Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1.
Chapter 11: Exodus
Gendo sat at his desk within the vast office, looking through a folder Dr. Akagi had given him a few hours ago. The various medical forms could have easily been compiled into a single note that said Rei was awake and doing fine, but hospitals were primarily beauracracies these days. Gendo could empathize; most of NERV's dealings with the U.N. consisted of confusing red tape that usually left each nation's representatives willing to cooperate with him. Yet now he was facing the opposite edge of this particular two-sided sword. Nearby Fuyutsuki was looking out the glass observation window at the Geo-Front, quietly observing the slow crawl of the distant monorails as they made their way back and forth from the surface, which lay atop nearly two dozen layers of reinforced armor plating.
A knock on the door at precisely 10:00 AM interrupted the Commander's thoughts.
"Enter."
Rei opened the door, then silently made her way across the room, promptly finding herself a few feet away from the front of the desk. She stood silently at attention, waiting for him to speak.
"...Are you feeling well, Rei?"
"Yes."
Gendo stared at her silently, as if expecting her to continue-- she was as stoic and cold as ever. At least, that was how it seemed.
"...I understand that you recently requested to be transferred to the Katsuragi household."
He pulled out the pink change-of-address forms from their place in a large stack of invoices and memos.
"Correct. I have spoken to the Major and she has indicated that she would be quite pleased if I were to take residence in light of Pilot Sorhyu's absence."
"I see..." he turned his eyes to the flawlessly written request in his hand as if checking it, but his thoughts were on another question.
"...May I ask what prompted this request?"
The Commander thought, for a brief moment, that he saw Rei's eyes shift downward, as if she was nervous, but when he blinked she looked the same as before.
A trick of the eyes, perhaps?
"...I desire to be closer to headquarters. I would have filed this request earlier, but Pilot Sorhyu moved in shortly after the possibility occured to me. I did not wish to be a burden to the Major, so I was initially hesitant when she volunteered the possibility to me. I cannot deny that it would be most convenient for me, however..."
Gendo continued to lock his piercing eyes on Rei, as if to forcibly extract information from her. The girl was immune to his intimidation, though, so she continued to stand passively before him.
"...Do as you wish in this matter. You may leave now, Rei."
"Yes, sir."
The girl turned on her heel and walked out the door, never looking back once. Gendo was surprised; he had gotten used to Rei's attempts to solicit his attention or compassion, yet she had treated him with all but indifference. On reflection, her behavior was not surprising, considering what he was watching on the closed circuit at this moment.
Within minutes, Rei had entered a hallway occupied by Shinji, who was leaning against the wall, as if waiting for something. When he saw her, he immediately stood up straight, and got in step right beside Rei as she walked on. They didn't say a word, but Gendo could tell that Rei's moving request was for more than the sake of 'convenience.' Fuyutsuki suddenly broke the silence.
"Is it wise allowing them to be...close, Gendo?"
Kouzou's former student (in what seemed to be his natural behavior pattern when spoken to by others) ignored him, his attention focused on his son walking beside Rei with what was the closest thing to 'happy' he had ever seen written all over his face.
"...Perhaps not. But for the time being, anything either of them do will not affect the scenario. This will not last."
Fuyutsuki looked angrily at Gendo. His certainty about the infallibility of his 'scenario' was truly becoming frustrating.
"...In any case..." the Sub-Commander leaned closer to his superior officer, trying to put as much importance as he could into what he was saying, "...The fact that Rei is even ALIVE has already got SEELE up in arms."
Gendo chuckled darkly.
"Have those old men nothing better to do than complain?"
"Ikari, perhaps you don't understand the severity of this. They want Rei brought in for interrogation. If they find out about her, then--"
"There is no need for concern. I've given them something else to look at."
When Ritsuko opened her eyes, she thought for a moment that she was still asleep--all around her was darkness, almost like she was in a black hole made tangible. She blindly pushed herself up from the ground and managed to get to her feet. Before she could move, a massive black shape appeared in midair; a monolith that was illuminated by a rectangle of light that was built into the cold steel ground she stood on.
"Greetings, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi."
Suddenly she remembered it... she had been at home, changing, when she'd heard something behind her... before she could turn around she had a hand upon her face and was choking on the sickening taste and smell of chloroform...
It was then she realized she was still completely naked. She made no effort to cover herself; what good would it do, after all? Another monolith appeared outside her peripheral vision, followed by two more, and within seconds there were twelve identical holograms situated in a circle around her, speaking at various intervals.
"We apologize for this...sudden visit."
"...But we needed to speak with you at our convenience."
"This must be...quite an embaressing situation for you, Doctor."
Ritsuko had forgotten about her nudity, her anger overwhelming her modesty.
"I don't feel ashamed. And your attempts to intimidate me are pointless--you won't get anything out of me."
One of the monoliths allowed a snicker to pass from the speaker's mouth.
"She's a strong woman--I can see why Ikari wants to keep her next to him."
Ritsuko was just barely able to hide her surprise.
How did they know about...Gendo and...
"--However," another hologram began to speak, "...Are you aware that the person who is responsible for your current predicament is none other than Gendo Ikari?"
"He sent you here--in place of the First Child."
This time, the doctor's shock was apparent to all twelve members of SEELE. The crushed look on her face made it clear they had hit the proper nerve.
"Now, doctor...there are some things that we require... information on."
Nearly two hours later, the twelve monoliths began to speak in the absence of Ritsuko.
"Should we have allowed her to leave so easily?"
"Don't worry--she still possesses some value. She is not as easy to discard as long as Ikari remains sitting on his throne."
"A throne of such power-- It was foolish now to have ever entrusted NERV to such a man."
"Indeed-- first his son, now the Pilot of Unit-00... Ikari has gained hold of too many vital pieces."
"For Gendo's doll to have been created from such a dangerous heritage..."
"...And for it to have manifested itself in such a way..."
"We cannot allow another human to gain the power of the Angels."
"There are meant to be only twelve-- as prophecised in the Dead Sea Scrolls."
"The situation has strayed too far from our original scenario."
"How could you have allowed this to happen...Tabris?"
Kaworu suddenly raised his head from its focus on the ground at the sound of his true name. He glared indignantly at the monolith that had spoken.
"If you had prevented the explosion of Unit-00, this situation would never have come to light."
"We are beginning to wonder if you are truly willing to cooperate with us."
"...While I admit that I could easily have destroyed the 11th..." Kaworu said calmly, his smile still in place, "Don't you agree that it would have caused...questions?"
The twelve were silent as Kaworu continued his explanation.
"The situation as it exists now is indeed regrettable...but not beyond correction. I chose to maintain the secrecy of my identity from NERV in exchange for a minor setback."
"Excuses...It's as though Ikari himself was here."
"The First Child and the Third are now in possession of strength that could undermine the very foundation of our plans thus far."
"And the connection between the two could prevent the son of Ikari from achieving the required mindset for our Instrumentality to occur."
Kaworu allowed himself a grim chuckle.
"Human connections are only as strong as the people who support them; I have learned that much from my brief interactions with them. Though the two Children are undoubtedly bound by a strong force, they themselves are weak. At this point, both are just 'waiting for the other shoe to drop,' as they say.
He smiled coldly at where Ritsuko had stood just a few minutes ago.
"...Others can be used as needed. If I act quickly, the proper path will be recovered without incident."
Ritsuko sat on the bed in her room, her eyes distant. The room looked exactly like it had when she had been abducted... there was a reason SEELE had remained a secret society for so long. It took some time for the full impact of the last few hours to hit her.
She had told them everything. About Rei, why she was alive, what Gendo was planning; she had left no detail of her own knowledge unsurrendered. Yet she didn't feel guilt. Or shame. Or even sadness. She felt something sticking in her throat as her eyes fell on a photo of herself, her mother, Yui Ikari, and Gendo. Trembling she picked it up from the nearby nightstand and stared at it.
He...abandoned me...
For that...that...
With a single fluid movement she threw the photograph at the opposite wall with all her might, tears struggling to escape her eyes as the frame made contact with the plaster barrier and was followed closely by the sound of smashing glass. She lay on her back, a complete wreck, her face buried in her hands as years of bitterness towards a single 'person' came out in a handful of venomously uttered words.
"That...bitch..."
And for what may have been the first time in her life, she cried herself to sleep.