AN:
Um... yeah. Apparently cats have been getting confused of late about certain aspects of the little world I created here, like... 'what the hell is going on?' and so i'll have to clear that... but not now. I can't do that without rewritting the the next chapter over again and not doing that because it took me too damn long to do it in the first place... But worry not, I'll try to set everything strait when I can.
but to clear up one small detail that kinda sticks throughout the whole story that I thought I explain, but not well enough I guess... there is no, how do you say... Real World... you know, like the outside with all of the pods and desolate cities and all that crap? There's no of that. The Matrix is the Real World. That clear everybody? ... good.
anyway... like I said, we'll get into that in more detail next chapter. - mainly because I'll have more room to write then. /AN
/Welcome to the Real World/
lawless priest -
09: everyone loves a good story
The Lunch bell rang, signaling the end of our little get together. I could easily see the disappointed expressions on each of the girls faces.
But it wasn't in my hands.
"Ok, class next time it'll be your turn to share a story." I said with one of those huge fake smiles teachers always use.
The red head smirked and Hikari gave a quick chuckle. Of course Rei said not a thing, but I wasn't expecting her to.
"We'll finish this later at home Third." I nodded, guessing as much. But I saw the other two's looks and had to ask.
"Do... do you two want to come too. I could fix us something while we're there?" The brief frown on Asuka's face when she saw her blue haired pilot 'comrade' nod her assent and the slight quirk of her lips, that many believed to be frozen, didn't go unnoticed by me. I was expecting that as well. Not Rei's version of a smile, that was an added bonus.
"Sure, Shinji. Should we come right over or do you want to..."
"No, that sounds fine. Who knows how long it'll take to explain it all. We might as well get as much time as we can to get it done."
"You forget about Misato? She's pretty pissed at you, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. But luckily she'll be at work late today." That was the first time that I had ever wanted her away until late. Usually I always prayed that she'd show up early to help get me out of Asuka's evil clutches, but all things change..
"Whatever." my roommate replied as she sat at her desk while the other kids began to file back into the room.
"Yo Ikari, where were you man? We were waiting for you on the roof."
"Oh, ...uh, Asuka kinda got mad at me because I forget her lunch today, soo." I lied while scratching the back of my head. It wasn't really hard to fake seeing as I had had far too much active practice in that particular position.
"Oh yeah, Her." Kensuke said while giving the girl in question the evil eye who in turn gave him the finger which started their little match to see who could produce the most obscene hand gestures while still joining in on our conversation.
"It's been weird without you around Shinji." Touji as saying.
"Yeah and every time anyone even mentions your name the Devil over here gets all mad and goes off into mumbling fits. Hey even Hikari's been down that you've been gone man."
I caught the slight frown on Touji's face.
It was obvious he liked her, but I had no clue how she felt about him, but I was pretty sure she didn't feel anything towards me so there was nothing for him to worry about. But love was never simple and rarely made sense. I knew that first hand...
...wait?
Did I just say I knew about love? HA! that's a lie and an outright one at that.
Me and love... in the same sentence?
I wonder if I should even dignify that with another sarcastic HA!
But seriously though, look at the two that I'm always watching. One practically hates me and the other barely even acknowledges my presence.
...sigh
And then there was Devine. What had happened that last day before with Mana and Neo's daughter before everything went to hell kept running through my head.
'Why did she do that, what did she mean...?' The last thing she said to me just didn't make sense. I also felt the incredible urge to touch my cheek where it still felt warm, but I resisted. I didn't want to drudge up those feelings again or bring attention to myself.
"So you going to answer my question or are you just going to stare at the new girl all day?" Touji was saying at my side.
As to that, well, I failed.
"W-What are you talking about?" I stammered. Of course this had the attention of the whole class again, which included the 'New' girl. The smile on her face didn't help either and probably contributed to the blush on my cheeks as my two 'friends' laughed at my expense.
It was just another day in class 2A.
/WRW/
The four of us made an interesting group for any of those who knew us. Three Eva pilots, two who barely spoke to anybody wearing placid looks on their faces and one who's scowl seemed to advertise her bitter grudge and intense personal campaign against society and the rest of the world, and a bubbling Class Representative who tried. and failed, on her own to lighten the dismal mood emanating from the group.
To many, we were just a bunch of kids going home from school, nothing too significant or important by the look of us, accept for maybe the girl with the blue hair and the foreigner. Hair dye wasn't expensive and foreigners weren't unheard of so even that wasn't a big deal. But they didn't know the truth and they probably couldn't handle it either way, so the brief, uncaring looks they gave us didn't really matter much when they turned away as something more interesting caught their eye.
I almost wanted to tell them about the Matrix, scream it in their faces, to shout it out to the world so that they wouldn't go around so blindly and acceptingly believing the lie that was right in front of them. But that would have solved nothing other than to create mass panic and the Angels gave us enough of that as it was.
And besides, that wasn't my style. I'm that guy waiting in the back of the line trying not to cause attention to myself yet hoping to be heard and not forgotten. So any thoughts of actually doing anything like that were purely out of my scope of options.
But whatever. I had caught enough attention in the back of the line than I needed already without jumping up and down while waving my hands and all of Nerv could testify to that. Or at least the one's who cared.
The entire trip was made in silence, even as we waited in the elevator on our way up to our floor. The possibilities of what could happen next was on all of our minds. I could see the excited gleam in Asuka's, the rather worried look in Hikari's and the expecting one in Rei's eyes. They had followed me to gain some answers to their many questions and soon they were going to have to deal with the consequences.
I wished, hopefully, that they would see just how much danger was involved and back away before it was too late, but that was just a fantasy. Asuka would never back down from a challenge, but more importantly, she would never live a lie. Her pride wouldn't allow it. Rei's sense of duty would tie her down, running would not even be considered an option for her.
But Hikari... she was the least experienced here with this type of thing. Strictly speaking none of us were, but we had training and willingly put our lives on the line so that others wouldn't have to. She was one of those people who didn't have to and I didn't want her to get caught up in the mist of this. I didn't want her to be put at that kind of risk.
And from the questioning glances Asuka threw her friend I think she was feeling the same as I. As far as I knew, the freckled girl was the only real friend she had in Tokyo 3. Losing her would not be something Asuka would likely risk. But in the end it really wasn't up to our decision.
It was out of reflex that I took off my shoes and called out that I was home, my mind was elsewhere.
"Um... Misato? Are you here?" There was no answer as I quietly checked her room. Everything was set for out little get together. Now all that was left was...
"So, what do you girls want to eat?" I said as I put on my 'hug the chef' apron only to turn around at the giggles coming form behind me. Asuka didn't care of course, she had seen it before. And Rei merely raised that eyebrow again while giving me a questioning look. So that left only one person unaccounted for.
"I'm sorry but how can you blame me?" her guilty smile and freckles covered by her small hands.
"The rest of him maybe rather dull, but I have to admit that it's... rather becoming on him." I heard Asuka say from somewhere to my right.
"Indeed." came the last one's stoic reply.
"Whatever!" I replied while rolling my eyes. Girls... pahh!
"Anyway, like I was saying, so what would you like, I know you don't like meat Rei so how about a salad?"
"That would be satisfactory."
"Humpt, you'll have to do a lot better than that Ikari. Unlike miss veggie here I'll have something with a bit more substance."
"How about we just make sandwiches, I mean, we didn't come here to eat." Hikari put in.
"Hmm... fine. But you had better make up for this at dinner."
...sigh. Two days gone and I'm back at where I started.
It didn't take long for us to get everything fixed so I won't bore you with the amazing details for our wonderful little expo in the kitchen, but soon we were all in the living room either with a plate or bowl with our food. Of course Pen Pen had to make his appearance known and demanded to be fed as well so... yeah.
"So, before we start do you have any questions. I mean what do you want to know now?"
"How did you fight off the agents Ikari-kun? You haven't spent any amount of time practicing extensive combat training."
"Yeah, I was going to ask that too. Blue and I have yeah maybe, but you're far to weak and hey don't give me that look, it's true. You're just not strong enough for that type of thing." Asuka was saying.
"Was it the Matrix Shinji?" Hikari was leaning forward on her knees with a questioning look.
"... I... maybe... but I don't think so."
"What do you mean?" Asuka seemed about to ask the same thing but Rei beat her too it.
"Well, after Maya left that night after we had talked I met with Miss Trinity in the morning. And we had this long conversation about the Matrix and Neo and a whole lot of other things. One of the things that I figured out was that I, like Neo, like all of The One's before him had some of the memories of our past selves."
"Past selves... you're saying that there were more than one?"
"I believe that was implied Sohryu?"
"You're asking me to hit you aren't you, aren't you?"
"Quit it you two." Hikari gave both of the girls a stern look and then turned back to me. "So.. how does that work? The Neo thing, I mean?"
"Um... there was only one Neo, but The One... that's what they called him and the others, I don't know why, but there was something different about him. He wasn't bound as much to the rules of the Matrix. She, Miss Trinity I mean, she said that he could change things in the Matrix to however he wanted it."
"Supposedly, Neo was the seventh 'One'. I don't know what happened to the other Ones, but I think a part of them lived in the ones that came after them, just like how I know so much about a man I've never met."
"And I think I may have the other's memories as well, but I don't really know. At first I had thought that they were just dreams..." I noticed how Asuka's eyes lit up at that and Hikari's as well. Rei showed no emotion at all as usual. "but I think they're like the dreams I've had of Neo or that they may be something else."
We sat quietly for awhile after that, each of us thinking of the possibilities.
"Before, you said that this Neo, fought against an Angel during Second Impact?"
"Um... yeah what was that about?" Asuka's friend threw in looking perplexed.
I was about to answer Rei's question but Hikari's kinda stopped me in my tracks. She didn't know about the truth behind Second Impact and I debated not telling her but in the end I figured she'd need as much information as she could get to help her make her decision, Nerv be damned.
She took it surprisingly well.
"You mean, everything that we learned in class was a lie?" She asked her question to me but we all knew that it was directed to Asuka who bowed her head. The hurt look in her friends eyes was pretty evident.
"Not everything." The German pilot began. "All that crap about the economy going bad and wars and all that was true, but ... the whole meteor thing... yeah... that was a lie."
"Oh..."
"You should not be concerned about such things miss Horaki." Rei's voice startled everyone. "Knowing how it began does not change that fact that the war has begun."
"... I guess you're right Ayanami. But it still would have been nice to know." Asuka didn't say a thing.
A heavy silence fell over our group, one that I believe even Pen Pen sensed and got up to get away from.
"... um." I began, trying in vain to end the awkward moment.
"You were telling us about your morning visit with miss Trinity."
"Oh, yeah, right!" Silently I thanked my blue haired companion for the help. "Uh.. so yeah... we had talked and then we had been called to..."
/WRW/
".. a meeting?" I said a bit confused.
"Yes Mr. Ikari. Think of it as an... orientation of sorts. You aren't the only new comer to join us today, so we decided to introduce you all together."
"Oh... " what could I say to that. Nothing, so I just followed the darkly dressed foreigner to where ever the assigned meeting place was. All of the halls looked the same, so I knew that if I had to go alone I would have been lost the instant I started out.
We ended up passing through another larger part of the warehouse and this one was extremely busy. People bustled here and there, with all manner of arms and weapons being carried in and out, computer equipment that looked like it belonged in some sci-fi flick or maybe in one of the labs at Nerv being used or created from scratch, while others were busy with whatever other task their were assigned, but they all took time out to greet the woman who walked calmly through the chaos at my side.
I found it a bit funny that even the most burly of men, who's faces seemed to have been carved in granite either soften up, their eyes at least, and asked my guide how she was, gave a respectful nod or a smart salute.
She took it all in stride while giving each a word or a nod as well. Her walk was confident, her presence comforting, if a bit distant, but it was one that requested respect and obedience rather than demanded it like Father's. And unlike Father, she may not have done it often, but she did smile, a quirky, almost sardonic little cynical thing that didn't really reach her eyes.
But it was the thought that counted.
Eventually she lead me out of there and into less traversed area of the place to a group of people ranging from men and women ages 16 to 30 who didn't feel the same as the others. Maybe it was their oblique glances at those who passed them by and many of them looked like I felt. The rings under their eyes and half hidden worry in their gazes were nearly evident in all.
There were 12 in all and everyone turned toward Miss Trinity when we came up to them, the expected looks they gave her made me think of my own questions that I had put to her earlier that morning.
"Good morning people. I know you all must be feeling a bit anxious, but this will soon be over and you will be one of us. Please hold your question until afterwards." the Queen, as I liked to think of her, finished with a nod. She expected for her wishes to be complied and carried out and I had no thoughts of disappointing her.
As the staccato echo of her boots faded away we newcomers introduced ourselves and shared our thoughts, which were mostly questions.
"I really didn't know what was going on at first..." an older brunette, somewhere in her late teens, was telling me as I listened to her tale. It reminded me slightly of Maya's. "but one minute I was watching this goth looking guy running from the cops and the next I was chasing him, only I wasn't myself. My clothes weren't the same, my hands didn't belong to me or my eyes. And all I could think about was catching the goth guy. Nothing else matter, nothing."
"The same thing happened to me." Another guy said to my right and all of those listening to the girl who weren't busy with their own private conversations looked to him. His punk rocker clothes seeming a bit off in the sea of every present black, tasseled business attire of the older few, and the rather plain dress that the rest had. Each of us looking like we had just been roused out of our beds and snuck through the back door of some dark club late at some absurd hour of the night.
"I watched them beat this one guy up. It tried to stop it, but one of these suited guys just tossed me to the side like I was a rag doll. Who ever the guy was must have seen an opening because he got a shot off at the government dudes.
One of them and I swear to you that I saw this with my own eyes, he... the way he moved, I-I mean I can't even describe the speed. He dodged every bullet shot his way, not once but three times for each bullet."
The others gave him spectacle looks, but the girl who I was talking with just nodded. "It was almost like an after image wasn't it." She said and the punk guy nodded.
"Yeah, there were like three of him and they all dodge the shots, but the dude who threw me didn't get the chance to. I guess he was too busy with me that he caught on too late and ended up catching the shots aimed at him." The guys excited expression faded a bit then and his eyes took on a sadden look.
"... but the agent guy... he, he didn't die." this cut through all of the other conversations and gave the boy their full attention. I noticed the brunette beside me wasn't as shocked as the others and I knew that I wasn't either.
Our speaker kept opening his mouth as if he was about to start but then just as suddenly closed it. Eventually he sighed and continued in a quite voice.
"... It was a woman, an old lady actually. I could have sworn that I had gone blind or something, but I didn't. The Agents body gave a shock every time a bullet hit him and then this electric wave passed over the whole guy and when it finished... t-there was an old lady in his place. Bullet holes and all."
It was quiet for some time after that, with everyone trying to take in what they had just heard.
"He used her. Used her body like she was nothing but a doll." The guys voice cut through the silence and startled a few of us, me included. "And then... he used mine."
I knew my mouth was hanging open just like the others. I didn't understand what the girl was saying earlier, but now it made sense. Neo's memories came back to me of Agents taking the bodies of those near by to do their bidding and Maya's tale of her parents becoming Agents only to die in the process as we stood there quietly listening to the punk rocker guy finishing his tale of how the New Agent and his partner ganged up on the other man and dealt with the resistance fighter with a detached ease and efficiency.
Impassive efficiency. "Just like a machine... " I thought out loud.
"Exactly like a machine." Said the soft, familiar, determined voice at my side, once again startling the others, but I was used to this type of thing with Rei, and now with...
"Devine, you said that you don't fight the Agents?" I questioned the quiet girl behind me who had snuck up on us, who only nodded as I turned to her. She was looking rather well for someone who had been beaten and shot the day before, but that was just Devine for you.
The black turtleneck and the khakis fit her well, but they didn't draw unnecessary attention to her, which was something that Devine specialized in ity seemed.
"So how do you beat them? I know it can be done, I've seen it."
My new acquaintances were listening with rapt attention, each wondering what would they do if confronted with the apathetic devils, wondering if there was a small bit of hope that they might have against such a foe.
"I told you before, no one but Neo could..." She started.
"I know that. I'm asking, how did he stop them? What did he do to them that had them so afraid of him?"
"Why don't you tell me? If anyone would know it would be you." the sarcasm in her voice was clear to everyone present.
"But..." I tried to say something but couldn't. She did have a point. If anyone would know it would be me, but that didn't mean that I could just find out all the answers when I wanted to. Things just didn't work out like that. And it wasn't like I could just tell Devine that.
"I'm sorry... Shinji. That was rude of me, but truthfully I-I don't know. I was too young to remember him by the time he died."
"Devine I... I didn't mean to..."
"... Don't worry about it. I'm not exactly sure what he did, but from what I've been able to piece together he did something to their code, disrupted it, blew them apart from the inside out, from the core of their code, not whatever host they were using. That or he just... kinda... beat the crap out of them."
"Oh... I see." well, I guess when in doubt you could always just beat the crap out of the bastards. It worked with the Angels but that was probably not going to help the others seeing how resistant to bullets the Agents were.
The others murmured to themselves quietly, trying to put the pieces to the puzzle together to make the picture whole. I could see the astonished concentration on their faces as they continued to exchange stories and theories on what was going down and why they had come, but I kept to myself. I didn't really need to think about the whole thing any more. The past twenty four hours had cleared me of that urge quite effectively.
But all in all I couldn't helpt but regard Devine, the daughter of the One. There was still something about her that drew me, almost forcing me to notice her. I figured it had something to do with who I held within me and all of the dreams I had been having, but I didn't want to think too hard on that subject either.
For once, I just wanted some inner piece and quiet.
It went like this for some time, the others talking amongst themselves and alternating asking my pale American friend about the Agents and how things went down in Zion. You could say that I heard their words, but I wasn't really listening. There was way too much on my mind. My conversation with Ms Trinity that morning was playing games with my head. There were way too many riddles, way too many questions, ones that could only be answered by the dead.
And we all know how lame the dead are about providing those. The dead can't suffer the living to live in peace, mentally at least.
"Shinji-kun!"
I knew that voice. There was really only three people in Tokyo 3 that I knew of who could get their voices to sound that cute and that girlish yet still sound mature about it. One was my commanding officer, the next was my class rep, and the last...
"Good morning Maya-san."
Turning to give the older woman my greeting I was once again graced with that smile of hers and I wondered briefly if she practiced it in the miror or was its effect inherit. I did notice the attention she gained from the male consortium of newcomers and the slight frowns that a few of the women held, and well, then there were the ones that gave her a once over and an approving nod, but I'm not getting into that. (But really, who was going to disapprove of her.)
"Hello Devine. Are you doing better?" she said while stopping next to me looking better that the day before, dressed in the apparent uniform black in a leather ensemble with a hip length stylish trench coat that like the rest of her dress ware hugged her figure quite nicely. But for my safety's sake we are once again not going there, (especially with the way Asuka was looking at me. Hell even Hikari was giving me annoyed looks. And I am absolutely positive that I imagined Rei rolling her eyes. That just wasn't possible. I but seriously, who's story was this, mine or theirs... sigh.)
"Yes I am Vision. I assume things will be starting soon?"
"Oh, yes. We should be starting everything shortly, I just came to see how everyone was doing and explain a bit about what's going to happen." The number two Nerv Tech said as she turned toward the rest of us, flashing that smile again. Her perky aura was a lone sun flower on a frozen mountain peak compared to the rest of Zion.
Which made me wonder if she every thought about going into the public relations field. I'd bet she would do wonders as a public speaker. But my focus was drifting again and Maya was beginning to explain what was about to go down.
Apparently Trinity was going to give us a bit of an audience in a private chamber to give us a chance to gain some answers and for her to explain what all Zion was about and what the Matrix really was. Then we were going to go with Maya for training which didn't make much sense considering that Miss Ibuki didn't really look like the type to ...well be of any help in that department. And one the guys in the back said so, which earned him a few nods and a few snickers.
But the Nerv Tech only smirked and gave us a wink like a experienced conspirator. That wasn't something that I had ever thought that I would see her do in seriousness. Obviously there was another side to the closest person I knew in Zion that I was unaware of. One that might explain why someone as kind hearted and almost incredibly naive looking as her could end up in a place like this with the people of Zion.
I mean seriously, a Terrorist, Maya Ibuki was not.