Disclaimer: See Part III.
Deus Ex Machina
Chapter 15
Ritsuko clutched a handrail as the Casper lurched again. "We've got to drop the Evas before we crash," she said.
Misato frowned. "We're not there yet."
"We're close enough!" Ritsuko retorted.
"Tank, turn us into the wind and open the bay," Misato ordered.
"Roger," he replied form the cockpit. The hovercraft banked left, turning directly into the howling storm. Presenting a smaller profile to the wind, Tank was able to manage a steady hover. A few hundred yards away, the Balthasar did the same.
Evangelion Units 01 and 02 were lowered from the ships. The two Evas hung in the air for a moment as their systems were activated.
"I can't see anything," Shinji said.
"Switch to thermal imaging," Asuka told him.
"The Angel's AT field is extremely strong," Misato told them. "Neutralize it, and the Balthasar will destroy it with the Particle Cannon.
"Roger," both pilots replied.
The clamps holding the Evas to the transports released. The two behemoths slid off their support rails, plummeting to the surface. They slammed down on the icy ground, filling the snow-laden air with even more ice and snow.
Shinji waited for it to clear a little before he began to move. "Where is it?" he asked as he approached Unit 02.
"Turn east," Misato said. "It's about twelve thousand meters away."
The two Evas moved forward, easily making their way through the fierce winds. The great, lumbering bulk of the Angel soon appeared through the storm, walking on short, stubby legs. It stood taller than the Evas, and was more than triple their mass. There were no discernable features on the creature. Huge, sloping shoulders tapered down to narrow forearms that ended at a dull point. No head sat atop the torso, and only a red core shone out of its chest.
"Why did we rush out to fight this thing?" Asuka asked. "Look how slow it moves. We could have waited a week, and it would still be in the middle of nowhere."
"We're here now, Asuka," Misato said. "Move in and neutralize the AT Field."
"Copy," Asuka sighed. "Come on Shinji, let's get this over with. I'm getting cold already."
Shinji glanced at the small image of the girl, displayed on his left. "How could you be cold? We're inside the Evas."
"When your sync ratio is as high as mine, you can feel these things from the Eva," Asuka said.
"My score's not that far from yours," Shinji grumbled.
"Enough chatter, you two," Misato said. "You should be close enough. Expand your AT Fields."
The two Evas spread apart, taking positions a hundred meters from either side of the Angel. The pilots focused, willing the machines to generate their Fields.
The Angel stopped as it felt the sudden assault on its barrier. It turned toward one Eva, then the other, examining them with invisible eyes. It turned on Unit 02 and swung an arm at the Eva.
Asuka had no difficulty dodging the clumsy attack, stepping back and watching the Angel stumble as its swing took it off balance. "Ooh, too slow," Asuka mocked.
"Just focus, pilot," Misato said. "The field's not coming down."
"Shinji, help me out here," Asuka growled.
"I'm trying," he said. Shinji had put his entire focus into the AT Field, driving it with a surprising force of will. He could already sense the Angel's Field degrading under his. A moment later, he became aware of Unit 02's AT Field, distorting the Angel's Field, and his own as well.
"Don't fight me," Asuka said, straining to speak.
It took great effort for Shinji to reply. "I'm not. Just...have to..."
"Focus," Asuka whispered.
Their AT Fields suddenly merged, balancing and enhancing each other. The Angel's Field dissolved immediately.
"Balthasar, fire!" Misato ordered.
Aboard the second transport, Dozer turned the ship toward the Angel, pushing closer to compensate for the wind that was buffeting it. The particle cannon quickly began to charge, heating the whole ship as it did so.
The brilliant beam lanced out, striking the Angel at its 'waist'. Dozer pulled the ship's nose up slightly, bisecting the Angel with the beam.
Shinji and Asuka backed away as the Angel broke in two, each half falling toward one of the Evas.
Asuka sighed. "Well, that was eas-"
Two pillars of fire erupted from the Angel's remains. Both Evas staggered backwards as the heat and light overloaded their thermal sensors.
Shinji barely had time to scream before he was attacked. He had a brief glimpse of a smaller, leaner version of the Angel charging him, before it impaled him on the vicious claws at the end of its arm.
Asuka barely noticed 01 as it toppled to the ground. She was frantically trying to find a visual mode that would let her see her assailant. The residual heat had rendered thermal mode useless, and the ice and debris interfered with the rest of her options.
To her credit, Asuka did manage to avoid several attacks before she, too, fell to the Angel.
"Pathetic," Misato growled. She paced through the Casper's small conference room, crossing the length of the room in a dozen steps. "We could have done better. A lot better."
"If he had handled his opponent," Asuka said angrily, pointing at Shinji, "We might have stood a chance. I had both those things on me instantly."
Shinji had been staring down at the table, silently mulling over the battle. Having his defeat thrown into his face infuriated him. "That thing exploded in my face. I was blinded, and never saw that thing coming. If somebody had warned me, I might have had a chance."
"Don't blame me for your stupidity," Asuka shouted. She slammed her fists on the table, rising to glare down at Shinji. "Its not my job to hold your hand out there!"
Shinji jumped to his feet, shouting back. "Its your job to cover my back!"
"ENOUGH!" Misato roared. Both teens immediately dropped back into their seats, specifically looking at anything but each other. "The Angel is destroyed. We'll go home and sort this out later."
"It's not destroyed," Ritsuko said, entering the room.
"What?" Misato asked. "The machines hit it with an N2 mine. It had no AT Field to protect it."
"Neither did the Evas, but they survived that blast," Ritsuko replied. "And we have the Sentinels to thank for digging them out of the ice afterwards."
"Great, I'll send a basket of fruit for Christmas," Misato snorted. "How did the Angel survive?"
"Barely. The two halves were severely damaged. They're merging together again, back into the full Angel. And it's protected by an AT Field more powerful than we've ever seen. There's no way any of the machines' weapons would harm it now."
"Can't we take out the AT Field again?" Asuka asked.
"Maybe. If the Evas were in working condition, which they're not."
"How long until it regenerates?" Misato asked.
"Six days," Ritsuko replied. "We have six days to fix the Evas and figure out how to destroy the Angel."
"What about Unit 00?" Shinji asked. It had been severely damaged in the battle with the Fifth Angel, a month before. He knew it had to be virtually rebuilt, but didn't know how long that was supposed to take.
"There's still too much to do," Ritsuko replied. "We can fix 01 and 02 faster than we can complete 00."
"Doesn't mean Rei won't be on the next attack mission," Misato commented, eyeing each of the present pilots. Shinji immediately slouched further down in his seat, trying to escape her withering gaze. Asuka challenged Misato's glare with her own, only to discover a depth and intensity she didn't know the woman possessed.
When Asuka finally looked away, Misato stood. "Go to your cabins and get some rest," she told the teenagers. "We'll be in Zion in the morning."
Shinji lay on his bed, staring at the bottom of the bunk above him. The other three bunks were empty; he had this room to himself. The dull hum of the ship's hover pads filled the room, a comfortable quiet, and yet not absolute silence.
Shinji's body begged for sleep, but it would not come. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the burning explosion, and his body remember the pain of being engulfed in fire.
Shinji rolled over, pulling the blanket tighter around his body. He willed himself to forget the sensations his Eva had shared; of being pierced by huge claws, of being crushed by the machines' N2 weapon, and struggling in the ice as he waited for his batteries to run down.
A quiet knock caused him to stop moving. "Come in," he said, sitting up. The door cracked open, admitting a young redhead. "Asuka?"
"You're awake for once," she commented. She stepped into the room and sat down on the bunk across from Shinji's. "I'm here to warn you. I'm not going to be removed from the mission."
"What?" Shinji asked sleepily.
"Rei's not going to replace me," Asuka said. "You had better be prepared to fight for your place on the next assault."
Shinji sat upright, turning to face Asuka directly. "Her Evangelion isn't fixed yet."
"That doesn't matter," Asuka said. "She used 01 before you got here. If you had come to Zion before the first battle, you would have been assigned to 00."
"Oh," Shinji remarked. "I think I heard about that." He pitched over, suddenly unable to sit upright. He adjusted his head on his pillow and pulled the blanket close to his chin. "What happens next?"
"Training, I think," Asuka replied. "They'll probably try to create some strategy to defeat the Angel once it's moving again. We'll have to be ready for anything..." Asuka trailed off as Shinji began to snore. She glared down at the boy. "Lazy jerk," she mumbled. Turning around, she left the room, gently closing the heavy metal door.
The transports arrived in mid-morning, Zion time. Both Evangelions were immediately swarmed with Project technicians and engineers, rapidly beginning repairs on the two behemoths.
Misato, Ritsuko, and the command crews from the two transports were rushed into a conference with Commander Fuyutsuki and several Councilmen.
Shinji leaned on the railing overlooking the Eva pit, watching as a huge plate of damaged armor was removed from Unit 01's torso. A massive joist hauled the piece up. Shinji watched as it passed directly before him. The Angel's claws had left holes large enough for a grown man to walk through.
Shinji stared back down at the Eva, lost in thought. He stayed that way for several minutes, slowly realizing that he was no longer alone.
He glanced over to find Rei standing a few feet away, looking down at the Eva. One hand rested lightly on the rail, occasionally tapping it with a finger. A slight frown played across her lips as her red eyes examined the damaged Unit.
Shinji realized he was staring when Rei glanced over at him. "Sorry," he said, quickly looking away. More of the damaged armor had been removed, revealing the Eva's internal components.
"That looks like a core!" Shinji exclaimed.
Next to him, Rei nodded. She waited for Shinji to turn towards her, and began to explain. "The Evangelions were built from an Angel. Like the Angels, they are living machines."
"If the Eva's core is destroyed, will it die?" Shinji asked.
Rei nodded.
Shinji frowned, noticing how close the punctures were to the red sphere. Ten feet higher, and the Angel would have hit it.
"...and make sure you fix the paint job, too!"
Shinji turned around to see Asuka riding a lift out of 02's pit, leaning precariously over the side to shout at the technicians working on her Eva.
Asuka turned and walked to the other two pilots, shaking her head. "Some of those techs seem to think the Evas will fix themselves," she grumbled. She stopped next to Shinji and glanced down at 01. "You did worse than I thought," she quipped.
Shinji's head lowered, resting his forehead on the rail before him. He began a long, slow sigh, only to choke on it as Asuka slapped him squarely on the back.
"Get over it," she chided. "You lived to fight another day." Asuka glanced over at Rei. "Shouldn't you still be in school?"
"The professor excused me when I told him your ships had returned, and I may be needed here," Rei replied.
Asuka's eyes narrowed as she examined the girl. "Misato said the two of us won't be needed today. And even if we were, there's no reason for you to be here."
"I believed it was possible that my presence would be need today," Rei signed.
Asuka examined her suspiciously. "Rei, are you skipping school?" she asked, starting to smile. "I'm impressed. Never thought you had it in you." She pushed off the rail, walking away from the Evangelion bays. "Let's go get some lunch."
While the three young pilots enjoyed a quiet, school-less afternoon, the scientists and technicians were hastily analyzing data from the battle, and trying to devise a strategy to defeat the Angel.
The Project Center's main briefing room was soon crowded, as councilors, captains, and every self-professed tactician came to offer their aid in the Project E's hour of need. The senior members of the Project soon retreated to a smaller conference room, leaving lower ranking techs to sort through the myriad suggestions, from combat techniques to exotic weapon ideas, for something that could help.
Any idea that seemed useful was then shunted to another group of senior techs. This small group simply reviewed the idea for merit, and made sure that it hadn't been suggested already.
After a few hours, there were no new ideas being presented.
Thorough analysis of the battle data revealed that the two "half-Angels" shared some sort of energy link between their core halves. How that happened was beyond the detection of their sensor systems, leading Ritsuko and some others to speculate on higher dimensional link between the two pieces. Asuka had put up a decent fight, and managed to land several strikes on the core of one of the attackers. Every time her Evangelion struck it, there was a response in both cores. Energy seemed to diminish in the unaffected core, flowing to the other to reinforce it.
It was late in the night when Tank let himself into the small conference room, accompanied by Neo. "We might have a plan," Tank announced.
Commander Fuyutsuki looked up wearily as they entered. "Go ahead."
Tank moved around the table, pointing to one of the screens displaying readings from the battle. "When the machines dropped their big bomb, both of the Angel cores took the same amount of damage, and it looked like they were almost destroyed."
Ritsuko sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to alleviate the nagging headache that had developed. "We've been over that already. If both the cores are hit at the same time with the same force, they might be destroyed." She leaned back and glared at Tank. "This has been suggested a dozen times already. But the Evas, the Balthasar, and the N2 weapon couldn't do it."
"The weapon used is not important," Neo said, stepping forward.
"What do you mean?" Misato asked.
"It's all about the timing," he added, smiling.
Shinji and Asuka blearily stumbled into lab, followed by a far too perky Misato. "We're here!" she announced to the present technicians.
"Great," Ritsuko mumbled, wondering how the other woman could appear so alert when she, like the rest of them, had stayed up all night programming the Construct.
"Why are we here?" Asuka asked, an irritated edge to her tired voice.
"Training," Ritsuko replied.
"For?" Asuka demanded, her eyes narrowing.
"Beating the Angel," Ritsuko replied, quickly draining her mug. She motioned to a tray next to her, holding several mugs and a pot of coffee. Though it was grown in greater quantities every year, coffee was still a scarce commodity in Zion.
Misato eagerly helped herself, pouring mugs for the two young pilots as well. "We've developed a plan to defeat the Angel. You two will be required to train here for the next four days while your Evas are repaired. On the fifth morning, we leave Zion for the battlefield."
Asuka quickly drank the hot, bitter liquid, trying not to gasp as it burnt her tongue and throat. "So what do we have to suffer through?" she grumbled.
"Jack in and ask your instructor," Misato said. She pointed the two Children to link chairs, and connected them once they sat down. Ritsuko quickly jacked them into the Construct as Misato sat down beside her.
"Do you think this will work?" the blond asked. The only response she received was a quiet snore.
The Construct appeared around Shinji and Asuka. They gasped at the great, black void that surrounded them, lacking features, lacking light, seemingly lacking air itself. Even the ground they felt beneath their feet was invisible.
The only thing they could see was the other. Instead of their usual Matrix clothing, they wore the plug suits used in the Evangelions.
"What's going on?" Shinji asked.
Asuka shrugged. She turned slowly, rotating on her heel to look in all directions. "There's nothing here," she said.
Several minutes passed as the two pilots continued to look around, trying to discern any features in the surroundings. "This is pointless," Asuka finally declared.
"Is it?" a voice asked.
The pilots turned toward the voice, but saw nothing. Instead, there was the sound of footsteps. They waited as the steps grew closer, until a figure emerged from the curtains of darkness.
"So what's the deal, Neo?" Asuka immediately demanded.
Neo took a few more steps, stopping a dozen feet from the pilots. He was dressed in black slacks and a black shirt, his usual long coat and glasses absent. He looked to Asuka. "Are you sure this room is empty?" he asked.
"I don't see anything here," Asuka replied.
"Shinji?" Neo asked, turning to face the boy.
"I can't see anything either," he replied.
Neo nodded solemnly. "That is the way this was designed."
"Why?" Asuka asked, folding her arms and frowning.
"Do you know why you two, and Rei, are able to pilot an Evangelion?" Neo asked.
"Because our minds are able to process the volumes of input from the Evas," Asuka quickly replied.
"Right. But you've barely scratched the surface of your potential. In just a few months, Shinji has almost reached your level, Asuka."
Asuka's frown deepened.
"But you pulled off something incredible during the last battle," Neo continued. "I saw it in the data files from Unit 02. You had relied on the thermal imaging to see the Angel. After the explosion, that was temporarily useless. Instead of choosing another form of input, you looked at all of them."
Asuka's expression slowly changed to surprise. "I did?"
Neo smiled. "I didn't think you had realized it. Once the Angel attacked, you fell back to standard visual. But you were on the right track.
"What we will do for the next four days is train your minds, expand your comprehension to the point where you recognize and respond to all input."
Neo turned and took a few steps away from the teens. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a PDA. Pressing its surface, he turned to face the pilots again. "For your first lesson, we will try to duplicate Asuka's achievement against the Angel. This is a special program we're in. Your eyes are not your own; you can see everything that an Eva could.
"So, what can you see?"
Shinji and Asuka glanced at each other, then turned in opposite directions. Several minutes passed as they strained to see something, anything, in the deep darkness.
Finally, Asuka's temper flared. "What are we looking for?" she demanded, turning toward Neo.
Neo smiled. "We'll start simple. Just look for basic shapes. You can see them, if you want to."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Asuka demanded. "You're asking something outrageous here..."
Shinji took a few steps away, ignoring the redhead's rant. He was starting to sense something out there, sitting just beyond his comprehension. With a strong effort of willpower, his mind broke through.
"I see it," he whispered.
Asuka and Neo stopped arguing, turning to look at him. "What do you see?" Neo asked.
"It's just a big sphere," Shinji said, "kind of far away. It's hot."
Neo glanced down at his PDA, reading a line of code that ran down the right side of the small screen. "Right," he smiled. "You're looking into the infrared spectrum."
Asuka stepped next to Shinji leaning around to look at his face. The boy's eyes were glazed and half lidded. Asuka tried to follow the direction he was looking, searching for what he saw. Suddenly, unexpectedly, she saw it to.
"Whoa," she whispered.
"That's one," Neo said. "Find the rest."
Six hours later, the trio logged out of the construct. Asuka was the first to sit up, immediately gasping in pain.
"What did you do to me?" she demanded.
"Sorry," Ritsuko said. "The visual input program is still a little rough. We should have that taken care of in a few days."
"A few days?!" Asuka exclaimed. "You can't expect us to suffer from this again."
"It's not that bad," Shinji mumbled.
"We don't have time to wait," Misato interjected, ignoring the boy. "The Angel will be regenerated in five days. If you don't want to do this," Misato smiled innocently, "I'm sure Rei will be willing to pilot Unit 02 for you."
Asuka ground her teeth. "Fine!" she hissed, throwing herself back in the link chair.
"Good," Misato replied. Asuka continued to glare at her from the chair. "Um...we're done for today. We'll start again tomorrow morning."
Still grumbling, Asuka climbed down from the chair and marched toward the door. Shinji followed her out, to find Neo waiting for them.
"You did good today, guys," he said.
"Of course," Asuka replied. "What else would you expect of Evangelion Pilots?"
Neo smiling. "Make sure you're ready for tomorrow," he said, walking away from the teens.
The walk home had been silent, as the two teens retreated into their own thoughts. Asuka climbed to the building's roof while Shinji disappeared into the apartment. Neither seemed to notice when the other had separated.
A half hour passed as Asuka stared silently at the subterranean city. She sat at the edge of the roof, her legs dangling into empty space, swinging lazily.
Her quiet reverie was interrupted by a grunt from the ladder. "Asuka?" Shinji called.
She turned to see Shinji's hand just above the top of the ladder, holding a metal bowl. Crossing the roof, she took the offered bowl, and turned back toward her vantage point.
"Um...Asuka? A little help?"
Turning around, Asuka saw another bowl held just above the roof. Sighing, she took the second bowl as well, holding it while Shinji climbed to the roof.
"Thanks," he said, taking one of the bowls back from her. "I thought you would be hungry."
Asuka inspected the bowl, taking a cautious sniff. The thick, dark stew offered a surprisingly enticing aroma.
"It doesn't smell too terrible," Asuka said.
"I did the best I could," Shinji said, smiling weakly. "There aren't a lot of ingredients available here."
"Less for you to screw up then," Asuka quipped, between bites. Despite her protests, Shinji did note that she ate quickly.
They ate in silence, watching as several ships came and went high overhead. Asuka set her empty bowl on the roof and slid closer to the edge, squinting at one of the ships as it landed on at the distant port.
"Do you think we can do this?" Shinji asked.
Asuka glanced over her shoulder. "Do what?"
Shinji stood behind her, holding their empty bowls. "The training. Beating the Angel. Do you think we really can?"
"Of course! Why do you think everybody's working so hard?" Asuka frowned. "Just follow my lead, and we'll kick that Angel back to where ever it came from."
Shinji nodded, slowly turning away. He paused just before disappearing down the ladder. "There's more food in the kitchen, if you want it. I'll leave it on the stove for Misato."
Asuka waited exactly three minutes before hurrying down the ladder. Shinji's door was closed, so Asuka helped herself to another bowl of stew.
When Misato returned home, she found only a sink full of dirty dishes.
Author's notes:
Well, after a mere five months, I have finally updated again. This chapter sat half finished, as all inspiration for it had left me. Which is ironic, as this part of the story was one I was most looking forward to when I began developing Eva-DEM.
So, I set this aside, and worked sporadically on several other fic ideas, though none of those are ready to see the light of day, or ff.net, any time soon. When I finally did return to this story, my muse struck with full force, and words have been pouring onto the pages. The next two chapters are mapped out, though they might turn into three, depending on what happens.
In short, look for another update next week!
(It looks like there were some problems with the formatting on the last few chapters. I'll fix those soon, as well.)