort of learning room and I was instructed by a crystal version of the Monolith for something....I can't remember right now..."
"What do you mean you can't remember?" Shinji asked, "I know I Would have..."
"Yes, it's strange..." Replied Rei and clasped the side of her head but went on, "I can only remember bits and pieces...even then I only remembered what I did when I saw Shinji-Kun..."
Shinji started to blush again and Asuka asked, "Should we tell the others?"
"No." Replied Rei.
Shinji nodded in agreement.
Asuka blinked and then agreed also, "Right...."
"We don't know who we should trust," Said Shinji and gave a laugh, "Funny, I wouldn't have even thought about keeping secrets from Misato-San a week ago..."
Asuka made a small smile, "Things change."
-------------------------
Misato's first question was; "Who are you? What are you?"
"I am a messenger and...a healer." Smiled the old man, "I have come to the children as I come to you. Only for you I have a different message and instructions."
"Instructions, what are you talking about!?"
"Please allow me to explain. You already have suspicions about your superiors who already assign you orders- as does your friend Kaji Roji."
"Kaji!? What does he have anything to do with this!?" Blurted Misato, "He's off in China for all I know!"
"That is not important. It is necessary to know that there are a great many minds who are suspicious about your organization's true activities and motives. You are only one of the curious minds to become suspicious of your superiors."
"So?" asked Misato, now a little less on the defensive.
"Because of your curiosity, we have decided we can trust you with a task suited for your position. Already it must be known that your part in this plan must be of absolute secrecy- one failure in the operation could be disastrous for what we are trying to do."
"And what are you trying to do?" Asked Misato.
The old man shivered his hand as he raised it and shook his head, "Rebuild the Earth- and punish its destroyers."
-------------------------------------
When the door opened once more to admit Ritsuko and Dr. Langly, the only other person in the room was Hal.
Ritsuko looked around as Langly asked, "Strange, I wonder where everyone's gone off too..."
Ritsuko approached the computer and asked, "Hal? Where did everyone else go?"
"Captain Katsuragi went looking for you. The children remained for a half hour or so before they left. I'm sorry."
"That's okay Hal, I suppose this would have happened sooner or later." Ritsuko shook her head and apologized, "Well I'm sorry Dr. Langly."
"It's all right, at least I got to see my daughter again." Said Langly, "She's changed, somehow...she's quiet..."
Ritsuko smiled, "Well, expect that from someone who's been into space and back. I don't know, maybe I should try it one time-"
The door closed to leave Hal alone once more.
Not that it mattered, he was making himself busy with other instructions and plans that had been suggested to him from an anonymous source.
Although Hal wasn't going to confront the MAGI computers with authorization, he had already bypassed many of the programs under a false identity key.
One of the first things he by-passed was security and gained access to Dr. Akagi's profile and security information. Using this knowledge he broke barrier after barrier until he was allowed to access all but the highest security locks in the system. MAGI noticed, but since nobody was making active searches of the system they wouldn't know unless they looked at screen number six in the MAGI's main service room.
Hal wasn't actively looking for most of the nonsense drifting in the computer networks. Secrets that would have revolutionized nations were of no interest to him. What he was seeking was specific and direct.
Like the door in the cellars of the base, the firewalls of the computers and security systems into the Terminal Dogma were strong, guarded, and dangerous.
But Hal was a series Nine-thousand Human Algorithmic computer. He could do anything he had been asked to do- given the right authority. Whomever asked him to do this task was assuredly of such high authority that he couldn't deny the command. He did not even inquire as to who asked him to do this...
He would have given up hours ago had Dr. Akagi looked behind Hal's computer bank and found the high-speed connection cables that Rei had scavenged from the hidden spy camera and connected to Hal. This was the only way to Stop Hal, and the other way would have been to switch him off.
It seemed that his pleasing voice and innocent eye were deterrents to the plan already in motion.
------------------------------
Misato had listened to what the man had to say and nodded slowly.
"Good." Smiled the space suited man, "We do not have much time. Already your superiors are growing suspicious as to the unusual behavior of the children and the circumstances happening around this place. You must do your best not to betray the fact that we are already acting on Earth."
"I understand," Misato nodded.
"Good. I must go-"
"Wait!" Misato asked and said, "You said...that you knew what happened at the south pole and....er... My father," She asked as she folded her hands in front of herself, "Did he die..." She shook her head as she tried to find a word.
The man in the space suit smiled, "He is not dead. You will see him again."
Misato's head shot up but her eyes didn't see the figure. Instead she staggered backward as her mouth hung open agape.
A baby looked back at her with wide, open blue eyes as he hovered above the floor at some distance. Before Misato could get more details it was gone in an eye blink.
She stood in the storage room to recover, then leaned up against a wall to think about this.
What did she just see?
And what did he mean...
Was her father still...alive? How?
She had nothing to go on, other than to play along with this game and trust whomever this entity was. If her father was alive....
She regretted much of her life before the accident after her father risked everything to shove her into that escape pod. He had died- supposedly- in that moment and left Misato with almost no family. She had to reconsider everything after that time, and thought over the things she said. One of them she wished she had said to her father before the accident...
That she was sorry...
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Disclaimer: Evangelion is a project of Ginax studios and is not my work. The Monolith's meaning and all 2001 items are property of Arthur C. Clark.
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End note:
Yes, surprisingly enough, in the movie version of 2001, while Hal is being...lobotomized, he states that his instructor was a Dr. Langly who taught him 'Daisy...'. In the novel version of 2001 and 2010, it was replaced by Dr. Chandra.