"Speaking out loud"
'Thinking internally'
Through the Mind of One
by: brindani
Chapter 6
A wisp of dust rose on a mountain outside of Tokyo 3. It was an ordinary bit of dust that traveled along its way only to be stopped short by a large red foot. The foot stretched far above to where Unit 02 stood, not moving an inch. Two kilometers away, on the opposing mountain, squatted an equally motionless Unit 00 behind a large outcropping of rock. No sound was heard for several minutes until Misato's voice broke the silence within each cockpit.
"Ok, the angel appeared several miles away unexpectedly. It is traveling very slowly; we expect it to get to Tokyo 3 in roughly half an hour. We have no information at this stage, so here is the plan: Asuka will intercept the angel in roughly ten minutes. The Evas' AT fields will remain inactivate to avoid preemptive detection. Once the angel passes, Asuka will distract it with a close range volley to disorientate it. Asuka, you will avoid contact while you sortie. Your main objective here is to take down the angel's AT field. Once the AT field is down, Rei will snipe from her mountain position. You both will have to stay frosty, if this first attack works then that's great, if it doesn't then the angel will react in an unexpected manner. We can then formulate a different strategy based on the new information. Do both of you understand?" Misato spoke directly to the two images; one of Rei with her eyes closed and another with Asuka who was absently playing with a lock of her hair in a bored manner.
"Yes"
"Ya, whatever."
"Um, Misato. Why am I still down here?" Shinji asked as a third picture appeared from his cockpit before her.
Misato sighed in exasperation. "For now, the commander wants you held in reserve in the cage."
"But..." Shinji hesitantly turned to look at the other two pilot's images as they focused for the upcoming battle.
"Give it a rest, Shinji. A good one-two shot and it will all be over. Wondergirl won't have a chance to even get a shot off." Asuka commented with a large smirk and two raised thumbs aimed at him.
"Soryu is correct; we have a tactical advantage consisting of both numbers and foreknowledge of the terrain's layout. There is no reason to be concerned of our success."
'But we've had that advantage every single time and they always gain the upper hand'. Despite this line of thought, Shinji's face relaxed a little at their confident words.
"Asuka, you are to..." Misato said as she began to remind the errant red headed pilot of the battle plan.
"Ya, ya, distract it and take its AT field down. I heard you the first time." 'Doesn't mean I can't get in a few hits while I'm at it.'
Everyone diverted their attention from the red head's clamor, nervously waiting for the angel to make its appearance. It did so very slowly as it crept into view from behind another mountain.
Asuka had been briefed on the description of the angel, but she wasn't very impressed. Compared to the some of the other angels this one's plain white circular form made of what resembled a DNA strand was a joke. 'cheese cake' She thought with an evil grin. Her hawk like eyes traced the angel's path never wavering, waiting until...
"Ahhhh" Asuka yelled at the top of her lungs as she literally surfed down the mountain side, raising thick brown clouds of dust behind her. Halfway down and the angle still made no evasive movement.
'Yes, this will be an easy kill. The one I've waited for to show everyone my skill and prowess. And Shinji...' Without thinking, Asuka deployed her AT field for the upcoming strike.
Instantly the white circular form stopped and began to shimmer, as its DNA like strand shrank into a pure white beam. Disconnecting itself, it formed a long lithe snakelike form. Its faceless head reared up, strengthening the snakelike appearance. She was concentrating so much on her internal musings that Asuka took little note of this change. This was a big mistake she found out about too late. Asuka made a large jump into the air preparing to perform a mortal strike. The angel didn't wait for her arrival. It struck out, viper like, straight into Unit 02's midriff. Asuka barely managed a startled yelp before the sudden impact forced both Eva and angel to careen out of control. With a thunderous crash Unit 02 landed headfirst into the opposing mountain.
"Asuka!" Shinji shouted in fear.
"Asuka, report. What is your status?" When no reply came, Misato turned towards Maya who was currently monitoring the pilot's life signs. "Maya, what is her condition?"
"She is unconscious Major."
"Damn."
The unfazed angel, meanwhile, began to slowly worm its way, inch by inch, into the Eva's body. Little vein like tendrils spread from the angel's entry point, growing bigger as the angel managed to further its progress.
"Major! Asuka is going into a seizure." Indeed the image of Asuka showed a similar effect to that of the Eva around her. Her face was curved in pain despite her unconscious state.
"Misato. Let me up there." Shinji's worried voice demanded.
"Unit 01 shall remain in cryofreeze." Gendou's frigid refusal was absolute.
"Rei! Distract the angel. Get it away from Unit 02." Misato's command came out as little more then a growl in distaste at the commander's continuing decision.
From her sniper's nest midway up the side of the opposing mountain, Unit 00 began to fire enormous slugs at the angel with her Eva's sniper rifle. The shots tore down with a vicious screech, sailing straight and true directly on target, only to ricochet harmlessly off the enormous AT field protecting the angel's body.
Idea after countless idea raced through Rei's mind as she desperitly tried to find a way to buy a few precious seconds to save the other pilot. A realization came to her then, 'It can't see, it reacted only when Asuka's AT field was raised!' Abruptly she threw down her rifle and slid off the side, bringing her AT field to full strength. At first, the angel didn't seem to take note of the approaching menace. As she rocketed closer, it stopped merging with Unit 02. Gracefully, Rei leaped, landing just outside striking range. The opposing end tried to launch itself at her, coming within meters before it could converge no more. Apparently frustrated by the close loss, the angel began to back out of its current host.
"Asuka's seizures have stopped" Maya reported with relief as the small tendrils started to dissipate. Most let out the breath they didn't know they had been holding. The respite didn't last long once the angel freed itself. Its restricted motion was abruptly unhindered allowing it to shoot out at inhuman speed straight at Unit 00. Having seen a similar maneuver used against Unit 02, she was prepared. Rei arched Unit 00 into an enormous leap that went far above the coming threat. With equal grace, Unit 00 came down in a artful tumble which she dashed out of into a sprint in the opposite direction.
The angel wasn't far behind as it turned an abrupt 180 and zipped after the retreating form. Just as it was about to hit, Rei dived to the side, forcing the angel to pass it once more. The reprieve was short lived as it corrected itself almost instantly and smashed itself against Unit 00's AT field. It was all Rei could do to hold it back with the full strength of her AT field and yet it was worming its way slowly towards Unit 00's midsection.
"Status of Unit 02's pilot?" Gendou asked in a perfectly calm manner.
"She's still unconscious, sir." Maya opted automatically
"Very well, the cryofreeze on Unit 01 has been lifted. Deploy the unit immediately."
"Yes, Sir. Shinji, head to the fifth catapult. When you get to the surface, raise your AT field to distract it. Rei, as soon as Unit 01 raises its AT field, drop your's and circle around it. With both of you interchanging your AT fields we might be able to confuse it.
"Got it." Shinji said as he headed to the catapults. With a jerk he was launched upwards, soon afterwards, he shot out of the ground simultaneously raising his AT field. "REI! Drop it now!"
Rei's AT field abruptly ceased.
Instead of the angel going after Unit 01, however, it shot straight into Unit 00 raising a cry of agony from its pilot.
"Damn it! Shinji get in there and kill it with your AT field lowered."
Unit 01 landed with a loud crash from its catapulted leap and began to blur, as it ran at the angel in a purple streak. His hands flew out to strike with his prog knife only to be forced to dodge an attack from the angel, as its opposing end swung out at him.
"Is his AT field up?" Misato asked.
"No ma'am."
"Damn, it must be able to sense the Eva at close range.
Through squinted eyes, Rei watched as Shinji barely dodged a sever thrust from the angel. "No..." She managed to mumble slipping into unconsciousness.
(Rei's mind)
Rei stood on an apparent island, surrounded by a red haze that engulfed everything around her. 'Where am I?' Rei said in some confusion.
'You are here.' Rei looked around to find the source of this voice that intruded in this place. To her left, she could only make out a bare female form shadowed by the haze.
'Who are you?'
'I am you'... if Rei knew anything, she knew that this being was not herself.
'What do you mean?'
'You are so lonely aren't you?' The being said instead of answering as it slowly walked towards Rei.
'Lonely? I am not lonely.'
'Oh, but you are. You have existed in this world alone from the time of your birth. Deluding yourself with the same memories. Using them over and over, desperately trying to hold onto them, as if they were a life preserver instead of the lead weight they truly are.'
'Who are you?' Rei asked slightly startled by this line of reasoning.
'I am the one that shall give you peace. The one that will never leave you as so many have done before.' With this, the figure resolved itself from the mist showing an exact duplicate of herself.
'You are me?'
'Yes, we shall become one and forever leave this world of pain.' The other Rei slowly walked out of the sea moving closer. Soon she stood directly before Rei and encircled Rei within her arms. Rei's world became very light as if she were lazily drifting on a patch of warm fluffy clouds. The other Rei slowly brought her mouth next to Rei's ear. 'Join with me.' She whispered.
For a moment all Rei wanted was to do just that, to leave the pain she felt behind and fall into the awaiting bliss proffered before her. Before she could, a face flashed through her mind. Shinji's smiling face as she took his freely offered sandwich. It was one of the few times she could remember someone smiling... smiling at her.
The strong image was all she needed to push away from the embrace. 'No, there is more than pain here. There is more that I can experience; things you can not give me.'
The other Rei did not seem perturbed by the sudden rejection. 'So you wish to join with him? Do not worry; we shall all be joined soon.' Rei's eyes opened wide in realization. She pushed and shoved her way to consciousness. In a blurry haze, she felt the tendrils that continued to invade her mind and body. All this meant little as her attention locked onto what was happening outside. Shinji's Eva's movements where becoming sluggish as he attempted to dodge the angel's numerous of swipes. She also realized someone was speaking.
"Shinji! Get out of there now. You can't help like this. You have to retreat."
"I will not. If I do, it...it will take her. I can not lose...lose her now." Shinji cried out exhaustedly.
A single tear escaped Rei's right eye. Meanwhile, the opposing side of the angel seemed to have decided to end things as it whipped back for one final thrust. It zoomed forward at supersonic speed going straight for Unit 01's midriff. There was no way Shinji could avoid the blow. Against all apparent odds it stopped short by a mere meter.
"Ma'am! Unit 00's AT field is reversing!"
"What?! Rei, what are you doing?"
"The only thing... I can to... save..." Rei's last comment was broken through the intense tides of pain that multiplied as the angel merged with her Eva at an accelerated rate.
"Rei, get out of there now" Shinji cried out desperately
"Go...Shinji" Rei managed to say while barely remaining conscious as she engaged her self-destruct mechanism.
"Her self-destruct has been activated!"
"Rei! No!!!" Shinji shouted in desperation.
"Ma'am, we've lost all feed from Unit 01's plug."
"Give me a visual." The display panned left and centered on Unit 01. Its hunched form sat motionlessly.
"Self-destruct in t-minus 5"
"Get her out of there now."
"The signal isn't being accepted."
"4"
"Try the direct line!"
"3"
"It's not being accepted either. Aiihhhh" Maya and the rest of the bridge crew screamed as all the instruments in the room began to spark and let off a loud hiss.
"Large energy detected!"
"2"
"Where?!"
"All sensors are off line."
"1"
"Damn"
"0" everything seemed to freeze for one second until a deafening roar shook the entire complex, forcing most to their knees.
Seconds crawled by as people coughed and wheezed through the abrupt clouds of dust and smoke that had risen from the blast. Those who didn't, remained stunned. The thing they always knew could happen had happened. One of the pilots was dead. The silence stretched out until Misato snapped to. "Get an emergency team out there now. We have to retrieve Unit 01 and Unit 02's pilot. Maya, I need a live feed up and running immediately."
"Yes, ma'am." Maya answered as she pulled herself back into her chair and began to franticly switched through cameras trying to find one that was still active. Quickly, the static that had been displayed shifted into rolling brown clouds obscuring everything.
Dread filled the room at what they might see yet everyone's eyes seemed forced to watch what would appear behind that wall of dust.
Misato spotted it first. "There I see Unit 01 and Unit 02!" Indeed, the purple mecha was on its side like a doll thrown haphazardly about and Unit 02 lay in a similar manner.
Tears reappeared in the captain's eyes
"Give those crews 01 and 02's current position."
With everyone in relief that both Asuka and Shinji had probably survived they didn't at first notice something else to the side of the screen. Maya's exclamation rectified this.
"Oh my God! B…but how?"
Quickly looking where Maya's trembling finger pointed, everyone stood in utter disbelief at a still very intact Unit 00. What was more, just behind it, where the angel once was, the mountains that had exist for as far as the eye could see, now had a large apparent ravine that cut straight through them. It was almost as if someone had taken a shovel and dug out a straight line in a mud field.
Again, Misato was the first to come back to her senses.
"Get another crew out there and retrieve Unit 00's pilot." She managed to say in only a somewhat disbelieving tone.
"Yee...yes, ma'am"
Misato turned to face her blond friend.
"Ritsuko, I want some kind of explanation of just what the hell happened out there."
For one of the few times in her life, Dr. Akagi looked totally clueless her mouth hanging open as she blankly stared at the screen before her.
After Misato snapped her fingers a few times in front of Dr. Akagi's face, she jerked into awareness blinking a few times before saying "Uh…Ok I'm on it."
After several long minutes heavily laden with strained nerves, Misato spoke. "Status on the pilots?"
"It looks like Rei is nearly unharmed, except for some mental trauma and confusion"
"Aren't we all." Misato grumbled under her breath
"Shinji seems to be barely alive. They are rushing him to emergency room 310 now."
"Take over for me. I'm going to check on him."
(Emergency room 310)
Shinji lay on the bed seemingly lifeless. The heart monitor hardly registering any vital signs. Misato stood above him, a mixture of shock and worry etched on her face. Noticing no apparent physical wounds, Misato turned her head to the doctor who was treating him. "What is wrong with him?"
Blinking furiously, the middle aged doctor stood as if just realizing someone else was in the room.
"I'm not exactly sure. I've never seen anything quite like this before. It's as if…his body has been drained of life. That is about as close as I can come to describing it. There are no evident injures, his brain signal indicates some trauma, but no more then what we have seen in the past, yet his heart is barely beating"
"Is…is he stable?"
"Yes, despite all our uncertainties, his readings are steady, if low. We are currently observing him to monitor for improvement"
"Thank you, doctor. Let me know if there are any further developments."
"Certainly," the doctor replied absently, having already returned to hovering over the still frame of Shinji.
Misato stood there for several minutes longer, watching intently, as if her stare alone could revive him.
"Major Katsuragi, please report to meeting room three." A bland voice came over the intercom
Sighing, Misato took one last long look before turning to the exit.
(Meeting room three)
In the meeting room, which was just a little larger then the average classroom, Dr. Akagi stood near the opposite wall from the entrance with what appeared to be some hastily drawn diagrams.
Soon after Misato appeared, Rei entered, her legs seemed like they would give out at any moment, yet there was a determined look on her face. Several rather disgruntled doctors followed close behind her.
"You shouldn't be up. We need to observe you for at least twenty-four hours to treat any trauma." Seeing Misato watching their exchange, they turned their pleas towards her. "Major, Ms. Ayanami should be in examination. She can barely remain standing much less attend a briefing. She may even compound any problems that we haven't discovered yet."
"It's all right. Rei has more reason to be here then anyone." Seeing that their last plea to sanity had failed, they turned with frustrated frowns.
Before leaving one doctor turned quickly "Make sure that she returns for a proper examination immediately afterwards."
"We'll make sure of that, thank you," Misato said as the last doctor left.
Rei gave an almost unperceivable nod that could have easily been mistaken for the continuous shakiness that seemed to rake her body. Misato helped her down the rest of the way, seating her onto one of the hastily erected chairs in the front row.
Dr. Akagi waited semi-patiently for everyone to sit down. When everyone quieted, she began
"As you all well know, at 14:00 the angle launched its attack against the Evas. The battle, however, ended unusually. When Pilot Ayanami triggered her self-destruction mechanism, she managed to completely destroy the target yet miraculously both her and the majority of her Eva sustained minimal damage. This meeting has been called to try and explain as best we can as to exactly what potentially happened out there.We've inserted all available data into the MAGI. The only possible scenario it provides is highly improbable, but it is the only thing that makes any sense whatsoever. This scenario was characterized by the manipulation of space/time to warp the energy expelled by the self destruct sequence.
AT fields, by their nature, distort space/time but the shear magnitude of energy necessary to warp so much power and in such a channeled manner is mind boggling. Current estimates exceed known power generation limits per space/time. The recordings we managed to salvage from Unit 00 show that it had nothing to do with this energy generation. The best way to explain in this situation is simply to take questions from the audience. Information is limited, but I will attempt to answer your questions."
Misato's hand was the first risen.
"Where did the energy originate?"
Dr. Akagi turned to a hastily constructed picture detailing Unit 01 in its crouched position. "Just before our instruments completely fried, we received a strong energy reading emanating from Unit 01." She clicked on a slide projector. "We see here a picture of the unit moments before the failure. At this time, we picked up an energy signature that was apparently rising at an expediential rate. You'll notice the odd red coloration of the eyes. These are our only indication of the power source. We could neither confirm nor deny the powers strength. Given the Units behavior in earlier incidents this seems the most likely source."
Rei raised her hand next
"Exactly how could this occurrence affect Shinji in the way that it did?"
"I was only made aware of Shinji's condition before the presentation. The only explanation I can think of is that some of his energy may have inadvertently been tapped during the power generation."
Without raising her hand Rei proceeded to her next question
"Will Shinji recover?"
The blond scientist blinked in surprise. Rei had not only spoken without being asked, but the very nature of the question itself surprised her. She could almost be described as seeming... anxious about his welfare. A few others noticed this as well, but these were very few consisting of Misato and the bridge crew who happen to be seated close by. After several moments, Dr. Akagi visibly shook herself before replying.
"Yes, I do believe he will recover, but it may take some time. We are uncertain of the length of time necessary, as his condition does not match any known to date.
"So it is only a matter of time?"
"Yes" Dr. Akagi then saw something else she hadn't expected; Rei's eyes seemed to relax just slightly as if a great worry had been lifted. It was hard to tell with Rei as her stoic face could change very little while expressing emotion.
(elsewhere)
Shinji's existence was a swirl of colorful dancing lights and a melodious sound that flowed in conjunction with each other. He wasn't able to appreciate this because he was so tired. He could only float in this odd mixture of senses with his eyes drooping. He felt utterly weary, barely managing to think. Whispers of eternal rest coursed through his mind accompanied by a gentle yet insistent tug. It would be so easy to simply let go, to merge with the bright flowing colors and finally be relieved of all the misery that seemed to saturate his very being. Countless times this thought came and left yet something resisted. Some reason was just out of sight, but he knew it was infinitely precious, far too precious to let go of now.
The constant tug of war lasted for an eternity, his will slowly eroding along with the ebbs and flows that continued to taunt him. When he had almost given up, the colors began to fade. Slowly turning to shades of gray and eventually into a dull lumpy white. It took several minutes for Shinji to realize that what he saw was actually a ceiling. Slowly he blinked coming back to a reality that felt familiar.
Turning his head to the right, he saw several machines beeping rhythmically. Mechanically he turned to the left. He saw a plan chair with an attractive, young girl asleep. Her chin hung down with some forgotten book that lay on her lap. Her blue hair was in a familiar disarray... Blue hair? Brain functions ceased as Shinji half leapt, half fell towards her, arms spread wide.
"Rei, Your alive!"
The girl in question managed to barely open her eyes before Shinji collided with her, knocking both straight off the chair and onto the ground.
"You're alive, you're alive." Shinji feebly held onto her, his repeated phrase the only thing that seemed to keep his exhausted mind awake.
Rei, still completely stunned by these unexpected events, lay motionless as she tried to come to terms with the sudden situation she now found herself in. Someone was weakly clinging onto her as if life itself. Hesitantly, her hand rose, seemingly by its own violation, to gently run her fingers through his hair. This constant motion seemed to calm Shinji, reminding his body of his brief, overt taxation pushing him into a deep sleep still clinging to Rei all the while.
Post-authors note:
Done at last! Well, not really. There are two more chapters I have planned and an epilogue if I receive enough comments that desire it. Anyway, the next chapter I already have planned out and only have to type it really. Hopefully that means the next chapter won't take anything near as long as this one did to come out. As always, I am a novice so any constructive criticism and/or encouragement would help me in improving my writing.
Thanks,
brindani