Soul Release Inc Presents…
…..A RAVEN highlights original fiction….
…Written by RAVEN….
In the darkness of my mind lurks a power. Not some supernatural power or some power that God or man has given me. This is the power of imagination and with it I create my own world. In my world of darkness, creatures of evil and blood lurk. They protect my mind from anything that might try to barge in and take my thoughts. Different races of creatures lurk, werewolves, vampires, gargoyles and demons. Each with their own way of living and a different section to live in. With each passing day my mind wanders off thinking about what I might do that day or that weekend. Interesting enough, I hardly do anything except lurk in the darkness of my mind talking with the different creatures that live there. I find that going deep into my mind comforts me in times of need or anger. I am only human after all and my strength is limited. But in my mind I can think of my self as a warrior from a distant planet, or I can think of my self as a super powered creature from beyond my human likeness. And so with that said I finally present to you…
The Darkness that lurks in my Mind to give you the story entitled: The Darkness of the Mind.
Rain. The droplets of water that fall from the clouds unyeilded by anything except for what they happen to land upon. My head for example is what yields the rain in their journey from the sky above. I stand upon Tokyo tower, the massive radio antenna in the middle of the city that is Tokyo itself. Far from Tokyo-3 I often wonder what like is like if the Evangelions didn't exist. But I know that NERV is charged with protecting humanity for what it is worth. I am Daimon Pavilon, a local resident of Tokyo-3 and pilot of a new machine called and EVACore. The EVACore itself is half Evangelion and half machine. From what the researchers tell me it is designed from extreme combat against the Angels and possibly the Eva's themselves.
A beep from my watch tells me it is time to move and so I walk back inside the tower out of the rain and into the warm interior of the closed observation deck. I walk down the stairs to the entrance and looks at the car that awaits me. I sigh as the driver opens the door and gestures me inside. I am tired of being driven around and treated like royalty just because I'm a pilot of that robot. I want to get out on my own like the other pilots of the EVAs. Soon the driver stops at the main building of NERGAL the company that had developed the EVACore. For some reason they decided to combine their machine technology with that of an EVA. The researchers told me that the Eva they procured from NERV Berlin had been damaged in an activation test and needed to be dismantled and rebuilt into another EVA. NERGAL took it upon themselves to get the EVA and rebuild it for their own uses. They used different parts of machinery to test but the EVA seemed to reject it like it didn't want to be part machine. Although it was part machine it finally accepted some sort of new armor and instantly grafted it to its skin. The armor was from a machine that NERGAL titled "Armored Core" and used it in the war that took place in Iraq near the Saudi Arabian border. NERGAL chose me as the pilot for the EVA because I had piloted the Armored Core in the war four years ago. At first the EVA fought against me being its pilot and would not get under control. At one activation test it went berserk and destroyed half of the testing arena before it finally calmed. But now two years later I am the pilot of the EVACore Unit 1 and I am proud that I can protect the people who created this machine.
Next day, Monday March 12, 2015-
I awake in my apartment and looks at the clock. Eight o'clock in the morning, damn it still to early. Sitting up, I rub the sleep from my eyes and looks around at the surroundings. I sigh and get up from the bed and head to the shower after grabbing some clothing from a chair. Today would be the day I thought to myself. Today I meet the Commander and other pilots at NERV. I had begun thinking what my role would be to the Commander as a pilot. Form what I had heard already, the 14th Angel had already attacked leaving either two or three angels left to be defeated. "Kind of late to bring me into the fight isn't it?" I asked myself. After getting out of the shower and toweling myself dry I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of juice. Sipping the juice quietly I let my mind wander again. 'Why bring me into the fight now… What is my role? They have three pilots already why add a forth to the mix?'
I sighed once more and put the towel into the hamper and grabbed a shirt. Pulling the shirt on and looking at the clock I had one hour before the meeting and I still had to get ready. Muttering about stupid protocol I proceeded to exit the apartment and head downstairs. I looked around once I got outside and noticed that the car that would drive me was not here yet. 'Looks like I finally get to walk by myself for once…bout damn time' I thought sarcastically. Turning to my left I began to walk toward the NERV base. I had forgotten that the base was underground and I had to use my ID that the NERGAL supervisor had given me in order to gain access to the main gate. Forty-five minutes later I arrived at the main gate where a NERV patrol guard was standing with a rifle. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow then walked over toward my position and looked at me again.
"May I help you?" he asked me in a firm tone. He then moved his rifle some trying to get into a better position in case if I was a hostile or not.
"I am here from NERGAL Heavy Industries. I am to meet the commander in fifteen minutes. Here is my ID to confirm if you do not find my story true." I hated acting like this but I wanted to make a good impression on the people here before I met the commander. The guard took my ID and looks at it with a curious look.
He handed me the ID back and then walked over to the patrol booth and picked up a phone and dialed a number. He spoke into the phone for a few moments and then hung and walked back to where I stood. He saluted me and I raised my eyebrow in a questioning manner.
"Sorry about that. The people in Operations do not tell us guards about these things. You may enter and the Commander is waiting at the end of the hall as soon as you walk in." he gulped. "Be careful though, the Commander is very strict and doesn't like to interrupted too much."
I nodded to him in thanks and he laughed abit and pressed a button on his belt opening the gate and I stepped through. Walking down the dank hallway I noticed that the top portion of the base was a bleak transport line and wasn't used very often. I saw three people standing at the end of the hallway and walked toward them. I took in the detail of each one, first was a woman in a white lab coat with a blue vest and black skirt. She had blonde hair and a small mole on her right cheek, she was reading some kind of report I was guessing in a folder. The second person I saw was a young female, she had blue hair and red eyes. Interesting I thought to myself. She wore a traditional school uniform and stood beside the third person. A tall man wearing a black jacket with a red long sleeved shirt under it. He had amber colored glasses on and white gloves that covered his hands and he had one hand in his left pocket.
"You must be the new pilot, correct?" the female at my left asked.
"Yes ma'am. I am Daimon Pavilon, pilot of EVACore Unit 1." I said trying to sound military like. The man looked at me through his glasses and then spoke.
"Welcome to NERV pilot. I am Commander Ikari and this is Doctor Akagi. To my left is Rei Ayanami, pilot of Evangelion Unit 00." He gestured to the girl beside him and she nodded briefly. He then turned around and began to walk away leaving only Doctor Akagi and myself. Doctor Akagi looked at me and she sighed.
"Don't worry about him, he is always like that. Alright come this way and I'll take you to Central Dogma. After that I want to perform a synch test on you to see how you do in your EVACore." She turned and started to walk away and I was soon in tow as we headed toward a large elevator. We stepped inside and she pushed the only button that was there. Kind of odd I thought to myself. Soon the elevator started its trek and then all of a sudden light poured into the elevator and I was greeted with a scene of green. 'What! A geo-front, they actually exist!" I shouted in surprise.
"Yes this is where NERV headquarters is located." Akagi said. She pointed to a large pyramid that sat in the middle of the geo front near a lake. "That is NERV HQ."
I gasped slightly and then smiled somewhat and then the elevator stopped at our destination. Akagi walked out and I followed her as she took me to the command center then to the docking bay where my Core was waiting. NERGAL had transported the Core the day before and told me that it was ready as a moments notice. What I was trying to figure out was how Doctor Akagi said she wanted a synch test. What was that? I have a cockpit. How was I supposed to 'synch' with that? Soon we arrived at the docking bay.
"Ok, lets get started shall we?"
"Started?" I asked her.
"Yes lets get you into the EVACore and get the synch test started." Akagi said.
"Umm Doctor Akagi? How am I supposed to synch with the core? All I do is sit in the seat and use the control yolks."
Akagi looked at me funny and then scrunched her eyebrows together. She looked deep in thought and angry at the same time. She then turned around yelled out an order to a tech on duty.
"Open the cockpit! We need to find out how he gets inside this thing!"
She then turned back to me. "Daimon, I am sorry but we never got a chance to study your unit. We don't know how you get in the entry plug."
"Entry plug ma'am?"
"Yes, that's the cockpit for the Evangelions and that's where the pilot sits during combat and training. The pilot uses neural connectors in order to move the EVA and it uses feed back to make the pilot feel what the EVA feels."
I nod dumbly taking in the info. "But doctor Akagi I don't have a entry plug. My Core uses a 360degree bubble cockpit. I wear a skintight jumpsuit with connectors that make the Core mimic my movements. Say for example if I did a high kick, the Core would do a high kick as well. And I wear the jumpsuit only in combat, because if I wore it all the time then the Core would walk around like I am now.
Doctor Akagi looked at me with a weird look and then her mouth dropped open. She closed her mouth and then yelled at the tech again to get the cockpit open. She asked me to demonstrate how the core worked. After about three hours she had taken about fifty pages worth of notes I had guess. I explained if great detail how the core worked. I told her the specs for the cockpit and how the connectors worked using my muscle nerve pulse to transmit the movements to the core itself. She said that she had enough notes and would work on them. But now it was time for the demonstration and Doctor Akagi had called the Commander and the other pilots down to watch.
"Pilot Pavilon.." Commander Ikari stated, "Do not disappoint me in my judgment as your piloting skills."
"Yes sir." I said in the all to familiar military tone. Doctor Akagi moved up to me and gestured to the other pilots.
"Daimon this is pilot of Evangelion Unit-01, Shinji Ikari. Shinji this is Daimon Pavilon, pilot of the EVACore Unit 1. And this young lady right here is Asuka Langley Sohryu."
I stepped up to Shinji and held my hand to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ikari." Shinji laughed abit and turned to me and spoke in a shy manner.
"The pleasure is all mine and please call me Shinji." He said and then stepped back as the girl known as Asuka pushed him out of the way. My right eye twitched slightly meaning something was about to happen. She looked me over and took in my figure I suppose. She gave a huff and then looked at my eyes. Why was she staring at me like that? Making feel uncomfortable she stepped back and narrowed her eyes.
"I am the great Asuka Langley Sohryu. I am the greatest Eva pilot ever. We don't need you here anyway. You're just a backup pilot because I can handle these angels by myself." She said proudly.
I shook my head and then looked at her then Shinji and Shinji shook his head as if telling me not to anger her anymore than she already is. I nodded slightly and then spoke to Asuka. "Nice to meet you too. As I already said, I am Daimon Pavilon. I want to make a good impression here so I don't want to get into any fights." I held my hand out to her in an attempt to make friends like I did with Shinji. She moved her hand forward and then went to grip mine but at the last second she withdrew and laughed. My right eye twitched again and I pulled my hand back to my side. Asuka stopped laughing and then walked off back to Shinji's side muttering to him about something making him step back more.
I only shook my head and turned to Doctor Akagi. She nodded and I walked toward the EVACore. I stood before the chest of the Core and tapped a section and a keypad appeared. Typing in the pass code the keypad fading back into the armor and the panel replaced itself, the core hissed and the chest compartment slowly opened up. Akagi and the others look on in confusion and wonder as the cockpit lights up inside. At the top of the cockpit Doctor Akagi sees a large mechanical ring that has a black spandex cloth. She looks at me and asks to explain.
"That is the jumpsuit Dr. Akagi. The hole there.." I point to the center of the spandex cloth "That is where my head goes through and then the suit conforms to my structure and shape." I step into the cockpit and look upward then close my eyes as the cockpit recognizes my body and then starts up.
Start up….
The cockpit shuddered as it came to life and the ring slowly started to spin and lower toward my body. After having come out of my clothing except for my boxer the suit would for better response to skin contact, meaning better control over the core. The ring finally lowered to my head and I forced my head through the hole allowing my head to go through and out to see the other looking on in rapt interest. Commander Ikari stood and watch as the ring begin to circle again and the spandex taking form to my body and the pressure was applied. I fought against the pressure as the suit was being put on and finally it was over. The suit now formed to my body and I lifted my right foot up tearing the cloth from the ring and then my left doing the same as it sealed.
"Final locks released and gear is checked. Pilot now has control" The computer stated. I looked to Dr. Akagi and crossed my arms. She looked at me and then blinked, "What?" she asked.
"Shall I show you how it works or not Dr.? You're standing on the cockpit door and I do not want to crush you…" She then looked down and blinked then blushed and stepped off the door. The cockpit closed, sealing me inside and the EVACore's eyes lit up showing power has been engaged and the head twitches slightly then moved around fully. As I cracked my neck the head of the Core also moved, startling some of the techs. Doctor Akagi looked up the command deck and then shouted, "Release all locks and prepare testing arena 3!"
"Rogar!" a tech shouted back and the Core shuddered as the elevator was moved to a launch pad. I prepared myself for the test and cracked my knuckles, the core mimicking my movements and I laughed slightly. Commander Ikari looked back at Shinji and Asuka. "Engage the EVACore in the Evangelions as part of the test. I want to find out what the skill of this pilot is." He said coldly.
Shinji and Asuka stood there looking at each other and then took off to the locker rooms. Asuka thought to herself 'Humph… Now I'll show that baka who is the better pilot. Shinji better not get in my way..' She ran to her locker and quickly changed into her plug suit. She pressed the left switch making the suit conform to her figure then ran to the cages. Shinji on the other hand was taking his time. 'Why does father do this… I don't want to fight the new pilot but I have no choice.' Dawning his plug suit and pressing the switch, it conformed to his figure and he ran to the cages.
Both pilot had now entered the entry plugs and were awaiting further instructions from Misato. Misato looked at Commander Ikari.
"Can we really do this sir? I mean, he just got here." She asked.
Commander Ikari looked straight ahead. "We need to see if he can pilot. If not, then he is useless and will be discharged from NERV. His unit will be kept here until a new pilot can be found."
As Misato looked back at the screen she looked at Shinji and Asuka inside the Eva's. "Are you two ready?"
"Hai." Was the collective response.
Misato looked up the testing arena and say that my core was ready and standing by. She then ordered the Eva's to be launched. Looking around at my surroundings I noticed that this was the actual Geo-front. Just then, the two Eva reached the surface and had been released from the safety locks. The Eva's leaned forward slightly and stood still. Misato's image appeared on my HUD and I looked at her.
"You have 23minutes until the test is over. The Eva will use no weapons except the PROG knife and AT Field. You may use what you are equipped with Daimon. Understood?" I nodded in response and closed the comm. Channel. Cycling through my list of weapons I looked at the one I would need. "Hmm, grenade launcher, laser cannon, shotgun and AST rifle." I thought for a moment and decided to ditch all the weapons minus a laser blade I had kept in the hanger unit. My weapons landed roughly on the ground and the biological part of the Core seemed to relax greatly. The head on the core looked up and then the three eyes glowed. "I am ready Commander." I said roughly.
"Test begin." Ikari said…
Little did I know that this would be harder than I thought………
