In the skies over the western coast of the United States, a humanoid figure
soared unopposed. It was coated head to toe in seventeen thousand separate
pieces of black armored binding that protected it from harm, but it did not
need them.
Ever since it was awakened, nothing had been able to stop it, harm it, or even slow it down. It rode the air currents relentlessly, spurred forward under its own power. The Children of Lilith stood aside wherever it approached, scattering from its path long before its shadow hit the ground below it.
It made its way past the coastline, looking down on the ocean once again. It had crossed the Atlantic, North America and now, only the Pacific stood between it and its goal.
Only a teenage girl, the ghostly soul of her dead mother and a beast could stop it.
NEON
GENESIS
EVANGELION
A3I: Aggression.
Asuka patted her full stomach as she slumped onto a beanbag in Ritsuko's apartment. Shinji sat nearby watching re-runs of Takeshi's Castle. Ritsuko was in the kitchen, cleaning up after their meal. Pen-Pen was in the kitchen as well, begging Ritsuko for the fish sticks in the freezer.
Shigeru Aoba sat in the Commander's office in the hollowed out crater that housed NERV, watching thermographic representations of the three of them on his screen. He didn't feel comfortable spying on people like this, but he felt he had to keep an eye on the Second Child. Ritsuko surely knew better than to take the only Eva pilot in the world home when there was an Angel approaching from the east. He made a mental note to put his foot down the next time, and mean it. He absently grabbed a half-full mug of warm coffee and took a quick sip, before returning his attention to the screen.
"Shinji, have you packed?" asked Ritsuko's voice, coming in from the kitchen.
"Yes," Shinji replied listlessly, his eyes trying hard to focus on the TV show. He had packed away fresh clothes, his SDAT player and the things that meant the most to him. He was ready to be taken away to Hakone.
"Make sure you pack a raincoat," Ritsuko continued. "Weather forecast says it might rain over Matsushiro." There was the clinking of glass and Pen- Pen's squawking from the kitchen, but Ritsuko said nothing further.
"Matsushiro? He's going to Hakone!" Asuka protested rather loudly.
"Hakone's too close, Shinji. Matsuhiro's much safer," Ritsuko said, her tone of voice conveying the finality of her decision. Asuka didn't see Shinji trying to protest, and she had no intention of fighting his battles for him, so she kept quiet.
No other words were said from that point until Shinji got up to leave, which was the exact moment that Ritsuko got out of the kitchen. As Shinji wrapped his hands around the doorknob, Ritsuko spoke.
"Shinji, you know the two of us can't see you off tomorrow morning, so I think this is goodbye for now, and take care of yourself," Ritsuko said.
Shinji swallowed hard and nodded.
"Oh don't be such a drama queen!" interjected Asuka. "You sound like we're going off to die tomorrow!" Asuka turned her head in Shinji's direction. "If you think you're getting rid of us that easy, you're mistaken!"
"Yes," Shinji replied slowly. "That's good to hear," he said, as a weak smile crept up his lips. He opened the door and stepped out, taking care to close the door again as gently as he can.
The two women waited until they could no longer hear his footsteps.
Asuka spoke first in a hissing whisper through curled lips. "You're going to talk about it NOW, Ritsuko. And don't think I'm stupid enough to be fooled easily."
Ritsuko nodded her assent. "Stomach cramps?" Ritsuko asked rather loudly, catching Asuka off guard. "No, wait, no need to rush there yet, let me get you some antacid from the medicine cabinet!" She then rushed to the bedroom, leaving in her wake a thoroughly confused Asuka.
Ritsuko returned just as Asuka got up to follow her into the bedroom. In her hand was a computer disk, which she wordlessly pressed into Asuka's open palm, her cold fingers briefly making contact with the skin of her hand, causing Asuka's hand to reflexively clutch the disk. Asuka looked at Ritsuko, her sense of confusion now heightened.
"Go ahead, take it," Ritsuko said in a matter-of-fact manner, as if it really was antacid tablets that she placed in her hand.
"What the ." Asuka asked, dumbfounded. Why did Ritsuko act strange all of a sudden?
"Shigeru's watching" Ritsuko whispered, as silently as she could. "My handheld computer lets me know when he turns on his scanners. The fool should know better than to use my own equipment on me" she said scornfully.
"I'm tired, I'm going to my apartment now," Asuka said, less than sure of what she was actually saying.
"Go straight to bed, you have to fight an Angel tomorrow, " Ritsuko said, her hand gesturing in the direction of the disk in Asuka's hand. "Be sure to take your medicine," she said to Asuka before returning to the kitchen.
Asuka shrugged, and opened the door to leave. As always, she had to pass by Shinji's door before she could make it to her own apartment upstairs. There was no sound of the cello playing from behind the door, merely silence.
Asuka raised her hand to knock. She stopped herself just as her knuckles was about to make contact with the wood. Her hand trembled slightly as she fought with herself whether to go through with knocking on his door, or to walk away.
The approaching Angel made up her mind for her. She slowly shuffled away, making her way up the stairs to her own apartment. She took the disk Ritsuko gave her, inserting it into her computer. Asuka snarled in frustration as her computer brought forth the data contained within the disk. It was about the Dummy Plugs all right, she was certain of it, but the data was almost entirely technical. She was no fool, and she was confident she could make sense of it, but it required time, and she had to set her priorities straight. She cursed Ritsuko before turning the computer off and heading to bed.
The three of them slept under the glare of the red sky for what seemed like only a few minutes before NERV came calling. Shinji's security detail came first, knocking three times before unlocking the door and marching in, roughly shaking awake the Third Child and taking him away to a waiting car.
For Ritsuko and Asuka, their wake-up call was slightly more dramatic. Their sleep was interrupted by the high pitched whine of a NERV helicopter. Both women recognized the sound, and were up in a flash, gathering the necessary personal effects and wordlessly making their way down the stairs. Simple niceties like showers or breakfasts would come later.
A few hours later, as the sun rose above the eastern horizon, casting its light into the Geofront crater, Asuka sat in the entry plug of Eva 02, her eyes closed, her mind reaching into happy communion with the Eva, the last remaining link she had with her mother. The presence of her ghost in the machine comforted her, allowing her mind to slip into a state of relaxed preparedness. Asuka ignored the usual computer-generated readouts, and the endless technobablle that was coming from the war room. She was in her happy place, and she felt the warm comfort of needing to do only what mother told her.
"That's the last of the procedures," Ritsuko said to Shigeru, who stood behind her, silently watching the live video feed from the innumerable cameras buried in the crater walls.
"All right, then. Lower the buildings," Shigeru said. The order was repeated throughout the room, and with a rumble, the buildings that now housed NERV began to sink into the ground, much like the old Tokyo 03. Clouds of dust rose from the ground, reaching up to the chest of Eva 02. Asuka took no heed of the dust, merely digging in her Eva's heels into the dirt, trying to find a better footing.
Ritsuko grabbed a nearby desk for support. The rumblings continued for a while, disrupting the holographic projections, which flickered madly. Then it stopped.
"So that's what it's like, " Shigeru commented. The holographs came back on line, this time with a small blue dot rapidly approaching the yellow hole that represented the crater.
"It's here. Red alert!" Shigeru bellowed.
Ever since it was awakened, nothing had been able to stop it, harm it, or even slow it down. It rode the air currents relentlessly, spurred forward under its own power. The Children of Lilith stood aside wherever it approached, scattering from its path long before its shadow hit the ground below it.
It made its way past the coastline, looking down on the ocean once again. It had crossed the Atlantic, North America and now, only the Pacific stood between it and its goal.
Only a teenage girl, the ghostly soul of her dead mother and a beast could stop it.
NEON
GENESIS
EVANGELION
A3I: Aggression.
Asuka patted her full stomach as she slumped onto a beanbag in Ritsuko's apartment. Shinji sat nearby watching re-runs of Takeshi's Castle. Ritsuko was in the kitchen, cleaning up after their meal. Pen-Pen was in the kitchen as well, begging Ritsuko for the fish sticks in the freezer.
Shigeru Aoba sat in the Commander's office in the hollowed out crater that housed NERV, watching thermographic representations of the three of them on his screen. He didn't feel comfortable spying on people like this, but he felt he had to keep an eye on the Second Child. Ritsuko surely knew better than to take the only Eva pilot in the world home when there was an Angel approaching from the east. He made a mental note to put his foot down the next time, and mean it. He absently grabbed a half-full mug of warm coffee and took a quick sip, before returning his attention to the screen.
"Shinji, have you packed?" asked Ritsuko's voice, coming in from the kitchen.
"Yes," Shinji replied listlessly, his eyes trying hard to focus on the TV show. He had packed away fresh clothes, his SDAT player and the things that meant the most to him. He was ready to be taken away to Hakone.
"Make sure you pack a raincoat," Ritsuko continued. "Weather forecast says it might rain over Matsushiro." There was the clinking of glass and Pen- Pen's squawking from the kitchen, but Ritsuko said nothing further.
"Matsushiro? He's going to Hakone!" Asuka protested rather loudly.
"Hakone's too close, Shinji. Matsuhiro's much safer," Ritsuko said, her tone of voice conveying the finality of her decision. Asuka didn't see Shinji trying to protest, and she had no intention of fighting his battles for him, so she kept quiet.
No other words were said from that point until Shinji got up to leave, which was the exact moment that Ritsuko got out of the kitchen. As Shinji wrapped his hands around the doorknob, Ritsuko spoke.
"Shinji, you know the two of us can't see you off tomorrow morning, so I think this is goodbye for now, and take care of yourself," Ritsuko said.
Shinji swallowed hard and nodded.
"Oh don't be such a drama queen!" interjected Asuka. "You sound like we're going off to die tomorrow!" Asuka turned her head in Shinji's direction. "If you think you're getting rid of us that easy, you're mistaken!"
"Yes," Shinji replied slowly. "That's good to hear," he said, as a weak smile crept up his lips. He opened the door and stepped out, taking care to close the door again as gently as he can.
The two women waited until they could no longer hear his footsteps.
Asuka spoke first in a hissing whisper through curled lips. "You're going to talk about it NOW, Ritsuko. And don't think I'm stupid enough to be fooled easily."
Ritsuko nodded her assent. "Stomach cramps?" Ritsuko asked rather loudly, catching Asuka off guard. "No, wait, no need to rush there yet, let me get you some antacid from the medicine cabinet!" She then rushed to the bedroom, leaving in her wake a thoroughly confused Asuka.
Ritsuko returned just as Asuka got up to follow her into the bedroom. In her hand was a computer disk, which she wordlessly pressed into Asuka's open palm, her cold fingers briefly making contact with the skin of her hand, causing Asuka's hand to reflexively clutch the disk. Asuka looked at Ritsuko, her sense of confusion now heightened.
"Go ahead, take it," Ritsuko said in a matter-of-fact manner, as if it really was antacid tablets that she placed in her hand.
"What the ." Asuka asked, dumbfounded. Why did Ritsuko act strange all of a sudden?
"Shigeru's watching" Ritsuko whispered, as silently as she could. "My handheld computer lets me know when he turns on his scanners. The fool should know better than to use my own equipment on me" she said scornfully.
"I'm tired, I'm going to my apartment now," Asuka said, less than sure of what she was actually saying.
"Go straight to bed, you have to fight an Angel tomorrow, " Ritsuko said, her hand gesturing in the direction of the disk in Asuka's hand. "Be sure to take your medicine," she said to Asuka before returning to the kitchen.
Asuka shrugged, and opened the door to leave. As always, she had to pass by Shinji's door before she could make it to her own apartment upstairs. There was no sound of the cello playing from behind the door, merely silence.
Asuka raised her hand to knock. She stopped herself just as her knuckles was about to make contact with the wood. Her hand trembled slightly as she fought with herself whether to go through with knocking on his door, or to walk away.
The approaching Angel made up her mind for her. She slowly shuffled away, making her way up the stairs to her own apartment. She took the disk Ritsuko gave her, inserting it into her computer. Asuka snarled in frustration as her computer brought forth the data contained within the disk. It was about the Dummy Plugs all right, she was certain of it, but the data was almost entirely technical. She was no fool, and she was confident she could make sense of it, but it required time, and she had to set her priorities straight. She cursed Ritsuko before turning the computer off and heading to bed.
The three of them slept under the glare of the red sky for what seemed like only a few minutes before NERV came calling. Shinji's security detail came first, knocking three times before unlocking the door and marching in, roughly shaking awake the Third Child and taking him away to a waiting car.
For Ritsuko and Asuka, their wake-up call was slightly more dramatic. Their sleep was interrupted by the high pitched whine of a NERV helicopter. Both women recognized the sound, and were up in a flash, gathering the necessary personal effects and wordlessly making their way down the stairs. Simple niceties like showers or breakfasts would come later.
A few hours later, as the sun rose above the eastern horizon, casting its light into the Geofront crater, Asuka sat in the entry plug of Eva 02, her eyes closed, her mind reaching into happy communion with the Eva, the last remaining link she had with her mother. The presence of her ghost in the machine comforted her, allowing her mind to slip into a state of relaxed preparedness. Asuka ignored the usual computer-generated readouts, and the endless technobablle that was coming from the war room. She was in her happy place, and she felt the warm comfort of needing to do only what mother told her.
"That's the last of the procedures," Ritsuko said to Shigeru, who stood behind her, silently watching the live video feed from the innumerable cameras buried in the crater walls.
"All right, then. Lower the buildings," Shigeru said. The order was repeated throughout the room, and with a rumble, the buildings that now housed NERV began to sink into the ground, much like the old Tokyo 03. Clouds of dust rose from the ground, reaching up to the chest of Eva 02. Asuka took no heed of the dust, merely digging in her Eva's heels into the dirt, trying to find a better footing.
Ritsuko grabbed a nearby desk for support. The rumblings continued for a while, disrupting the holographic projections, which flickered madly. Then it stopped.
"So that's what it's like, " Shigeru commented. The holographs came back on line, this time with a small blue dot rapidly approaching the yellow hole that represented the crater.
"It's here. Red alert!" Shigeru bellowed.