Evangelion: The Final Testament
Chapter 2: Moonlight Serenade
(The door leading to an apartment unit swung wide open, revealing two young women: one standing as she wheeled the second into the room. Flipping the switch on, the lights flickered to life, illuminating the interior. A familiar scene is revealed to the young copper haired girl, almost eerily nostalgic to one that she has left behind almost a year ago beyond two expansive oceans.)
Rina: Here we are, just like the way it was when you left it.
(The redhead wasn't as enthusiastic as her guardian, wearing a dull expression upon her face as she scanned the room, finding neatly arranged living room to greet her with a familiar black organ near the front couch. Cabinets towered alongside the home entertainment system stacked with towers of CDs piled on top of each other. It had everything she would expect a young single woman to have in a bachelor's apartment. All, that is except the thing that made the living room looked lived in.
It was missing photographs… at least of the woman who lived there. There were dozens of portraits around the room, hung upon the walls, littering the shelves, of the younger girl growing up, chronicling everything. Portraits of her face smiling in the sun as she played in the beach, to the time she wore gowns as she held up a diploma in one hand. Asuka was always there and she was always alone, but at least she was there)
Rina: Do you still remember where your room is?
Asuka: (sighing) Yeah…
Rina: I've brought over all of your clothes from Misato's apartment as well as some new items that I thought that you'd like. You can have a look at them while I'm at HQ. I won't be gone longer than two hours… just a few tests that I have to do on Rei then I'll be right back. If there's any problems, my cell number is right next to the phone. If you get hungry, just order in anything that you'd like, but before you do, I just want you to go to your room first.
(Asuka looks up with a puzzled gaze at which Rina met with a reassuring smile as she stepped away from her, lifting her hands from the handlebars and stepping away)
Rina: Go ahead… I've left a surprise for you.
(A moment of silence passed between the two before at last, the girl weakly lifts up her hands and places them on the rims of each tire either side of her and pushed herself forward into the hallway, all the while scanning the pictures in hallway. Just like in the living room, all the pictures belonged to her. That was when she stopped at one portrait hanging just outside her room.
It was a small girl with a blank face, her short red hair neatly tied behind her back wearing a tidy white dress outside what seemed to be a distil hallway. Asuka stared at the girl for a second before at last a smile curled itself from her lips, something that Rina had been waiting an eternity to see. Rina took a second thought but then shook her head.)
Rina: Go ahead.
Asuka: Hold on a second, will ya?
Rina: That's okay… take your time.
(Groaning in dismay, the girl finally turned her back on her younger self to face the door and reached over the knob, pushing open the portal to reveal a plain pink room, a neatly kept bed and a white envelope lying on top of her sheets. Curious, Asuka slowly wheeled herself over to the bed and grasped the envelope, carefully pealing the back lip open as not to tear the delicate paper and reached inside, pulling out a thin piece of cardboard.
Then stopped.
(In her hand was another photograph, this time not of her. Fifteen young faces stared back at her, most of them with warm inviting smiles upon their faces Her classmates had gathered around the front of the class room and with a piece of chalk greeted her the way they only knew how.)
GET BETTER SOON ASUKA
Asuka: (laughing) einen dumpkopf, nicht?
(There was a young freckled girl on one end of the blackboard standing beside a familiar brash boy with his right arm slung around her neck. Touji didn't seem to mind that he had lost his arm, only that he gained a girlfriend in Hikari. Standing beside the two with a smile that spread from ear to ear was the bespectacled Kensuke, posing proudly in front of the camera with a two thumbs up.
Then there was a young girl standing on the far end of the blackboard with skin that glowed next to the dark surface of the black board. Even though Asuka recognized her light blue hair and cold red eyes, there was something about Rei that seemed so… different. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was definitely there.
But something was missing. Then, out of nowhere…)
Rina: Shinji was the one who took that photograph.
(Shocked, Asuka looked up and found Rina watching over her, once again with a large smile across her face. A bead of sweat rolled down Asuka's brow.)
Asuka: W- why do I care? He's probably too stupid to set the timer or something…
Rina: Uh, you're probably right…
Asuka: Huh?
Rina: Nah… don't worry about it. (sighing and stepping back into the hallway). Anyway, I have to go now. Auf wiederzehen, liebshen.
(and just like that, Rina was gone leaving Asuka with a picture of her friends. This time, she was not alone)
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Hikari: Alright everybody, stand… bow… come on you guys! Show some respect!
All: (wearily bowing) Doo- mooo aaa- riiii- gaaa- toou- goo- zai- maaa su!
Teacher: Ungh-- You're dismissed.
(The young class representative couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed as she watched a weary old teacher amble out of the classroom door to head back home after a long day at school. Sure, he could be boring at times but he was only trying to impart his knowledge and experience down to the pioneers of the next generation.
As soon as the shadows of the old man disappeared behind the wooden panels, the class rises in a sea of oohs and aahs of relief before flooding out the door to yet another fun filled weekend. All that remained half a minute later were three young boys who were slow to pack their belongings back into their bags and herself. This however was reassuring
Smiling to herself, she gracefully paces across the room to her desk, grabs her already packed bag and wonders over the tallest boy, stifling the awkwardness in her voice but is unable to hide the red patches across her freckles)
Hikari: C- come on Touji! Hurry up will ya? The sooner we drop of Ayanami's print outs, the sooner we can visit Asuka.
Touji: Oh give me a break, Hik!
Hikari: You're always the last one to pack up! If you didn't always fool around class, you could finish with the rest of us, you know?
(At this, the boy scratches the back of his leg, revealing his robotic right limb which seemed normal enough beneath the artificial skin)
Touji: I could… if I weren't asleep half the time… do you know just how mind-numbing one his classes have been lately?
Kensuke: (mimicking the teacher) Back in my day, we didn't have the internet…
Touji: Or computers
Kensuke: Or a sense a humor…
(Both are silence at once as a loud 'thud' erupted beside Touji, leaving a crack in the floor where Hikari stood and a menacing look on her face)
Hikari: Just hurry up already! We're going to be late!
Touji: (mumbling) Good… I don't wanna die just yet...
Hikari: (Angry) WHAT DID YOU SAY?
Touji: I SAID I WANNA LIVE, DAMMIT!
Hikari: YOU TAKE THAT BACK NOW!
Touji: MAKE ME!
Shinji: (quietly) I'll see you guys later.
(The quietest of voices was piercing, silencing both warring parties, forcing them into a temporary truce as they grabbed their bags and rushed towards the door, almost leaving a confused Kensuke to himself. It was with a smile on his face that he shrugs to himself as he slung a bag over his shoulder that he slowly began towards the door)
Kensuke: (to himself) Eva pilots are so lucky…
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(Half an hour later, more than two kilometers below the ground, Sub-Level 20 cafeteria moved buzzed with the usual hustle and bustle of technicians enjoying the best lunch NERV could provide. Most of its patrons came here for the wall mounted Plasma Televisions that scattered its premises, other came here because it was the closest cafeteria to their stations. Indeed, the Sub-Level 20 cafeteria was the busiest cafeteria in all of NERV HQ with all of its desks packed with patrons…
… all except one.
In the far corner of the cafeteria lay a table good for four, occupied only by one woman sprawled over the mantelpiece. A few of the technicians talked about the familiar blonde Director of Research in hushed whispers around her, watching the woman sleep despite the dull roar of plasma televisions booming either side of her and the gossip of her colleagues. Unknown to all of them was far from sleeping: that she could hear every single word that floated in that cafeteria.)
Technician A: ... I heard that too. I also heard that she disappeared around the time when the Dummy Program was shut down. Do you think that's connected?
Technician B: I don't think so. Doctor Akagi worked too hard and too long to destroy her own project… it'd be like her destroying the MAGI.
Technician C: Why don't you ask her?
Technician B: Are you kidding? You ask her.
Technician A: Wait hold on…
(A hush fell over the table next to Ritsuko's, compelling her to wonder why. She thought about abandoning her act and open her eyes to see what all the commotion was about when she heard a rustle of clothing brush against the plastic bench across from her just as a hand fell over her shoulder)
Woman: Hey! Wake up!
(A curious Ritsuko slowly pushed herself up from the cold plastic tabletop and opened her eyes to find a scar faced woman staring back at her with a bright expression, pushing a cup of coffee in her direction)
Rina: Hope you like it long and black.
Ritsuko: (exasperated) Excuse me?
Rina: The coffee… it looks like you've had a hard day so I thought I'd get you'd need all the help you can get.
Ritsuko: Oh… thanks.
(Reluctantly, Ritsuko reached over the cup and took a sip. A warm feeling came over her as she sighed, lowering the cup back onto the bench to find that the other woman's face had brightened several shades more)
Ritsuko: You're new here, aren't you?
Rina: Well—if you mean here as in Japan, then you're absolutely right.
Ritsuko: (sarcastically) Right… you don't know me, do you.
Rina: Yeah! You're… Ritsuko Akagi, Research Co-ordinator
Ritsuko: …
Rina: It say's so on you're ID.
(the raven haired woman pointed to the plastic tag hanging off Ritsuko's breast pocket. This earned her a chuckle as Ritsuko, in turn, read her details from her ID).
Ritsuko: So what brings you to Tokyo-3, Doctor Cortez? I can't imagine it's got anything to do with the food. This coffee taste like it's been filtered through a jockstrap.
Rina: (laughing) You got me there.
(the elder blonde doctor shook her head as once more, she took a sip from the mug and read the ID)
Ritsuko: Say's there that you're working in R&D… looks like we'll be spending more time with each other.
Rina: I'm not sure… I'll be working closely with the kids… in fact, I have to be going soon. Rei's going to have an activation test in about a minute.
(Ritsuko winced at the mention of Rei's name, all of a sudden hardening her gaze at her younger subordinate)
Ritsuko: (snorting) Well… let's get going then. You wouldn't want to get on the commander's bad side on your first test, would you?
Rina: (blinking) You know the commander?
Misato: Closer than you'd like to know.
(Shocked, both women were quick to spin around to find Misato looming over them with a dark look upon her face)
Misato: Let's get going doctors.
Rina: Okay! (getting up) Let's do this.
(the other was less than enthusiastic to get rise to her feet, meeting Misato's icy gaze with her own)
Ritsuko: Good to work with you again.
(With this, she left the two behind. Slowly, Rina turned to face Misato with a puzzled expression)
Rina: You know her?
Misato: More than I'd like to know.
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(A few minutes later, in the test center a few floors below, an expressionless face studies her own reflection against the surface of the HUD. Her skin almost seemed to have meld with the tiles, and her eyes seemed to be bleeding from the white surface. For a moment, the girl leans over her seat, extending her hand to touch her own face across the glass, then a face boxed out of the corner of her screen.)
Rina: We have established third stage contact and we're about to begin… are you feeling any discomfort or oddities anywhere on your body?
Ritsuko: (off screen) Wha- what the hell do you think you're doing? Just do your job!
Misato: (off screen) You shut up! Rina is doing her job-
Rei: I do not feel anything.
Rina: That's good. The A-11 connect circuits seem to be functioning normally. (turning to her right) Lieutenant Ibuki, how is Rei's synch ratio results?
Maya: (off screen) … it's… just over 92
Misato: What did you say?
Ritsuko: Check your monitor Maya, Rei's highest synch ratio was 82 at best and scored a 65 in her last test.
Maya: No abnormalities detected, ma'am. All the readouts are correct.
Ritsuko: O- kay… proceeding with the simulation… Rei… try moving your arm.
(Several seconds pass in silence, prompting Rina to return to the screen)
Ritsuko: Rei, is there something wro-
Rei: How?
Ritsuko: …
Rei: I don't know how…
Ritsuko: …
Misato: (sighing defeatedly) Oh boy… this is going to take longer than I thought-
(without warning, another boxed across the screen in front of the women with Gendo's expressionless gaze on the other end)
Gendo: Doctor Akagi, I require your presence at my office at once.
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(Bathed in the soft glow of crimson and shrouded in silence, Gendo Ikari sat inanimately by his desk, complimented by an elderly man standing by his side, both studying the man in the middle of his room under a blinding spotlight. This, however, did not seem to bother the younger man, his auburn locks shining in the spotlight, as did the bronze eagle pinned on his shoulder and his deep blue eyes.)
Man: … MF has approved extending their budget of $4 trillion US and as you may have already noticed, have already begun to rebuild the city of Tokyo-3. The US government has also decided to station the First through to the Fifth Armored Battalion by New Yokozuka, as well as the entire Pacific Fleet and Sixteenth Airforce. What is more is that the President has placed the command of these men squarely in your hands.
Gendo: This would be the largest occupation force in Japan since World War 2. Is this absolutely necessary?
Man: Let's just say it comes with the package. Either you take it or the UN pulls back your funding.
Fuyutski: (scoffing) did the committee set you up to this?
Man: If by committee you are referring to the Congress and the Senate of the United States, then yes. They did set me up to this. Needless to say, the President had to pull a few strings to get the UN to approve the budget. You must have done something pretty drastic to scare the most powerful man on the planet.
Fuyutski: Indeed… very well. Your men can stay… even assist NERV in coordinating our defense.
Man: There is one more condition the US government has placed on this.
Gendo: Which is?
Man: That I oversee the coordination of NERV for as long as it takes. This includes auditing your defenses, overseeing your finances and inspecting the progress of the E-Projects.
Gendo: Is that all?
Man: For the meantime… Well, what will it be, gentlemen?
(A cold, despondent silence descends upon the spacious hall--the two men, regarding each other out of cast away gazes. Several heartbeats pass this way until at last Gendo lowers his hand from his mouth to reveal a cold smirk)
Gendo: Welcome to NERV, Colonel Grant. I trust that you'll find our hospitality… sufficient.
Man: Please, call me Jude. We'll be working closely from now on.
Gendo: Indeed… but before you leave, I have arranged for someone to familiarize you with the facility.
(Jude pauses for a second, glancing at the man and his vice quizzically, none of them making a sound. Then, after a few moments more, he grins as he shook his head and leaves the chamber altogether.
As the door slides shut behind him, he scans his surroundings, expecting to find a mail opener or an accountant, someone who knew absolutely nothing about the facility, to waste his time. The only one that he spotted with him at that time was a stunning woman with blonde hair wearing a tidy laboratory coat, a short black skirt and a neat blue blouse worn beneath it. Judging by this and the no-nonsense look on her face, it would seem that she was the person he had been assigned. Again, shaking his head, he steps up to her with charming smile)
Jude: Uh- hi!
(The woman looks at the man for a second, noting his green uniform and all of the decorations etched onto his right breast, almost surprised at the sight. It took her a while to figure who he was, raising a brow at him)
Ritsuko: You must be the grunt the committee sent to keep an eye on us?
(Amused, Jude threw a backwards look at the closed doors behind him, then returned his somewhat puzzled gaze at Ritsuko, still pointing to the door)
Jude: Were you just… listening on us?
Ritsuko: Let's just call it an educated guess… and you're not much of a diplomat. You let on too much.
(Sheepishly, Grant chuckled and began to scratch the back of his bag)
Jude: Well it's just as you said, I'm a grunt. Bullshitting is not something I'm particularly skilled at.
Ritsuko: I can see that.
(This earned the woman a knowing nod as he extended her a hand)
Jude: Name's Jude…
(The woman looked at the hand offered to her and paused for a second, taking a second look at the man's face. One can learn a lot from facial expressions. Like his lines at the bottom of his eyes, which seemed relaxed and smooth, meaning that he was genuinely interested in befriending her. Then there was the his brows, they too were at ease. And then there were his deep brown eyes…
Ritsuko promptly shook his hand and cracked a smile)
Ritsuko: Doctor Ritsuko Akagi.
Jude: I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Ritsuko.
(the doctor growled lowly upon hearing him say her first name so casually as she slackened her grip around his hand)
Ritsuko: So… I see that you've served with the US airborne division…
Jude: Yeah… the 23rd airborne. We saw action near Bataan near the end of Northern Conflict.
Ritsuko: Is that so?
Jude: Uh huh.
(The woman shook her head then began to lead the American colonel down the corridor to an unknown destination)
Ritsuko: (smiling) Kindly entertain me, Colonel… what makes a man jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
Jude: I don't know… I guess it helps with the ladies.
Ritsuko: …
Jude: Well, is it working?
(Ritsuko rolled her eyes back, inwardly slapping herself on the forehead)
Ritsuko: (mumbling) Gendo you bastard…
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(Elsewhere, a clandestine committee gathers in the darkness of a hollow room. Twelve dark monoliths towered around an invisible circle, carrying with them a sinister aura as they plot, hidden by the shadows.)
SEELE 04: We have been far too careless… careless and trusting.
SEELE 08: To bite the hand that fed him… what blasphemy. What treason!
SEELE 07: But now, Ikari has put into motion the means of his own destruction.
SEELE 03: Now he has no choice but to accept our final card into his deck, and do as we will.
SEELE 10: Time… money… manpower… all will come into fruition in a matter of months.
SEELE 03: Two thousand years of waiting, we now find ourselves near the end of our journey.
SEELE 12: Our mission is near completion.
SEELE 02: Our salvation is at hand.
Kihl: And Ikari, our old confidant… you will pay for your sins.
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(Asuka had lost track of time. Despite sitting on the couch across from a running television for hours on end, the only thing that Asuka had really been paid attention to was the photo that she saw earlier that day and the faces smiling back at her, wishing her to get better and perhaps return to them. All but one face which was nowhere to be found. For hours, she had agonized over this, wondering why Shinji had not joined her classmates in wishing her well…
A puzzle which only served to anger her further).
(It was then that a loud knock echoed from the front door. Asuka figures that Rina had forgotten her keys like she did so often in Germany, she struggles up to her feet, disregarding the wheel chair which was tossed aside across the living room floor and ambled towards the door. A louder knock resounded this time around, angering the redhead.)
Asuka: Hold on, will ya! Verdamnt…
(Almost loosing her footing, Asuka manages to shift her weight just in time so that she fell to her side onto a nearby wall.)
Asuka: Shiesse…
(As the girl struggles back to her feet, she hears voices beneath the crack of the front door… voices that almost at once lifts her spirit)
Hikari: Can't you try being a little bit more patient, Touji? Or are you going to break in here just like you at Ayanami's.
Touji: H-hey! First of all, I didn't break into Rei's place, a'ight? She left her do unlocked. That's just the way she is and if you don' believe me, you can ask Shinji there. He's dropped Rei's her print out lots of times.
(A short pause follows before a voice responds)
Shinji: I guess section two's always watching her place, so there's no reason she should lock her doors.
(the voice prompts Asuka to shoot up to her feet and gather strength in her legs, allowing her to stumble along the walls all the way to the front door where she undoes a dead bolt and throws the door open to find four familiar faces staring blankly back at her.)
Asuka: H- Hikari? Is that really you?
(the girl stutters a response, but takes an unsteady step forward, shocked to find Asuka in such a state. Asuka reads this in her face, a sight which nearly breaks her heart. Hesitantly, she turned towards the others, freezing upon Touji, who was standing up right.)
Asuka: Glad to see that you're still alright Touji. But I'm sorry that they couldn't save the other two brain cells.
Touji: (sarcastically) Ha ha… always the comedian, aren't ya?
Asuka: Not when the you're the joke… which is- what? 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
Hikari: (sobbing) Asuka!
(Launching herself into Asuka, Hikari buried her teary head into Asuka's arms, in turn wrapping her trembling arms around Asuka's waist)
Asuka: Woah, Hikari! Ease up! You're going to give Touji ideas…
Touji: Bite me, Asuka!
D I N G
Rina: (distantly) I see that the party's already started without us.
(The five children quickly shift their attention to one end of the corridor finding two women emerging from an elevator door with large smiles across their faces and large plastic bags in their hands, probably take out from a newly established restaurant in southern Chibu. An anxious Rina quickly paces over to Asuka with a look on her face, half worried that Asuka is not in her chair, half relieved that she is)
Rina: Sorry we're late… well then, let's get started, shall we?
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(While the sun crept beyond the mountains on a party in Tokyo-3, it was still dark on the other side of the world.
An elderly man crept slowly across the granite surface and approached the murky shores, careful not to stumble over unseen objects. He had thought about bringing a lantern with him, but decided against it. After a few more steps, the reason as to why became apparent. Far into the horizon, the first rays of light peered over the rocky cliffs, bathing the lake in a faint but warm ochre glow. The water itself seemed to glow like silken sapphire, with gold glittering off its surface as it rippled slightly with the wind.
At the waters edge, a large pillar rose, casting a shadow that stretched well into the darkness behind him. And sitting beside the pillar was a young girl, staring out into the rising sun, signaling a new day. A warm smile crept across his face as he approached the girl, careful as if to sneak up behind her. He stopped a few meters away, believing that his presence was not yet discovered.
He was mistaken.)
Elise: And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth, that he said 'escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain' but Lot's wife looked back from behind him and became a pillar of salt.
(the old man's smile widened upon hearing the girl say this. He watched as her gaze turned from the lake to face him, her short russet hair flowing in the gentle breeze)
Douglas: Genesis nineteen verse seventeen and twenty eight…
(Elise turned back towards the panorama, allowing a silence to fall between her and the old man, calling over to the elderly man now standing a few meters behind her)
Elise: I don't think she froze because of a curse… she just loved the view.
Douglas: Same time every mornin', same time every evenin', day in and day out… pretty soon, you'll be standing here beside her to keep her company.
Elise: It wouldn't be so bad.
Douglas: (sighing) Just hurry back to the marquee, luv. They're serving brekkie. I heard they managed to slip Vegemite into this mornin's menu.
(For a long while, she just sat there as if she didn't hear, staring out into the sunrise. Then, after a few heartbeats, she slowly pushed herself up and turned to the elderly man. A warm smile glowed across her face as she turned to him.)
Elise: I'm sorry uncle, it just felt a little strange this morning.
(Both began to walk away from the water's edge towards a small encampment in the distance)
Douglas: Strange can mean a lot of things out here, darlin'. Ya need ta be a little more specific.
Elise: Dawn
(She saw him raise an eyebrow)
Elise: It… nah. Forget I even mentioned it.
Douglas: Ah ah! You tell ol' unky Doug what's been botherin' my lil' niece an' I'll see if I can do anythin' ta help.
Elise: …
Douglas: Come on.
Elise: It's just… I thought I heard a voice when the sun rose this morning. It was… calling out to me… crying.
Douglas: …
Elise: From the far east will I bring you…
… and the far west will I gather you…
Bring my sons from a far-
And my daughters…
From the ends of the earth.
(The elder man fails to respond for a long while, letting only the wind answer her, but then as they began to pace towards the encampment by the bank of the lake, he chuckles to himself)
Douglas: I'm a man a' many talents, El, but poetry ain't one a dem.
Elise: …
Douglas: …
Elise: (whispering) That goes without saying.
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To be continued
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Author's notes:
Hi Kenni! So how do you like the story so far?