Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1.
Chapter 40: Ecclesiastes
Maya stared half-heartedly at her console, her thoughts far from the myriad keys laid out before her. Everyone on the bridge was quietly going about their business, which at this point consisted of looking like they were working. The petite woman didn't even notice Hyuga was talking to her until he called her name a second time.
"Huh?" she responded in a daze. Hyuga sighed a little in frustration before he spoke.
"Hey, what's going on? You seem a little out of it."
"Well...I guess I'm just...feeling a little overwhelmed by what's happened. I hadn't really had time to soak it in 'til now, you know?" Hyuga nodded silently, which relieved her slightly. It was true that she was still upset about Rei, but her current thoughts were really focused on her sempai. She'd only heard the slightest whispers about Ritsuko's involvement in something that had happened in Terminal Dogma. It had been bothering her since the first day she was absent from work, but with the current state of things she had only grown more concerned.
I wonder... what happened to her?
"Man, I'm sooo bored," Aoba groaned as he leaned back in his chair. "Why are they even bothering to make us come in anymore? It's only a matter of time before the UN rescinds their contract with us." Maya was glad for an excuse to get away from her awkward state of mind.
"Well, I suppose they just want us to be prepared-- there's always the chance that we might have to deal with another Angel." Aoba sighed in defeat, knowing his fellow bridge tech was right.
"Excuse us for not being too eager to get in the unemployment line," Hyuga quipped sarcastically, making Maya double over to stifle a chuckle. Before Aoba could retort, the alert sirens began their scarlet flashing and the all-too-familiar klaxons began to blare.
"What the...?" Aoba muttered in surprise.
The three stared up wide-eyed at the display wall on the far end of the bridge, which was busy reinterating the siren's warning. Technicians and engineers across the room stared at the screen in shock, while others frantically began running to their stations. Fuyutsuki called out to the trio below him urgently.
"What's going on? Lt. Hyuga, status report!" The bespectacled tech instantly recovered from his shock and began typing furiously on his console.
"Sir-- the MAGI are being hacked!"
"By who?" Before Hyuga could answer, Aoba beat him to it.
"Commander, i-it looks like the other MAGI are doing it--ALL of them!" Sure enough, the monitor confirmed his assertion. 11 separate MAGI triplets-- each representing a NERV branch from the United States to China-- were unanimously attempting to break through the security surrounding CASPER, BALTHASAR and MELCHIOR.
So, the starting gun's been sounded, Fuyutsuki mused grimly to himself. All around, other bridge hands were frantically trying to monitor or contain the unexpected cyber-assault.
"3rd firewall breached!"
"Creating dummy path...It's no good! They've entered CASPER!"
"It's moving too fast!"
"CASPER already 73.4 corrupted!"
"The trapdoors aren't working-- Primary and secondary defenses disabled!"
"Lt. Ibuki!" Fuyutsuki called to the young woman.
"Already on it, sir!" she shouted over the alarms as she continued working furiously.
Damnit--slow down!
She would have laughed at the futility of her entreaty to the voiceless computers halfway around the world if she'd had time to register it. She barely had the knowledge to attend to one set of MAGI, let alone nearly a dozen others. No matter what she tried, every trick and technique she'd learned seemed to have been accounted for.
"We've lost CASPER-- it's moving on to MELCHIOR!"
"Try the manual override!"
"Negative-- The control panel's not responding!
"MELCHIOR at 47.89 corruption level and rising!"
"We can't stop it!"
"Isn't there some way we can cut it off?"
Suddenly Maya remembered-- there was still one thing she hadn't tried yet. Ritsuko had told her in the very unlikely event that the MAGI would require individual assessment.
Well, this is definitely one of those 'unlikely events,' the short-haired girl thought to herself as she got out of her chair and ran for the emergency ladders that led from the top of the bridge to the lower levels. Before Fuyutsuki could ask her what the hell she was doing, Maya slid down the ladder and stopped at the platform that housed BALTHASAR. She ran past the engineers typing like mad, as if to scare off the hackers which their impeccable speed on the keyboard.
Where is it, where is it? I just hope I can remember which is the right one...
Within moments she found a large detachable panel on the side of the gigantic supercomputer, one big enough to pass for a door. She'd nearly missed it due to the seamless way it fit with the rest of the housing.
"MELCHIOR corruption at 96.8!"
"We'll only be able to hold it off for another minute at best!"
"YOU!" Maya barked at one of the frightened engineers, who jumped at her presence. "Help me get this open--DO IT NOW!"
The young man hesitated upon seeing the frantic, determined look in the normally gentle-natured lieutenant's eye, but he thought it better to follow orders than to question them. He slid his fingers into the indent between the two plates of metal, but it refused to budge. He tugged with all his might until the panel snapped open, nearly throwing him over the ledge as his momentum got the better of him. Maya immediately stuck her head into the mess of wires and smaller machines.
"Come on, come on..." she whispered desperately into the box as chaos continued to reign supreme above her.
"Last firewall breached!"
"Contact with MELCHIOR lost!"
"MAGI #8 preparing to connect with BALTHASAR-- fifteen seconds and counting..."
There it is!
Maya found a fist-sized box plugged into one of the deeper layers of circuitry, and with a fair amount of straining, managed to pull it out of BALTHASAR. There was a shot of sparks as the electrical connections were suddenly cut, and without any further warning the bridge was plunged into darkness. As if on cue, a hush fell over the crew of Central Dogma, which once again became a rush of unsynchronized voices when the blood-red emergency lights flickered on.
"Quiet!" the Sub-Commander growled from atop the highest platform. "...What happened?" The personnel looked around confusedly at each other, uncertain of what had occured. After a few moments of silence, Maya's voice rang out in the cavernous room as she held up the small box.
"My apologies, sir-- I manually disconnected BALTHASAR from the MAGI." A few of the engineers behind her regarded her with a perplexed expression, but Fuyutsuki only looked at the short-haired woman calmly. With the triumvirate fractured, the MAGI could not function, but it also meant that they could not be hacked any further.
"...What prompted you to this course of action, lieutenant?"
"It seemed the only remaining option, sir." There was another uncomfortable silence as the acting Commander considered the bridgehand's response.
"...You did well. Excellent work, Captain Ibuki." Maya, who had been expecting some form of reprimand, blinked at Fuyutsuki's words.
"'C-Captain,' sir?" The gray-haired ex-professor smiled apprasingly at the just-promoted Maya, pressing upon her the impression that she had not heard wrong.
"...Is BALTHASAR still operational?" he turned to Hyuga with his no-nonsense expression back in place.
"Yes, but only in minimum power mode. We'll still be able to power the base and keep the bridge running normally, at least."
"I see. And what about sonar? Radar?"
"Negative," Aoba responded evenly. "We've lost all visual monitoring outside of NERV. Practically speaking, we're running blind." Fuyutsuki sighed as he rubbed his wrinkled temples. He was hoping that it wouldn't come down to what he thought it would...
"Captain Ibuki-- do you have any estimate of how long it will take to get the MAGI up and running again?" Maya stared at the ground for a moment before she answered.
"Commander... I can fix the connection but CASPER and MELCHIOR will still be corrupted. If we re-connect them now, I don't think we'll be able to hold them back. I'm sorry, but...I don't know the system well enough to combat this kind of a threat."
"...I see," Fuyutsuki sighed again as he picked up the phone that connected him to NERV security.
"...Yes, this is Fuyutsuki. Bring up the prisoner in cell #27."
Ritsuko sat on the cold steel bench that served as a cot while she stared at the opposite wall, which was only barely visible in the narrow darkness of the cell. She had removed her white lab coat and placed it beside her in a crumpled heap, tossed aside as though it was worthless. Her mind was busy turning over her gradually darker thoughts when they were interrupted by the sliding of the thick steel door. Sillouhetted against the entrance were a pair of men in dark suits and sunglasses, staring at her with perfect stone faces.
"Dr. Akagi, your presence is required by acting Commander Fuyutsuki. Please come with us." Ritsuko made no verbal protest, but her thoughts were full of bitterness.
So, they've managed to find another use for me. How convenient for them. Arrogant bastards.
She picked up the coat beside her and silently followed the two men up to Central Dogma.
In a cell at the far end of the hall, Kaworu lay on his metal bench, quietly staring at the ceiling. He lifted his hand and stared at it calmly. He had been trying to avoid thinking about the events of the previous week, but somehow the crushed look on Asuka's face when he had been led away refused to leave him. He'd spent his whole life--if he could be considered to have 'lived' at all-- quietly following SEELE's orders, never once questioning them. But with the death of Tabris, something inside of himself had died as well.
Did I... really do all this?
It somehow didn't seem real to him. His body now the temple that housed his father, Adam... it was exactly what he'd been created for.
Why, then, do I feel this... apprehension? These emotions...they were so distant before, but now...
His thoughts wandered again to the redhead he had shared his home with, the former certainty that had ruled his existence fading with each moment.
Could it have something to do with...Asuka? With the First or even the Third, as well?
Suddenly light flooded into his cell, nearly blinding the boy as he instinctively raised his arm to shield his eyes. When they had adjusted he saw the form of a bespectacled man, tall and imposing as he stood in the doorway.
"Commander Ikari," the silver-haired boy said quietly. For a moment Gendo did not speak, he simply regarded the room's occupant with an expression that bordered somewhere between loathing and necessity.
"...The time has come. There are things that you are required for, Fifth Child," Gendo said in his trademark icy tone. His meaning was not lost on Kaworu, who looked past him in the hopes that the guards would arrive. "I'm afraid we're quite alone. The guards are currently escorting Dr. Akagi to Central Dogma-- they won't return for at least 15 minutes." Gendo stood where he was, seemingly unworried that he would be caught as he waited patiently for Kaworu to get up.
"...No."
Gendo blinked in surprise at the boy's refusal, but it was left unseen due to his position in front of the light.
"Do you honestly believe you have a choice in the matter?" Gendo had to admit he felt a measure of pity for Kaworu, in spite of what he had done to him. The distant, false warmth the boy had exhibited before had disappeared, replaced by an all-too obvious appearance of insecurity and genuine sorrow. But like all times, Gendo refused to display any sense of empathy he felt. He could not afford to let his emotions get the better of him.
"I..." Kaworu began, but the bearded man cut him off in midsentence.
"SEELE is coming. If you don't come with me, you'll be forced to implement their desired outcome." At these words, Kaworu visibly shuddered, the whites of his eyes growing slightly wider as he put his head in his hands. Gendo continued to coldly observe the pale boy. "...That's what you fear now, is it not?"
Kaworu stared at Gendo in disbelief. For the last few nights he'd pictured that future in his mind's eye. A red sea bordering dead land, horrible monsters, fossilized in stone and half-buried in the 'water'...
"How...how do you know--"
"Did you think I didn't know what they'd been planning?" Gendo said calmly. "This is what you were created for. You have no other purpose."
Kaworu stared blankly at the echoing of Tabris' words to him so many nights ago. In the pit of his stomach, he knew that it was true. Silently admitting defeat, he stood up and followed Gendo out of the cell, neither speaking a word as they headed toward the elevator that would take them to Terminal Dogma.