* M I N D * G A M E S *
Part Eighth
"Shinji, what do you think of me?" Asuka asked as she finished toweling her body dry.
Shinji's only response was silence.
"Well?" Asuka asked, as she wrapped her towel around her and reached for one to wrap her hair with.
"W-what do you mean by that question, Asuka?" From the very first, Shinji had sensed that this was the type of question whose answer would only lead him into trouble. He felt how Asuka was looking for something by asking this, but what it was lay just beyond his reach.
"It's a pretty straightforward question, isn't it?" Asuka said as she looked into the mirror on the door of the medicine cabinet. "What do you think of me?"
"What do I think of you?" Shinji repeated, still not understanding what Asuka wanted from him.
"Alright, I'll make things a little easier. When you think of me, what comes to mind?" Asuka asked, rephrasing her earlier question.
Soon after finishing her question, Asuka felt a swell of emotion emanate from Shinji, but it was just so complex that she could make neither heads or tails as to what it meant. "I promise that I won't get upset with you, Shinji." She assured him, then smiled a bit ruefully. "Besides, there isn't much I can do to you in your present location. Just...tell me what you think of me... as honestly as you can... okay?"
There was a long pause before Shinji said anything. "I think you're completely unlike anyone I've ever met, Asuka."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. She knew he wasn't lying, it was quite obvious he meant what he said ... The problem was what he meant when he said it. "Can't you be a bit more... specific? That's a bit of a vague response."
"Your question was a bit vague in itself... if you want my opinion." Shinji replied a bit defensively.
Asuka opened the door to return to her room to dress, and was greeted by the serious voice of Misato talking on the phone with someone.
"She can't come to the phone right now, but she's here." From the sound of it Misato was referring to Asuka, which predictably piqued the red-headed girl's attention. She quickly positioned herself so she might listen closer.
Misato continued the conversation, unaware as to Asuka's eavesdropping. "What is this all about?" A pause followed as the unknown party gave a response. "What do you mean you can't explain? What's going on here?" Misato sounded a might bit displeased with whatever answer she had received. Another pause ensued as the other end took its turn to talk. "I understand." Misato responded, her voice grave. "We'll be there shortly."
Asuka stole quietly into her room and shut the door behind her. 'What was all that about?' the German girl wondered as she proceeded to dress herself.
Moments later there was a knock at her door. "Asuka?"
Asuka slid open the door, revealing a fully dressed-and-ready Misato. NERV's tactical officer gave her young charge a brief smile as a greeting, then went straight to business. "Good news, Asuka. No school today. We're needed at NERV. There's been an emergency."
- M - I - N - D -
"Gee I wonder what could possibly be so important?"
- G - A - M - E - S -
The hot mid-day desert sun beat down mercilessly upon the NERV staff who dared toil beneath its blistering heat. They scurried like ants in the shadow of the gleaming metallic giant that was EVA Unit-04, each preforming their task as best they could under the harsh conditions. No one complained though, for everyone had been eagerly anticipating this day, and a little hot weather wasn't about to put a damper on their excitement.
"Status check complete." reported a NERV technician. "Engine test is now ready to commence phase one."
Dr. Jonathon Roberts, the NERV officer responsible for the construction of EVA units -03 and -04, adjusted his glasses one more time before he answered. "Begin phase one."
At that moment, everyone held their breath. The sound of one person tapping in a code on a keyboard and the hum of the ventilation fans were the only noise in the entire control room.
"Phase one has been initiated." reported the tech.
Still, no one dared to breath. "Approaching phase one borderline... Phase two ready to commence." announced a different tech, her voice reverberating in the tense silence.
"Start phase two." commanded Dr. Roberts.
Once more the sound of tapping on keys echoed within the control room. "Phase two started successfully." the first technician reported. "S2 engine's output now powering all necessary pilot, secondary, and primary systems. Evangelion will be capable of movement in thirty seconds."
Roberts could have sworn that those were the longest thirty seconds in recorded history. "All systems receiving ample power and the EVA is now capable of movement." announced the female technician. "Phase two is complete."
The whole control room staff breathed an audible sigh of relief. Seconds later, a cheer went up among the entire facility as the news was announced over the PA system. The S2 engine had proven to be a success!
Roberts removed his glasses and wiped the sweat from his brow. For the first time in months, the knots in his stomach loosened slightly. "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing." he muttered under his breath.
- M - I - N - D -
"Expect the unexpected... or was that more predictable than I'd hoped it'd be?"
Apache snorted in response. The young man sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Once again, his fingers danced over the keyboard, filling the small bedroom with the sound of typing.
* G * A * M * E * S *
A glimmer of thought manifested somewhere far beyond the known cosmos. It sent out its call. "It is time. A council is required."
One by one, more entities began to manifest themselves, until a circle of five shining ones and eleven faded ones had appeared. A moment of silence was observed for the two entities that were in absence. "Let the council begin." said the one at the head of the circle.
"The lillum have acquired the essence of the tree of knowledge." the first announced.
"Is that the only reason you called us, Amarisel?" Zeruel complained.
"Don't be so dense, Zeruel!" Arael snapped. "This might prove disastrous for our cause! The lillum could very well violate that which has been foreordained with this discovery!"
"The prophecies don't necessarily forbid such a discovery from happening, Arael."
"You would side with them against your own kind?" Arael said, his "voice" half questioning, half accusing.
"Tabris is not siding with the lillum, Arael." Bardiel interjected, trying to defuse the situation. "He simply makes a valid point. The prophecies say nothing on the matter."
"In fact, it might be that this occurred as a result of your actions."
"You go too far, Tabris!" Arael growled.
"Enough, brother. Amarisel, continue to monitor this event and keep the rest of us informed. I doubt the lillum are truly capable of realizing the full importance of this discovery, but its always better to be informed."
"I understand, Tabris."
"Good. This council is at an end."
* M * I * N * D *
"Amarisel is a rather neglected angel, don't you think? I mean, she did manage to destroy an EVA, after all, she should get a little more credit, shouldn't she?"
* G * A * M * E * S *
"What the hell is going on here, Ritsuko?"
Misato had cooled down some during the drive to HQ, though not quite enough so to let the sleep-deprived scientist off without at least some griping. One must keep up appearances, after all.
Ritsuko massaged her temples wearily. "We finished analyzing the data from the last synchronization test.."
"I'm listening." Misato stated flatly.
Ritsuko pressed a key on a nearby terminal, causing a large display screen to hum to life. "This is Asuka's brain wave pattern."
"I'm no expert, but its not supposed to look like that... is it?"
"Correct." Ritsuko replied. "The Magi generated this using incorrect parameters." She pressed another button and the screen changed. "This is the same data, but displayed using the correct parameters."
"There's two now?" Misato exclaimed, feeling even more puzzled than before. "What does this all mean?"
"I can't say for certain, yet." Ritsuko said. "It could mean any number of things, though my gut tells me it has something to do with what happened in the last angel attack."
"You don't think that the Angel is somehow affecting Asuka, do you?" Misato asked worry beginning to seep in on several different levels.
"I can't rule out that possibility. In any case, we need to do more testing before we jump to any conclusions."
Misato nodded, then frowned thoughtfully a few moments later. "What are we supposed to tell Asuka?"
"Nothing, yet." Ritsuko replied, her voice neutral.
"But she has the right to know!" Misato protested.
"It would run the risk of alerting a possible alien presence to our detection of its existence." Ritsuko explained. "If such a thing happens, it might try to damage the pilot. We cannot allow that to happen."
Misato felt all her arguments evaporate instantly. "You're right," She begrudgingly admitted "But I don't like not being able to tell her. I've never been that fond of keeping secrets."
Ritsuko gave her friend a weak smile. "Cheer up." she said in an effort to comfort her, "It might turn out you're not keeping secrets from Asuka after all."
"How's that?"
"She might not be Asuka anymore."
Misato shot the blond woman a withering glare. "That's not funny."
"I thought it was." he said in response to Misato's comment.
Apache snorted loudly.
"Hey, its not my fault I have a defective sense of humor. Hmmm... I wonder if its possible to get a refund on it?"
Apache gave no response.
Asuka pressed the button on her wrist, vacuum sealing her plugsuit to her body. Neither she nor Shinji had said very much to the other since overhearing the phone conversation. Upon their arrival, Asuka was immediately informed to report to the locker room and change into her plugsuit without any offer of explanation as to what was going on. Having done as she had been ordered, she decided to report in to Misato, but as she tried to open the door to leave the locker room, she found the door locked.
"What the hell is going on here?" she asked out loud to no one in particular.
"What's wrong?" Shinji asked, near reeling from the sudden feeling of intense frustration and anger that Asuka was experiencing.
"The door's locked." Asuka grumbled.
"Are you sure it isn't just jammed or something?" Shinji asked hopefully.
To be certain, Asuka gave the button another couple of forceful jabs. "Yep, I'm sure." she replied.
"I don't suppose we could've been locked in here by accident..." Shinji said.
"I sincerely doubt that." Asuka muttered gruffly.
"Then how else could we have been locked in?" Shinji asked, "You don't think this happened on purpose... do you?"
The door suddenly slid open with a hiss revealing a dark-suited section two agent standing there. "Miss Sorhyu, if you would come with me, please." His words were by no means a request, but a demand... and his tone made Asuka want to grind her teeth in aggravation.
"I guess that answers that question." she muttered under her breath.
"Excuse me?" asked the section two agent, unaware of the private conversation the red-headed pilot was participating in.
"Lead the way." Asuka replied in pleasant voice, though Shinji could feel the intense anger seething below the surface of her composure.
'Guess she has some sort of authority issues...' Shinji thought, though he was careful not to voice this observation. While it might be cowardly to not speak one's mind, in Shinji's case, it was the only sensible thing to do.
+ M + I + N + D +
This is Asuka we're talking about, after all. If anyone could find a way to inflict damage upon on an entity residing in one's own brain, it'd be her.
+ G + A + M + E + S +
"Are you sure its safe to put her in the test plug?" Misato asked as she watched Asuka climbing into entry plug she normally used for the sync testing. "I mean, what if an Angel contaminates it and tries to spread like that other one?"
"I thought of that." Ritsuko replied without looking up. "We've quarantined the test facility and I've improved the MAGI's defenses just to be sure. This facility is the only one that has the necessary sensor equipment and is readily available for this operation."
Operation? Misato thought to herself, She can't possibly mean for me to consider this just another military action, can she? Misato balked at that thought. Perhaps she means it in a medical sense. Some sort of bizarre exploratory surgery? Yeah, that seems more like the Ritsuko I know... but with the way things lately, how well do I reallyknow Ritsuko anymore?
Asuka finished climbing into the plug. At least they could have made some sort of effort to help me in... she thought as she took a final glance at the imposing forms of the two section two agents that stood like statues on either side of the plug entrance. I wonder if "lacking in personality and manners" is something NERV looks for when recruiting those dumkoffs... Were do you go to find so many people like that, anyway?
As the hatchway closed and Link Connection Liquid filled the plug, Asuka emptied her thoughts and prepared for the alleged "sync test", settling into that familiar trance-like state as the plug began to reverberate with the tell-tale electronic hum.
Misato and Ritsuko waited in silent tension as data streamed into the computers causing several monitors to spring to life with charts and graphs displayed on them.
"Its still there." Ritsuko announced, not surprised in the least. "But its not emanating any blue wave patterns whatsoever... interesting."
"No blue pattern... that means its not an angel, right?" Misato asked, her voice hopeful.
"It means that there's no active angel presence." Ritsuko explained. "It still could mean that there's an angel there but its masking itself to avoid detection."
"Could it still be controlling Asuka, then, even though its inactive?" Misato asked, concerned.
"Unlikely." Ritsuko replied, "The dominant brain pattern is 98.7 % similar to Asuka's records prior to the similar attack. I think its safe to say that Asuka is still in control of herself... for now, anyways."
Misato breathed a sigh of relief. "And the secondary pattern?"
"What about it?" Ritsuko asked, not looking away from the screen in front of her.
"Is it similar to anything on record?"
After a moment, Ritsuko stopped typing in mid-command as the question registered in her brain. She looked to where Misato was standing, her countenance one of shocked disbelief.
"What's wrong?" Misato asked, confused with the way her friend was acting. "What's with that freaky look on your face?"
Ritsuko quickly regained her composure and turned her face back to screen of her terminal. "Nothing" she replied as she hastily entered a number of commands.
"Okay..." Misato said, sounding rather unconvinced. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?" she asked a few moments later.
Ritsuko sighed, knowing her friend would refuse to let it drop until she told her something semi-credible. "I was shocked." she admitted. "I mean, how often do you think of doing something so obvious before I do?"
Misato blinked. "What do you mean?"
Ritsuko shook her head. "Never mind." she said as she intently watched the flat-screen monitor in front of her.
"What's going on? What are you doing?" Misato asked, feeling more than a little confused at Ritsuko's behavior.
"Just checking something I should have thought of about a lot sooner" Ritsuko answered. "I'm running a check on the unidentified pattern. It should be done any minute now."
As if on cue, the computer displayed a single word to which it had matched the pattern to:
HUMAN
It then continued to narrow its search.
"What the hell does that mean?" Misato asked
"I'm not sure exactly." Ritsuko replied. Could it be that the angel's even think like us? They're close to us genetically... If an angel has somehow entered Asuka's mind... Would we really be able to tell any difference if it decided to take control of her? What if it decides on a different target?
Ritsuko's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden gasp from Misato, which was soon followed by one of her own as soon as she looked back at the next two words displayed by the monitor.
AN:
Sorry its taken so long... this particular chapter is really part of a much longer one... but due to difficulties beyond my control its taking forever to write. I thus decided to release this portion of it while I work on tweaking and fiddling with its other half. Please forgive my inept writing skills and slow speed... I really am trying.