Neon Genesis Evangelion:
The Genesis Crisis
The third day:
Hurt
Misato took another sip of her coffee, trying not to burn her lips on the hot liquid, as she walked into Terminal Dogma. She hadn't got much sleep the night before and she needed the coffee to keep her awake. Shinji had still been asleep, or at least still in his room, when she had left, so she hadn't got the chance to speak to him this morning.
'Perhaps it's for the best,' she had thought when she left the apartment. 'What could I say to him?' Shinji's decision to never pilot Eva again had been a shock to her. Certainly he had tried to leave twice before, once after the fourth Angel, and then again after the thirteenth. Both times she could see his reasons for leaving. But each time he had returned to NERV, returned to her. But this time she doubted if he would, for this time she had been one of the reasons he had decided to leave. Her decision to force him to pilot Eva against the two mass produced Evangelions that had attacked two nights ago was necessary at the time. Or so she told herself. But she still felt guilty about it. She had felt guilty about it from the moment she had ordered the section 2 agent to take him to the Eva cages. She sighed to herself.
"Good morning Major Katsuragi," Maya greeted her chirpily. Misato wondered how the woman had the energy to sound so happy. She had still been busily working last night when Misato had left, so she must have slept even less than Misato.
"Good morning Maya," she returned the greeting, her voice sounding slightly hoarse. She thought it was too early in the morning for formalities, so she had skipped calling the woman by her rank. "Any new developments?"
"None so far," the shorthaired woman replied. "Analysis on the mass produced Evangelion is still ongoing, and we have received no information yet on SEELE's movements."
"Very well, inform me when new information comes up," Misato responded, after pondering over the information for a while.
"Major Katsuragi, ma'am!" Aoba called out, trying to get Misato's attention.
"Yes?" She turned to look at the tech sitting further along to her right. He didn't seem to have weathered the night as well as Maya had. His usually tidy and clean looking hair seemed dishevelled and greasy today.
"I wouldn't be able to talk to you, confidentially?" he whispered over to her. Misato walked over to him and leaned over, pretending to look at something on the screen in front of him. There was nobody around to overhear the conversation, but Misato knew that section 2 were very good at spying on people, so she took no chances.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
"I've heard that SEELE have attacked us because the Commander has turned against them. What do you know about this?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the screen in front of him.
"About as much as you, sorry," Misato lied. In reality she knew nearly everything about SEELE's plans. Kaji's research, along with some investigation of her own, had led her to discover nearly every secret SEELE and NERV had. But she was still unsure as to the Commander's motives. Had he just had a change of heart, or was it something else? "If I find out anything though…" she trailed off.
"Thanks, ma'am."
"Just notify me if anything comes up," Misato said aloud to the bridge staff. She stood up straight, dropped her drained polystyrene cup in a nearby bin, and headed off to get another cup of coffee.
***
Rei had been expecting the call, and so when the phone in her apartment had rang she was already fully dressed, and had been awake for several hours. Even before the NERV employee on the other end of the phone had begun to speak she knew what she would have to do. And indeed as Misato had explained to her in Terminal Dogma Rei was to report to the clone Eva bodies for synch testing with Unit-02. Her work as an Evangelion pilot, it appeared, was not yet over. As the blue haired girl stood in front of one of the elevators in the Geofront, waiting for it to arrive to transport her from Terminal Dogma to the level of the Geofront where the clone bodies were housed, she thought about what this meant to her.
'Do I have purpose now?' she thought. 'Or am I merely being used?' She knew that she was the only viable pilot available at such short notice. Especially since the destruction of the school led to all the potential pilots leaving Tokyo-3. Rei was still unsure, however, whether they wanted her solely as a pilot and cared little for her otherwise. Of course this also gave her the opportunity to set herself apart from her 'predecessors,' to do something that would at least get her remembered as a singular being and not as "just another clone." But it also put her life at risk, something that she had to take a lot more seriously now. A 'ping' from the elevator signalled its arrival. The metal doors slid open and Rei started forward to step into the elevator, but stopped suddenly. Her eyes fell on the elevators occupant, a boy with brown hair, the same age as her, but slightly taller. He stood to one side of the metal box of the elevator, his head facing down, staring at the floor. Rei composed herself and stepped into the elevator. Standing adjacent to Shinji she pressed the button to take her to her required floor. The doors slid shut leaving the two pilots together in the elevator. Rei stared at the cold metal doors in front of her, her arms hanging down, with her hands clasped in front of her. The only sound was the constant drone of the elevator in motion.
"Ikari," Rei began, breaking the silence. Shinji seemed to jerk slightly, as if startled. Rei continued to stare at the doors in front of her, trying to think of something to say. "Ikari, I…" her voice trailed off again as she struggled to think of something to say to the boy. "I would like to help you," she said, not knowing why. "You have done many things for me in the past, and I would like to repay you." Rei waited, hoping for a reply from Shinji. She continued to stare at the elevator doors, only seeing Shinji out of the corner of her eye. She squeezed her hand slightly, and bit her lip. "Because that is what friends do. Because we are friends, correct?" She looked at Shinji, it looked like he hadn't moved at all. He was still standing staring at the ground, his eyes looking slightly wider than before. His arms still hung by his sides, except his hand was clutching at his trousers, bunching some of the fabric up in his fist. At first Rei thought he was angry, but his face betrayed no such emotion. 'Have I offended him?' she thought. "Ikari?" she asked, trying to provoke some kind of response from him. As she stared at him she heard the elevator slow down to a stop. The metal doors slid open. Shinji released his grip on his trousers, although his hand still remained pressed against his leg. He looked up at the wall opposite, in the corridor outside, to check the floor number written on the wall. He took a jerky step forward, and then walked out of the elevator and down the corridor. As soon as he stepped out of the elevator Rei returned to looking at the metal doors as they slid shut once again. The elevator continued its journey further into the Geofront.
***
Misato watched as Maya quickly opened programs that would record the results of the synch test. This test would be important, not only because it would prove whether or not one of the pilots was compatible with Unit-02 besides Asuka. The test would also be important because, with Unit-00 gone, and Shinji refusing to pilot Unit-01, Rei was the only pilot they had left. Rei needed to be able to successfully synch with Unit-02 for NERV to have any chance of standing up against SEELE. Misato knew they also had Unit-01 available, but there was little point in Rei trying to pilot it. The last time Rei had tried, during the attack by the fourteenth Angel, Unit-01 had rejected her. It had been quite a while since then, but Misato knew the result would be the same if they tried again. Somehow that Eva had some kind of link to Shinji. If he wouldn't pilot it, then no one would.
"Ready to commence compatibility testing," Maya announced, over the din caused by other NERV analysts busily completing their preparations for the test.
"Preparations are complete," an analyst reported. Maya pressed a button on her work console to open a line to Rei sitting in the entry plug.
"Rei we are ready to begin," she told her.
"I am prepared," Rei replied solemnly.
"Commencing compatibility test!"
"Compatibility test commencing," an analyst echoed Maya's announcement to make sure everyone in the room had heard. Misato watched as the assembled NERV employee's got to work starting up the clone Eva torso and initiating the start-up procedure for synchronisation. A large display of various boxes began to light up, moving from one box to the next like a snake winding its way across the display.
"Synchronisation commencing," Maya announced. Misato watched as the maze of boxes continued to light up, winding back and forth in sequence. "Approaching threshold!"
"Approaching threshold," the analyst once again repeated Maya's announcement. The sequence of lights approached one box that was bigger than the others, and wavered there. Everyone in the Pribnow box had their eyes fixed on the display. And finally, as if breaking through an obstruction, the light passed through the large box which marked the threshold, and continued on unabated to illuminate the remaining boxes. Misato exhaled, releasing a breath she didn't realise she had been holding in.
"Synchronisation achieved," Maya stated.
"Synchronisation has been achieved."
"Good work," Misato congratulated Maya.
"We just have to wait now," she informed her superior. "Rei's synchronisation rate is quite low at the minute, but it should increase over time. She'll have to stay in there for a few more hours yet."
"That's okay. I just hope her synch rate rises to a sufficient level."
"I suppose we're going to need all the help we can get to stand up to SEELE," Maya commented, turning around in her chair to face Misato. "And having two working Eva's is better than just having one."
"Yeah," Misato replied half-heartedly. Misato hadn't told anyone about Shinji's decision to never pilot again. She didn't see why she should. Shinji would probably be going to see his father today to officially announce his decision. And the rest of the NERV employee's would find out eventually. Another reason she hadn't informed people of the development was because of her hopes that Shinji would change his mind.
"Are you okay, Major Katsuragi?" Maya asked her, noticing her superior had suddenly become very quiet.
"I'm fine," the purple haired woman replied. "Well about as fine as somebody can be in these circumstances," she managed a weak smile.
"Yeah, it sure has been hectic lately." Maya seemed to think for a while. "Have you seen Dr. Akagi recently?" she asked, concern showing in her voice. Misato decided whether or not to tell the truth to her. She knew that Ritsuko had been her mentor, and quite a role model to her.
"Yes, I talked to her yesterday," she finally confessed.
"How is she doing?" Once again Misato considered what she should tell her. Ritsuko's detainment had certainly not improved her demeanour, but what effect would that news have on Maya?
"She's not doing too well," Misato answered, finally settling on her response. "But I don't think anyone could cope well if they're locked up."
"Oh," Maya replied, looking away from Misato for a moment. "But, I still can't believe that Dr. Akagi would destroy the Dummy Plug system. Especially after she worked so hard creating it." Although efforts were made to keep the incident quiet information always has a habit of getting around, even in a secret organisation such as NERV. Although Misato was secretly pleased that NERV failed at keeping a secret, she wished at least that Maya hadn't learned the truth. It was obvious from the tone in her voice, and the look on her face, that the news had been a shock to her.
'I guess nobody likes to find out the people we look up to aren't quite as saintly as we imagine them to be,' Misato thought. "I just suppose recent events affected her more than she let on," she offered as an explanation.
"I suppose so," the brown haired woman replied. She returned to monitoring the progress of the synch test displayed on her screen.
'Who am I kidding?' Misato thought. 'Recent events have affected everyone more than they've let on.'
"Hmm…" Maya murmured as she looked over the information displayed on the screen in front of her.
"Something the matter?" Misato inquired.
"Rei's synch rate hasn't increased by much. Although that's to be expected, it is the first time she has synched with Unit-02, but her synch rate should have increased more than this," Maya informed her.
"Will she be able to pilot Unit-02 in combat with this level?"
"I wouldn't recommend it."
"What's the problem?"
"It could be Unit-02 trying to reject Rei, or it could be the pilot," Maya offered.
"But Rei is usually always focussed on piloting when she's in an Eva," Misato thought out loud. "Let me speak to her."
"Yes, ma'am." Maya pressed the button on her console that would open a communication link to Rei in the replica entry plug.
"Rei can you hear me? Is something wrong?" Misato asked, leaning down closer to Maya's workstation in order to speak into the microphone located there.
"I apologise Major Katsuragi, I will attempt to focus fully on the task at hand," Rei answered, seemingly knowing the reason for Misato's questioning.
"Good, we need you to be able to synch properly with Unit-02."
"Very well." Rei nodded her acknowledgement, and tried to stop thinking about her encounter with Shinji. Misato stood back up, looking at the image of the blue haired girl on the screens along the wall. That same thought came back to her.
'Recent events have affected everyone more than they've let on. Maybe even Rei.'
***
Gendo Ikari sat alone in his office. Recent events had affected him, but he had been very careful not to show this. The situation he faced, if indeed he was correct, was one he and SEELE had worked very hard to avoid. His actions over the next few days had to be calculated and precise. He had little room for error. The fact that he did not know the full strength of his enemy did not help the situation.
"Ikari," Fuyutsuki drew his attention, interrupting his thoughts. Gendo looked up at the tall grey haired man standing in the doorway. "The pilot of Unit-01 is requesting to see you." Gendo nodded, signalling his subordinate to let the boy in. He had little spare time, and this interruption was something he could do without. Fuyutsuki disappeared into the office's lobby. A few moments later Shinji walked through the doors into the NERV commander's office. The boy faltered for a second, pausing as he entered the room, perhaps unsure whether to proceed. Gendo stared at the boy.
'How can this frail boy possibly be my son?' he thought, wondering how he had somehow played a part in bringing this person into existence. Eventually the boy gathered his resolve and walked further into the massive office until he was standing just a few feet away from his father's desk. Gendo noticed that the boy had not lifted his head even once. Even now, standing so close to him, he refused to make eye contact with him. "Yes?" he asked, some intrigue in his voice. Shinji stood silent for a few seconds.
"I… I don't want to pilot anymore…" he said weakly. He felt the heat from his father's glare intensify. There was absolute silence in the massive room. "I-I'm not going to pilot anymore," Shinji repeated himself, trying to sound more determined.
"Unacceptable," Gendo responded nearly instantaneously. His voice left little doubt that his decision was final.
"I-I won't do it." Shinji tried to re-assert himself, but he was unable to calm his nerves.
"NERV is in no condition to tolerate insubordination," he answered flatly. "You will remain the pilot of Unit-01 until I release you from your position." Gendo continued to stare at the boy, he noticed Shinji had balled his hands up into fists.
"I won't pilot it," he replied, some steel had crept into his voice.
"I have no time to waste on your petulance. I have important work to do. You will report back to Major Katsuragi for duty."
"I'm not going to pilot again. Never!" Shinji shouted out. He gritted his teeth together, and his breathing became ragged. Gendo was silent for a long time while he assessed the situation.
"What will you do if you don't pilot?" Gendo asked, breaking the long pause.
"I-I don't know," Shinji replied quietly. His breathing returned to normal, and his fists unclenched.
"If you will not pilot then you are useless to me. Your NERV clearance will be cancelled by the end of today." Shinji nodded his acknowledgement. "You are dismissed." Shinji stood for a few seconds in front of his father, as if considering something, and then turned and walked out of the office. He watched the boy leave over steepled fingers. Once Shinji was gone Gendo resumed his thoughts, factoring in the loss of one of the Evangelions. His prognostication was far from favourable.
***
"Well, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually grateful for a slow day at work," Hyuga Makato said.
"I'm with you there!" Aoba Shigeru shouted back from the corridor outside Terminal Dogma. "Did you say you wanted de-caff?"
"Are you mad?" Hyuga shot back.
"I see your point," his workmate replied as he pressed a button on the coffee machine. "So where's Maya? I know she had to oversee a synch test but I didn't think it would take this long," he asked as he walked over to Hyuga and handed him his cup of coffee.
"I think she has some presentation to do. Thanks," he replied as he accepted the steaming cup.
"Presentation?" Aoba asked as he sat down at the workstation next to Hyuga.
"Yeah, the Commander wanted to know the combat capabilities of that black Eva which attacked. The labs finished analysing it earlier and Maya has to present the findings to the senior officers today. She's probably preparing her notes or something." Aoba nodded and took a sip of his coffee.
"Damn that's hot!" he half-shouted half-screamed, nearly spraying his keyboard with coffee in the process. Hyuga eyed his cup suspiciously.
"I think I'll just leave that to cool for a while," he said slowly, placing the cup on the edge of his workstation.
"So you think there'll be more of them?" his friend asked, blowing on his coffee to try and cool it.
"Of what? Those black Eva's?" Aoba nodded. "I suppose so. There were two of them last time, so there'll probably be more next time they attack. That is if they attack again."
"You think they'll just leave us alone?" Aoba asked, his voice sounded hopeful.
"Well the Major seems to think SEELE won't let us off as easily as that. But you've always gotta think positive, right?"
"If you say so," the longhaired technician replied, rolling his eyes. "But I just can't believe they left that thing out there though."
"Huh?" Hyuga asked him, confused as to what he was referring to
"The dead Eva," he replied, sounding irritated. He typed a command into the keyboard and a picture of the side of one of the mountains around Tokyo-3 appeared. Sure enough the massive form of the winged Evangelion floated just above the side of the mountain, propped up by a grey Lance of Longinus embedded in the mountain side.
"Urgh," Hyuga audibly displayed his revulsion. "I wondered what they had done with it."
"Nothing, from what I can see," Aoba replied, closing the window which contained the grisly image. "I just wonder why they just left it there?"
"I think I overheard the Major saying something about not enough resources or something." Hyuga grabbed the cup of coffee, which seemed to have cooled down, and took a drink of it. "Really, there seems little point in getting rid of it. It would just use up time and effort, and I think getting the Geofront fully repaired and ready for another attack is more important."
"I suppose your right. But it's still a bit weird, it's like from medieval times when they used to put dead people outside castles to scare intruders off," Aoba replied.
"Well, maybe it'll scare off any more of those Eva's from attacking." The two friends sat in silence for a little while longer, sipping their coffees.
"So what do you thinks going to happen to us once all this is over?" Aoba broke the silence.
"Well it depends who wins," Hyuga stated.
"Come on, you just said to think positive."
"Well I guess NERV would be disbanded. I mean, with all the Angels dead it's completed its purpose, right? I suppose we'd be free to do whatever we want, as well as being unemployed. Why, what are you gonna do?"
"I don't know, I'll probably go to some guitar lessons."
"I thought you could play guitar?" Hyuga asked, sounding puzzled.
"So did I, but it turns out the air guitar and the electric guitar are more different than I had expected." Hyuga laughed. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he dismissed his friends laughter, and then went back to his thoughts. "I'll probably go get another job too, a nice boring job, something part time probably. How about you?"
"I'm not sure myself. That degree in computer programming I got could get me a nice well-paid job. Get my own house, settle down, raise a family. You know, standard stuff."
"Raise a family, eh? So you got yourself a wife picked out already, huh?" Aoba sneered.
"No," Hyuga answered defensively.
"Oh really? So when you said 'dying beside you wouldn't be a bad way to go out,' to the Major you didn't really mean it did you?"
"W-What!?" Hyuga stammered in shock.
"Oh yeah, I heard you. You've got a thing for Major Katsuragi, haven't you?"
"You shut up about that," Hyuga answered angrily.
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Aoba raised his hands to try and placate him. "I mean if I had half a chance I'd give it a go."
"Give what a go?" a familiar voice asked the two. They both froze and looked around, both dreading who they would find standing behind them.
"You scared the crap out of me!" Aoba shouted at Maya as his eyes fell on her. He breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't Misato standing behind them. Hyuga did likewise.
"Jeez, I'm sorry," Maya apologised, wondering why they both looked so shook up. "I just came up here to collect some more information for the presentation," she told them.
"Oh, okay then," Hyuga answered, trying to calm his nerves. Maya sat down at her workstation and began pulling up tables of information. The other two analysts turned back to their computers and tried to be as quiet as they could while Maya continued with her work. They sat like this for a long while before Hyuga broke the silence.
"What the hell we're you thinking, shouting about stuff like that?" he whispered to Aoba. "What if that had been Misa- the Major!"
"Hey, you never saw her coming either," Aoba whispered back, trying to make it look like he was doing some work.
"What happens if she heard us?" Hyuga worried, terror creeping into his voice.
"She didn't hear us, if she did she probably wouldn't have said anything."
"But she could have just asked us what we wanted to have a go at for her own amusement," Hyuga replied, his speech speeding up with panic as more and more possibilities entered his head.
"Look, even if she had heard us Maya would never tell anybody. She isn't the kind of person to go about revealing secrets the whole time."
"I suppose you're right," Hyuga agreed. He stared nervously over at her as she continued to work at her computer.
"So just calm down," Aoba reassured him, confidence returning to his voice.
"Well I've got everything I need," Maya said, standing up. She indicated the clipboard in her hand laden with sheets of graphs and tables. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck Maya," Aoba said.
"Yeah, good luck," Hyuga said, managing an awkward smile. He watched his colleague walk out of the large control room before breathing a sigh of relief. He turned back to his computer, still suffering from a degree of shock.
"And besides," Aoba said, resuming their previous conversation. "If I were you I'd be more worried about me telling Misato what you think of her." He grinned as he saw his friend stare at him with fear filled eyes.
***
"The song is good," the boy stated as he ceased his humming.
"Huh?" Shinji stared at the boy, looking puzzled. 'Who was this boy? Where had he come from?'
"Singing brings joy and revitalises the human soul. I think that song is the highest achievement of the Lilim culture. Don't you agree, Shinji Ikari?" The grey haired boy asked, turning to look at him."How do you know my name?" Shinji asked, staring up at the boy. He was perched on top of a large rock, sitting down with his arms resting on his knees. Shinji had never met the boy before in his life, and yet he seemed familiar to him. Shinji felt he could trust this boy, even the fact that he knew his name didn't seem odd. His question was more out of interest than suspicion.
"Everyone knows your name," the boy replied, smiling. "I don't mean to sound rude, but you're rather ignorant of your own position."
"Oh, really?" Shinji said, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Who are you?" he asked, realising he didn't even know the boys name.
"I'm Kaworu, Kaworu Nagisa," he answered, his smile still beaming on his face. "I am like you," he continued, "one of the selected children, the fifth child."
"You're the fifth child?" he asked, startled by the news. He felt like bursting out into a smile himself at the news. This boy, who seemed so friendly towards him, was to be working at NERV alongside him. "Um, Mr. Nagisa," he began, trying to ask a question which he no longer remembered. The boy laughed.
"Call me Kaworu, Mr. Ikari," he told him, laughing at his new friend's formality which he playfully mimicked.
"Mr. Ikari," Shinji began, feeling flattered and embarrassed. "Oh no, you can call me Shinji." Kaworu laughed, noticing the boys reddening cheeks.
The memory faded, and Shinji was left alone on the lakeshore. He sighed and hugged his knees closer to his chest. He watched the small waves as they gently lapped up against the shore, blurring the line between earth and water. The memory of the boy's body crumbling in his hand came back to him. He had thought feeling pain in Eva was the worst part about their feedback system, but the feeling of Kaworu's body being destroyed within his grip was far worse than anything he could have imagined. And so his happy times spent with Kaworu Nagisa no longer brought a smile to his face.
But now he was free of it. Free of NERV, and Eva, and all the bad memories they carried with them. No longer would he take orders from his father. No longer would he pilot the giant organic creature called Unit-01, which had defined his existence over the past year. And deep down part of him hoped he would never see any of them ever again. Not his father, not Rei, not Ritsuko, not even Misato. He had considered confessing his feelings to his father, in that second before he turned to leave his office. To tell him how much he hated him for abandoning him as a child, for dragging him to NERV, for causing all the pain and suffering in his life. But he hadn't. And it didn't matter to him anymore, if he never saw his father again, never got the chance to tell him what his last living relative actually thought of him, he would still be happy. He was free from all the pain now, and that was all that mattered to him.
"Free," he whispered to himself. He sat on the lakeshore for a long while, until the sun began to disappear once again behind the mountains in the distance. And as he got up to leave he still hadn't figured out why the pain hadn't eased.
***
Maya Ibuki cleared her throat and stared around the conference room which was being used for the presentation. Not many people occupied the room. Commander Ikari and Commander Fuyutsuki were present, as expected. Major Katsuragi was also seated at the large table in the centre of the room. There were five other high-ranking members of NERV seated around the table from various divisions. Maya thought she could recognise the head of the technical division as well as the head of section 2.
"As you all probably know the Geofront was attacked two nights ago by two Evangelion's. An extensive analysis has been performed, and I can now present the results." Maya pressed a button on a small remote in her hand, causing the large screen on the wall behind her to display a picture of the Evangelion. "The battle capabilities of this Evangelion seem to be superior to that of the Evangelions currently under our control. As demonstrated against Unit-01 it is able to sustain heavy damage and still remain combat capable. The F-type equipment gives the model the capability to become airborne. This coupled with the S2 engine housed within the model means these Evangelions are essentially self-sufficient, just like the Angels were."
'She seems to be coping well,' Misato thought, as she watched the woman continue to reel off information about the Eva. Misato knew that Maya would be nervous. It was, after all, the first time she had done such a presentation. She had helped Ritsuko to prepare presentations before, but she had never had to stand up and actually deliver the information herself. She noticed that, despite her new position as 'acting head of science division' she hadn't changed her uniform. 'Perhaps she thinks her time as acting head will be a short period,' Misato wondered. 'She must have faith that Ritsuko won't be staying in the brig for too long.'
"The dummy plug system is also worthy of attention," Maya continued. The image on the screen changed to display the Eva's entry plug. The words "KAWORU.06" clearly stood out on the side of the red entry plug.
'Kaworu?' Misato wondered what the boy's name would be doing on the side of an Eva's entry plug.
"The dummy plug system seems to operate using clones of the boy known as Kaworu Nagisa, the seventeenth angel." She pressed the button on the remote once more and the image changed once again.
"What the hell?" Misato blurted out, jerking forward in her chair to stare at the image. The image on the screen was of a boy suspended in a large liquid-filled tube inside the entry plug. The boy was instantly recognisable as Kaworu Nagisa. But one thing about the boy that was different was that he had black skin; jet black. Misato realised that everyone in the room was staring at her. She saw that Maya was looking about nervously, unsure how to cope with the situation. "I'm sorry," she apologised, feeling guilty for causing complications for Maya during her first presentation. "Please carry on Lieutenant," Misato said as she sat back in her chair, composing herself once again.
"Uh, yes," Maya said, feeling slightly shocked at Misato's reaction. "We found a clone body of Kaworu Nagisa within the entry tube, being used in the same capacity as the Rei bodies were in our own dummy plug system. As you can see his skin appears to be black, but I will address that later. These dummy plugs are different to the version we used however. The NERV dummy plugs were remote controlled from clone Rei's, whereas the SEELE dummy plug seems to be directly controlled by the Kaworu clone within. This system means the response times of the Eva are faster, and there is less chance of communication breakdown between Eva and dummy plug." Once more the image changed to display the large flat bladed sword the Eva's had used, alongside a grey Lance of Longinus. "Their weaponry is also more advanced than ours. SEELE appear to have been successful in producing replica Lance of Longinus'. The Lance appears to be able to transform itself into this sword configuration, but as demonstrated in the battle with Unit-01, it is the most dangerous in its original form. The replica Lances appear to possess the same powers as the original, being able to penetrate AT fields. These Eva's combine advanced technology with Angel technology to create an efficient and deadly fighting machine. It's ability to sustain massive damage and regenerate means that the only real way to destroy them is to destroy the core, located in the chest area. However we believe destroying the dummy plug could also cause the Eva to shut down, meaning there are two possible ways to destroy the Eva." Many of the NERV officers around the table nodded in satisfaction, happy that they now knew how to fight this enemy.
"You mentioned about the black skin?" Gendo prompted her.
"Uh, yes," she faltered again, thrown off guard by her Commander's inquisitiveness. "When analysing the Eva's skin to determine its consistency we discovered that it carried a slight charge. This energy residue seems to be what causes the discolouring of the skin. At first we thought it might be a by-product of the S2 engine but we have yet to determine that."
"Very well," Gendo nodded.
"Are there any questions?" Maya asked, her voice seemed to convey the hope that nobody would ask anything. The officers around the table looked around at each other before looking back at Maya, signalling that no questions were to be asked today.
"This meeting is adjourned," Gendo announced before standing up. The other officers stood as well before they filed out of the room.
"You did well today," Misato congratulated Maya as she left the room.
"Oh, thanks," she smiled at her as she continued to gather up various sheets from the conference table. "I don't know how Dr. Akagi does this all the time. I don't think I could stand it," she said, looking visibly relieved that the ordeal was over.
"Well she just had a lot of experience at it, it should get easier with time."
"Thanks," Maya said again. Misato walked out of the room leaving Maya to finish collecting her notes.
'More than one Kaworu?' Misato thought to herself as she made her way to her car. 'But surely there can't be more than one of an Angel? And why did the Commander ask to have the Eva analysed, he has seen the blueprints for them, hasn't he? He did take part in their construction after all. And why was he so interested in the black skin?' All these questions plagued Misato as she travelled home. 'Something definitely isn't right here.'
***
Shinji had come back to the apartment to collect his belongings. Once he had arrived, however, he had no desire to leave. Not tonight at least.
'I will leave tomorrow,' he thought to himself, as he stared out from the balcony at the remains of Tokyo-3. A ruined city, to match his ruined life. The lake seemed perfectly still in the starlit darkness of the night. The city looked so tranquil, probably because the city was now all but deserted. But the city held memories for him, both good and bad. Part of him wondered whether he should leave this place. Certainly it would be a symbolic severing of the place from his life, but he had spent the last year of his life in this city. It was his home. He had nothing to keep him here, but then again he had nothing elsewhere to take him from this place. Behind him he heard the door to the apartment open and the rustling of clothes as somebody took their jacket and shoes off. He didn't bother turning around to check who it was, he knew it would be Misato. He heard her footsteps approach the balcony, but she stopped before stepping out onto it. There was a long period of silence, several minutes, as Shinji continued to look out upon the city, leaning on the edge of the balcony. Misato leaned against the balcony doors, wondering whether to say anything to the boy. Would she help? What could she say?
"Shinji?" she began. He stayed still. She knew he had heard her, but she couldn't tell whether he was ignoring her, or just not replying. She ventured onto the balcony, leaning against the small wall at its edge alongside Shinji. "Did you speak to your father today?"
"Yes," he answered quietly, still staring out across the landscape.
"So… you've left NERV then?" He nodded. "So are you going to leave Tokyo-3?"
"Yes." Misato felt her heart sink.
"Where are you going to go?" she asked, worried how the boy would do by himself.
"I don't know."
"So when will you leave?"
"I don't know." The two were quiet once more. Misato didn't know what to do. She didn't want Shinji to leave, but would it be any better for him to stay? She felt responsible for him, she was his guardian after all, and she wished she could do something for him. The fact that her duty at NERV compelled her to try and get Shinji to pilot Unit-01 again didn't help either.
"Shinji, listen, are you really sure this is for the best?" Misato asked. Shinji remained silent. "I don't know if this will make any difference to you, but I think you deserve to know the truth." Shinji didn't move, nothing indicated that he was paying attention to what Misato was telling him. "Fifteen years ago second impact was intentionally engineered to minimise damage to the human race. Adam had to be reduced to embryonic form before the other Angels awoke. You see Shinji, like the Angels, mankind was spawned from a being called Lilith. So the Angels are just like us, or what we could have been."
"What does that matter now?" Shinji asked.
"NERV was created by SEELE to engineer third impact, to accelerate man's evolution. We've been lied to all this time. NERV never had any intention of preventing third impact, just making sure it went in our favour."
"Why are you telling me this?" Shinji asked, his voice sounding uneasy. "I don't want to know."
"Something is wrong," she continued on, trying to make her point. "The Commander has turned against SEELE, but something more is happening, something I don't understand." They stood in silence once again. "Are you really sure you want to leave?"
"Yes," Shinji answered.
"Well, so long as you are happy…" her voice trailed off.
"I'll never be happy," he replied, shocking Misato somewhat. "Somebody I once knew told me that life was pain. He was right." Misato stared at the boy in bewilderment, she knew he was depressed, but she had no idea he felt this way. Shinji stood up straight and turned round to face the balcony doors. "Good night, Misato," he said quietly before walking off towards his bedroom. Misato watched the boy as he walked away from her, still reeling from what he had said. She turned to stare once more out across the landscape.
'He really is hurting,' she thought. 'He's just trying to get away from the pain anyway he can.' Her vision began to blur as tears formed in her eyes. "Oh, Shinji," she whispered to herself, "I'm so sorry."
End of the third day
Authors Notes:Well this chapter was finished pretty quickly, I don't think I'm gonna be able to get them all done this quickly so be thankful for this one!
Once again I gotta thank my pre-reader for making some good suggestions for this chapter. I've also got to thank basically anybody who's fanfics I've read recently (Ryoma, Rakna etc.) you've definitely helped improve my writing. I have to give as much thanks as is possible in writing to Kami (Or KK White as she's called on FFN) who has done some excellent fanart for my website (Well, I think its excellent she didn't seem too happy with it, which is hard to believe if you actually see it.) You can find it on the Genesis Crisis section of my website, it's soooo cool! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
I've also got to thank anybody who's read this, and especially those that have reviewed it. This story isn't getting much attention but those who do read it always leave nice comments, thanks!
Also I fell into the trap that the if you could play air guitar then electric guitar is just as easy, so that's where that joke came from (That and the fact that I can swear I never saw Aoba play an actual guitar throughout Eva.)
Damn, these Author's notes are getting longer! I'd better go now. I'm going on holiday for two weeks pretty soon, so don't expect the next chapter for about a month.