Last few chapters felt incredibly rushed. I'll try to set the story back in line. This chapter is a tribute to an extraordinary young woman and why she died.
Reprise of Humanity
Chapter 11: Mana's Gift
Mari rolled over and immediately regretted it. She fell off the makeshift bed and landed on her rear, causing her to cry out in surprise. Of course, this stirred the other officers and they all looked over at her.
"Something wrong, Mari?" Shinji asked.
"No, I just fell out of bed. Think I'll go take a walk."
"Don't get lost," Shinji said as he closed his eyes. "This place is pretty big."
"Yeah, yeah."
After she had grabbed a flashlight and radio, Mari walked out to the command center. She pulled the jacket tighter around her and shivered. Even though they had reactivated many of the systems, Shinji hadn't put too much emphasize on the heating. The first day had been spent getting all of the equipment unloaded and the datalink online. Now they were working on preparing to move the EVAs themselves. Most likely they would have to eject the EVAs into space using the catapults and have the cruisers catch them. A risky operation, but there were few alternatives.
The night crew was still hard at work at the various consoles. They had all the time in the world to complete their task, but wasting time wasn't an option either. Mari peered over their shoulders and watched all the coding fly by. It was amazing how fast these people could type. She had seen Shinji speed type once, but he absolutely refused to do so in front of her anymore. Too bad, as it was funny watching his fingers fly by.
"Hmm."
"Something wrong?" Mari asked.
"It might be just a glitch, but the upload from the servers just slowed down immensely. Let's see."
After a few more lines of code the technician shook his head.
"I can't determine what the problem is. It might be the hardware. We'll have to check it out."
"I'll take care of it," Mari said. She grabbed a flashlight and one of the radios.
"Hold on, I'll come with. We're supposed to always travel with at least one other person in this place."
"Don't worry about it," Mari replied. "I'll be fine. Besides, you need to stay here to monitor the connection once I figure out what the problem is."
The tech shrugged. "It's your head if Colonel Ikari gets mad."
Mari laughed it off. "The colonel isn't going to get mad at me. Trust me."
With that Mari ran down the ladder and began making her way through the snaking tunnels. Her breath was visible for a long time as she took step after step. Cold metal walls surrounded her and Mari began to understand why Shinji might have required the two-person minimum for exploring the installation. Even when the place was still alive, it must have felt stifling to walk down these halls.
It took a while with all the climbing down but Mari finally arrived at the terminals. She opened the door and found the transceiver lying on the floor.
"Now how did that happen?" she said out loud.
Mari replaced it and clicked on the radio.
"This is Suzuhara. How is the signal now?"
"All green. What happened down there?"
"The transceiver fell. I'm going to try to wedge it into place so that doesn't happen again."
"Roger. Get back here soon though."
"Oh I will."
She put away the radio and looked at the piece of equipment. Finally, opting for the simplest solution, Mari placed it between the laptop and small power generator. She smiled to herself and proceeded to leave. The trip back was almost as uneventful as her trip down. As Mari retraced her steps, her breath stopped appearing as gasps of condensation. In fact, the entire area felt as if things were warming up. And with all the dried or frozen LCL about, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Mari wrinkled her nose and continued walking. Then to her surprise, a dim light shone down one of the side tunnels.
With a start Shinji woke up again. He glanced over and noticed that Mari still wasn't back yet. Having a sinking feeling, Shinji got up. The last thing he needed to worry about was one of his senior officers getting lost. Shinji walked over to the command center and looked around. Mari was nowhere in site.
"Hey, have you seen Suzuhara?"
The tech nodded. "She went to fix a transmission problem down at the transceiver."
Shinji frowned. "Alone?"
A shrug. "She insisted."
"I don't like this." Shinji grabbed a radio and turned it on. "Mari, can you hear me?"
A few seconds passed and static was the only reply.
Shinji tried again. "Mari? Are you out there?"
Again no response.
"Something's wrong," said Shinji. "Can you track her radio's signal?"
"I'll try."
The man turned to another laptop and began scanning. It took a few tense seconds but he quickly found a stray signal.
"Got it. It's rather faint, but I've managed to triangulate it."
"All right," said Shinji. "Is it moving?"
"No."
"Then I'm getting a team together. Guide us to this location once we're ready."
"Yes sir."
Shinji clicked on the radio. "Security teams 2 and 8, assemble in the command center."
"Roger."
The moment the twelve soldiers reported in Shinji nodded to the tech. He then led the team down to the level where the signal had been detected.
"We're here," he said over the radio. "Which corridor is it down?"
"I've overlaid the signal with the floor plans," came the response. "It seems to be near the EVA storage bays."
"Acknowledged."
Shinji clicked off the radio and nodded to the team. They walked slowly down the corridors, footsteps echoing with every step they took. Weapons were at the ready but no one made any sudden moves to fire. This place was abandoned so there shouldn't be anything here, but something had drawn Mari's attention if she was gone this long.
"You're approaching the signal," the tech said, "but I'm starting to lose it. Be careful."
"Roger."
Just as he said that, a faint glow caught their attention. It was indeed coming from the EVA storage hanger and Shinji felt his body tensing at that thought. He walked forward with the team behind him and his uneasiness only grew. When they turned into the room, all of them froze. On the balcony looking over Unit 01, Mari was floating a few inches off the ground with a glow surrounding her. Her back was turned to the team and she was completely motionless.
"Mari?"
Receiving no response, Shinji stepped forward.
"All of you, stay back," he ordered. "I'll handle this."
The soldiers followed his orders and kept a safe distance from their floating comrade. Shinji himself came forward and tried to get a sense of what was happening. From what his enhanced senses could tell him, Mari was still alive. But the most disturbing part was the fact that her AT-Field was in sync with that of Unit 01. With this information, Shinji quickly decided his course of action.
"Lieutenant," Shinji said as he turned around. "I'm going to try to revive Suzuhara. Post a guard here to report on what is going on. However, if anything unusual or dangerous begins occurring, evacuate immediately and destroy the Black Moon. The information we've recovered here should allow you to return to Earth unharmed. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
With that out of the way Shinji turned his attention back to Mari. The only way to find out what was going on was to synchronize his own AT-Field with that of Unit 01. It would be as if he was piloting the unit again. But why was Mari even still alive? An attempted synchronization with an incompatible person would have killed the would-be pilot. Unless Mari could have become an EVA pilot? But why Unit 01?
Shinji stepped forward, a cold look on his face. He looked up at the being known as Unit 01 and fury burned in his eyes.
"You've cost me my mother, my sister, my wife, and my son," he whispered. "You will not take her away from me!"
A flash erupted from his eyes and an AT-Field manifested. It reached out and ran into something, another AT-Field that seemed to try to push it back. Shinji raised his arms and closed his eyes as he focused. AT-Fields, like all things, had a frequency. Matter and energy both had frequencies and it was only a matter of matching such frequencies. Doing so with Unit 01 proved no more difficult and soon Shinji felt a warm sensation overcoming him. It almost felt like he was back inside an entry plug. That was the last conscious thought he experienced as he slipped into his subconscious.
Technically one shouldn't be aware when one was in a dream state, but Shinji Ikari had broken nearly all the rules. What was another one to him? Shinji took a step forward and looked around. The landscape was rather dull considering it was nothing but whiteness. That was hardly unexpected, as he hadn't really expected anything. Now the trouble was to find Mari. Within an expanse like this, he could wander for the rest of his life and not find her. Was this a defense Unit 01 had created? Anything was possible. The fastest way to search was with the mind, and Shinji had one of the sharpest.
The AT-Field activated and Shinji began spreading it out. Infinity meant little for him as his AT-Field began enveloping the very foundations of this dream world. Mere seconds later, Shinji had found what he was looking for. By taking a single step, everything seemed to speed away and Shinji's foot came to rest a few feet away from a glowing Mari.
"What have you gotten yourself into this time?"
Shinji walked around the body but there was no reaction. What was happening? As he reached out, a spark erupted and bolts of lightning lashed out at him. Shinji jumped back quickly and the electricity dissipated. It had to be another defense, but Shinji doubted Mari would do anything like this. Unit 01 had to be awakening.
"Show yourself!" Shinji cried. "Show yourself to me!"
No reply came and Shinji frowned. He'd have to do things the hard way, like he always did. Again Shinji extended his AT-Field and began searching. However, this time, it found nothing. There was nothing here except for him and Mari. Then it struck him.
"No. You son of a bitch!"
Disregarding any consequences, Shinji charged forward at Mari. He almost glided through the air and threw his fist at the glowing girl. The electrical field erupted once more but the momentum carried him through. Combined with his own AT-Field, Shinji swept away the barrier and his fist connected with Mari's chest. Then at the last second, a light burned outwards and threw him back. When he got back onto his feet, a middle-aged woman with short brown hair was standing before him. Her blue eyes looked at him questioningly.
"Why did you do that?" she asked.
Shinji stared back. "You didn't exactly leave me much of a choice, Mother."
The features on the woman softened as her eyes focused. "Shinji?"
The young man walked forward and looked at his mother. Or was it? After being in Unit 01, how much of her was really left? And even if she was his mother, could he forgive her?
"My god, you've grown."
"I would hope so," said Shinji. "It's been a good ten years since we last met."
"Tens years? I don't really remember."
"I doubt you would. You've been in the EVA so long, I'm surprised you remember me."
"Well, there are certainly some things I can't forget. How have you been?"
"Busy. What were you doing to Mari?"
Yui Ikari cast an eye back at the young woman. "Mari? Is that her name? I didn't even know."
"Humph. That hardly seems likely. You did synchronize with her."
"So?"
"You must be planning something. What is it?"
Yui simply smiled, a smile that Shinji recalled from the depths of his memory. And yet it was still alien.
"I want to live. Is that such a crime?"
"Only if another life is lost in the process."
"You've certainly grown up to be a gentle person, Shinji. I'm proud of you for that."
"If you're really proud of me, then release Mari."
"Release her? Is she so important to you?"
"She's alive. You aren't."
"And yet I am here, am I not, Shinji?"
"Is that supposed to mean something?"
Yui gave him that calm smile again. Perhaps she thought it would rattle him, but Shinji was well beyond the point of caring about his family. He had none worthy of the name.
"Mother, I'll say this just one more time. Let Mari go."
"You'd deny me the one chance I have at freedom?" Yui asked.
"Freedom? Freedom from what? You aren't alive anymore and nothing can free you from death's embrace."
"I see you can also be very cruel. Where did you ever learn that? Was it because I wasn't there?"
What seemed to be tears appeared in Yui's eyes. They streaked down her face and dropped to the white ground. Though everything was an illusion here, the emotions were still real. They vibrated through the AT-Field and Shinji could feel everything she felt. They were genuine.
"I had good teachers," he replied calmly. "You and Father taught me well."
"What?"
"Father did everything he could possibly imagine in order to be reunited with you. If that involved wiping out the rest of humanity, he was willing to go through with it. And you? You wished for a better future for me. You were the one that designed the Human Instrumentality Project. If it had succeeded, it would have wiped out humanity."
"You're wrong," Yui replied, her voice hardening. "It would have evolved humanity. Pain and suffering would have been wiped out and you would never have needed to experience all the darkness this world holds."
Shinji crossed his arms and sighed. "You don't seem to understand, Mother. We are human because feel the pain and endure the suffering. We are flawed creatures suited for a flawed world. We cannot make a perfect world nor can we perfect ourselves. I think Dad saw that at the very end. But then again, you didn't see the price that had to be paid just for the project to fail."
"What? It failed?"
"Why else would we be here, having this conversation? How many people died in the first attempt, and how many more died after the second?"
"But how? My equations all balanced. All of the variables were within acceptable ranges."
The look in Yui's face was one of confusion, not disbelief or anger.
"There was one variable that you couldn't have predicted with any real form of accuracy. That of the human reaction. Humanity is inherently flawed and incomplete, and when you tried to force it together to create a whole, it failed as each individual will shifted. SEELE tried to compensate by using a focal point for all of the souls. An interesting idea, and it would have worked too had the person been perfect. But again, human nature defeated their plans. For you see, Rei was their focal point."
"Rei. Who is Rei?"
Shinji smiled weakly. "My sister."
That shook Yui as her head snapped up. "What?"
"She was my sister, and the only real family I had. And strangely enough, I am related to her through you. Do you want to know how?"
Slowly, Yui nodded.
"She was your clone. Or more specifically, she was a hybrid of your DNA and that of the Angel Lilith."
A silence interrupted their conversation as the two looked at each other. They had all the time in the world and Shinji was content to wait.
Ruhr Valley, Germany+
Asuka felt another kick and groaned. She knew motherhood wasn't easy, but hadn't expected it to be so hard either. Every morning she would wake up and have to throw up. She tried to keep things down and only succeeded possibly half the time. That didn't stop all of her female coworkers from suggesting things.
"Asuka? Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine. Let's just finish this so I can go take a nap."
Maya didn't say anything else as nothing would make Asuka consider just taking a break. Only if they completed their work would Asuka consider taking some down time. Someone drove the young woman and it wasn't always for the good.
"The Security Council wants to activate Project: Adam," Maya said. "There has been a lot of hysteria about the Angel that is protecting Shinji's fleet."
"No surprise. I'm also not surprised that Shinji had something like that up his sleeves. We're working on Adam and he was working on his own pet Angel. But at least that means we're on the right track."
"But Shinji has to know something we don't," said Maya. "Otherwise he would never have organized this expedition to the Black Moon."
"It has to be because of the original MAGI. What's so important in those data archives?"
Maya shrugged. "It's impossible for us to know. All communications was cut from that thing and thus we can't access the network. And even if we did, the security system would take quite some time to hack."
Asuka tapped the keyboard and line-commands streamed past her eyes. It seemed rather primitive, but line-commands were the best as they continued constructing the AI protocol. With Project: Adam accelerated, they needed to be able to control the beast that would soon be born. That meant reviving the dummy plug project, an act Asuka found despicable. They needed a monster to control a monster. And yet she didn't have a choice in the matter right now. But someday, once she completed Project: Marienkind, humanity would never have to fear EVA, Angels, or any attempted ascension to godhood again.
"Asuka, I'm detecting an anomaly in this neuro-sequence. Every time we run this part of the code, it destabilizes for a millionth of a second before reverting."
"That's problematic," Asuka replied. "Show me."
Maya transferred her image to Asuka monitor and highlighted the section.
"I see it. Hmm. We'll need to take a look at the original code, see if any changes we made are causing conflicts."
"Roger."
The two women went back to work and nothing interrupted them until the next kick in Asuka's stomach. She groaned and stood.
"The child's development seems to be going a lot faster than normal," Maya commented. "Was this expected?"
"No, but it's not like we can predict everything. But, well, sometimes having someone kick you on the stomach isn't helpful when you're trying to do work."
The phone rang and Maya picked it up. After a few words, she handed it to Asuka.
"It's the Secretary General," she whispered.
A sense of dread filled Asuka as she took the phone. "This is Dr. Soryu."
"Dr. Soryu, I'm sorry to disturb you at work, but this is urgent. The Security Council has approved the use of Adam and we need you to activate the project."
Asuka felt her blood freeze upon hearing those words. "Mr. Hernandez, that is impossible. The control protocols for Adam have not been completed yet. If we were to release Adam now, it might end up causing a great deal of destruction without us having any way to stop it."
"How long will it take to complete at least a safeguard?"
Her thoughts raced as Asuka considered the request. Though Adam was an untested weapon, it was the first Angel and thus held great power. If Shinji's Angel was defeated, Adam might very well destroy the entire fleet and kill everyone. Even if Shinji was making a mistake, Asuka didn't want to see him die. She had to try to stall.
"We'll need at least two weeks," Asuka replied.
"Impossible," Hernandez stated. "You have three days or we will launch Adam, with or without the corrections."
By now Asuka was starting to lose her temper. "That's insane. If you do such a thing, I will resign as the head of NERV and publicly state how I believe the Security Council is making a grave mistake."
"Dr. Soryu, please do not force the hand of the Security Council," Hernandez said in a low tone. "Though you are valuable to us, no one is irreplaceable."
The warning didn't even faze Asuka. "If you want to try it, go ahead. But I will not authorize the use of Adam until the safety protocols are in place."
Without bothering to hear Hernandez's reply, Asuka turned off the phone and threw it to the floor.
"Well, it seems things really are getting desperate. Maya, gather my staff and begin issuing orders according to Alpha 10."
The words clicked in Maya's head and she nodded. Alpha 10 was a contingency she and Asuka had developed to prevent another Tokyo-NERV from happening. And if what she thought had happened during the conversation, Maya knew they would need it.
The Black Moon+
Shinji was sitting down now, though he wasn't sure why. As this was all taking place in the mind, it wasn't as if his legs were tired.
"I see," Yui said as Shinji finally stopped talking. "And you hate your father?"
A shrug. "To be honest, I don't really care about him anymore. He's dead. I've spent quite a long time eliminating his legacy so it won't harm anyone."
"So you want your father to be forgotten by history?"
"He'll always be remembered, though it will be because of his attempted genocide of humanity."
"Evolving humanity into a higher form of life. Is that really genocide?"
A flash of light blinked in Shinji's eyes for barely a second. "Humanity is not ready for such a thing."
Yui smiled gently. "And what gives you the right to judge?"
A gray light surrounded Shinji and his eyes turned completely white. The aura began to expand but quickly retracted once more, returning him to his normal state. The blue eyes reappeared once more.
"Because I am humanity."
The woman standing before him blinked and looked him over. "What?"
"I am Humanis. And you are not my mother."
A burst of light streamed out from Shinji's hand and impacted against some kind of shield. The light warped and disappeared. Yui stood calmly despite the attack that Shinji had just launched against her. She simply smiled sadly.
"But I am. As much as your biological mother. For her soul and mine are the same."
This time as the aura came forward Shinji didn't bother hiding it. His eyes began shifting to different colors. The blue phased to black which muddled to gray. The gray shined and white appeared only to have red pupils pierce it. The energy swirling around Shinji blew his hair and clothes. It wrapped around him and soon an armor of white light appeared. Long majestic wings grew out of his back and swept outwards. When the transformation had been completed, Shinji stood surrounded by white light.
"Even if you were my mother, I wouldn't let you take another's life just so you can live."
"Oh? Why does she mean anything to you?"
"A living soul always means more than a dead one."
A sword of light manifested in his hands and Shinji charged forward. Yui remained where she was but raised a hand. An AT-Field appeared and swept towards Shinji. It crashed into him and pushed the young man back. After a few seconds it dissipated and Shinji stood on firm ground once more. Years of training and the combined knowledge of humanity guided him. It all boiled down to this one fact. What stood before him wasn't human or angel.
With two steps Shinji was at his top speed and circled his opponent. Seeming to tire of this game, Yui expanded her AT-Field outward trying to catch Shinji. However, Shinji phased his in time and the Field passed through him. He took this opportunity to get closer and brought his sword down. Another AT-Field formed in Yui's hands and she deflected the blow. A low kick caught Shinji in the leg but it didn't even faze him. Using his free hand, Shinji punched through the AT-Field and grabbed Yui by her neck. As he squeezed, Shinji felt a burning sensation on his hands even through the armor of light. Though he felt no regret for his actions, something else was happening as well.
The skin around Yui's neck started to crack. Little pieces began to peal off as if she was made of clay. Even as more pieces fell, the only thing Shinji saw to replace them was darkness.
"What the hell are you?" he asked.
"I'm your mother, Shinji."
The voice that answered was distorted, with both Yui's voice and that of another. The second voice was deeper and sounded scratchy. With the two combined, it sounded like a blending of an angel and demon.
"No you're not!"
Shinji intensified his grip and to his surprise the neck snapped. The sound of bones breaking snapped him out of his trance and he jumped away. Pieces of skin fell to the ground, hardened and now obviously part of some kind of shell. To his horror Yui's head realigned itself and the destroyed skin grew over where it was.
"Now that wasn't very nice, Shinji. I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you."
Even the voice had returned and the dark voice had disappeared.
"You're really something, you know that? But I'm afraid our conviction is quite different."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"I am the Avatar of Humanity. I will abide by its will."
All of a sudden Yui started laughing. Shinji looked at the woman, waiting for some kind of attack. However, one didn't come. Yui remained in her position.
"You, the Avatar of Humanity? How absurd and how arrogant of you to claim that. You are nothing but a fake, Shinji, for you are only the Avatar of the male side. You are not Humanis. You are only half of what makes the whole."
At that moment Shinji froze. How could this being know the truth? He had told no one about his condition. Not even Mana knew the full truth. But then again, it made sense. This soul was of Unit 01. It would know almost everything about him.
"The male side of Humanis was always rather arrogant. I'm not surprised you would claim to be the whole. You must have believed that you could understand the female side without having any of its memories. How wrong you are."
"And yet you are also wrong."
Yui frowned and looked down at Shinji.
"I may only be the male half, but I do possess something from females."
The sword disappeared and Shinji stepped forward. The light began receding and Shinji was soon back in his normal uniform. However, lines started shifting in his hands. The lines lengthened and twirled, fusing together to form something. Shinji's eyes blazed with red light and the object came together. The two points came together like a tuning fork and he gripped it with both hands.
"A gift from my wife Mana," Shinji said. "Her love gave birth to this and I intend to use it to bring an end to you."
With the Lance of Longinus in his hands, Shinji advanced towards the being before him. Now it would be all or nothing.
End of Chapter 11
All right, we're getting somewhere. Next chapter will include the fight against SEELE on Earth with Asuka and Shinji's battle with a being that looks like his mother. Should be interesting.
Z98
