AKAGI RESIDENCE
5:32 PM JST
SAME DAY
"They must know by now… We need to put our plan into action. I don't believe I've fully told you though…
Naoko sat at a desk in the workshop they were both in. She was soldering a few wires onto a PCB she herself designed.
"No you haven't told me what you would do in the last stage."
He said, sitting on a nearby stool. He looked much more casual here, his attire consisting of sweatpants, a red tee, and some slippers.
"We planned to do it much later, but since Ritsuko said they infiltrated the MAGI we need to enact it now. But it's going to be much harder to requisition an N mine with LeBlanc here."
She said, still focused on soldering, the fumes and smoke wisping past her face. She didn't mind though, it reminded her of when she made Homebrews overseas with her father.
Gendo furrowed his brow.
"Why would you need an N mine?"
A pause.
"We need to get him on our side. He shows that he still has his humanity left intact."
"What is the plan?"
. . .
"I'll tell you after we get it. Then after a week we initiate it. After that we needn't worry about Third Impact anymore."
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
"Shinji and Asuka are going on a date tomorrow, He'll need someone to give him advice on what he'll need to do."
. . .
"I see…"
MATERNAL PROGRAMMING
EPISODE 19
"Please Give Me Wings"
OCTOBER 14TH
2:42 PM JST
AKAGI RESIDENCE
". . ."
. . .
". . ."
. . .
"So you have a date later today with Soryu? I would've thought you would stay friends."
Gendo and Shinji stood two arms apart from each other, neither of them comfortable with this situation. An awkward aura radiated around them.
"Y-Yeah, I've liked her for a while. I just… wasn't thinking about ever asking her out. I uh… was preoccupied…"
Shinji didn't make Eye contact with Gendo, not wanting to face him fully.
"I see. Would you like some advice?"
He offered, afraid of what comes next.
"I thought you haven't gone on a date in years? Wasn't the last one with Ms Yui?"
A small pain shot through Gendo's heart as Shinji finished his sentence. Just hearing him refer to her as Ms Yui sent a sudden sadness in him.
"Yes, But I still have some advice on how you should act-"
"I really don't want it…"
. . .
". . . Alright, I won't force you."
. . .
"I'm going to get ready now. I'll see you later…"
With that Shinji walked off to his room upstairs, leaving Gendo all by himself. He frowned and made his way over to the couch to think.
His mind was still processing what he had done, and trying to figure out how to solve this quickly and efficiently.
The soft tapping of metal and plastic took Gendo out from his racing thoughts. Naoko came into the room with a walker and…
A new robotic leg.
It limply moved with Naoko's body movements, with her trying to walk stably. However she still put her body weight onto the walker more.
It had an opaque synthetic polymer sheet for the artificial skin. Every time the leg gently brushed the floor, she shivered.
"You finished it. How does it feel?"
Naoko sighed and shuffled over to the couch where she sat down and groaned.
"Too sensitive… I need to get used to it."
A pause.
"You gave up halfway, didn't you?"
He avoided her gaze by simply staring at the turned off TV.
"Don't ignore me Gendo. You barely tried to reach him."
He didn't want to say anything, hoping she would just move on from this.
"I… He did not wish to continue talking…
Naoko tensed up as she wanted to say something, but held her tongue as she knew he was closing up. He blames himself for this… As usual…
. . .
Shinji quickly jogged down the stairs and got his shoes on in the entry hall.
"Sorry mom, I gotta go, I'm going to be late!"
He gave a wave and began to rush out the door.
"Bye dear, have fun and stay safe!"
And with that the door slammed shut, with the sound reverberating throughout the house.
Naoko turned to Gendo and gave a small smile.
"So do you like it?"
Gendo turned and examined the artificial leg. Without a word he proceeded to continuously poke her leg and foot over and over, with Naoko jumping in surprise.
"GAH! YOU ASSHOLE!"
"Heh"
DOWNTOWN TOKYO-III
BIG APPLE DINER
3:10 PM JST
BOOTH NO. 3
An awkward silence fell between the two adolescents. Neither of them have really said a word since they ordered their food.
Music played over the overhead speakers from some Pre-Second Impact singer that neither of them knew the name of. All they knew is that the guy had a rather good voice and apparently he is…
Never gonna give you up.
. . .
Shinji shifted in his seat before he gathered the courage to speak.
"So… You hear about video games?"
He had an awkward smile on his face, but internally he was screaming at himself.
"SO YOU HEAR ABOUT VIDEO GAMES?!? WHAT KIND OF SHITTY STARTER IS THAT?! OF COURSE SHE HEARS ABOUT VIDEO GAMES, SHE STILL BEATS ME IN EVERY VS GAME!"
Asuka slightly chuckled and a small tinge of pink formed on her face.
"Yeah, I hear about video games. Did you hear about that one game?..."
. . .
"Yeah, I hear about that one game. But did you hear about Video Game Two: Electric Boogaloo?"
That got a laugh from her, Shinji laughed too. It was a dumb joke but neither one of the had a high standard of comedy. If you put an edited photo of lettuce with a trippy filter and the caption Lettuce, Bottom Text, they would laugh their asses off.
"That's a good game, But let's talk about better games. Have you played that one game about the haunted robots that chase you in a run down place?"
Asuka asked, pulling the conversation further. Shinji nodded and smiled.
"Yeah the one with the jumpscares and the confusing plot. Yeah they came out with the fourth one. The American kid at school showed me it and some video of a guy playing it. What was it called?... Four Nights at Franky's?"
"Yeah that one! This one was with the actually scary looking ones!"
Asuka seemed pumped talking about it, so was Shinji. Both were avid gamers and played a lot of games from across the world. They both had their own computer with top of the line specs, but Shinji's was much better considering it was essentially a mini MAGI.
Their conversation was quickly halted when the waitress came up to them with their food on a tray. They had completely forgotten about it for a good minute.
"The fish and chips for the sir, and the steak tips and mushrooms for the lady. Enjoy!"
Both of their meals looked absolutely delicious, and both were about to get eaten.
"Alright let's eat!"
"Alright let's eat!"
NERV HQ
COMMANDER LEBLANC'S OFFICE
3:52 PM JST
A buzzer sounded, echoing within the mostly empty office. But it was slowly over time being filled with furniture and other decorations. Jacques sighed and pushed a button on his desk and spoked.
"Yes, come in."
The door facing his desk opened, to reveal Misato peeking in.
He looked up from his computer to face her, giving a slight smile.
"Yes Captain?"
He asked, slightly confused at her sudden appearance. She stepped forward until she was a few feet from the desk, a habit from when Gendo was commander.
"I've come to ask you a few questions about some stuff."
She said, looking around a bit as she was not used to the office's new look. Jacques stood up and gestured to a set of sofas nearby.
"Sure, please have a seat."
Misato hesitantly accepted and sat down on the rather comfortable couch.
"I need me one of these.."
Jacques walked over and sat on the opposite side of her, patiently waiting for her to ask her questions.
"Well… My first question is about the Fourth Child. We haven't heard anything from the American branch about either Units 3 or 4 coming in for him."
. . .
Jacques nodded and pulled out a tablet, tapping away as if he was searching for something.
"The US Congress is still bickering over which unit to send. Some of them are even calling the whole angel crisis Fake News, even though they have seen footage of it, and are threatening to defund it for petty reasons."
He scoffed at that last part. He knew that it would eventually pass.
"Even If the UN has power over the Units, they would threaten them instead. So until then, we will simply put him in every unit to train in case he is needed."
He handed the tablet to Misato to show the new schedule for Kaworu. She scrolled through it to see what it fully entails.
"Hm, seems like a good plan…"
She handed it back to him.
"My next question is… Some of the staff are thinking of planning a Halloween party this year, and are talking about doing it in the GeoFront so their families could come with them."
Jacques stayed silent for a moment before giving his answer.
"On a few conditions…"
Misato perked up, surprised at his acceptance.
"Yeah, what are they?"
He smirked.
"One: get the PR team to advertise this to civilians, as we need a positive Image. And this goes without saying, but heighten security around entrances to HQ itself if we are to allow them to enter the Geofront. Two: Bridge Staff are allowed to dress up, but keep it tactful, we don't need scandalous costumes in front of the children and media. And Three: Get as much Candy as you can, you can use the Staff Welfare budget for it."
Misato smiled and nodded. She was very happy that the new commander allowed such an event to happen. Even if she knew who he really was…
"Y-Yes sir! One last question, if that's ok…"
He nodded.
"Dr Naoko, asked me to ask you if she could return to work in a week. She said she has a prosthetic that she can use."
Jacques frowned. His mind is trying to figure out something.
"Shouldn't she be doing Physical Therapy for that?"
She shrugged and sighed.
"She was very insistent on returning soon…"
. . .
"I see… Well, Tell her to come in on Friday, and we can do an evaluation on her."
. . .
"Thank you for your time sir."
She gave a curt nod and stood up, beginning to walk back towards the door, when he stopped her midway, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"If you can, Could you bring the Children in tomorrow? I would like to brief them on a few things."
. . .
"Sure."
And with that, Misato left the large office, leaving Jacques alone with his thoughts. He walked back over to his desk and buried his face in his hands. He looked over to the framed photograph on his desk.
He slowly picked it up and sighed.
. . .
"Am I doing the right thing Colette?... Do you think you would want to see me now?..."
OUTSIDE OF AKAGI RESIDENCE
7:32 PM JST
"I really had fun today!"
"Yeah me too! But I'm still annoyed that you finally beat my score on SWAT…"
Shinji chuckled and walked up to the door, laying his hand on the handle. He smiled at the redhead before him.
"Thank you for tonight…."
. . .
"I'll see you tomorrow at school."
"Same. Goodnight…"
"Night…"
Asuka began her trek back to the apartment, while Shinji watched her leave his sight. He stood there for a moment before unlocking the door and entering his house.
Stepping inside and taking off his shoes, and looked down the hall and saw something annoying happening in front of him.
. . .
Naoko was sitting on the couch with Gendo, with her head resting on his shoulder. She was sound asleep with him staring at Shinji, He looked like he wanted to say something to him.
. . .
Seeing this made his blood boil.
Rage.
Rage.
RAGE.
RAGE.
. . .
No…
. . .
It wasn't worth it…
He wants his mother to be happy…
Gendo makes her happy…
More than him…
. . .
With sadness in his heart, he stepped upstairs and headed to his room to sleep.
She was happy with him…
This chapter was also a bit hard to write, but i have some big plans for NERV HQ… One that would need a N mine…
Thanks for reading this chapter!
-DerpymanMT
Deus