How to Make a Human Being – Chapter 2

--

Author's notes:

The Fourteenth of September finally arrives for Rei and company. This is the day that everything changes, not just for Rei, but for everyone and everything associated with Evangelion. This is also where I either lose or win a lot of fans through my adaptation. Characterwise – Rei will not change obviously, but she will perform one of the key steps in changing, the disobeying of a direct order. The question becomes, can she protect Shinji? Time to find out, here's chapter two of How to Make a Human Being. Enjoy.

Now I have to say, much of this is taken directly from episode 18, and that of course belongs to Gainax and Anno. (See disclaimer in the Prologue) Minor modifications made to make it fit in with my story.

-

Title: How to Make a Human Being
Genre: Short Story
Author: PitViper (pvalpha@yahoo.com)
Created: 08/02/02
Chapter1: 08/09/02
Chapter2: 08/13/02
Synopsis: Many believe that the character of Rei Ayanami is bound in steel to her duty – She accepts
nothing into her life that is not related to Eva or Angels. This is the story of how a few small
changes can make a big difference.

--

How to Make a Human Being: Chapter Two – Stir Thoroughly…

September 14th, 2015 - 7:51pm

"What?" Asuka yelled. Rei watched the redhead in a small window in her display.

"What about Misato?" Shinji asked softly. "How can we fight if she's not here to lead us?"

"Commander Ikari will assume command." Rei said softly, watching her monitors intently.

"Father…" Shinji whispered, the plaintive sigh carrying more pain than any wound.

Still, Rei could only watch.

"Target Approaching" a voice said over the communication system.

"B…But that's an Eva." Shinji said.

"Negative. It is the target. Deploy in the planned pattern. Intercept and neutralize the Angel." Gendo Ikari's voice came over the command channel.

"But…that's an Eva… there's a pilot, a Child like us!" Shinji exclaimed. After a few moments, Shinji muttered: "I wonder who the pilot is…"

Rei watched as Asuka opened a communication window to Eva 01. "Don't you know? It's…." Suddenly Asuka's signal went to static, and her screams were heard over the communications system. After a few moments of intense screams, the signal went silent.

"Eva 02 has gone Silent." A voice said. Another voice broke in, "Pilot ejected, life signs confirmed."

Rei waited patiently for the angel to come near. 'It will attack me next. Perhaps if I do not deploy my AT-Field… What of Suzuhara? I…' Rei realized that she wouldn't be able to attack the Angel until the entry plug was removed from its back. 'I will coordinate with Shinji.' Rei decided. After all, two Eva's had a better chance at neutralizing the angel while preserving the pilot.

The Commander broke in on the channel, "Rei. Neutralize the target, avoid close quarters fighting. I'm sending Unit 01 to you."

That was what Rei needed. She gave no reply, no thanks for anticipating her need. She simply prepared to do her duty. Now, to fool the angel…

-

Commander Gendo Ikari watched as Unit 03 approached Unit 00's location.

"Gendo," Kouzou Fuyutsaki intoned, "Aren't you going to send Unit 01 in to assist. You know very well that Unit 00 is vulnerable…

Gendo sat with his hands perched in their famous position, "I wish to see what unfolds. Something… is off."

-

Rei had made her decision, "Shinji."

"Yes?" The boy responded.

"I am suppressing my AT Field. Do not unfold your AT Field until you are within attack range." Rei said, knowing that Unit 03 was about to approach her position.

"I… I was ordered to hold position." Shinji said with confusion.

Rei blinked; the betrayal clearly evident in her face. She shook it off quickly, 'Very well, Commander. If that is the way it is to be.' Rei's eyes narrowed at the viewer. "Shinji. The pilot is Suzuhara."

"Rei!" Commander Ikari's voice came over the line. Rei used her will to cut off his signal, and open a secure link with Unit 01. Rei knew her time was short, she could hear the footfalls of Unit 03 approaching rapidly.

"Shinji." Rei said to the immobile pilot. "I require your assistance…"

"No… I won't attack the Eva. I won't hurt Touji." Absolute steel was in his voice.

However, that didn't matter, "I have a plan. You must attack Unit 03… and distract it while I remove the entry plug…"

"I… I can't hurt him, Rei."

"If you do not, he will die, as will the rest of us."

"What! What do you mean; I have to hurt him to keep him from dying?"

"Yes…" Rei responded, noticing the shape of Unit 03 lumbering past. Her time was gone. 'He will not attack…'

"I….I CAN'T." Shinji said.

"You must, or all will be lost. It will be the end of everything. I only need you to distract Unit 03; I will retrieve its plug…" She watched the ominous figure of Unit 03, noticing the stuck entry plug.

"O…Ok…" Shinji said, preparing to move forward. It would take the Third Child only thirty seconds to intercept the Angel. Unfortunately it was time that Rei did not have.

Rei watched as Unit 03 stopped, and then her eyes almost bugged out… The Angel Bardiel twitched for a few moments, seemingly trying to bend over backwards. Suddenly, to Rei's eternal surprise, the monster managed to launch itself backwards. Before she could even raise her AT Field the creature had her pinned down, its knee in the small of the Eva's back, and its right arm firmly grasped around the back of her Eva's neck. She was immobile.

"I'm coming Ayanami!" Shinji yelled. Rei visualized Unit 01 running towards her at top speed.

Still, he would not make it. She felt the searing pain as her arm was infected by the Angel's venom. She screamed in absolute agony, 'I…I cannot let… let… Shinji…' Rei screamed one last time, but this was a scream of defiance, her eyes leveled on her opponent. "Protect." She muttered. The pain of the infection disappeared, and Unit 00's cyclopean eye shined a bright, frightening red…

--

"Cut It Off…" Commander Ikari intoned.

"SIR, Infection has stopped, contamination has been reversed!"

"AT Field detected, pattern… Unknown."

"Second AT Field detected, Pattern Orange."

"Unknown AT Field, vanished. Second Field, confirmed, Eva 00."

"Eva 01 approaching Unit 00's position rapidly. ETA 13 seconds."

"Synchronization Ratio rising in Unit 00, nearly sixty five percent." Maya shouted.

Commander Ikari watched the scene for a moment. This was not the plan. 'Forgive me, Yui.'

He watched as Unit 00 struggled to its feet, and slammed its fist into Unit 03's face armor. The angel back stepped several meters from the blow.

"Unit 01, five seconds to intercept. AT Field Detected, Confirmed, Field is Unit 01's."

"Unit 00, Thirty seconds power, the cable has been severed, and the batteries are overloading…"

"CUT IT OFF!" Gendo commanded Maya. She looked up, as Shinji extended his AT Field. "THE ARM, NOW!" The commander reiterated. He reached into his jacket.

Maya knew that the commander was reaching for his gun. The command, having been given just as Unit 00 was about to hit Unit 03 again, was executed. Maya averted her eyes from the screen as the diseased, but healing, limb was forcibly separated from Unit 00's shoulder.

-

Rei screamed in agony, as she felt her shoulder literally blown off. "NO!!!" She exclaimed, as she watched Shinji feebly grab for the partially ejected entry plug. "No…" She whimpered. "I… failed…" The next moment saw the Thirteenth Angel turn on the Eva, and toss it into the distance. With a final desperate glance and a whimper of agony, Rei lost consciousness from the pain.

-
Maya glanced up at her console long enough to confirm the readings, "U…Unit 00 has gone silent. Target is attacking Unit 01."

The command staff watched as Unit 01 was thrown into the distance. The Eva stood slowly, as its pilot realized that there was only one way to stop the Angel. Eva Unit 01 stood still.

Suddenly, Unit 03's arms began twitching. The Angel-infested unit reached out with first the left arm, then the right, grappling Eva 01's neck in a choke hold from an impossible distance.

"Cut the Synchronization Ratio to 60%" Fuyutsaki ordered.

"No." Gendo said, once again in his favorite position.

The old teacher gasped, "But the pilot? He can be killed at that level…"

Gendo ignored his sensei's words. Instead he spoke softly into the open communication line to Unit 01. "Why don't you fight, Shinji?"

Shinji muttered between gasps, "Because… Touji's… in there."

"Negative, it is an Angel, it is an enemy. If you don't fight, then you will die."

"I'd rather die than kill Touji," The pilot said, his voice strained.

"Cut pilot synchronization, Lieutenant Ibuki." Gendo ordered.

"Sir?" Maya said. "If I…"

"Switch the connections over to the dummy system…"

"But… the dummy system isn't stable, without Doctor Akagi here to…"

"Irrelevant. Right now, anything is better than the pilot. Do it."

"Yes… Sir."

-

Shinji felt his throat constricting with the Angel's attack. Yet he refused to fight back. 'I will not hurt Touji; I will not hurt Touji… Let the end be swift, and my pain be over…' Shinji thought to himself.

Suddenly the plug went dark, and the pressure upon his neck went away. Shinji slumped forward in the pilot's chair, his arms loosely grasping the butterfly controls… As Shinji brought his head back up, a whirring sound was heard in the background, and the Plug turned red.

"Father… What is this?" The red plug showed the scenery outside the Unit, but Shinji didn't feel the grasp of the infested Unit 03 – even though it must be crushing the Eva's neck. "Father… Father!!! Answer me!!!"

-

"Father!" Shinji's voice came over the communications system. "FATHER! Why don't you answer me, Father?"

"Links are good up to full synchronization. The Unit's accepting the uplink and dummy signal." A tech reported from the background.

Shinji's voice was plaintive, "Father!!! What are you doing, father?"

"Thirty eight point two percent of the emotional factor is unknown. We won't be able to monitor it…" Maya began arguing.

"Answer me, Damn you!" Shinji's voice cried out, causing Maya to cringe.

"It doesn't matter. Release the system for combat." Gendo instructed, barely able to contain the smirk he felt.

"Y…Yes. Commander." Maya said, and did as ordered.

"Father…" Shinji's voice faded into the background noise as the team unleashed the Dummy System.

-

Shinji felt the Unit power up. And heard the whirling increase behind his chair. "Father… What?" Then he realized the awful truth of what his father intended to make him do. "NO!"

The Unit brought up its hand, and grasped the throat of Unit 03 firmly.

"Stop this Father!" Shinji cried.

Shinji felt Unit 01's right arm lift up and join the left in its vice-like grip on Unit 03's neck. Shinji knew that if the neck of the unit snapped, and Touji was synchronized…

"FATHER!"

Shinji heard the command center, as a voice said, "Gain is still increasing…"

With those words, Shinji heard a sickening sound through the audio pickups… the sound of vertebrae cracking. Shinji watched as Unit 03 went limp in Eva 01's hands. "NO - STOP IT!"

-
Gendo smiled as the team watched as Unit 01 broke off Unit 03's left arm and tossed it into the distance, literally painting the town in red.

"My god, is this the power of the Dummy System?" Someone asked.

Maya cowered; her face turned away from what she knew was coming next. After all, Doctor Akagi had told her that the dummy system would continue to destroy the target until there was nothing left to destroy…

-
"Stop It. Stop It." Shinji screamed as his Eva tore apart Unit 03 with its hands, as armor cracked, and internal organs splattered against concrete and building alike. "Make it Stop… Stop… Stop!!!! STOP!!!! STOP!!!! STOP!!! STOP!!!!" Shinji just kept on repeating that mantra until he felt all movement in the Eva cease. His eyes were turned downward. He could feel the soreness of the Eva's hand through latent synchronization. While it wasn't like he was in control, he knew that the Eva now held something – the thing that it had been digging for in the contaminated mecha…

Shinji looked up and saw. Sitting in the vice like grip of the Purple monster he piloted, Eva 03's entry plug…

"TOUJI!!!" Shinji screamed. Then an odd thing happened. All the communication windows with the base closed, and no data came to him from Central. Then Shinji heard Rei's voice in his mind… like an echo through the latent synchronization that he had with Unit 01.

"Defeat the Angel, Bardiel." The voice whispered, "Accomplished."

"Rei?" Shinji inquired to the red-ensconced plug.

"Protect Ikari…" The voice whispered, with a hint of emotion. "Protect Shinji… Accomplished."

"REI!" Shinji said loudly.

"Protect Suzuhara… Pilot of Unit 03…" The mecha gently held the plug closer to its body for a moment, then the Unit rose from its position, and moved a few hundred meters away from the wreckage, and found a non-bloodied section of roadway. It set the damaged Entry plug down gently on the roadway, and kneeled before it.

Shinji's eyes grew wide as the mecha took a protective stance over the white cylinder. The voice whispered again, "Protect Suzuhara… Accomplished."

The unit powered down.

"Thank you, Rei." Shinji sighed in the now dim entry plug… however, a soft red glow could be seen behind Shinji's seat, and a soft whirring could be heard. A metal plate with the words "Dummy System Core 01 – REI" could be seen in glowing red letters…

-

"Impossible!" Gendo exclaimed furiously.

Maya broke down in tears of joy as the Magi began to report monitoring information from the Dummy System. "It's stabilized!!! All the emotional factors have normalized. It's like we're looking at a copy of Rei! Sempai will be so amazed!!! It's… it's… It's incredible!"

"LIEUTENANT!" Gendo shouted, looking down upon the now frightened tech. "I want to know why the Dummy System stopped! It shouldn't have been able to end synchronization with the unit!"

"The Dummy System is still synchronized." Shigeru reported. "The unit is in low power consumption mode."

"Answer the question, Lieutenant, why did the Dummy System stop?" Gendo said in a deadly whisper.

Maya glanced back at the data she was now receiving… "I… I can't…"

"WHY!" Gendo exclaimed.

Maya stiffened, "I…it Identified Eva 03's plug as a friendly… sir."

"Recover the pilots. I want a full report on the dummy system performance by Oh-five hundred tomorrow." Gendo muttered, walking away, his hand clenching into a fist every so often.

"Y…yes sir." Maya said. 'That cold hearted bastard… he wanted to make Unit 01… to make Shinji… kill Suzuhara… Why?' The tech only spent a few minutes on these thoughts, as she walked back to the terminal to monitor the data capture from the dummy system.

-

Shinji sat calmly, in peace in the plug for the first time he could remember. He was back in the Geofront, staring at the plug rescued from Unit 03.

"Thank you Rei." He repeated again. He knew that somehow the blue haired enigma known as Rei Ayanami was responsible for the Autopilot system stopping. It was Rei's voice he heard in his mind. Right now, the only thing that was illuminating the capsule was a small red glow coming from behind his chair and the light from the bay. He could hear the life-support pumps whirring in the background – although the very loud whirring sound was now gone. He sunk back into his seat, wondering what had happened to Misato.

"Shinji… I'm so sorry."

Shinji's eyes widened. "Misato?"

"Oh, Shinji, there was something very important I had to tell you..."

"Misato!!! You're alright!"

"Shinji… there something… I'm so sorry. I should have told you… The Fourth Child… pilot of Unit 03… Is… I'm so sorry, Shinj… please forgive me… I am so sorry…"

Shinji watched as Touji's body was pulled from the Eva plug. He zoomed in on his friend. "Touji… He's unconscious, but alright… Misato. Just a few bruises… It could have been far worse."

"Oh, Shinji… I'm so glad that he's alright. You should have never had to…"

"It's… its ok, Misato. He's ok now, and that's the important thing… And you're alright too – that's something else to be happy about."

"Oh, Shinji…" Misato said, "They'll have you prepped for ejection in about twenty minutes, they want to scrub down the Eva first before they take you out."

"I… I understand." Shinji sighed. For once, he didn't mind being in the cockpit. All felt… right. Even the Eva, which he was only barely synchronized with, was comforting and warm. Shinji powered down the small capsule, closing the video feed from the outside world. There was no need to waste the energy. His Evangelion still had three minutes of battery power left. No point in draining it yet. As he powered down the video, the plug was plunged into an eerie dim redness.

As he sank back into his chair he became aware of something. A soft muttering could be heard. As he placed his ear against the seat, he could make it out just barely.

"Defeat the Angel." The soft voice said.

'Rei?' Shinji thought.

"Protect Shinji, pilot of Unit 01…"

"Rei?" Shinji whispered.

"Protect Suzuhara, Pilot of Unit 03…"

"Rei!" Shinji shouted.

"Yes?" The reply came back. Then it went back to "Defeat the Angel." Rei's voice continued cycling through its list.

Shinji turned on the manual illumination in the entry plug, and floated out of his seat. He began to search in an around the pilot's chair. 'What's happening here…' Shinji thought. Subconsciously, he was still partially linked with Unit 01. He could feel the pulse of his heartbeat, as he frantically searched for the release. As he searched, he spotted the source of the red glow.

"Dummy System Core… Unit 01… Rei?" Shinji muttered to himself. Right above the glowing panel, was a small release switch. He pressed it.

Suddenly, the plug's displays glowed red – as with the dummy activation sequence. The words "Remote Monitoring Terminated" Appeared on the screen. Otherwise nothing unusual happened. Shinji backed away from the seat, sinking further into the plug. He watched as the seat folded upwards, revealing a bunch of glowing electronics, tubes… and something else.

Shinji's heartbeat climbed into his throat, as his eyes focused on the object he had recently been sitting on top of. Only it wasn't an object…

Embedded below Shinji's chair, shoved into a space that could barely accommodate a four year old child, her arms and hands plugged and wired to the components surrounding her – a hollow looking face… but those unmistakable features. Soft blue hair… Red eyes.

"Rei?"

The eyes darted up at him.

"Protect Ikari. Protect Shinji. Protect Ikari…" Rei said over and over.

Shinji floated up nearer to her, not noticing that the plug had gotten brighter, as the system began to start itself. Shinji got into touching distance of this Rei. Shinji looked down, as the clone forced its hand upwards, tearing out gouges of flesh as it came up; the wires falling downwards into the recesses of the area she was 'plugged' into.

"My… GOD!!! REI!!!"

"Shinji… Ikari…" She muttered, and took her torn hand and gently touched his cheek. "Protect Shinji Ikari… H…Hel… Help… me…"

"I'll get you out of here Rei."

There were tears forming in her red eyes, dissipating quickly in the LCL…

Shinji went to cradle her head, to feel behind, and came in touch with a bar attached to her spinal column. His eyes became wide, "Y...you are not my Rei. You can't be… This would have been impossible… You can't be Rei."

The clone looked into his eyes, unable to move her head. "I am I. I am Rei. I am the Fifteenth."

"FIFTEENTH WHAT?" Shinji shouted.

"I… I am… I… I Am the Fifteenth Rei." She brought her hand back up to touch Shinji's face again.

"They… They cloned… They cloned you Ayanami!"

"I…" Rei closed her eyes for several moments, then reopened them, "A…am I a clone?" Rei asked, softly.

"No… This isn't happening. No… Father… Tell me you didn't do this to Ayanami…" Shinji finally noticed how her naked body had various tubes and wires running from it. "No… this isn't… IT can't be…" Shinji floated backwards, away from this Rei. "Someone… Anyone… SOMEONE HELP ME!!!"

As Shinji screamed both mentally and physically, he felt something. A heartbeat. But this wasn't his own heart. It was far larger than his… Then he felt a gentle force envelop him. "Eva Synchronization…" Shinji muttered. The sound built, as the Eva synchronized with him.

He felt the Eva link with him… and look through his eyes at the sight before him… In his mind he heard soft words… a familiar presence… a lost memory: 'If it's a boy, Shinji. A girl, Rei.' A male voice said. 'My father's voice,' Shinji quickly realized. A few moments passed in his mind, then - 'Shinji… Rei… Good names.' The voice, so familiar… "MOTHER!"

The female presence then exclaimed in Shinji's mind, "DAUGHTER!!!" Shinji felt the mecha lurch, and he looked around as the voice exclaimed in his mind, "Gendo you bastard! My Son! My Daughter!!!"

Shinji felt himself being thrown forward as the mecha moved on its own. Shinji went flying into Rei with considerable force, as the mecha's momentum thrust it forward and backwards, trying to shatter its restraints to the cage.

Rei began muttering, "Protect Shinji… Protect Shinji…" as she freed her other arm to hold on to the boy who had nothing to secure him in the wildly moving mecha. But her grasp was weak and when the Unit finally freed itself; it lurched with enough force to knock Shinji upwards, beyond her reach, with incredible momentum.

Shinji's eyes remained locked on the top of Rei's head for the two seconds that it took him to reach the only obstacle in his path to the top of the Entry Plug – the upraised seat/dummy system cover. His inertia carried him into the exposed underside, which was covered with instrumentation and a crude analog of the plug's regular displays and controls, and a soft pop was heard. Everything went black for Shinji Ikari, and the last thing that he heard was Unit 01's terrifying Berserker bellow…

Rei's voice echoed as the mecha jostled around: "Protect… protect… protect…"
--

Author's Notes:

Well. I was going to go into the aftermath here, but I feel that part should be in a chapter of its own. I think that this section stands up pretty well on its own as well.

Unfortunately, Alnilam was unable to suffer through this chapter, so it's being posted without her god-like pre-reading skills. (She's worked very hard at them, and I think she has a far better grasp of the English language than I do.) In any case, I have full responsibility for all the massive errors you're likely to encounter in this version. Flame on. At least it's a review. And all are welcomed.

I just hope I won't keep you waiting long for the next chapter…

Later,
PitViper (pvalpha@yahoo.com)

Edit - 8/13/2002: Font change to Arial.
Edit - 8/14/2002: Changed "stood" in "Gendo stood with his hands perched..." to "sat"... Thanks to KevinEC for catching that.

Spoilers ahead:

BTW, Kevin, There's a dummy in the dummy plug - always. Eva cannot synchronize with anyone or anything other than one of the Children.

Thanks to a piece of information someone pointed out to me, there are 11 Rei's in the dummy chamber when Ritsuko destroyed the system. They are labled 4-14. the first was killed at the age of 7 (Rei I), the second was killed at the age of 14 (Rei II), Rei III was extracted at the time of Rei II's death, which means that at the time I started this story, there are 12 Reis still in the chamber (Hence the 24 softly glowing red eyes...) There is also one Rei in the dummy plug - which I've labeled the Fifteenth Rei... Of course, much of this is opened to interpretation and speculation. I've chosen to take my story in this direction

About Gendo. He was smiling while 01 tore apart unit 03 in the story. I have no doubt that he wanted to traumatize Shinji. Gendo's character is obsessed with Yui. If Absolute Power corrupts absolutely, I wonder what someone would do about Absolute Love? Ikari Gendo has but one goal in life, to be reunited with Yui. He is willing to do this at the expense of everyone and everything around him. This has made him cold and hard. Gendo will not cower, I promise you that. And he will receive his chance at redemption.

Edit - 8/19/2002: Changed date to the 14th instead of the 13th. Typo from original. Corrected Children to Child for singular use.