Disclaimer: See Part I.
Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 4
Shinji climbed the short ladder to the Nebuchadnezzar's cockpit. Walking though the ship, he could feel gentle motion, which he assumed were light turns and banks it took. He was amazed to see the tunnels twisting wildly around the ship as it flew.
The two seats in the cockpit were occupied by Misato and Apoc. "Shinji, what are you doing here?" the woman asked.
"I couldn't sleep," he answered, stifling a yawn. "Where are we going?"
"We're taking you to another ship."
"Me? Why?"
The two adults were quiet for a moment. "An Angel has arrived," said Misato.
"The aliens?" Shinji asked. "Will I have to fight them?"
"I hope not," said the woman.
"The machines will attack it first," explained Apoc. "If they can't take it out, then we get involved."
"Aren't the machines our enemy?"
"The Angels don't discriminate between us and them. As long as they attack, our war is on hold."
Misato turned from her controls. "We've got over four hours until the meeting, Shinji. You should sleep."
The boy nodded, and climbed down the ladder. He tried to process this new flood of information. Shinji climbed into his bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep immediately. Information overload seemed to have that effect on him.
After what seemed a few minutes of fitful sleep, Shinji was gently shaken awake. "Wake up, Shinji," said Morpheus. "We're almost there."
Shinji sat up and rubbed his eyes. He didn't feel well rested, but he knew he could function. He pushed to his feet and staggered out the door after Morpheus. His legs were still asleep, and threatened to dump him on the floor at any moment.
Somehow, Shinji made it up the main ladder. Morpheus had joined Neo, Apoc, and Misato around the main console. The screens were full of data and video feeds, not the usual code of the Matrix.
Morpheus pressed a button on the console. "Trinity, how long until we dock?"
"Twelve minutes," she answered, by way of the speaker in the console.
Shinji stared at the screens. Of all the things he had seen so far, this was the most incredible, and the most disturbing. The various video images showed machines battling a monster. There was no other term for it. The thing was huge, a towering, lumbering monstrosity that easily batted away the attacking machines. Its odd beaked face was set between huge shoulders. Its arms were long and slender, but held some kind of huge piston in the palms, which it used like a battering ram to smash anything caught in its hand.
"What is that?" Shinji breathed, dreading the answer.
"That is an Angel," answered Morpheus. "The common enemy of man and machine." He waved his arm toward the screens that showed the battle. "Most of this video is coming to us from the machines, who are transmitting it openly for us. If they cannot destroy the Angel, we will try to."
"Is that thing why I'm here?" he asked. "I'm supposed to fight that?"
Neo turned to him. "You have the ability, Shinji. You have the strength the fight it."
"My gift?" he snorted.
"Yes. Just believe in yourself."
Misato gasped and pointed at a screen, which showed the machines quickly pulling away from the Angel. "They're firing an N2 mine!"
Morpheus quickly hit the comm button. "Trinity, take us down, now!"
"Roger," she said.
"There, land there," said Switch, whose voice carried through the speaker.
"Shockwave incoming!" shouted Trinity as the ship dropped in altitude. It was rocked violently, and slammed down to the ground. Shinji fell flat on the deck. The others managed to keep their feet, though they were roughly shaken. Misato's headset clattered on the floor under her seat.
"Are you okay, kid?" asked Apoc, helping Shinji to his feet.
"Yeah," he winced, looking around. The lights in the ship were flickering, and the console screens had gone out. After a moment, they appeared to boot up again.
"No EMP damage to the core," Misato announced after a moment.
"Morpheus pressed the comm button again. "Trinity, how long until we're flying again?"
The speaker hissed static for a moment before she answered. "The hover pads are scrambled from the shockwave. It will take about three minutes for them to recycle."
"Once they're online get us back up." He released the button and turned to Misato. "Contact the Casper, tell them we're close. See if they sustained any damage."
She nodded and slipped her headset back on. "Nebuchadnezzar to Casper. Come in, Casper."
Static crackled for a moment, before a man's voice cut through. "Neb, this is Casper. Is that you, Missy?"
Misato's eye twitched. "Yes, Dozer, it's me. Are you guys okay over there?"
"It got a little exciting when the blast wave hit, but we're fine. Unit 01 was not affected, as far as we can tell. When will you be here?"
"About eight minutes."
"Roger. See you then, Missy. Casper out."
Misato's eye twitched again. "You should get that looked at," said Apoc.
"Shut up," she hissed at him.
Morpheus turned to his crew. "Get Shinji ready to transfer over." He quickly climbed the ladder to the cockpit.
Shinji turned to Misato. "Missy?"
Misato sighed. "Dozer and I have known each other since we were little kids; I used to play with him and his brother all the time. Dozer always called me that. Still does, though I keep telling him to stop."
Shinji smiled slightly. He hadn't wanted to ask what the transfer would involve. Those things never seemed easy here. Neo led him down the ladder, with Misato and Apoc following.
"Hold on to something," said Misato, as they reached the door. Neo reached up and grabbed a beam over his head, while Apoc grabbed a handle on the wall. Both men grabbed one of Shinji's shoulders, keeping him firmly in place.
Misato pulled a lever next to her, and the door swung down. Shinji gasped as a blast of cold air hit him, threatening to throw him back into the ship. The Neb swung around, and Shinji caught his first glimpse of the Casper. The massive, boxy ship hovered a hundred feet off the ground, held aloft by the rows of hover pads. An occasional lightning bolt sparked from one of the pads down to the ground.
All four people jumped when a bolt of electricity arched from the Neb to the Casper, as two hover pads came close enough to exchange electricity. They were soon deafened by roaring thunder as more pads began trading electrons, until the Neb landed on the Casper's wide, flat top. Docking clamps quickly rose from the larger ship, securing the Neb in place, and grounding it to the bigger ship.
"Come on!" Misato shouted, though it sounded muffled and distant to the others. Neo pulled Shinji along, quickly dragging the boy to an opening hatch on the roof. A short, broad shouldered man held it open, letting the others enter. As soon as Apoc was in, he pulled the door shut.
"Welcome aboard the Casper," he said. "We're all ready for you guys. Follow me." He quickly led them down several flights of stairs, answering questions as they went.
"What is the status of the target, Tank?" asked Misato.
"It's regenerating right now," ha answered. "The machines' N2 mine only stunned it."
"The Unit was unaffected?" asked Neo.
"As far as we can tell. But we won't know until some one gets in and we turn it on."
"That's not very reassuring," grumbled Misato as they walked into a dark corridor.
"It will be fine," said another voice. A blond woman appeared out of the shadows, walking towards them. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't believe we can win."
"I hope you're right," said Misato. "Why's it so dark in here?"
"We had to reroute some power when the EMP hit us. The hanger lights were less important at the time. Tank, could you turn them back on now?"
The Operator nodded, grabbing a remote control that was attached to his suspenders. He pressed a button, and the lights overhead flickered to life. The crew from the Neb gasped at the giant face suspended in the air over them.
"Whoa," Neo breathed, summing things up for all of them.
"What...is that thing?" Shinji asked.
"Evangelion Unit 01," the woman announced. "Our weapon for fighting the Angels."
Shinji stared at it for a moment. "You...expect me to pilot it?"
"Yes, you are one of the Children," answered the blond.
"How? I've never seen anything like this before. I won't know what to do out there..."
"You can do it, Shinji," interrupted Neo. "This is the gift you have."
"I don't understand."
Neo placed both hands on the boy's shoulders and leaned forward. "I know it doesn't make sense. Trust yourself, Shinji. You can do this."
Shinji stared Neo in the eyes, trying to borrow the man's confidence. After a moment, he nodded. "I'll do it."
"Thank you," said Neo.
"Come with me, Shinji," said the blond. "The rest of you can watch from the Command Bridge. Misato, your help there would be appreciated."
Misato nodded, and led her crewmates through one door. The blond turned back to Shinji. "Let's get you ready. I'm Doctor Ritsuko Akagi; I helped design and build the Evas."
"What is the Eva?" asked Shinji, staring up at the huge face again.
"To put it simply, it is a biologic combat machine." She turned and motioned to a ladder. "Come this way, Shinji."
He followed her up the ladder, with the man called Tank behind him. Once again, he realized how nothing here was what he expected. Fear and excitement battled within him. By the time he finished climbing, they had settled on giving him a queasy stomach.
He was on a catwalk, looking out over the broad, angular back of the purple Eva. The armor layers overlapped, and formed an odd ridge down the spine of the machine. Between the shoulder blades, the armor was retracted, and large white cylinder stuck up.
Ritsuko pulled a door open and pointed him in. "Undress, and put on the blue suit in the drawer," she commanded. Shinji walked into the tiny room, barely larger than a locker. It was tight, but he managed to change from the sweater and pants to the odd rubber suit he found. It hung loosely on him, with the extra material bunching around his wrists and ankles. He stepped out of the room and looked for Ritsuko. "Um, is this right, Doctor?"
"Press the button your left wrist."
Shinji found the button and pressed it. With a hiss of air, the suit pulled tight around him, fitting his whole body snugly. "Whoa."
"That's about what the girls said when they got their suits." Shinji turned and saw a gray haired man descend a steep staircase. He looked Shinji up and down, sizing the boy up. "You understand what you must do?"
Shinji nodded. "I think so, sir. I'm supposed to drive this thing out there and somehow destroy that monster."
The man frowned, but nodded. "Basically, yes. We'll be supporting you from here, and will guide you through the battle."
Shinji nodded again, tugging the collar of his suit. He would say he couldn't believe this was happening to him, but this was just one more item on the list of unbelievable things he had seen. He didn't have as much hope of surviving this one, though. If he did, he'd complain about this tight collar. It seemed almost as likely to kill him as the Angel.
Tank led Shinji to a catwalk that stretched out over the Eva's back. He motioned for the boy to go first. The catwalk ended at the white cylinder. As they reached it, a hatch opened up, revealing the pilot's seat inside. Shinji looked over his shoulder questioningly. Tank simply nodded, so Shinji climbed in.
Tank leaned in and helped Shinji get acclimated. "This is the Entry Plug, which is basically the cockpit for the Eva. You can control this thing like it's your own body."
Tank pressed a few buttons on the side of the large seat, and restraints moved into position, locking down at Shinji's shoulders, hips, knees, and elbows. Another set of pads extended on either side of his head, clamping it into place.
"How am I supposed to look around if my head is locked in like this?" Shinji complained. In answer, he got the stabbing sensation as a plug was shoved into the back of his head again. He winced as it went in.
Tank apologized. "Guess I should have warned you about that. You'll be interfaced directly with Unit 01, just like when you connect to the Matrix. We won't turn it on until we're ready to activate the Eva." Tank leaned out the hatch and stepped back. "Just sit tight for now, Shinji. We'll have you out there kicking Angel butt in no time."
"No hurry," Shinji muttered to the closing hatch. He closed his eyes and waited for the worst.
While Shinji waited inside the Eva, the others quickly climbed to the ship's highest deck.
"Are you sure about this, Kouzo?" asked Ritsuko.
The man's face was determined, but grim. "The Oracle believes in the boy, as does Neo. The other two are too far away; we no choice but to rely on him."
They entered the ship's command room, occupied by a series of control panels and a large hologram projected in the front half of the room. Tank ran down a staircase and through the hologram, quickly entering the ship's cockpit.
Ritsuko walked behind the three occupied control panels. Misato had taken position on the right one, with the other two manned by the Casper's own crew. Kouzo Fuyutsuki stood behind her, overseeing the process, while Neo and Apoc waited at one side of the room, tensely observing the boy's ordeal.
"Connect to the Entry Plug," Ritsuko ordered.
Shinji's image appeared on a screen on Misato's panel. Inside the Eva, he saw Ritsuko on one of the two small displays mounted over the handle grips. "We're going to begin activation, Shinji."
He nodded in response, wincing as the plug in the back of his head wiggled slightly.
"Dozer, insert the Entry plug," Ritsuko ordered.
The man in the middle seat nodded. At the press of a button, the white plug screwed into the Eva's back. "Plug inserted, armor closed."
"The Plug has nerve connection with Eva," said the third man.
"Inject LCL."
"In progress," said Dozer.
They watched the monitors as Shinji realized that the liquid was filling the Plug. "Hey, what is..." he asked, before his head was covered.
"Breathe it in, Shinji, it's oxygenated," said Ritsuko. The boy shook his head and continued to hold his breath. They were forced to wait for him to "drown", when he could no longer hold his breath. Shinji thrashed against his restraints as his lungs filled with the liquid. It took a moment for him to relax, as he realized that he was still alive. Terror was quickly replaced by queasiness.
"Hang in there, kid," said Misato, reading his expression. "You'll get used to it soon."
Shinji's glare said he didn't believe her.
"Distance to target?" Ritsuko asked.
"Thirty kilometers," answered Dozer.
The woman pressed a button on his panel. "Tank, get us within six thousand meters of the Angel."
"Roger," came the reply though a small speaker.
"Shigeru, begin the neural connection."
"Yes, ma'am." The third occupant of the control system quickly entered the commands, and the Eva was brought to life.
Shinji tried to keep his breathing steady, as the liquid flowed in and out of his lungs. The feeling was sickeningly unnatural, and it took all his willpower not to throw up. The thought of breathing in his own vomit was enough encouragement to keep his stomach under control.
He looked down at the screen when Ritsuko Akagi spoke again. "We're going to initialize the connection between you and Eva." The boy nodded, his only response with liquid filling his throat. "Try to relax your mind; open it."
He was suddenly hit with a wall of sensation, as sounds and images overlapped in his brain. It was like and unlike the training he had gone through on the Neb. A constant flow of information went straight to his mind, and he struggled to comprehend it. He instantly had a vicious headache.
The voices of the Casper's crew all carried to him, surprisingly clear.
"Synchronization is sky rocketing."
"Pilot's perception is unstable."
"Give him a chance to adjust!"
"Reduce the input."
"Cutting back the sources."
"He's stabilizing."
"Synchronization level steady at...incredible! Forty-three percent!"
"Shinji, you there?"
Shinji blinked, as the headache and dizziness faded from his mind. "Yes, Misato."
"How do you feel?"
"Weird. It's like...I can see with my own eyes, but they're not my eyes."
"You're looking through the Evangelion," said Ritsuko. "You're connected to it now. Effectively, you are Eva's brain."
Another voice cut in. "Ten thousand meters from target."
"Prepare to drop," ordered Ritsuko. Beneath him, beneath Unit 01, Shinji watched the bottom of the ship open, as the massive bay doors slid aside.
"Eight thousand meters."
The Eva was lowered out from the bay, and swung upright. It's feet hung a few dozen meters above the ground. Shinji experimentally swung the Eva's legs, causing the Casper to rock slightly.
"Easy there, Shinji," said Misato. "You don't want to make us go down."
"Six thousand meters."
"Drop Unit 01," ordered Ritsuko. The clamps holding the Eva's shoulders released, and it slid down the short rails to the ground. As it dropped, the release of its weight caused the Casper to bounce upwards.
The Eva hit the ground and slid forward, kicking up huge waves of dirt with its feet. Shinji marveled at the sensations the machine shared with him.
He was snapped back to the present when the green monster turned toward him. His stomach froze as the thing seemed to inspect him. The Casper was pulling away, leaving Shinji to face this living nightmare himself.
Light flared in the Angel's empty eye sockets. Shinji barely had time to blink before he was blasted backwards. The Eva tumbled back, landing hard on the ground.
"Shinji!" screamed Misato in the radio.
Shinji's chest burned, like he was the one who had been shot. "I can't do this," he gasped. "I can't control this thing. I can't fight." Had he not been restrained, he might have curled up in the seat.
"Shinji, you have to do this," Ritsuko said. Her voice had a hard, but desperate, edge to it. "Eva is stronger than that Angel. You just have to use it."
"NO!" Misato's scream was a millisecond behind the Angel's second blast. Unit 01 reacted like it had been kicked, lifting into the air slightly and dropping back down.
"Damage to the right dorsal armor plates."
Shigeru added his own report to Dozer's. "Synchronization is unsteady, 60% chance of feedback."
Misato was growing desperate. "Shinji, can you hear me?"
"It hurts," he moaned.
"This is just like the Construct," she said. "You'll feel it. Shinji, fight like you did in the Construct. You can do it."
With a pained gasp, Shinji got the Eva to rise to its feet. The simple action instilled some confidence in him. When the Angel's empty sockets glowed again, he jumped aside, taking a glancing blow to the hip, rather than a direct one to the damaged chest.
"Good!" yelled Misato.
"Synchronization stabilizing."
"Minor damage to left leg armor."
"Shinji, charge the Angel," ordered Ritsuko.
Shinji complied, gaining speed as he willed Eva to run forward. Power surged around him as Unit 01 closed the distance in seconds. Shinji raised the Eva's arms to grab the Angel, when a wall of light sprang up before him. Unit 01 slammed into it, coming to a swift halt.
Dazed, Shinji couldn't react before the Angel reached out and grabbed Unit 01's left arm. With a twist, the bones inside the arm broke. Shinji screamed as his left arm twisted around, pulling against his restraints.
"It's not real," yelled Misato. "Shinji, stay calm."
"Help me!" the boy screamed.
"Disable nerve connection to left arm," ordered Fuyutsuki, stepping forward. "Has the AT field begun to manifest?"
"No, nothing, sir," answered Shigeru.
"Oh no."
Everything else was forgotten as the view screens showed the Angel grabbing Eva 01's head. The spike that protruded out of the Angel's elbow began to glow, and pumped into the arm, hammering the Eva's skull.
"The head armor's breaking," exclaimed Dozer. "The skull is cracking!"
"Nerve connections are breaking," shouted Shigeru. "It's losing sync. It's feeding back on the pilot!"
"Shinji!" screamed Misato. She was unable to drown out the boy's own pained cries.
With a final blow, the Angel's piston punched through the Eva's head. Unit 01 immediately slumped to the ground, blood pouring from the wound. The Angel, bathed in its victim's blood, stepped over it.
"Have we failed?" asked Misato.
Fuyutsuki's head dropped. "Contact Zion," he said wearily. "Warn them that the Angel is coming."
"What about Shinji?" Neo asked. He and Apoc, not being able to participate, had quietly observed the fight. Now that it was over, their only concern was for their young friend.
"The Evangelion is not transmitting," said Dozer. "I can't tell if he's dead or alive."
"Hold on a second." Shigeru turned to his console, as several indicators beeped to life. "It's got power. The Eva is coming back online!"
"What?" chorused the others.
"It's reactivating. Sync graph is all over the place!"
"The arm has been restored!"
Misato grabbed the headset she had taken off. "Shinji? Shinji, answer me!"
"Still no reading on the pilot," said Dozer.
"How is it moving?" asked Ritsuko.
On the screens, they saw the Evangelion stand up. It's mouth opened and it roared, a deep sound born of rending metal and childhood nightmares. The Eva crouched and sprung forward, slamming into the Angel as it turned toward its enemy.
"Impossible," breathed Fuyutsuki. "It can't do this."
"I can't read any of this," said Shigeru, throwing his hands up in frustration. "The Evangelion has gone completely berserk."
They watched in awe as Unit 01 punched the Angel repeatedly. The Angel managed to grab the Eva and toss it backwards, but the Evangelion flipped in the air and landed on its feet.
It charged forward again, slamming into the Angel's AT field, and pushing through it. As the two titans fought, the observers on the Casper could see that Unit 01 had an overwhelming advantage. The Angel realized that too, as it fell under the Eva's onslaught.
"Energy spike in the Angel's core," reported Dozer. "It's overloading!"
"Brace for impact!" shouted Fuyutsuki.
The view screens flared white as the Angel exploded. The shockwave hit them a second later, throwing everyone to the deck. The Casper shook violently in the air as its pilots tried to keep it flying. As the shockwave passed, the Casper returned to a hover, though it had been much closer to crashing than the pilots would admit.
Tank spoke over the intercom. "Everyone still with me back there?"
Climbing to her feet, Ritsuko hit the intercom switch. "We're fine," she said, looking around to make sure that everyone really was. Fuyutsuki had somehow managed to stay on his feet, clinging to a pipe mounted on the wall. Neo and Apoc had both been thrown on the deck hard, but seemed to be okay. The three seated techs were still in their chairs, though they had been shaken up rather well.
"My God..." came Tank's voice.
Ritsuko looked at the monitors. The Evangelion strode out of the fire that the Angel had created. It marched straight for the Casper, eyes glowing an unearthly white.
"We've done it," said Fuyutsuki, watching the screen with awe.
"But what have we created?" whispered Ritsuko, stepping next to the man. The fear on her face eased slightly as he put an arm around her.
"Our salvation?" he offered.
END OF PART I
Author's notes: I hope you've enjoyed the beginning my little crossover fic. I'm still not sure what possessed me to begin writing this, but I have enjoyed working on it. Combining the characters, elements, and plots of both universes has pushed my imagination, and reminded me of how much I loved to write when I was a kid.
I don't think I will begin Part II until Matrix Revolutions is released. It is possible that that movie will rock my perceptions of the Matrix universe so strongly that I have to completely rethink what I am doing with this.
But I've already taken so many liberties with both story's plots that it shouldn't affect this crossover anyway. Really, I'll probably be too busy watching Reloaded on DVD for the next few weeks to think about anything else. Just trying to be honest. XD
If you've read this and haven't reviewed, please, drop me a line. Post a review, or email me at jagstang7@yahoo.com. I would really appreciate C&C on pretty much everything, from my writing ability, to the plot, the source materials, the characters, or whether or not I've gotten unacceptably OOC with some characters. (Probably Rei. My bad.)
If Matrix Revolutions doesn't completely blow my mind, I will put chapter five up on November 5th. If it does completely blow my mind, but doesn't force them to be rewritten, I'll post two chapters!
Hatcheter