Unknown location
September 28, 2041
1322 hours
'What did I get myself into...?'
Kaworu Nagisa was at a complete loss.
When he woke up barely an hour and a half ago, he expected a normal day in a normal weekend. And his definition of 'normal', no matter how cool he knew Kensuke would've found such a thing, most definitely did not include being almost struck deaf, flattened, caught up in a battle between a building-sized monster and a giant robot... ending with said giant robot descending into the ground on a gigantic cargo elevator he couldn't see when he boarded said giant robot in the first place.
Now all he saw outside was darkness, the Eva plunging downwards at such an acceleration that he could barely even feel gravity. Almost immediately after they started descending, Rei undid the seatbelts tying them together and got off his lap, settling down onto the cockpit seat's raised section between his legs. That was where she sat even now, legs pulled up and chin resting on her knees, eyes closed in an almost meditative manner.
"You seem satisfied." – he suddenly heard Lilith remark, causing his head to perk up. – "Yes, I'm talking to you, young man."
"Uh, no. No, I'm just..." – He paused. – "Well, I guess I kinda am. At least that thing got what was coming for him."
"What do you mean?" – Rei asked, one eye cracking open.
"He was like a bully on a playground: hurting weaker people just because he could." – the boy mused. – "He wasn't human, sure; I have no idea what that thing was. But I've seen a lot of people like that, and he wasn't any different. Except in this case, he didn't settle with just hurting people. He killed people. How many did it kill? Not just the soldiers who tried to stop him; I don't know where he came from, but who's to say he didn't walk through a couple of towns on the way here? How many more it could've killed if you hadn't done it in first? I don't know. You probably don't know either. And I guess we'll never know now, because his luck ran out when he ran into someone of his own size." – He chuckled and reached up to pat the top of the cockpit. – "Bet he wasn't expecting this."
"I see." – was all she said before closing her eye once more.
The silence was almost deafening. His ears still weren't 100%; Kaworu guessed he could only hear because of the liquid he was submerged in carrying sound better, or something. At least they weren't bleeding anymore; whatever mechanism filled the cockpit with liquid also seemed to have filtered out the blood that leaked out of his ears in the meantime, so his head wasn't surrounded by a faint red cloud like before.
"You know... I never would've taken you as the pilot of a giant robot."
"Not robot. Cyborg."
"...right."
He had no idea what she meant by that. Then again, he had no idea about a lot of things that happened today.
One of which has been particularly bugging him for a while now. – "Something doesn't add up, though."
"What?"
"How did you find me on the roof?" – Kaworu asked. – "I mean, I was going to a store when I saw that destroyer being blown out of the sky and went up to the roof. But the place where we picked this thing up, and your place... that street wasn't between them. What were you doing there? Hell, how did you even know I was up there?"
"None of your business." – she replied immediately, her voice carrying an audible edge.
After yesterday, Kaworu knew better not to press an issue Rei Ikari did not want to talk about. – "...fine. Where are we going, anyway?"
"We are almost there." – Lilith replied.
"Where?" – As soon as the word left his lips, he felt their descent start to slow, gravity returning with vengeance. Rei got up and sat back into his lap. – "Do you want me to get out of the chair?" – he asked over her shoulder.
"Please do not stand up in the entry plug while the Evangelion is in motion. It is unsafe, due to dangerously high g-forces."
"Okay, okay. No getting up then, I guess."
They kept descending for several more minutes before the elevator finally stopped. – "Main screen on." – Rei ordered.
The cockpit's walls around them suddenly lighted up, causing Kaworu to realize that they switched off sometime during the elevator ride. What he saw outside, however, was the absolute last thing he expected.
"What in the..."
A green landscape spread around them, hills and forests everywhere he could see. He even saw a lake.
"Aren't we underground?" – he asked, flabbergasted.
"We are." – Rei replied curtly, Unit-00 starting to walk.
Puzzled, Kaworu looked up... and spotted the roof above them. Very, very high above them.
"How deep are we?!"
"We are approximately nine kilometers below sea level."
It was like he entered an entirely different world. Instead of a blue sky, he saw gray rock (at least he thought it was rock – or maybe concrete). But there were clouds, that was no mistake. Genuine, honest-to-god white clouds above them, coupled with a circular formation of blindingly bright light sources near the top that illuminated the whole cavern. If he didn't look up, he never would've thought that he wasn't standing under the sun.
And those clouds were very much real, considering that they cast real shadows onto the landscape. The landscape, which also seemed to be something he'd normally see outside: forested hill just like the ones outside the city, broken up by grassy fields.
It was completely surreal... and yet, it suddenly made sense. – "...so this is why Kensuke couldn't find this place..." – he murmured.
"Beg your pardon?" – Lilith asked.
"One of our classmates – Ikari's and mine – said there was a research institute or something in the city but he couldn't find it. Said every building owned by the company was too small for the number of people who work there." – He paused. – "I guess that means you work for them?"
"I'm afraid we cannot answer that question at this time."
Twenty minutes later, Kaworu wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer anymore.
Unit-00 walked to an obviously man-made structure in the shape of a pyramid, bearing the large logo of a DNA strand shaped like an infinity symbol. Kaworu only needed to look at the inscription ARTIFICIAL EVOLUTION LABORATORY below and around the logo to have his answer.
From there, they descended through a diagonal shaft and eventually reached a large hangar, the Eva standing into a frame that snapped onto its limbs. He saw a walkway descending in front of them just before the walls darkened and he felt a powerful jolt. Then the cockpit's top opened and Kaworu suddenly found himself back in air.
Rei seemed to be used to spitting the breathing fluid back out... but he wasn't. By the time he finished coughing all of it up, Kaworu honestly felt like being on the verge of spitting out his lungs.
That was before he looked up and saw the armed security guards surrounded him.
As he was led down a maze of corridors, surrounded on all sides by guards watching his every move, he had a feeling it wouldn't be wise to prod them about where they were taking him.
Finally he found himself shoved into a chair. Only now did Kaworu take a full stock of his current situation: he was who-the-hell-knows where, surrounded by who-the-he-knows whom, wanting to do who-the-hell-knows what with him.
This was definitely not what he woke up for that day.
The room looked uncomfortably close to interrogation rooms he saw in some movies, which didn't particularly serve to calm him down. At least his escorts weren't hovering around him anymore, all but two of them having retreated outside.
Which left him with the labcoated woman he saw earlier, sitting across the table in front of him. Rei stood to her right, one arm reaching behind her back to grasp the other. Even as he watched, a drop of breathing fluid detached from her wet hair, landing on the girl's chest. On the labcoated woman's left side stood a younger-looking woman in a brown uniform, currently typing on a tablet.
Eyes locking onto him, Labcoat said something Kaworu didn't quite hear.
"Um, could you speak a bit louder? I can't hear well; my ear hurts."
"He has eardrum injury." – Rei spoke up. Again, her voice was much clearer than the others' for some reason.
Labcoat immediately turned towards her at that. – "And you were waiting to tell me when?" – she asked in a none-too-pleased tone.
"It did not appear to impair him so far."
Labcoat sighed. – "Maya, let the infirmary know."
"Yes, ma'am." – the uniformed one answered.
With that, Labcoat turned back to him. – "As I was saying, I am dr. Yui Ikari, chairwoman of the Artificial Evolution Laboratory. I apologize for the manner of your arrival but I didn't want to take any chances."
"I get the feeling you're not happy about me being here." – Kaworu replied, the woman striking him as someone who wasn't interested in small talk.
"It's nothing personal. But you are here for a reason." – She shifted in the chair, folding her arms in front of her. – "The question is... what do I do with you?"
"Me?"
"I hope you didn't think this was a game or something like that. You have seen and heard things you were not supposed to. Classified company secrets. Secrets we cannot let you tell anyone."
There was nothing in that statement he didn't expect. – "So... you think I would tell someone?"
"Wrong question. Why wouldn't you? How would I know that you wouldn't? What's the guarantee?"
Kaworu opened his mouth to reply... and closed it after a few moments, realizing that she honestly had a point there.
She seemed to have noticed his hesitation as well. – "Do you see the position you've put me into now? You represent a security breach."
"Who would even believe me?" – he pointed out.
"Word of mouth can travel a long way." – she replied. – "It might even reach the exact people I want to keep this a secret from. I can't take that chance."
"I get it, but what do you want me to do? I can't brainwash myself, you know."
"Some say the best solution to a problem is the simplest one. In this case, the simplest solution is ensuring that you will not be talking about anything to anyone." – Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. – "Ever again."
Kaworu could've sworn the room felt a shade colder. – "...I'd rather you wouldn't pick that option."
"Corporate politics can be cutthroat. But I don't make a habit out of ordering the deaths of children. Not even children like you."
"What do you mean?"
"I looked you up in the public records. Kaworu Nagisa, fourteen years old. Born in 2027, exact date of birth unknown, parents unknown. No known relatives, legal guardians or other associates." – she recited from memory. – "In short, you are nobody. You haven't been in this city for even a week, and no one in Vienna expects to see you again either. If you were to disappear, no one will ever know. However, I would rather refrain from making you disappear unless there is no other option. I merely want you to be aware of the worst-case scenario."
"I'm aware of it now." – Kaworu said, swallowing to wet his dry throat. He absently noticed from the corner of his eye the uniformed woman to Yui's left suddenly halting her typing, visibly surprised at something on the tablet's screen.
"Good. However, we are not in kindergarten anymore. A simple assurance that you will stay silent is not enough."
"Do you want me to sign something that says I won't tell a soul?"
A faint smirk appeared in the corner of her mouth. – "You catch on quick. That is another option, yes. However, your trustworthiness is still at question."
"Hakase-dono, if I may..." – Lilith interjected suddenly, her voice emerging from the tablet in the uniformed woman's hand.
"Yes?" – Yui prompted, looking up at the ceiling.
"I have a proposition, although I need to confirm a theory first."
"About what? Now isn't the time for this."
"As soon as my preliminary damage assessment is complete, may I have Nagisa-kun in my entry plug?"
Kaworu saw Yui's eyebrow raise at that. – "What for?"
"Just a brief experiment."
Yui Ikari learned long ago that Lilith never asked something for no reason.
When she saw the boy in Unit-00's entry plug, Yui already felt the beginnings of a headache. She did not want to deal with this kind of situation and made a mental note to question Rei's decision of bringing him inside. Giving the girl considerable leeway and freedom as she grew up (which wasn't exactly by choice on Yui's part) was one thing, letting her compromise operational security was another. But now Lilith was specifically asking for him. That, to put it mildly, was unusual. And Yui was a scientist to the core: to her, the unusual kept festering in her head until she went to the bottom of it, either to investigate or to disprove. Especially if it had something to do with her flagship project, the one she poured a considerable part of her life into.
Another thing that unsettled her was the persistent itch of familiarity in the back of her mind when she looked at him. It's as if she had already met him before, even though she couldn't quite recall it.
"Do you want me to do something?" – Kaworu asked on the screen in front of her, looking around uncertainly. The entry plug was already loaded with him inside, Yui watching from the observation room to ensure he didn't try anything. Not that she absolutely had to, as the guards kept watching him from the catwalk until he boarded Unit-00. He wouldn't be able to try and hijack the Evangelion either, as Lilith would instantly lock everything down if he were to try.
"Yes. Sit still and don't touch anything."
It was blunt and probably offensive, she knew. But she didn't do what Lilith asked out of charity; she wanted to get this over with and send everyone back to work.
Besides, being a bit hard on him might make him slip up and reveal affiliations to someone. One could never know, after all.
"Synchronization stable." – Lilith reported. – "That is... surprising, but expected."
Not to Yui, it wasn't. Not with an AI feeling the need to point it out. – "What do you mean?"
"I am still using Rei's synchro-profile."
That got the scientist's attention. – "You mean to tell me that he can synchronize with you without you being reconfigured for him?"
"It seems his neural pattern is almost identical to Rei's, below noise filter limits. I don't know how that is possible."
"That... is interesting." – Yui murmured, gears in her head starting to turn in contemplation.
"It also confirms my theory that he was the source of the anomalous signal noise earlier." – Lilith continued. – "The neural interface picked up his pattern and confused it with Rei's. As he was not wearing neural clips, his signal was not strong enough to affect the command interpreter, but sensory information might have been transmitted."
That provided the woman with a few additional pieces of the puzzle. Not enough by any means, but it was something. – "I see. Thank you."
"With this evidence, I wish to propose a solution that will allow us to plug in the potential security leak he represents, maximize his potential usefulness to us, as well as provide him with an incentive to cooperate, all at once."
"Which is?"
"Hire him."
Both of Yui's eyebrows instantly shot up at that. – "You mean as a test pilot?"
"He has the aptitude and the equipment requires minimal recalibration for him. The rest can be taught in the meantime."
"But Unit-02 is not ready yet. Did you mean we train him in the meantime?"
"No. I propose we reactivate Unit-01."
Yui spent a long time digesting that, index finger drumming on the terminal next to her while her mind worked behind closed eyes. As much as it sounded borderline ridiculous to all but reward the boy for being somewhere he shouldn't have been, Lilith's reasoning was sound: he was more likely to keep his mouth shut if he got something out of it himself. It was simple human nature she always took into account during her dealings in the past.
Of course, those deals never involved someone with no training, experience or even academic expertise getting hired straight into such a high position straight away. Normally she wouldn't have even considered it... but to refuse it would've been nepotism, considering that Rei didn't have those qualifications when she started, yet she still got the position and did very well at it.
Almost too well. Even Yui, the one who created it, had no idea that Unit-00 was capable of such agility. Then again, it never operated outdoors before.
"Nagisa, did you hear?" – Yui asked finally.
"Yeah- I mean, yes." – he replied, caught off-guard by the sudden question.
"Do you find that acceptable?"
"Exactly what?"
"In exchange for your silence, we offer you to work for us. Part-time employment with full-time benefits, including salary."
"Salary?"
Yui stated a six-digit number that caused Kaworu's eyebrows to rise. – "Per month." – she added, causing his eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets. – "It's the same amount Rei makes, plus hazard pay, if applicable. If any government official asks questions about the large sum of credits flowing your way, let me know and I'll have my lawyers sort it out. The amount is non-negotiable, take it or leave it."
"Uh, no! I mean, I don't have a problem with the amount!"
"Do you accept, then?"
He shrugged. – "Guess it's better than you giving me the 'offer you can't refuse' shtick."
"Good. We'll get started immediately. First, report to the infirmary for a full medical examination."
"Can I at least get a change of clothes from home?" – he asked, glancing at his surroundings. – "I mean, I kinda stink from sitting in this stuff."
"We have laundry facilities. You will be given clothing at the infirmary in the meantime."
"Oh. Okay. So, um... how long are those tests going to take?"
"Overnight."
"Do you want me to perform his profiling now, then?" – Lilith asked, cutting off her newest colleague's incredulous question.
Yui nodded. – "No sense in wasting time. We'll get on it after his checkup."
Three hours later
Yui leaned back into her chair with a sigh. The massive room barely had any illumination save for the set of windows taking up the wall behind her and the faintly glowing lines carved into the floor and ceiling. Aside from her desk, no furniture was present. Originally, the room was to be used for storage but after the restructuring that took place in 2031 – including one she was involved in personally –, she took it as her personal office. The control center's upper deck was too noisy to do paperwork, what with the dozens of technicians working on the lower levels.
Her position also came with the nice bonus of her being able to put some personal touch into her workspace without anyone second-guessing. Namely, the aforementioned glowing diagrams carved into the floor and ceiling.
While the room was located in an underground laboratory complex, Yui didn't think for a moment it should look like a doom-and-gloom past-century nuclear shelter, as most terrestrial and off-world military installations did. Impressions are everything, and Yui was among the people who believed the future should look futuristic.
Not that many of her subordinates ever saw it. Only a few had reasons to ever come here that didn't include them having screwed up. The crane crew who almost killed themselves a few days ago found that out the hard way. Yui didn't yell at them; she had no need. She could plainly tell how badly spooked all of them were; not just from having been called up to her office, but also because they knew very well how close they came to being turned to a bloody smear on the hangar's walls by reactive armor misfire. Fortunately though, none of them died; any coroner worth their salary would've been able to identify shrapnel wounds and notify the police, with an investigation potentially threatening with another security breach.
"Maya, is the status report complete?"
The technician standing before her desk looked at her tablet. – "Unit-00 is back in Hangar 2. Damage assessment is complete: moderate damage to the helmet and chest armor, but no penetration. Minor joint abrasion, but nothing serious enough to need extra attention."
"So it won't need a full crew?"
"No, ma'am."
"Good. I want Hangar 3 to initiate thaw procedures."
The technician looked up at that. – "We are thawing Unit-01?" – she asked with surprise.
"Yes. How soon can we get it operational?"
"Tomorrow at the earliest, if we go as fast as we safely can."
"Then let them begin immediately and continue to work overnight. I'll give double pay for the overtime, but I want it online and operational by morning."
"I'll let them know, ma'am. But..." – She trailed off uncertainly.
"Yes?" – Yui prompted. She knew better than to dismiss a subordinate who had something to add. Not just because it might give her something useful, but also because it improved worker morale and thus, productivity.
"I think you already noticed but I felt I should bring it to your attention anyway. Repairs to Unit-00, the reactivation of Unit-01 and the ongoing work on Unit-02 is seriously going to stretch our budget. This department eats over 90% of our expenses, yet we're already behind schedule as it is."
"I know, but Unit-02 is almost complete. I intend to take it to the spring expo when we disclose the project. Then all of our work so far will have been worth it."
The younger woman glanced to the side, uncertainty evident on her features. – "I don't know, ma'am... What if we can't convince them? They might judge it too expensive."
"Remember, Maya: money has no intrinsic value but what humans assign to it. Sometimes the results are more important than the expenses. If expenses would be all that matters, who's to say our ancestors would still have developed things like nuclear weapons or space travel?" – With that, Yui turned around and gazed outside through the window behind her desk. – "I won't keep you any longer. You have duties to attend to."
"Of course, ma'am. I'll get to it right away." – Maya replied with a small bow before heading for the door.
After her unofficial right-hand woman left, Yui spent the next minute slowly tapping her chair's armrest with her index finger, deep in contemplation. Reaching a decision, she reached out and made a decisive tap on her desk. A slightly tilted holographic rectangle materialized in front of her, the panel covering the desktop itself withdrawing to reveal a keyboard. Leaning forward, she got to work.
"MAGI, I need a file transfer."
"Recipient?" – came the question from her desk.
"Confederate Military Headquarters, White Forest. Attach this file."
"Please wait... Classified content detected. This action may violate company security protocols. Confirm action?"
"Do it."
With that, she leaned back and steepled her hands in front of her face. 'This is it. The die is cast.'
Almost exactly five minutes later, her console chimed. – "Doctor Ikari, your attention is required. The file transfer recipient requires your immediate telepresence."
"Put me through." – At that, several cameras popped out of the desk. – "Lock my office and mute all messages."
Chapter rewrite complete on 15/05/01.
In canon, the Black Moon is a sphere with a diameter of 13.75 km (over twice the length of Lake Ashi), although only the topmost 900m section is excavated into the Geofront. Here, the entire top half is hollowed out, creating a hemispherical cavern with a floor surface of 148.5 square kilometers. For perspective, it is more than large enough to fit the entirety of canon!Tokyo-3 several times over, with room to spare.
