Disclaimer: See Part II.
Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 8
Morpheus sat at the pilot controls of the Casper, casually monitoring the ship's progress. He had volunteered to fly the ship back to Zion so that the crew could rest. None of the Project staffers had slept during the flight to the Angel, and the evening departure from Zion meant that most had been awake for a full day.
Running on the surface, which was the only place the huge transport could fly, required far less concentration than flying in the below ground tunnels. Morpheus found this fortunate; four others who had also managed to rest during the overnight flight were in the cockpit with him.
"Commander, didn't the battle prove that the Project is capable of defeating the Angels?" Councilor Hamann asked.
Lock sat in the co-pilot seat next to Morpheus, though he had the chair turned around to face Hamann, who stood at the back of the cockpit. "It proved how powerful the Evangelions are, but I don't think the Project used it effectively in the battle."
"Could you explain, sir?" Morpheus asked.
"They sent out their least trained pilot. Wouldn't Rei have been a better choice?" he asked.
Morpheus was slow to answer, not turning his eyes away from the distant horizon. "Shinji was chosen because he already had combat experience."
Lock frowned. "An experience he barely survived. In addition, they only attacked with one unit. The Melchior was slowed but not disabled. We could have intercepted the Angel later, and fought with both units."
"It would have been very close to the machine's power plant," Hamann replied. "If this Angel had exploded like the last one, it would have devastated the plant."
"Would that have been bad?" asked Councilor Lawrence, from his seat next to Lock.
"It would have killed countless prisoners," Mifune replied from his place at the back of the cockpit.
"The Evas are not considered in the Prophecy," Morpheus added. "When the time comes, the One will bring down the Matrix."
Lock sighed. "We will still consider the possibility of using the Evas to end the war, captain."
Lawrence turned to Lock. "In the end, they did devise a strategy to destroy the Angel."
"But it wasn't anyone from the Project," Lock replied. "That was Morpheus' operator, Misato Katsuragi, who summoned the sentinels to attack the Angel."
"She is Katsuragi's daughter," added Mifune. "It should not be surprising that she figured out how to win the fight. During the expedition, she proved she was a natural tactician."
Lock turned to Morpheus. "How long until we reach Zion?"
"About five more hours," Morpheus answered.
Lock rose from his seat. "Good. Councilors, when we get back to Zion, I think we should recommend that the Balthasar be transferred back to the Project." Receiving nods from both men, Lock strode out of the cockpit.
Morpheus glanced back at Mifune. "He's planning something, isn't he?"
Mifune shrugged. "It looks like it."
Shinji awoke when his shoulder was gently shaken. He cracked open an eye and saw Rei withdraw her right hand tentatively, and then grasp her left elbow with it.
"Yeah?" Shinji asked sleepily. "Are we back in Zion?"
Rei nodded. "You slept for the entire trip."
Shinji sat up and yawned. "I don't feel like it."
Rei stood over him for a moment, then turned and walked out of the room. Shinji stood and followed a moment later. Rei was gone, but Misato was coming down the hall.
"Hey, there you are. Ready to go home?" she asked.
Shinji nodded, yawning. "Sure."
"Why are you so tired?" Misato asked suspiciously. "You slept for the entire trip, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
"Or did something keep you up. I noticed Rei leaving your room right before you came out." Misato grinned evilly. "Where you two up to something during the ride home?"
"W-wha-what?" Shinji sputtered as he turned red. "You can't mean...I wouldn't..."
Misato laughed loudly as Shinji blushed. "I knew you would be fun to tease. Come on, lets get out of here." Throwing an arm around the boy's neck, Misato drug him out of the Casper.
They reached the apartment a short time later, where Misato finally released her chokehold on Shinji. "We're home," she called loudly. Silence was the only response, causing her to frown. "Asuka, are you here?"
Misato walked further into the apartment, calling Asuka's name. The apartment's lights were on, indicating that Asuka should be around, but there was no response from the girl.
She glanced back and saw Shinji standing near the apartment's entrance. "Don't act like a stranger, Shinji. This is your home, too."
"Sorry," Shinji muttered, walking further into the apartment.
Misato reached Asuka's bedroom and opened the door. Asuka sat at her desk, staring at a terminal screen. "There you are," Misato said. "We're home!"
Asuka didn't turn from the terminal. "I heard."
"And you didn't come to greet the victors?" Misato asked, grinning. Her expression slipped slightly as Asuka continued to ignore her cheerfulness. "So, when did you get back?"
"A few hours ago," Asuka answered. "The Melchior barely reached half speed after the power failure." Asuka finally turned to face Misato, then stood and crossed the room. "I'm going to sleep," she announced, turning off the light.
Misato stared into the room for a moment, confused. She finally shrugged and closed the door. "Must be one of her moods," she muttered.
"Did Asuka go to bed already?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah. It is after nine, you know," Misato answered. "I think I'll go to bed soon, too." Misato went to the tiny kitchen and opened the refrigerator, pulling out a large metal jug. She poured some of the alcohol into the cup and drank it, sighing happily as it went down.
"I know you slept for the entire trip..." Misato began, realizing that the boy had not followed her into the kitchen. "Shinji?"
Misato walked back toward the bedrooms. The door to Shinji's room was open. Looking in, she saw him sprawled on his bed, snoring lightly. Misato watched him for a moment, smiling slightly.
"You did a good thing out there, Shinji," she finally said. "And...I'm glad that you're here." She closed the door a moment later, as Shinji slept.
"Not only did we have to yell at him repeatedly to wake up, but the little pervert almost walked into the bathroom while I was showering!"
Asuka sat near the edge of the school's roof, explaining all the character failings of her new roommate. Her three listeners were less than attentive, primarily interested in their lunches.
"He didn't do it on purpose, did he?" Kelly asked between bites.
"He said it was an accident," Asuka replied. "It was a good thing I had the door locked."
"I dunno," Kelly replied, looking across the roof to where Shinji sat with some other students. "He's looked out of it all morning, like he barely slept last night."
"He fell asleep as soon as he got home," Asuka replied.
"He also slept for the entire return trip," Rei added.
"Maybe he's ill," offered Hikari. "I got sick right after I got out." Hikari had suffered the flu-like "freedom sickness", the combined effects of a weakened body and exposure to the harsh surface conditions before the retrieval ship found her.
"He's been out for several weeks," Asuka countered. "I think he's just lazy."
Asuka and Kelly turned to Rei as she sighed quietly. Over time, her friends had learned to pick up on nuances in her posture and breathing, subtle physical signs that replaced spoken nuances.
"What?" Asuka asked, mildly annoyed with Rei's disagreement.
"Perhaps he is still adjusting to the real world," Rei said.
"The doctors say it takes a while for a body to adjust to disconnection," Kelly added. "It's supposed to be hardest on teenagers."
"I know I'm not sleeping very much," Hikari said. "At most, five hours a night, but I never feel tired."
Asuka nodded, processing this information. "Yeah, a person's body will react to having the power draining stopped. Your system is probably still producing excess energy. You were a good little battery, Hikari," she added, getting a laugh from two of the girls.
"But I still think Shinji is lazy."
"No way! I don't believe it," Kensuke declared.
"That's how it happened," Shinji answered.
"The sentinels helped you defeat the Angel, and then just left?" Kensuke frowned, trying to accept this. "They didn't try to destroy the ship?"
Shinji nodded. "The Casper stayed there for three hours, and they never came close."
"Why were you there so long?"
"The sentinels had cut up pieces of the Angel to take with them, and the Commander wanted to do the same. Also, they picked up as many destroyed sentinels as they could find."
Kensuke nodded. "Salvage. There are a lot of useful parts in a damaged sentinel. Hey, maybe they'll send one or two over to the school," he said hopefully.
Kensuke was prepared to discuss at length his love for such "dissection" projects, but the lunch bell rang before he could begin. The students on the roof filed down the stairs, returning to their classrooms. They took their desks and waited expectantly for class to start again.
Their teacher arrived and looked around the classroom, counting the students present. Satisfied that everyone had returned, he walked over to the window and stared out at Zion. "Operations in the Matrix are always filled with the unexpected. I remember a time, it was 1981 in the Matrix, when a message from the Oracle fell into the hands of a gang in Hong Kong, and my ship was sent to retrieve it..."
A series of quiet sighs went up around the classroom, as the professor launched into another one of his stories. Some students where exasperated with another random trip down memory lane. Others slumped down in relief, as the story would run for most of the afternoon period, offering a day's reprieve from the expected trigonometry test.
Misato paused to take a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She raised a hand and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Commander Lock ordered. He glanced up as the woman entered his office. "You're late, Miss Katsuragi."
"I'm sorry sir. I was working on installing new power cells in the Neb."
"You've been on the Nebuchadnezzar for some time now, haven't you?" Lock asked.
Misato nodded. "Yes sir, for six years now."
Lock motioned Misato toward a seat. "How have you felt about your position?"
"On the Neb? I feel like I've been at the focal point of the war with the machines. Morpheus takes us on more missions, longer missions, than any other captain. And ever since Neo arrived, things have been even more exciting."
Lock nodded. "What do you think of the Prophecy?" he asked, emphasizing the last word with mild distaste.
Misato frowned slightly. "I didn't really believe it before I joined the Nebuchadnezzar, but since we got Neo out..." She bit her lower lip, choosing her words. "For four years, I've seen him do one incredible thing after another. Agents can't stand up to him, more minds are freed in a month than we used to release in a year-"
Lock waived a hand, cutting her off. "Yes, yes, Morpheus has shared those arguments with me many times. Neo is impressive, but it's not the first time someone has come along who had a stronger aptitude for manipulating the Matrix than anyone else."
"No one has ever flown before, sir," Misato said.
"Once, nobody could jump hundreds of feet," Lock countered. "How did you get involved with the Project?" he asked.
"Through Morpheus. Project E was starting serious testing of the first Eva, and Morpheus was spending every free minute over there. He'd probably deny it, but he was very nervous about letting his daughter be their test pilot." Misato smiled, remembering
"I was assigned to the Neb as it was undergoing an overhaul, so we were in Zion for some time. I knew several of the techs on the Project's staff, so they had me help out."
"And you learned enough to help them run two battles," Lock observed.
Misato shrugged. "I only helped a little bit. Really, my job wasn't too different from operating while a crew is jacked into the Matrix."
"What about the last battle?" Lock asked. "You figured out how to destroy the Angel. You asked the machines to help us!" the commander exclaimed.
"It seemed like the only option, sir." Lock nodded, so Misato continued. "Shinji, or rather, the Evangelion, had been damaged, and didn't appear capable of killing the Angel. I saw a sentinel on one of the monitors, and I, well, improvised."
"You improvised?" Lock repeated.
Misato nodded, paling slightly at the commander's tone.
"Frankly," Lock continued, "you were the only person on that deck that showed an ounce of tactical sense."
Misato blinked, processing the sudden praise.
"I have also seen your records from the expedition. If you are half as cool under fire as the reports said, you would be a valuable asset to the Project."
"Are you taking me off the Neb?" Misato asked.
"I think, Katsuragi, that you can better serve Zion in Project E." Lock leaned back in his chair, turning his terminal screen to face the woman. "I can have you transferred over by tomorrow morning, as a tactical officer for the Evangelions."
Misato stared at the screen for several moments. She nodded dumbly, as the rest of the displayed information sank in. "Yes-yes sir. I'll do it, sir."
Lock smiled. "Good. And congratulations, Captain Katsuragi."
Kensuke sat at the operator terminal, preparing to launch the day's exercise. "That's the first time the professor has used one of his stories to introduce a drill," he remarked.
"You've heard that story before?" Shinji asked. He was standing behind Kensuke's seat, watching how Kensuke operated while he waited his turn to jack in.
"All the time," Kensuke answered.
"It's not like he tells the same story everyday," Kelly piped up. Her operator station was right behind Kensuke's, and she sat with her back to the two boys. "The professor has lots of stories about his times in the Matrix. There's usually some good advice in them about what we'll see when we get to the Matrix."
Kensuke shrugged. "Yeah, but he runs through all of them every month. After a dozen times, I start to fall asleep."
Kelly grinned at the boys over her shoulder. "That's because you have a short attention span, Kensuke."
"What?" he asked, feigning confusion.
Kelly laughed as she turned back to her terminal. Kensuke pressed a few buttons on his own terminal, then looked up to his two subjects. "You guys ready?" he asked.
Rei answered with a brief nod, closing her eyes and relaxing in her seat. Her opponent grinned and flashed a thumbs up. "Let's do this," he said.
Kensuke pressed a button, launching both teens into the Construct. He leaned back as lines of code began streaming down his display. "Can you read the code yet?" he asked Shinji.
Shinji nodded. "I'm starting to understand it."
"Why don't you do tell me what happens, then," Kensuke suggested. "You know, a play-by-play commentary, to see how well your doing."
"Can't you read it?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah, but it took me several years to learn how. Come on, they're about to start."
Shinji focused on the screen, trying to visualize what it read. Following the flowing lines of code was similar to reading a book whose text was always changing. Shinji found the lines that represented the two teenage.
"Okay, they're in separate rooms right now," he began. "They've chosen weapons, Rei has a sword, Mouse has...nunchacks?"
Kensuke nodded. "Right. Probably not the best choice for him. Too flashy a weapon."
"They're in the main room now. It's fairly large, has um...wood columns. A dojo?" Kensuke nodded, so Shinji continued. "They're walking into the room. Rei bowed, Mouse said 'hi'. Um...Mouse attacked, Rei blocked and then tried to kick him, Mouse jumped over her, Rei..." Shinji frowned as the code began scrolling faster. "I lost it," he confessed.
Kensuke smiled. "Whenever Rei 'talks', whatever it is she does causes the code to read strangely. It's confusing if you don't know what to expect."
Kensuke leaned forward, concentrating on the monitors. "Rei told him not to hold back. Not that Mouse will listen. He's pretty good, but he can't seem to go all out on girls. Especially Rei; I think he has a bit of a crush on her," he added.
"Along with Kensuke and every other boy in the class," Kelly quipped from her console.
Kensuke sighed as the other operator giggled. "Anyway...Mouse is fending off Rei's attacks, for now. She has a tai chi sword, and is very quick - OUCH! Mouse just clipped her in the head."
"Is she okay?" Shinji quickly asked.
"Yeah, she kicked him across the room. Okay, now it's getting ugly. Mouse swung his nunchacks, Rei blocked and kicked his legs aside. Mouse hits her in the ankles with his weapon, Rei falls, but gets away before he can smash her head. Wow, he's actually going for it. Mouse just caught Rei in the side, but she cut his leg. They're both limping..."
Shinji looked up from the console. As Kensuke called the fight, he could see the two teenagers rocking in their seats as they took blows in the construct. He gasped as Mouse almost sat upright in the seat. That's got to hurt, he thought.
"Wow! We have a winner!" Kensuke declared.
"What?" Shinji asked. "Who won?"
"Jeez, where'd you go?" Kensuke grumbled. "Rei drove her sword right through Mouse."
"Oh."
"Go unplug them!" Kensuke ordered. Shinji did as told, stepping around the console and disconnecting the link plugs from his classmates.
Mouse sat up first, absentmindedly rubbing the phantom chest injury he had sustained. He turned to look at the other chair. "Good fight, Rei," he said.
Rei opened her eyes and sat up a few seconds later. She turned to Mouse and nodded. "You should not hold back," she signed to him.
Mouse laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, you know..." he mumbled.
"It does not matter who your opponent is," she continued. "You must not restrain yourself." Rei rose from the seat and crossed the room, sitting down at her desk. She turned to the window and looked out across the Geofront, patiently waiting for her next match.
"Where are all the other operators?" Shinji asked. Kensuke and Kelly were the only natives in the classroom, running the duels for their freed classmates.
"They're in a mechanical class," Kensuke answered. "Stuff we already know inside and out."
The professor marked down the results from the match and called the next pair. "Asuka, Yuri, you're up."
Asuka quickly strode across the classroom, confidently taking her seat. She was joined a moment later by a tall, sandy haired boy.
"Don't bother tying to follow the code," Asuka said to Shinji. "I'm way to fast for you."
Shinji said nothing as he plugged her in, and did the same for the boy. He returned to the console, frowning at the screens.
Kensuke rapidly loaded the program and began to connect the students. A warning flashed on one screen. "Hmm, Asuka's not jacked in."
"Why not?" she demanded.
"It's like there's connection interference," Kensuke answered, raising his hand. "Hey, professor? I can't get Asuka connected."
The professor looked across the room. "If you cannot get her to the match, she will be forced to forfeit," the professor answered, before returning to his previous conversation.
Asuka glared at Kensuke. "You'd better get me in there, or I'll have to kick your-" She was cut off as the connection was made, sending her into the artificial battlefield.
Kensuke leaned back and sighed. "The professor did that to me on purpose."
"He wouldn't do that, would he?" Shinji asked.
"Yes, he would," Kelly said over her shoulder.
"He likes to keep it interesting for us," Kensuke explained. "Little surprises to keep us on our toes. Of course, pulling that one when it's Asuka is just mean."
Kelly's match finished, and Shinji was next up. He took his seat, finding Touji was his opponent. "You ready for this?" the boy asked him. Shinji shrugged, and relaxed as the link plug was pushed into his head.
Kelly sat at her console and smiled. "Good luck, guys," she said, launching them into the Construct.
Shinji glanced around rapidly as soon as he was in the construct. He was in a small room, filled with several racks of weapons. Shinji looked over the swords and other equipment, trying to decide which ones he had been trained for, and which he felt he could actually use.
Kelly's voice suddenly echoed through the room. "You're supposed to just grab one and go."
Shinji quickly apologized. "Sorry. I can't decide what to use."
"Oh, that's okay," the girl answered. "It's your first time, right? Just do your best. But watch out, Touji's already getting impatient."
"Thanks," Shinji said. He selected a long quarterstaff and slowly stepped through the door.
Touji yelled at the top of his lungs, leaping through the air and swinging his sword down. Shinji was saved by that yell, as it gave the millisecond warning needed to avoid an embarrassingly fast defeat.
Shinji rolled away as Touji's katana sliced deep into the wood floor. From his knees, he shoved the staff forward, hitting Touji's hip and knocking him back.
Shinji jumped up and tried to follow with a rapid horizontal swing. Touji sidestepped, using a wood column to block the hit. He lunged forward, sword first, as Shinji cart-wheeled into the center of the room.
Shinji swung again as Touji charged him. Touji leapt into the air and kicked the staff away, spinning around and bringing the katana at Shinji's neck. Shinji dropped into a crouch and swept a leg out, kicking Touji's legs aside before he could land, dumping him onto his back.
Shinji swung his staff over and down at his prone opponent. Touji managed to raise his sword, bracing the back of the blade against his left palm. The staff hit the sharp edge, which cut through the hard wood. The shortened staff continued on, smashing down on Touji's ribs.
Touji gasped as the air was driven from his lungs. He rolled away and pushed to his feet, watching Shinji do the same. "Not bad," Touji wheezed.
He raised his sword, and Shinji brought the remaining part of his staff up. The two fighters examined each other from across the room. With an unspoken agreement, they both rushed forward. Touji swung his katana downward, into Shinji's staff. The sword bit deep into the wood, but didn't go through.
Shinji quickly twisted himself around, using the locked weapons for leverage. He tossed Touji over his shoulder, and into the air. He spun and punched Touji with all his strength. Still in the air and upside down, Touji sailed across the dojo, slamming into a wood column. He slid down and hit the ground with a soft thump.
Shinji dared not breath, until he heard the other boy groan.
"Wow," Kelly said. "Uh...logging you guys out now."
Shinji sat up after Kelly pulled his plug out. He glanced over at Touji, who was rubbing his neck. "That was pretty impressive, man. I didn't think you had it in you."
"Thanks," Shinji said.
"That was rough, Shinji," Kelly added, sounding slightly awed. "According to the system, Touji would have suffered a broken neck when he hit the column."
Shinji's eyes widened. "I could have killed him?"
Kelly shook her head. "Not in there. The school's construct is set to prevent fatalities."
"Even so, I'm sorry," Shinji said.
Touji shook his head. "You shouldn't be. If I had known how good you were, I would have been a little more careful."
The professor walked over and asked who had one. He added Shinji's name to the winner's list, and turned away. As he did, Touji caught a glimpse of the second round match-ups.
He grinned wickedly. "You're in trouble now, Ikari."