Conversations and Observations Chapter One Part 9 – Urgent Messages

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Thursday Afternoon.

Just as the intertwining nature of light and dark defines the world we live in, so too does the intertwining nature of light and dark dictate the nature of the human soul. To say that human beings have an equal capacity for good and for evil is a simple truth. But to understand it, one must look at the soul, as it twists and snakes around itself to form the personality of the body it occupies.

Even the darkest souls have a touch of light within them. And even the brightest souls always cast a shadow. While this is unavoidable, there is always the hope that the human mind and conscience can dictate the soul's nature to some extent. That the people have the ability to choose who they are, and to which side they will belong. A person may choose a path of light, or they may choose the darkness.

However, choice is never the only factor. For a good soul to remain in the light, they must recognize the darkness within, and fight it. In order to do that, they must be willing to face their true selves, and understand the nature of the Light of the Soul.

Unfortunately for Asuka Langley Sohryu, self-revelation on that particular level was an impossible challenge. She tried, tried to face the inner fear of the truth: To see her mother, to know what drove her to the madness that forced her to commit suicide. To understand what a horrid creation she really was. She doubted most everything about herself: Her purpose, her reason for existence. Perhaps, even her humanity.

"What kind of animal am I?" Asuka asked herself as she sat on her bed, lying across its surface. Shinji and Rei were practicing synchronization in the living room. They were trying to form a plan to extract the pilot from Unit 03 once it went active. Asuka knew Ayanami held no hope that they would be able to accomplish the synchronization. After all, Asuka had refused to even join their planning for the mission that would undoubtedly ensue tomorrow.

She knew that Shinji would look at her door every fifteen minutes; she knew that if she stuck her head out there, she'd be able to stare into his eyes. She also knew that Rei's haunting orbs would also be transfixed upon her. Somehow that was a comforting thought.

Yet she did not join her fellow pilots. "What kind of idiot are you, Asuka?" She asked herself. "Are you abandoning hope?" She made herself think about those words for a few moments, as she rolled over to stare at the clock. 1:17pm. She quickly rolled over again, and buried her head in her arms. "You Dumbkopf!" She berated herself. But she also knew the truth. 'I had given up hope long ago. Back when I walked in on my mother… when she was…' She shook her head violently as she flung herself backwards on her mattress, landing in a pile of pillows like some sort of red-haired fairytale princess.

Hope was something the young Sohryu had given up long ago. She knew that is why it was so hard for her to synchronize with her Evangelion. But she knew something now that she didn't know then. "I know where you are Mama. I know you're there. Inside, waiting for me. Waiting to protect me. To protect me as you couldn't before."

And so for the first time that day, Asuka Langley Sohryu had something she had long lost and nearly forgotten: Hope. And with that one simple weapon, came the truth of the AT Field. The understanding of the Light of the Soul.

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Maya Ibuki had only traveled to the depths of the geo-front once before. She was cleared, only barely, to enter the bowels of the installation. But even she could not go to Heaven's Gate. That clearance was for the Commanders… and for Akagi-sempai, alone.

But the Dummy System interface was a part of her clearance. She was often asked to work on parts associated with the matrix, and occasionally with the synchronization tube that Rei used to pass her knowledge into the matrix. But the tube was the only thing she had ever seen. A single cylinder of technology surrounded by black walls, and the red outline of the letters of the building blocks of life – DNA. The endless stream of A's, T's, G's and C's that make up the formula to build all living organisms.

Even though she knew that the room was a machine, built by the same mind that forged the Magi… she could help but feel that each time she had entered the buried tomb like structure that she was being intently watched. Even now as she approached the door leading into this inner sanctum, she doubted her motivations for going in.

After all, she had just discovered an anomaly in the Magi's Dummy Matrix. The code was odd, laced with what appeared to be almost random elements; but, those elements were forming complex mathematical structures. So dynamic were these structures, that it appeared, almost, as if the Magi were developing a genetic, thinking, code beyond the simple deliberation and argumentative structure that was driven by the engramatic remnants of Doctor Naoko Akagi's original imprints.

Maya hoped to find Doctor Akagi performing her usual magic down here… As the door opened however, the answers to her hope was a nightmare…

"Sempai?" Maya asked tentatively, entering the room slowly.

Akagi's suspended form looked up. "Primary calculations for simulation body and dummy interface with the Magi… Thirty… fifty six. Ninety five are correct. Limited four and eight are missing…"

"Doctor Akagi?" Maya again queried.

"Your inquiry is invalid. State your clearance." Akagi's voice echoed throughout the chamber.

Maya looked around the chamber, trying to identify the strange echo that accompanied her teacher's voice.

"Your inquiry is invalid. State your clearance." The doctor blandly repeated.

Maya thought for a moment, this was something the Magi did to challenge individuals it suspected of trying to hack the system or improperly use an accidentally logged in command line. "My clearance code is 'blue blue fourteen eighty one alpha'.

Akagi's head tilted downward for a moment. "Searching…"

'Good god, she's interfaced with the Magi. It's using her as a terminal…' Maya thought as the doctor floated in the LCL suspension.

"Clearance approved. Maya Ibuki."

Maya stiffened slightly, 'I will have to direct my inquires as though she were the Magi.' "Why is Doctor Akagi attached to the dummy system?"

"I am not attached to the dummy system." The doctor replied.

'Odd.' "Who is attached to the dummy system?"

"Ritsuko Akagi."

"Then Doctor Akagi is attached to the Dummy System."

"Negative. I am not attached to the Dummy System."

"Who are you?"

"Doctor Naoko Akagi."

Maya suddenly blanched. She was speaking with the engramatic presence of Naoko Akagi. 'I must tread carefully.' "Then what is the purpose for Doc… Doctor Ritsuko Akagi's attachment to the Dummy System."

"She is currently directly accessing Magi functions to program the Dummy System for immediate operation."

"Why"

"Command directive 001 230 1447." The Magi replied with Ritsuko's voice.

Maya heard it again, the strange echo – it was almost like Rei's voice. "What is the source of the echo…?"

"The Dummy System." The Magi replied.

"What is the Dummy System?"

"The Dummy System is the Rapid Evolution Initiative. Originally specified Project REI. Primary source material for Project REI is specimen zero one. Reference Heaven's Gate. Secondary source material is genetic remnants of activation test zero four three, performed March 10, 2004. Test unit was alpha four one. Unit source material is specimen zero one. Secondary source material is pilot Yui Ikari. Source material was reduced to base amino acids, structure indeterminate."

'Yui Ikari… Shinji's mother…' "Why was…" Maya licked her lips slightly, "Why was Yui Ikari reduced to base amino acids?"

"Magi dummy system buffer override was issued, Akagi 666. Unit was allowed to directly interface with Ego Border of test pilot… resulting in loss of Ego Border and deconstruction of physical form."

"Did the dummy system exist before… the accident?"

"Affirmative."

"Why was the secondary genetic material added?"

"To provide Project REI organisms with altered physical attributes."

"Why?"

"Unknown."

Several moments passed in silence as Maya watched her mentor floating in the Dummy System… Finally she asked, "Show me… show me the Dummy System."

A moment passed, as the Magi considered the request. In the next instant, illumination filled the room.

"Rei?" Maya gasped, as she looked around the now illuminated chamber. A dozen Rei's eyes snapped up and focused on the Lieutenant.

"Illumination activated…" The Magi said, using both Doctor Akagi and the many Rei clones as its voice.

"D…Deactivate illumination…" Maya whispered, and watched as the tank went black.

"Do you have any further requests, Maya Ibuki?"

"H… How long until Doctor Akagi is released from… from the Magi Interface?"

"Upon Commander Ikari's order," The machine replied.

"I… I have no more requests at this time." Maya mumbled.

"User Maya Ibuki, logged out." Akagi's voice quavered, then her head fell downwards, and her body went limp.

For her part, Maya backed up until she met the closed door behind her. As she hit it, she fell limp, and collapsed in a heap on the floor, tears coming from her eyes. "Sempai…"

-

"What are you thinking Shinji?" Rei asked softly, looking into his eyes as they took a break from their practice.

"It… It might work."

"It has to work." Rei affirmed.

"What if… What if father tries to stop us? I mean…"

Rei nodded in understanding. "He might try to use the Dummy System. While it's been officially installed in Unit 01, it's possible that unmarked plugs have been placed in both Sohryu's Eva and My own." Rei sighed, "That's why it is very important that you learn how to block my intrusions into your mind."

"But I thought they couldn't copy the soul…" Shinji said.

"They can't. But the Dummy System is the echo of my mind. While you are one with Evangelion, you both share the same mind. If you learn how to block my thought patterns, then you can override the Dummy System uplink."

"Rei, I've not been able to stop you for more than a few seconds…"

"With time and practice, you will be able to do better."

Shinji sighed, "But…"

"Stop it now, Shinji-kun. If you doubt yourself, then you've already failed." Rei said, touching his cheek for a moment with her fingers. Shinji leaned into the soft caress, but knew not to let himself get carried away.

Meanwhile their silent observer mulled the words of the First Child. 'If you doubt yourself, then you've already failed.' Asuka sighed as she stood limply at the door. "I've never believed in myself…"

Rei blinked, and turned to face Asuka who was standing at the doorway. Rei looked into her seemingly dead blue eyes. "Sohryu? Please, come join us."

"I…"

"Just sit." Rei said, "Be with us. You don't have to do anything."

"But…"

"We're not going to force anything, Asuka. Believe me." Shinji said, encouraging the girl to come and sit with them.

Asuka nodded slightly, and hesitantly walked to where the two children were sitting. As she looked down upon the two children seated on the floor, she let out a slight sigh. Then she gracelessly lowered herself to the floor, loosing her balance in the last second and falling the last couple inches to the carpet. "Umph…"

Rei smiled slightly, before washing the instant of emotion from her features.

"What, you're going to laugh at me?"

"It was… Humorous." Rei said.

Shinji looked at Rei for a moment, "She flopped down…"

"She did." Rei replied.

"So, I flop down…" Shinji stated.

"Yes, you do." Rei affirmed.

"So what was funny about it?"

"Since when have you ever known Sohryu to 'Flop' down like a normal child?" Rei asked softly.

Sohryu blinked, and in a complete defiance of all facts and logic, stated boldly: "I do not flop!"

Rei glanced at her for several long seconds. Just as Asuka was about to declare victory, Rei spoke: "Do too."

Asuka sneered, "Did not!"

"Did too." Rei replied, barely suppressing a giggle.

Shinji sat looking at the two girls with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Did Not!" Asuka again exclaimed.

In a completely un Rei-like fashion a large grin appeared on her face as she said the words, "Did so."

"Why you little…."

Rei smiled, "I'm not little."

"I DO NOT FLOP!" Asuka said in an exasperated voice, as she watched Rei's face contort again into an even broader smile.

"Do too."

"Not."

"Do too."

"NOT! NOT! NOT!"

"But I flop! I don't see the problem here!" Shinji finally exclaimed.

"Boys flop." Asuka said haughtily, "Girls delicately, gently, lower themselves to the ground."

Rei stood up, and then flopped to the ground. However, she misjudged the distance, and fell backwards, ending up sprawled on her back. "Ooops." Rei said softly.

Asuka watched the action… then rolled onto her back laughing. "Good god, were we just arguing about flopping!?!"

Rei righted herself with a smile, and pushed several stray locks of hair out of her face as she blinked. "I see why you don't 'Flop' Sohryu-san."

This only served to bring even more giggles to the Red Demon, as Shinji remained dumbfounded.

"Rei…" Asuka gasped, while laughing, "Rei… that was… so funny."

Rei's smile diminished slightly, "I was just proving that girls can 'flop' too."

"Maybe we should all just go and…" Shinji started to suggest before being cut off by Asuka.

"Flop!" Asuka interjected. An instant later, both girls were rolling on the floor laughing.

"I don't understand…" Shinji said.

"Don't worry, Baka Shinji…" Asuka said, "You don't need to know."

"But it wasn't even that funny…" Shinji frowned.

"Shinji," Rei said softly, finally stilling the giggles she had, "Maybe we just needed to relax."

"But I don't…"

"You don't have to." Asuka said to Shinji, scooting closer to the pair. "It's just a girl thing…" Then she brightened up realizing something. She hadn't laughed like that, really laughed, for a very long time. And Rei… Perhaps she had never laughed like that. "Thank you, Rei." She said.

'Words of thanks…' Rei reflected, and suddenly her placid mask was in place, "Why?"

"For showing me… for letting me see that you're human too."

"We're all human." Shinji said. "It doesn't matter what we look like, we're all human."

"Even the angels." Sohryu stated. Perhaps that was the 'message' that humanity was intended to receive. "We're all the same, aren't we? Humans. Angels. Evangelion… All life. All intelligent life is the same."

"Even the Angels." Rei confirmed, and then smiled softly. "Even you, Sohryu-san. Even you."

"Um… Shouldn't we be… uh, practicing?" Shinji interjected.

Rei nodded, her hair making halos in the room's light. "Will you join us, Sohryu?"

"I'll watch…" Asuka said with a bit of trepidation. "If you don't mind."

Both children nodded their ascent as they moved themselves into position.

"Are you ready, Shinji?"

Shinji nodded, then looked at Asuka. "When you're ready."

Asuka closed her eyes. 'Soon Shinji. Soon…'

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Author's notes:

Still working on making these chapters good. Its always very difficult to find time to write when life is pressuring you from all sides, I just hope that this chapter lives up to the quality of the previous ones.

As always I hope you enjoy the story, feel free to give any comments and feedback you feel are appropriate. It is all warmly accepted.

Edit 4/8/2003 - Corrected my horrid spelling of Naoko's name. Thanks to Steve Vader and the many other individuals who pointed that little mistake out. :) I would have modified it sooner, but I had a friend's wedding to go to. Please keep on reviewing. I hope to update this story at least once a month... assuming the gods of employment shine favorably and don't decide to make my work my life...

Thanks,
PitViper(pvalpha@yahoo.com).