Judging by the change in temperature, Misato guessed it must be night by now. Not that it meant anything, locked away as she was in the windowless brig of some god-forsaken US Navy ship. She cursed her luck, wanting so badly not to die on that cold metal floor in the Geofront, only to be rewarded with this sick perversion of her wish.
They told her that she didn't die alone that horrible day, they told her that while coming back from the dead was usually a case for celebration, she was still a senior official at NERV, and as such, her name was on a wanted list for genocide.
She ran her fingers through her hair, absently trying to find and disentangle any knots. She wanted to give her poor brain some rest from thinking, but eventually, when the sun set, and in the sky she cannot see, the stars were blotted out by the red ring of abandoned souls, she would start thinking about it again.
Ikari Gendo's legacy of genocide.
And Ritsuko had the nerve to say that Kaji was sleazy.
NEON
GENESIS
EVANGELION
A3I: Established patterns.
Late afternoon, and the wise hid under air conditioning, leaving the streets empty, except for two schoolchildren.
"It's so hot nowadays," complained Hikari Horaki, turning towards her companion. "Don't you agree, Shinji?"
"Yes, yes I agree, it is hot," Shinji said, after giving the matter some thought.
"You could have gone home in a NERV car," Hikari commented, wiping beads of sweat from her brow. Walking home with Shinji everyday was not something she had planned, or even consciously wanted. The two of them seemingly fell into it, and it quickly became routine, a shared ritual of seeming normality between the two of them in a world gone insane.
"Yes, but I enjoy walking with.." Shinji stopped in mid-sentence, looking down on the pavement, watching his feet move, listening to the sound of his own footsteps. He caught a glance of Hikari's white school shoes, her steady pace effortlessly keeping up with him. It was something Shinji tried to adapt to. Asuka had always forced him keep up with her, and Rei walked slowly, yet somehow she always seemed to be waiting for him, always seemingly a few steps ahead.
"Rei," Shinji whispered, his eyes wandering into the far distance.
Several miles away from the hastily reconstructed city of Tokyo-03, nestled halfway between hills and the Pacific Ocean, was the gigantic head of Rei Ayanami, the First Child and the embodiment of the Eighteenth Angel. It was lay there lifeless, since the day of the Third Impact, the giant blood-red eyes always seeming to look right through him.
"Shinji, what are you.." Hikari said, noticing that Shinji had stopped walking.
"Rei." Hikari muttered. She stood still for a moment, unsure as to what to do, while Shinji stood there, still as a statue, and he kept staring at the split head, the size of a hill in its own right.
She tentatively reached for his arm, then as she found her own confidence, gently tugged at his shirt sleeve.
"Come on Shinji. What's past is past Leave it be," Hikari said, trying to draw his attention away from the ghoulish sight.
"How can I," Shinji whispered. "It's always behind me."
Hikari exhaled deeply, his words leaving a strange chill.
The ring of a cellphone broke the silence.
Hikari and Shinji looked at each other briefly, before he realized that it was his phone.
"I must be late again." He muttered as he answered his cellular phone.
Hikari understood well enough, giving Shinji a pat on the shoulder before she continued the long walk home. Shinji's voice grew faint with each step she took.
"I understand…Yes, Fifth and Shimonoseki. Yes I will." His voice faded away, until she turned a corner.
Ritsuko Akagi put down the phone, and sank into the plush padded seat.
"He'll be here, Commander Aoba. Someone's fetching him right now."
Shigeru Aoba, Commander of NERV, nodded curtly, looking around him. Ritsuko's office was the same as it always was. Freakishly neat. Not a file out of place. A small pair of clay kitten paperweights were the only personal effects on the desk. A pack of cigarettes and lighter on the corner of her desk was quickly snapped up by Dr. Akagi, who stuffed them carelessly in her white coat pocket.
"So what else brings you to my room," Ritsuko asked, matter-of-factly "with the Sixth Child?" Ritsuko's chin thrust forward, indicating the slim teenage girl that stood slightly behind Shigeru. The girl shuffled slightly behind the commander, her pale blue eyes avoiding Ritsuko's own. Her hand listlessly fiddled with the suction controls of her plugsuit.
"As the guardian of the Third Child, you must ensure that he sticks to the schedule," Shigeru admonished. "Virginia can't wait forever for him."
"This arrangement is ridiculous, Commander." Ritsuko complained through gritted teeth.
"What do you expect me to do, chain her here?" Shigeru snapped back.
"That Evangelion is ours. The pilot should be ours too," Ritsuko muttered.
Virginia stood dumbly behind Shigeru, staring blankly ahead, trying hard not to be a part of this harsh exchange.
"Well, as I remember it, you were the one that wanted so badly to keep Shinji out of the Entry Plug. And someone has to pilot. I think it's disrespectful towards Virginia for him to be late for training. It isn't like him at all. He was never like this when Misato was around," Shigeru complained again.
"Misato, Commander Aoba, is dead." Ritsuko snarled, her pale hands moving under the desk where she can freely ball them into fists.
Shigeru paused, sensing that he was standing on some invisible line that he didn't want to cross. Not just yet.
"Make sure Eva Unit 05 is ready, Doctor," Shigeru said.
Ritsuko nodded, feigning disinterest.
When Shigeru turned to leave, he didn't notice that Ritsuko was staring daggers at Virginia.
Closing the door, Shigeru and Virginia walked hurriedly out of the hastily-constructed concrete building that housed Ritsuko's office. The heavy door opened slowly, letting the bright mid-afternoon sun in.
"Bright," Virginia said quietly, quickly shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. Squinting, she slowly followed Shigeru outside.
Shigeru turned his head in his direction. "I noticed that you're not very comfortable out in daylight. Is everything all right with you?" he asked.
Virginia shook her head slowly, strands of red hair slowly flying left and right with the movement. "No sir. It's just, too bright," she answered, slowly enunciating each word, as if she had to think carefully what words to use.
"I see." Shigeru waited for a few seconds for Virginia to catch up before he started walking again, this time keeping a slower pace, to let Virginia keep up with him. Squinting, she took smaller, hesitant steps.
"Come on," Shigeru said quietly, as he slowly, carefully brought his arm around the fifteen year old girl's waist. Satisfied that she didn't panic at his touch, he tried to guide her to walk towards the center of the crater that housed NERV, towards the purple monstrosity that was Evangelion Unit 05.
"Commander?," Virginia asked, suddenly, breaking the silence.
"What is it?" Shigeru replied, although he was not stopping. Onward they walked towards the Evangelion, past beige-shirted operations staff, towards the technicians in bright orange jumpsuits.
"Why do you hate her?"
Shigeru stopped dead in his tracks, the arm that was wrapped around Virginia's waist slackened, falling away from her, to return to his own side, where it hung limply for a fraction of a second, before the fingers curled into a fist.
"I never thought of it that way," Shigeru answered quietly.
A small, quiet "Oh" was all that Virginia said, before the two continued walking towards the Eva.
"Ow"
"Anything the matter, ma'am?" the sailor asked.
Misato didn't answer, instead she covered her eyes with her hand. Once the stabbing pain in her eyes receded a few seconds later, she muttered, "damn sun's too bright"
"The brig does that to you. All that time in the dark hurts your eyes when you come out in the light," the sailor answered, as if he had seen this all the time.
"Yeah," Misato answered, briefly distracted from wondering what was the real reason why was she being brought out onto the deck of the American AEGIS cruiser.
A voice from behind her brought her attention back to matter at hand.
"Admiral on deck!" the sailor shouted, giving Admiral Starling a salute.
Carelessly replying the salute, the ever-smiling Admiral quickly ordered the sailor escorting Misato at ease.
"Ah. Colonel Misato Katsuragi. Director of Combat Operations, fifth on the list of twenty five most wanted NERV senior staff," Starling said, eyeing his captive, giving her an appreciative once-over. Misato was still quite the looker, despite her general dishevelled state.
Misato didn't want to get into a staring match with the Admiral, she didn't want to be seen as too confrontational, so she looked slightly to his left, past his ear, looking past the deck and out into the calm blue waters of the Sea of Japan.
"Why have you called for me?" Misato asked, keeping her voice level, not wanting to show him just how dazed and confused she really was.
Starling smiled, and told her. "Well, Colonel Katsuragi, I'm just here to give you the good news. A little late, and I'm quite sorry about that, but the United Nations has decided not to prosecute you for complicity in genocide."
Misato blinked.
"You're free to go, Katsuragi," Starling replied. "I suppose you'll want your old job back?"
Misato nodded once, just to be safe.
"That's between you and Aoba. Arrangements will be made to transfer you back to Japan," he said.
"Thank you.. I guess.." was all Misato could manage as a reply.
"Aoba?" Misato pondered, staring away into the distance. Certainly the first in many surprises to come, she thought.
"How much time do we have?" Shigeru asked.
"About two hours. Plenty of time, commander. Don't worry so much." Ritsuko said, leaning back against a pillar. She was back in the command center, which was now fully sunken into the ground. Above, on the floor of the massive crater that was the Geofront, the purple form of Evangelion Unit 05 stood, its shark-like head bowed low, its spinal cavity opened, exposing the gaping black maw which was the socket for the Entry Plug.
At the foot of the monstrous Eva, two figures in plug suits stood quietly. Shinji Ikari twitched a little, trying to hide the discomfort he felt, wearing the plugsuit under the hot afternoon sun.
His companion, Virginia Langley, however, stood still, even when a drop of sweat fell from her brow, she did not even wipe it off. She kept looking blankly up and down at the Eva for several minutes.
"That's my Eva," Virginia said quietly, but enough to be heard by Shinji.
"Yes, it is." Shinji replied. Then as an afterthought he added a cheerless "Don't be afraid."
Virginia turned to face him, blue eyes staring straight at him. For a few seconds she kept staring, puzzled.
"Afraid of it? " Virginia replied. "Why?"
"No happiness comes from it." Shinji replied, the weight of truth in his voice.
"I see." Virginia replied.
"What do you feel?" Shinji asked her.
"Feel?"
"About piloting, about Eva." Shinji replied. "Why do you pilot Eva?" he asked.
"You won't," she replied simply. Shinji asked no more questions after that, and said nothing even as the two of them walked to the waiting entry plugs, one for each of them. Once inside, waiting cranes will raise the entry plugs, one by one, into the Evangelion.
Virginia didn't even look back before going in, the entry plug closing behind her with a familiar hiss.
Shinji just had to respect her bravery. He wasn't about to go into the coffin-like confines of the entry plug without one last look at the sky. Shrugging, he buried his fears that he will never again emerge from the entry plug, and went in quietly, the cover of the entry plug sliding itself closed behind him with a whoosh.
In the Command Center, all eyes were glued to the various monitors and instrument panels, as NERV prepared to activate its last remaining Evangelion.
"Plugs are sealed. Beginning A-10 nerve connection" intoned a technician somewhere.
While Shigeru tensely watched the screens for any sign that something could go wrong, Ritsuko merely folded her arms over her chest, her eyes closed, her head bowed, biting her lower lip, giving the impression to an outsider that she cared only about getting things done so she could go home.
"Sync ratio is above starting line," reported someone.
"Good. Switch primary control to Sixth Child, Third Child on dummy." Ritsuko commanded. The old NERV launching procedures were burned into her memory from the first war against the Angels, and she could issue the launch orders backwards in her sleep if she wanted to.
"Release bindings," Ritsuko said quietly, her eyes still closed.
As the Eva was freed from its bindings, it swayed back and forth on unsteady feet, as if it could fall over from nothing more than a strong gust of wind. Yet Ritsuko kept her eyes closed, not wanting to be distracted with the obvious. She took deep, slow breaths, listening intently for the next shouted reports.
"Sync ratio normal"
Her mind processed the report, decided there was nothing to worry about, and waited for the next announcement.
"It feels.. strange," a small, soft female voice said over the communications.
"It's normal," Shigeru replied, trying to calm Virginia down. Quietly, Ritsuko snapped out of her seeming apathy, walking over to the main instrumentation panels for the Eva, standing over the hapless operators like an angry titan.
"Think your actions through, then do it," Shigeru advised, unncessarily, as that bit of information had been ingrained into everyone who ever got into an Entry Plug.
"I don't like this," Ritsuko muttered, warily eyeing the synchrographs.
"First things first, Virginia, try to walk." Shigeru advised, ignoring Ritsuko's misgivings, eyes and attention fully fixed on the video feed coming in from above ground.
"Get ready for anything," Ritsuko whispered to the technicians manning the Eva control panels. They nodded grimly.
"Eva walking," Virginia replied tersely, pushing the controls.
The Eva shuddered, then lifted its right foot.
Nobody in the control center dared to even exhale.
Then the Eva leant forward, and the raised foot slammed into the dusty ground, raising a large cloud of dust into the air. The other foot lifted slowly, carefully.
However, Virginia somehow caught the left foot on the Eva's umbilical power cord, and the behemoth Evangelion Unit 05 slowly toppled, and fell.
"Virgina, regain control!" Shigeru shouted in panic.
Ritsuko uncovered a switch on the control panel and flipped it before anyone could so much as ask what she was doing.
The Evangelion fell towards the ground nevertheless, but at the last moment, its arms reached forward to break its fall, leaving the Eva supported on its two arms.
"Dummy plug activated," came the report.
"You mean Shinji," Ritsuko replied.
Shinji had the Eva correct itself, but Shigeru wasn't in the mood to continue the test. Virginia's first time in the entry plug was shortened by about two hours, as the test was officially classified "Aborted". Ritsuko couldn't help but snort derisively as she officially signed the report.
The late afternoon sun beat down mercilessly on the Geofront crater, but the high-speed fan some kind technician had set up cooled the Children somewhat. Shinji and Virginia had yet to receive permission to change out of the plug suits, and plugsuits were never meant to be worn under the sun.
Shinji had splashed himself with water from a barrel, washing off the precious LCL that clung to him like a slimy layer of orange blood.
"You don't want to clean up?" he asked Virginia, who still had the vile-smelling LCL in her hair and on her plugsuit.
"I … nobody's allowed me to yet. I don't want to make everyone angrier." Virginia replied, her eyes still watching the Eva as cranes started to move it to its makeshift restraint.
Shinji narrowed his eyes. I seen this behaviour before, he thought, his mood darkening at the sudden, unwanted association with the now-gone First Child.
"I should... Thank you for your… help." Virginia said, turning in his direction, looking him straight in the eyes.
"I don't think they'll punish you, Virginia," Shinji said. "You don't have to apologize."
Virginia smiled weakly, then returned to staring at her Eva. Her thoughts were most definitely unhappy, Shinji could see. He lazily grabbed his bucket, half-filling it with some water.
"Wash it off. Unless you like everything to smell like blood for the next three days," Shinji said, then quietly walked away, thinking that the girl wouldn't be comfortable with him watching her clean up. At least, that was what Asuka was like, and Virginia had such a creepy resemblance to her, he can't help but instinctively act like she really was Asuka sometimes.
The sun hung low in the western sky, as Shigeru, Ritsuko and Virginia waited at the Geofront's helipad.
A helicopter came into view from the ocean. As expected, Starling had come back to pick up the precious new pilot.
Ritsuko covered her eyes, knowing full well that the backwash of the rotor blades would kick up dust into her eyes.
The helicopter landed, not even turning off its engines as its occupants got off. One was probably Starling himself, the one in the white Navy uniform. The other one was a woman in a shabby grey jumpsuit, who got off the helicopter after him and walked towards NERV's two senior officers with a confidence that indicated she was no low-ranking lackey, but someone who had seen it all, a woman who took no nonsense, and the look on her face was that of strong anger.
When she recognized who it was, Ritsuko drew in such a deep breath her lungs felt like they wanted to explode.
"Misato?"