Chapter 9 – The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still
Roji slept soundly, curled up in the foetus position little of the duvet covered his body. The early morning sunlight settling upon his feet, it would be several hours until it fell upon his face and woke him.
Asuka watched him silently from the doorway of his and Shinji's room. Watched as the milky white skin grew goose bumps followed by the unconscious body shivered before recoiling further into the duvet.
Asuka smiled to herself as he grew warmer, his black hair messy and all about him. Asuka had never seen him like this; the innocence he portrayed…an innocence that would be shattered when he opened those blood red eyes.
He certainly wasn't like Kaji, he was different in so many was but deep down Asuka knew she was getting feelings for him but couldn't see how or why.
"Man he's going to be late again" Shinji announced strolling past the door.
"Well serves him right if he's out till two in the morning" Asuka letting her feelings become hidden.
"Shouldn't we wake him?"
"Nope…" Asuka defiantly crossed her hands across her chest.
"…If he's not got the ability to get up in time then he'll suffer the consequences" Within seconds Asuka had pushed Shinji out the front door and was locking it behind her.
"I've still got to call my father" Shinji protested against the forceful push of the female upon his spine.
"Shinji poor Shinji there are these things called pay phones nowadays"
"But I want to invite him to the parent teacher meeting"
"Shinji call you're father and while you're doing it I'll get wonder girl and buy us some lunch"
"Ok"
"Nozomu Takahashi wants to help you form a more cheerful government…"
Government?
Shielding the sunlight from my face I sat up, the cold air hung on my chest like a weight, the tiny hairs upon my chest and arms becoming erect.
From outside a loudspeaker declared that election candidate Nozomu Takahashi would change the running of New Tokyo-3.
Rubbing my brow I wondered why a campaign team would be campaigning so early in the morning…then my eyes looked at the clock.
"Oh shit" I muttered
Throwing the duvet aside I quickly pulled upon my underwear and trousers before falling down upon the floor whilst trying to put my socks on.
I looked at the empty futon next to mine:
"I'm gonna kill you Shinji!" why didn't he wake me? Now I'm going to be late!
Within five minutes I was racing out the door whilst running a brush through my long tangled hair.
I joined the small group of people awaiting the elevator.
"Why hasn't it come yet mummy?" a small girl asked of the mother that held her hand.
"I don't know sweetheart" the mother replied.
Without thinking I barged through the crowd and pressed the cold metal call button but unusually no light illuminated it showing I'd even pressed the button.
"Don't you think we haven't already tried that?" an elderly gentleman asked me.
"How long have you lot been waiting?" I asked of the two-deep crowd.
Ten minutes was the latest time, with no stairs in the apartment block the vast majority of occupants had no way of getting to work or school on time.
"So we call an engineer, they fix the elevator and we're all a little late"
One girl ran off to a nearby apartment before returning a couple of minutes later.
"Looks like a power cut, the lights, phone, TV, nothings working"
I spoke to the crowd:
"Well ladies and gentleman I guess you'll have to wait until the power comes back on"
"And you don't?" the elderly gentleman asked me, the frustration of being late evident in his voice.
Concentrating I blocked out every voice. My mind set upon the feat ahead of me.
I've done it before, I can do it again.
The cold cement under my hand.
I registered the gasps of shock and awe as I threw myself over the balcony.
Once again the wind wrapped around me, the adrenaline within my bloodstream keeping out the cold.
Without any pain my feet connected with the floor, the momentum of the drop throwing me into a landing crouch.
Once again I'd survived the drop without any pain, normally I'd question what made me this superhuman agility but now I was even later then normal and had to get to school.
Indeed it seemed there was a power cut, traffic lights didn't work, I tired calling school ahead but the line was dead, I even tried Misato but still got no answer by the time I was approaching Terminal Dogma I was already three hours late.
Kaji smiled to himself as Misato explained the situation.
"Something's very wrong"
Kaji couldn't help feeling smug, he's already successfully sabotaged the three back up circuits along with main power, not a particularly difficult task; god was certainly smiling upon him as being trapped with captain Katsuragi gave him a fool proof alibi.
"What's the backup system?"
"There are three back up circuits, its impossible for all of these to fail at once"
"Then that means…"
"Someone has purposely sabotaged the Geofront"
"But why?" Kaji asked; questioning his own intentions.
"If the energy levels of the Geofront we're monitored when the system is rebooted then an outside observer could establish the vital systems and their location"
"And that would be bad?"
"Yes if the vital systems are destroyed then everything from Terminal Dogma to the Geofront would be helpless"
Making it easy for an Angel to establish contact with Adam. Kaji's own conscious surfacing.
His eyes looked at the four steel walls that surrounded him, the thick brushed steel couldn't be ruptured nor could the magnetically sealed doors; indeed he had a perfect alibi but at what cost? Kaji prayed an angel didn't attack.
Ignoring the trickles of fresh sweat rubbing down his side, Kaji's brown eyes looked down at Misato repeatedly pressing the emergency phone button.
"We've got to get out of here" Kaji muttered to himself.
"This is the third district JASDF, an unidentified object is heading towards this area, all residents must evacuate to their designated shelters"
Roji watched the small green aircraft pass overhead and a wide smile appeared upon his face.
All around him people ran for cover, only he was a solitary stationary island amongst the sea of panic stricken faces.
Nobody noticed the calm expression upon neither his face nor the deep laugh that escaped his throat and echoed about the buildings around him.
"I've not got a designated shelter so that means…"
His eyes drifting to examine the surrounding he found himself in. He'd already failed to get access to the Geofront, failed to establish contact with any figure of authority, he truly was on his own: left to his own whims and desires.
"…time to see the enemy" he muttered.
Tokyo-3 stood desolate and abandoned, no people walked its streets, no cars drove upon its roads; the humans that inhabited this city we're running scared, groups numbering in their hundreds took shelter in heavily fortified buildings. Animals ruled this city now, the cheap of birds, the scuttle of urban foxes dashing for cover.
However a larger animal was claiming territory, its gargantuan weight crushing down upon city tarmac cracking it before proceeding further.
It sensed something different from its surroundings; it sensed a presence like that of its own deep beneath the city and other not far from the first presence.
"Hey so you're an Angel right?"
Roji got no answer from the 9th Angel it still trudged onwards towards him.
"Ok you don't wanna listen to me? I'll make you listen to me!"
Concentrating for a brief second I threw a brick at the angel with all the force of my body, it came within inches before impacting upon the Angels AT field.
For the briefest of seconds its eyes seemed to focus on me, I couldn't tell which eyes were its actual eyes and I'd have to admit that the I did feel intimidated by this…its size didn't bother me.
"You see this is my home and if you're gonna wreck it then I'm going to have to stop you"
Slowly the giant spider like Angel proceeded further on ignoring the small impacts of rubble upon it's AT field inflicted by the strong mammal.
Roji watched in disbelief as it loomed over him, the primal instinct of fear started to overwhelm him.
Orange grew around the eye on its underbelly, for a few seconds it built up before orange liquid dripped downwards.
"Oh shit!" diving to the side I narrowly avoided being engulfed in the acidic liquid.
Laughing to myself I addressed the enemy once more:
"First you want to destroy my city, not the smartest option; secondly you try to destroy me, now it's personal"
The Angel paid no more attention, its total preoccupation upon secreting acid into the floor that would eventually reach the Geofront underneath.
"Ok bricks won't work so what will?"
I licked my lips in anticipation as I spied the nearby car park.
Seven running steps later and I turned back to look at the Angel, a single eyebrow raising as I extended one hand with its pointed index finger:
"Don't go anywhere" my voice deep and sarcastic.
"Come on you stupid piece of crap!" I cursed slamming my palm upon the petrol tank of the green Kawasaki motorcycle. My right foot heavily falling upon kick start while my wrist pulled heavily upon the throttle.
Within a minute the machine roared to life.
"Now we're in business!"
Pulling hard on the throttle I struggled to keep one foot planted upon the floor as I bought the powerful bike about in a 180 spin, over revving on the gears before shifting up.
I was doing seventy miles per hour in a matter of seconds.
Pulling the clutch full I planted one foot and with all the strength of my body launched the Kawasaki upwards.
Rolling upon one shoulder I deadened my fall and with a second following my recovery I was able to turn and watch as the bike spun through the air towards the Angel.
Upon connection with the AT field it exploded marvellously, shrapnel that had once been handlebars and cam pipes struck everything within its path and radius, I remained thankfully intact.
My sarcastic smile returned as I crossed my hands over my chest.
The Angel roared a deep moan of frustration, its eyes fixing upon me.
"Now that I've got you're attention" I mutter scooping up from the floor a crescent moon shaped piece of metal left over from my motorcycle explosion; presumably half of the flywheel and razor sharp.
I raised the weapon to my face, each eye looking down either side then threw the rudimentary shuriken, it sliced a small cut three inches deep upon its body.
A deep roar admitted from somewhere within the Angels body as no mouth was noticeably present upon its person.
I dropped into an Ichimonji Kamae (a Ninjitsu stance) my one extended hand beckoning the Angel closer.
"Let's rock" I declared
I knew I was strong and fast, I'd witnessed both before with my own eyes, twice I'd survived a fall that could easily kill a normal human; I wasn't normal…my eyes alone told that story, a story that was lost somewhere within my unknown past.
To protect this city, my home I was prepared to battle.
Shockwaves rocked the floor beneath me and I took the initiative and dived out the way seconds before hundreds of height velocity rail gun slugs propelled upwards through the spider, for a brief second it stood defiant and unharmed…before collapsing in a heap, a single mammoth leg twitching before coming still and silent.
"You're not looking up my dress are you?"
"No maam" Kaji groaned in boredom.
Seconds later the elevator turned into life, the dull metal walls illuminated by newly born fresh artificial light.
Nearby in Kaji Ryoji's office a single lone laptop, hummed into life its small hard drive rapidly recording the systems rebooting via its rudimentary hardwired connection upon the main processor line, the vital systems and they're locations within the Geofront quickly being instantly recorded upon the hard drive before the automatic encryption program disguised the results.
Kaji's plans were progressing well.
"It's ironic without electricity and artificial light the sky can look so beautiful at night" Shinji's plug suit keeping out the worst of the cold night air.
"Yeah but without the lights it seems there are no humans here" Asuka retorted, herself preferring human comforts over natural comforts…Shinji always had seemed more distant from others she'd noticed.
Gradually the light of the city flicked into life one by one until the hill side the three children lounged on was covered in darkness no longer.
"…There I feel much more comfortable this way" Asuka finished, the only movement of her cross legged lazy position being to keep her warm within the vinyl like covering of her red plug suit.
"Man fears the darkness and so he scrapes at the edge of it with fire" Rei responded adding her own views, her position far more tense then that of the other two children with her chin resting upon her knees.
"Hhmm Philosophy huh?" Asuka said without really expecting an answer.
"So is that what makes mankind a special species?..."
"I remember asking that very same question not so long ago"
An approaching male thought to himself, his footsteps slow and quite upon the damp grass.
"…is that why the Angels attack us?" Shinji finished questioning; he'd not received a conclusive answer from either Asuka or Rei when he'd asked it earlier, when all three had been crawling around in the darkness with little to no light to guide their way.
"What are you stupid? Who knows what they think" Asuka said quickly cutting off Shinji's question that she could not answer.
They had saved the day and all three lay content and happy within the aftermath of their victory.
"I think they can feel fear" Roji yelled across the grass plain as he announced his presence.
"Roji!" Shinji quickly exclaimed scrambling to a sitting position to see the silhouette of his friend advance closer.
"Nice of you to join us Roji…" Asuka said honestly before sarcastically adding "…were you late for school?"
Roji chuckled to himself for a second before consulting his watch:
"Looks like I'm thirteen or so hours late"
Taking his jacket from his shoulders he laid it down upon the grass to the left of Rei before lying down upon it and looking up at the stars.
His faded denim clothed legs crossed at the ankles and the faint brown t-shirt stretched over his chest as he rested his arms behind his head.
The stars seem dimmer with the light pollution but they're still magnificent he thought to himself.
"Oh!..." Roji quickly bolted to a standing position before turning to look down at the women to his right in the white plug suit.
"…where are my manners? I'm Roji …….. I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you Ms. Rei Ayanami"
"Always the British gentleman" Asuka mutter to herself in disbelief as she watched Roji and Rei talk more on Philosophy…it seemed they shared much more then just identical eye colour.
"So what DID you do today Roji?" Shinji asked.
"Well let's put it this was, I never want to be anywhere near the business end of one of those pallet rifles ever again!"
"You where there? On the surface?" Rei asked curious of this stranger.
"Yep, buying you guys time to come in and save the day" Roji said with a cheeky smile illuminating his face.
"Yeah? Well we we're handling it just fine without you Mr………." Asuka said turning to look away from him.
"Sure you were princess" Roji countered with trademark sarcasm.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Asuka yelled in disbelief.
Kaji smiled to himself, the darkness of his small cramped apartment barely illuminated by the backlight of his laptop.
With one free hand he scrolled amongst the millions of files and data hacked from the Geofront and Magi system, his other hand wielding chopsticks that expertly delivered freshly steamed rice into his eager mouth.
Nothing like being trapped in a life all day to build up an appetite
With half interested eyes he watched the CCTV files of empty streets, clustered evacuation shelter and…
His eyes viewed the file with total attention, his food lay forgotten in his lap.
Kaji licked his lips before clicking upon the mouse to view the file once more.
Kaji smiled as the motorcycle exploded, that dated CCTV camera's recording the action frame by frame in poor black and white quality.
"Well well Mr X you certainly got balls"
Meanwhile Gendou Ikari watched the same footage with equal interest, his hands pressed together and face eternally neutral.
Authors Notes: finally I found the time to write about both my favourite Evangelion episode and my favourite Angel, didn't really have much of the original characters but focused more on Kaji (a personal favourite and role model) I always assumed it was him behind the sabotage, I'm pretty sure its never confirmed in the series but I always had the assumption it was him. Also added more character development for Roji and his territorial feeling over Tokyo-3 along with the Angels.
Enjoy? Feel free to tell me what you thought, read, review, e-mail, comments, questions all welcome.
P.S. Chapter 10 Is Almost Finished!