Shinji lazily got out of his temporary bed, still half asleep. He took a quick cold shower to wake him up for the day. What he wasn't anticipating was a really cold shower hitting him like ice.
"HOLY-…AGH!!!"
Rei woke next from the screams of her roommate currently in the washroom. Shinji's cries soon died down as he adjusted the temperature, scolding himself while shivering madly at the same time. Rei, awake instantly, lay on her bed suddenly in thought.
Just as Shinji got the shower to a decent temperature, Rei decided to get up. Looking at pile of blankets on Shinji's bed forming a long heap, Rei concluded he must be underneath them. Not taking account of the scream that had awoken her, she casually walked over to the bathroom door and tried to open it to relieve herself from the previous night's drinking. Though, after a few twists she found the door to be locked. She looked back at Shinji's heap on his bed, then back at the door. She then cranked the knob a few times. Amazingly, it actually opened for her on the second try. Of all the great achievments of the human race, doornobs did not seem to be their specialty. She walked in and was just getting through the door and closing it when Shinji chose that moment to step out.
A few rooms down the hall, Trowa and Quatre were already wide-awake and were debating whether to wake up the newcomers personally or let them sleep in.
"It's getting late in the morning, maybe we should go wake them." Quatre suggested.
"We will see; they have shown relative discipline so far. I believe they will be up in time," Trowa decided. "Are we going to order our breakfast, or are we going to eat it on the way?" Trowa pulled on a casual sweatshirt over him as he spoke before heading to the door.
"I think we can go while on route, it'll be easier that way." Responded Quatre.
"Okay. I'll go-…" Both teenagers were silent for a few moments until they could hear the sounds more clearly. "Hey, is that…somebody screaming?"
Quatre listened carefully, then his eyes shot open: "The pilots!" Trowa's eyes opened wide as well.
Suspecting an attack upon their mansion, both teens did not hesitate as they both pulled out menacing handguns from either of their drawers and bolted down the hallway. The yell had just stopped as they came to an abrupt halt outside the Eva pilots' door.
"One, two,-…" Started Quatre.
"THREE!"
Both Gundam pilots kicked the door open and rushed inside instantly with guns aimed and ready to fire at any enemies in sight. Both came to a halt and pointed their guns directly towards the bathroom door which was now hanging open.
Both guns dropped to the ground as they saw Rei Ayanami lying on top of a naked Shinji Ikari, both on the bathroom tiles. Shinji's towel seemed to have slipped off in the struggle and lay under him. It seemed like a mirror image of the time Shinji had paid Rei a visit in her apartment.
It was only after a few seconds that the Eva pilots noticed they were being watched. Eyes met for a few seconds before an invisible oath was taken to not repeat this incident outside these walls.
Asuka almost jaunted down the hallways of the hidden Oz base. Though, it couldn't exactly be called secret anymore since it had just gone through a major attack. Asuka was spending her afternoon exploring the base, seeing as her authority was only a few levels below that of the commander. She did not know the reasons for him doing so, but she assumed that she recieved extra privileges for her natural talent and beauty.
She stopped at one of the wide-open sections of a commercial building. It resembled that of a lounge, except with a ceiling twenty or thirty meters above the floor, plus with a huge arched window that went all the way to the ceiling. Plenty of couches, chairs and vending machines were randomly placed in this little area, but couches were almost all empty, seeing as it was the middle of a business day.
Asuka decided to take a short break; selecting an intriguing looking candy bar from one of the vending machines and trying it out. As she sat down in front of the window, she took a few moments to marvel at how everything on this world was (and tasted) so different. Yet, at the same time, everything felt so similar.
FLASHBACK
Asuka; just a few hours ago in the presence of Trieze Kushrenada.
"Ms. Sorhyu, please have a seat. I must have a discussion with you." Trieze calmly motioned for her to take a seat opposite the desk that he sat at. Then, he seemed to quickly change his mind. "Forgive me please, I believe I have a better idea: let's take a walk."
Somewhat confused, Asuka trailed behind Trieze as he left the office before he beckoned her to walk beside him. They seemed to walk aimlessly for a few minutes before the conversation began once more.
"Uh, was there something you were going to tell me before? Or did you just want me to walk with you?!" Asuka asked, acting casual.
"Yes, I was. I was going to discuss it with you once we reached a more…inspiring location, but we can begin with the basics now." Asuka tried to listen as politely as she could. "You see, we have some complications that have risen up. You did a formidable job on the enemy, but the consequences are now taking shape. This base is no longer hidden. We will have to move to a different base of operations, which will definitely cause a few problems…many at that."
"Hey," started Asuka, "we defeated them last time, so I don't think they're coming back anytime soon."
"That may be true for other enemies, but it's not the same concerning the Gundams."
"You mean those advanced war thingies? You didn't give me much information on them."
"That's only because not much is known." Asuka nodded and Trieze continued. "The point is, this base was hidden because we're conducting top secret research and development here in this remote location. It would not go well to have a primary base that was continually the primary target of any and all of our enemies. Research needs to go uninterrupted for the most efficient results."
"I got that." Responded Asuka.
"Oh, then you should tell me what I am hinting at then?" Asked Trieze, while leading Asuka down another corridor, somewhat smaller than the last.
"Easy, you're saying that now that you don't have a safe environment to work in, you will simply have to relocate your base of operations." Asuka beamed as Trieze frowned only for a second before smiling as well.
"You're quite smart, do you know that? Though, I'm most likely not the first to have stated that."
"How true-…"
"But, you are wrong in one aspect."
"…huh? How-?"
"Relocating is not simple." Trieze sighed as he pushed open another double door and led Asuka through it before he himself followed and spoke again: "This base is huge. We have massive generators, hundreds of mobile suits, many underground centers, buildings, turrets, defense perimeters and the list goes on Ms. Sorhyu." Trieze delicately explained to the teenager who he had somehow become attached to. In such a short time too. "It will be very hard, not to mention risky to relocate at this time. Especially when we were so near to a scientific breakthrough."
Asuka thought for a few moments before asking some more questions. "Firstly, why don't you just finish up any work here before relocating?"
"Because it's too risky."
"Secondly, why would it be so hard, not to mention risky as well? You only need to transport some stuff to another place."
Trieze sighed. "That is the problem. Think about what you said; doing so would mean initiating a convoy to our specified location in southern Africa. A convoy of that size and importance will not go unnoticed. My enemies will try to make their move during that time. The longer we wait, the worse the chances are that we will be able to pull it off."
Asuka nodded. She understood what it felt like to be in a losing situation. Yet, she had her trust set in this commander who, she thought, was actually worthy of it. He had given her so much, had respected her, treated her as an equal and confided in her. In return, she respected him and trusted his decisions, since they had proven well so far. "Well," she responded suddenly cheerful, "You'll do fine. I'll even help you out in my Eva."
"Ah!" Trieze suddenly replied. "I almost forgot to tell you-…oh, sorry, here we are."
Asuka's eyes shot open in astonishment as they walked together through another set of bleak double doors to end up inside a huge arboretum. It was a huge park; with fountains, birds, tress and walkways. Plus, the sky almost looked entirely real because it covered every single wall, the paint job was nearly perfect. She didn't know where the room started and ended.
Trieze smiled, seeing the intended affect on his female companion. "How do you like it?"
"It…It's beautiful…but, wait, how did you-" She still looked around her as she spoke, "how were you able to put a place like this in the north pole?" She asked incredulously.
"It was hard. It is situated in the center of our main building in which we are standing in. It is well protected from the outside world and it's harsh weather and atmosphere." Trieze continued walking down the path as Asuka followed him. She walked by him while still marveling at the scenery.
"Are those real birds?"
"Yes." Smiled Trieze. "Fed and kept by me, of course. I seem to have a weakness,… for nature." Asuka looked up at her commander, who now seemed to wear a much more relaxed expression on his face. "Here, let's sit down and finish our discussion."
Asuka sat down beside Trieze, overlooking a beautiful water fountain. The artificial light bounced off the clear droplets of water creating interesting patterns on the cement surrounding it. Asuka watched for a few minutes before turning back to Trieze. "Okay then, about my Eva-…"
"Yes, I wanted to tell you we had some interesting findings. It was, actually, purely by chance."
Asuka became interested immediately. "You mean, you found something out, about my Unit-02?"
Trieze chuckled. "You remember the short conversation we had on power limitations concerning your Eva?" Asuka nodded shortly. "We detected negative wave-lengths emanating from that machine of yours. At first, we weren't sure what to make of it, it was such an unknown factor that we almost dismissed studying it entirely. We did do some tests though and we concluded, basically, that at all moments there is electrical activity emanating on the inside of your Eva. Even when there is no power inside its reserves."
Asuka was looked at him inquiringly; how could it be activated…while it wasn't activated? "What do you mean Commander?"
"It's alright, you can call me Trieze, remember?" Trieze smiled briefly at her before continuing. "It is simple. We came up with several deductions, but most of us firmly believe in the hypothesis concerning what evidence we have."
"What is it?" Asuka was having a hard time controlling her enthusiasm.
"You said you control that Mecha with your mind, am I correct?"
"Yes."
"So, we concluded that your power supply should work the same way. Maybe, those outside power sources were only needed as an intermediary while the pilot got used to controlling the Machine. Once you bond with it though, my theory is that no more outside power connection will be needed."
Asuka did not entirely believe her commander. "Hmph, what makes you so sure. Our tests never concluded anything like this. Otherwise, we wouldnt've already known about this."
Trieze thought about the question for a few moments. "Well, I believe the only way is to test that theory. Probably, the most basic way to do it, would be to set the pilot into a life threatening situation where the pilot would lose all power. Then, in complete pandemonium, the pilot might somehow be able to tap into this power. Or-…" Trieze paused for a moment. "We could just also tear it open and take a look for ourselves."
Asuka nearly punched his face in. "WHAT?!?!?! You-you can't!!! I will never let you do anything to my Unit-02!!!""
Trieze was shocked for a moment before he regained his posture and chuckled lightly. "I am most sorry Ms. Sorhyu, I was not stating that we would do such a thing, neither that it was a threat. I am trying to figure an answer for you, you are alright with that?"
Asuka was more at ease with this answer. "Yes, sir. I guess so."
Trieze then bowed his head a little. "I'm not sure what experiments you may have done at this research lab of yours. I can only think, though, that the creators of your Eva have kept most of it's information from you. That may be for an important reason too, but I will do what I can to aid you for the time being. Is that all right?"
"Y-yes sir."
"Good, then our business is concluded for now. Feel free to bring up any other issues with me." Trieze then rose up out of his pose and turned towards Asuka once more before leaving. "I should add, if you feel up to it, you can have a look around. That is, if it would suit you. You have the privileges to access most of these facilities. Enjoy yourself here, just don't disappear if there's an emergency, understand?"
"Okay, thank you sir-…I mean, Trieze."
Trieze smiled and soon he was out of view beyond the folliage.
END OF FLASHBACK
Asuka smirked slightly. He had probably intended for her to explore the arboretum some more, but she couldn't resist checking out some of the other structures as well. She had some fun studying the defense systems in the barracks a short while earlier. As she finally finished off her candy bar, she chucked the clear wrapper into a nearby garbage.
She then got to her feet silently and continued her exploration…
Both Heero and Duo were now struck for words.
It had still taken a good few hours to get through the locking mechanisms. There were more than just a couple of doors with locks, each with different codes. After finally cracking all of them, they were able to get inside the primary tower overlooking the site in which the 'weapon' was being stored.
Heero was the first to speak: "It's red."
Duo regarded it incredulously for a few more seconds before responding. "You know, that thing's huge. It's incredible alright; but it'll never move." Heero turned towards him and casually rose an eyebrow. Duo answered the question: "there are certain mechanics about working with objects of different sizes. Even if it does move, it won't be agile at all. It probably won't be able to make decisions and commands quickly enough."
As Duo was speaking, Heero had turned back to the scene in front of him. When Duo had finished, Heero spoke. "It resembles some sort of beast."
Duo took another look at the object to see in his own eyes what Heero's comment meant. "Oh, I see what you mean. But, it's just some sort of mech; I thought they were producing some sort of huge plasma weapon or maybe even an A-A4 nuclear device."
Heero shrugged. "We have found what we wanted. It's your choice what you want to do with it. My mission is completed." Heero began leaving the room.
"Hey, wait, hold it a minute." Duo called out. Heero stopped and turned back to look at him. "We still don't know what it can do. You can't just dismiss it so easily."
"So now you think it may be dangerous?"
Duo mentally scolded himself for falling into Heero's little trap. Heero let a shadow of a smirk come over his face before it disappeared almost as quick as Duo spoke. "Well, we'll have to report the finding. It took us this long to get here, we're in the middle of Oz's sercret base. We might as well sabotage some stuff while we're guests…heh?"
Heero nodded shortly and began on his way once again. Duo quickly caught up and followed him out. "Let's get started."
Duo thought for a moment. "Yeah, it's kinda anti-climatic. We can't exactly control that huge thing, I read the reports. It still doesn't make much sense though, Oz found it and somehow used it against the enemy. For some reason, there are no records of any pilot. I guess we can just plant a few C6 devices around the generator plants and in the hangars. That should suffice, eh Heero?"
Heero quietly nodded as they proceeded with their new plan.
"Well," said Quatre importantly, "I guess it's decided then. We'll each get something we want by helping the colony out a little, so I will make the official transmission."
Shinji, Rei, Trowa and Quatre finished their meeting inside the loud diner. It was a good place to hold the meeting since there wouldn't be any eavesdroppers capable of listening to them through the noise.
"There's no need." Quatre was suddenly cut off by Trowa.
"Huh, wha-…"
"I've already contacted them. We are scheduled to be there before night falls."
"Hey, wait," started Quatre, "You contacted them without any of us knowing?"
Trowa calmly spoke. "It was obvious what the decision would be, so I took certain liberties. That is all. That means that we may get this mission over with sooner."
Quatre sighed, defeated by his companion's logic. "Oh well, it's done now I guess." A struck then hit Quatre: "Wait a minute, where are your 'Eva's anyways? Are they nearby or-…"
"They're just outside of the city," responded Shinji, "it's not too far." Rei looked over at him somehow detecting a new attitude from him. "If you want, we can go straight away, they should be done charging."
Quatre and Trowa looked at each other before looking back at the pilots. "Deal, you go get your mechs, we'll get ours. We have a deadline to catch, so we're going to do this quick. Meet one mile to the direct north of this city in thirty minutes alright?"
"Fifteen," replied Rei nonchalantly. All eyes at the table turned towards her. "We can do it in fifteen, can you?"
Silence,…then: "Okay, that's even better. We'll be ready to launch our offensive on Oz in a few hours time. Be sure you're prepared." Trowa, speech complete, slipped out of the booth and disappeared into the crowds. Quatre gave a nod towards Rei, who gave a calm smile in return before Qautre too, dissolved into the crowd.
"Um, Rei?" Rei looked over at Shinji questiongly.
"What is it Shinji?"
"Um, you don't usually smile like that. You feeling okay?"
Slightly taken aback Rei held her fingers to her lips. She seemed to be deep in thought for a few seconds before: "It-It is different. My emotions seem to be amplified greater now that I am in a new environment." She then turned towards Shinji. "Is it a wrong, to show such feelings?"
Shinji was confused and shocked for a moment. "Um, feelings?"
"Yes," replied Rei, "it's a feeling…of compassion I believe." Shinji stared at her incredulously.
"Well," started Shinji, "We only have fourteen minutes now. You think we can get to the edge of the city by that time?"
"After yourself." Replied Rei as she followed Shinji outside.
A/N: Ah, here we go. I managed to update the chapter finally. It's free to read lol. The next chapter will come out before the end of December!!!