MATERNAL PROGRAMMING
PRESENT DAY
MET: 00:00:12
TOKYO III
"Do it for her."
"Pylon Clamps Unlocked, Units 00 and 01 are free to engage the target."
Shinji felt his shoulders loosen up and began to act fast. He bolted for the nearest weapons cache. Unit 00 did the same, heading to its nearest weapons cache.
"Units 00 and 01 are gearing up, sending up Pallet Rifles."
The large weapons cache door slid open, revealing the weapons. Shinji and Rei grabbed their respective rifles.
"Aim, Center..." Shinji quickly took aim at the Angel, who seemed to be studying the Evangelion, before raising its arm. "And Fire!"
The rifle began its torrent of flechette rounds upon the Angel, who simply ignored the nicks in its flesh.
Not too long after the rifles ran out of ammo. Rei quickly Discarded her rifle and deployed her Prog Knife.
"Unit 00 has begun close quarters combat."
Shinji quickly took notice and deployed his as well, closing the distance between himself and the angel. It used its energy lance to strike both Evangelions.
With a quick synchronized dodge, Units 00 and 01 moved out of the way.
Rei swung the Knife at its left arm, barely hitting it, as the Angel's AT Field deployed.
"Rei, Distract it!"
"Roger!"
Unit 00 led a flurry of swings at the Angel's field, not seeing Unit 01 behind her.
"Ready!"
Unit 00 leapt out of the way, just in time for Unit 01 to claw through the AT Field with its open hand and Strike the Angel's Core with the Prog Knife.
In the final Moments of the Angel's short life, It gave a loud scream, as it attempted to self-destruct, only for it to die a few seconds later.
"Angel has gone silent…"
Shinji's and Rei's exhausted breath could be heard over the comm channels.
"Mission… Accomplished…"
The entire Bridge erupted into cheers, whoops and hollers too. Despite being in Japan, the Bridge had a multitude of different cheers in different languages. Shinji felt proud of himself, despite his body aching.
A joyous face appeared onto the monitor. "Shinji, I'm so proud of you!" Naoko was practically beaming, and Ritsuko was behind her with a warm smile. "We're Sending Recovery Teams now, so sit tight! We also got great footage to send to Asuka!" she added with a wink.
The comm channel closed and another opened up. "Are you okay, Shinji?" Rei's concerned face appeared on the comms monitor.
"Yeah I'm okay," he said, smiling through the exasperation. "Are you?"
Rei smiled back and gave a thumbs up. "I'm good, Just tired. I'll be shutting down Unit-00 now. I'll see you on the outside." She flipped a switch and disappeared from the monitor. Shinji did the same, but not before feeling a sense of pride and warmth surrounding him. He treated the feeling like a distant relative, as he usually did.
He pulled a lever beside his seat, and the LCL began to drain before ejecting the plug. The hatch opened to reveal an orange colored sky. He climbed out and stared at his surroundings.
The Angel's corpse laid below him, its skin still charred from the N2 mine. "I should ask for a core sample later… I want to see if I can make something from it." He saw the recovery teams approaching in the distance. "Well… I better get ready for Mom and Sis's bear hugs…"
MATERNAL PROGRAMMING
EPISODE 2
"A TOUCH OF LOVE"
Shinji was met with dozens of NERV workers swarming both him and Rei. They quickly took vitals, and LCL samples. Soon after, the two of them were loaded onto a VTOL and carried out. Shinji looked at the city below and smiled.
"We saved this City." Shinji turned to Rei, who was being given a shock blanket. She nodded.
"Pilot Akagi and Pilot Ayanami, You both did one hell of a job out there!" The crew on the VTOL all gave their congratulations and thanks to the two teenagers.
Shinji turned back to Rei, who had a tinge of pink on her cheeks.
A few minutes later after landing, Shinji was instantly swarmed by a very proud mother and sister.
"I'm so proud of you!" Naoko said, essentially suffocating the boy. She let go after what felt like a tenure of Shinji in her arms, just in time for everyone else he knew to congratulate him.
But the cheers soon died out as the most feared man walked up. Naoko quickly stepped in front of Shinji and Rei, as if defending them.
"I wish to extend my congratulations, First and Third Child."
Shinji hesitantly looked at his father and spoke.
"Thank you, Commander."
Rei hesitated to speak.
"Thank you, Commander Ikari."
Gendo nodded and walked off, to the relief of everyone else.
Naoko turned to Shinji and smiled.
"How about we head somewhere nice to celebrate? I'll treat the entire Bridge crew to a nice dinner!"
Obviously everyone erupted into cheers.
"But can we please shower and get changed first? I don't want to be caked in this stuff, no matter how much it smells like strawberry…"
Naoko cocked her head then looked at her herself, and saw she was now also covered in LCL.
"Oh... Yeah, go ahead!"
"Good Work, Commander Ikari. The First and Third Children performed phenomenally."
"Indeed. Dr Akagi has done a wonderful job raising the Third Child."
"I do believe they are due for a small reward. How does an Item from our countries sound? I heard the Third Child really enjoys Coffee…"
The old men gave a smug look at Gendo, but he refused to show any annoyance.
"Yes, And the First Child I heard enjoys artisan chocolate."
The man at the head of the table smiled and spoke. "Then we shall give them such items. After all, they earned it." He went serious. "But now to the actual reason for this meeting. The Angels have returned, as promised in the Scrolls."
"If all goes according to Dr. Katsuragi's proposal, We could achieve what humanity needs."
"Indeed, Ikari here will make sure we achieve such a goal."
"For the good of Humanity."
The NERV bridge crew stood outside Tokyo-2's most luxurious restaurant.
Shinji stood uncomfortably in his Formal Pilot Uniform. Rei stood in hers, but didn't indicate any discomfort.
The host led them inside to the empty restaurant that was entirely reserved for the NERV crew. They were seated, and brought their items.
"Mom, you didn't have to do this, you know…" Shinji felt rather embarrassed about this. It was the End-of-the-school-year party all over again for him.
"Nonsense, You two saved the world today! You get to experience the best the world has to offer!"
She was about to speak again, but noticed Gendo in the corner, Fuyutsuki sitting with him.
Shinji noticed her glare and tried to make conversation again. "So, you really think Asuka will enjoy the video?"
"I know so!" Naoko took a sip of the wine that was poured. "Go ahead and order Shinji, this is all on the recreation budget!"
He looked at the menu and couldn't decide. He knew the dishes, but didn't know what they tasted like. "Hey Sis, What do you think I should get?"
Ritsuko looked at the menu and pointed at a dish. "I'd recommend the Shrimp Scampi, And for a side… Lobster Bisque."
Shinji eyed Ritsuko from the side. "I think that trip to the Massachusetts branch may have brainwashed you. You really like seafood now…"
They stared at each other for a moment before sharing a laugh. "I'll get it, Seems good!" said Shinji.
The waiters came and took everyone's orders. As soon as they went back to the kitchen, Naoko stood up and clinked her glass. "I would like to make a toast, to our heroes of the day, and to all of us. To the future of Humanity!"
Everyone raised a glass. "To the future of Humanity!" They drank and cheered.
Naoko smiled, hiding the dread. "Enjoy your time Shinji, Please. Make this all count. I'll do anything to keep you smiling…"
NERV BERLIN
A girl sat on her bed, replaying the battle footage over and over. It came through her secure email that morning, and it had been the subject of her attention all day.
"Shinji Akagi…" She muttered to herself. "You never change. Still trying to outdo me. But I'll get ahead of you, once I get out there. I made a promise." A grin concluded her self-declaration. "Or I'm not the Second-damned-Child."
Asuka Langley Soryu stood proudly. She grabbed her A-10 connectors and placed them in her hair. She looked in the mirror at the young girl staring back at her. They had a mutual agreement: Show the world what the best Eva pilot could do.
A knock on the door grabbed her attention. "Asuka, Are you ready?"
"Coming, Mr. Kaji!" She picked up her bags and exited the room.
Kaji grabbed one of the bags and slung it over his shoulder. He looked sidelong at her. "You look excited."
"Of course!" she said. "I'm ready to hit Japan."
"You and I both, kiddo, but we've got a long ride ahead of us…"
IM BACK! Here with another Maternal Programming chapter. I dont have much to say except, Thank you to SheriffJohnStone for editing this chapter, and thank you to all the kind reviews!
Til' Next time!
"And I promise there will be plenty of fanservice!"
-DerpymanMT