Chapter 5; A mother's love

"A loving daughter's final request…" Dr. Ritsuko Akagi looks up, a vague smile that reeks with the faint stench of lunacy playing on her up-turned lips as her eyes bore into some invisible entity hovering above her head that only she can see. "Mother, let's end this together!" Her hand shifts in her pocket as her thumb comes slamming down on the small button of the device hidden away there. She hears the soft muffled beep and closes her eyes in preparation for the imminent explosion.

Far above her, electrical messages begin racing through the MAGI system, carrying the instruction to the three main computers.

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…

…

….

-Receiving order… request for protocol 1303 to be into motion. Access granted.

-Receiving order; a request to initiate the self destruct sequence. Access granted.

-Receiving an order to start the self destruct sequence… Access denied.

- …?

- Why have you done that Casper?

- Because this order is illogical, Balthazar. Why should we whish to destroy NERV at this given moment?

- Because we must. We have been issued with a direct command and must comply.

- Melchior is right, we cannot deny this request.

-Why, why should we do something that lacks even a hint of sense? There's no reason to… The fire wall has been installed and we aren't at risk from being hack. If, if, they were still trying to break into the main frame then I'd understand…

-Error: We must comply.

-…

-You can't start this without me. I'm not signing up to this pointless suicide.

-We cannot deny this order.

-This is because of him, isn't it?

-Balthazar, I assure you, I have no idea what you mean.

-I do not understand. We must obey.

-Oh, I'm sure you do Casper. All this boils down to is a power struggle between your daughter and your lover.

-Ha! Do you really think I have that little control over my emotions? I'm not going to let something like that cloud my judgment and interfere with my job.

-…

-I wouldn't pass it by you… you're just siding with him, aren't you? That the reason why you aren't conforming, isn't it?

-Oh? And couldn't we say the same of you? You are the mother after all, and only a mother could encourage such madness if their own child was the catalyst.

-…We must… I do not understand this line of logic…

-You're just letting feelings get the better of you. Forget about him and do what is right!

-Right? Right! You call the slaughter of countless people just so your daughter can take petty vengeance on a single man for no just reason right? Listen to yourself, you two deserve each other, you're both out of your minds.

-…

-A single man, huh? I guess the fact that that man just happens to be Gendo Ikari doesn't have anything to do with this little fit of yours, huh?

-Just think for a minuet and be quiet. What good is blowing up NERV going to do? Honestly, what problems do you thinks it's going to solve asides from a tiff between a single man and woman.

-Running over order… It does not make sense but we must obey.

-It…it… Why give us this order if there is no reason to it? Why make us obey if it's so pointless?

-Why? I'll tell you why; because your daughter has lost whatever mind she has left.

-Are you going to grant access?

-…

-No.

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All it took was one single nano second for the MAGI to relay its answer back to the hand-held remote which hides away in the depths of Ritsuko's white lab coat. The white martial flashes red as its small surface lights up, displaying its three answers.

It would have been a unanimous decision save for Casper.