White Forest City, Confederate Armed Forces Headquarters
September 28, 2041
1756 hours
In a closed, windowless room, a large table was surrounded by a number of uniformed military officers engrossed in conversation. Holograms of images and recordings passed between them as they discussed the contents in hushed voices.
They went silent at the sight of Yui's hologram materializing above the table. – "Good day, gentlemen."
At the head of the table, a man well in his sixties and a massive, faded scar on the left side of his face returned the greeting with a nod. – "Doctor Ikari. Thank you for answering our summons. You probably know what this is about."
"Indeed I do, Commander-in-Chief Calhoun." – Yui replied, eyes spotting the six-starred insignia on his uniform's collar. – "I take it that data packet got your attention?"
"Technical readouts for the unknown combatant spotted in Tokyo-2. To put it mildly, we were wondering how you came into possession of that data... though I have a feeling I already know the answer."
"Your suspicion is entirely correct. The object belongs to our company."
Murmurs started around the table, the officers whispering among each other before Calhoun raised his hand to silence them. – "And how exactly did you come into possession of that toy?"
Yui smirked at that. – "We built it, of course."
"We're not here for your amusement, doctor." – one of the officers in the room growled, collar bearing the three-star insignia of a rear admiral. – "Either get to the point or go back to playing with your syringes."
"Pipe down, Sokolov." – Calhoun ordered before turning back to Yui. – "Try again. A biotech company wouldn't have the resources to build a battleframe of that scale."
"It's not a battleframe. The Evangelion is a cybernetic combat platform partly based on Combine synth technology."
That statement set off a massive storm of outrage as if she had just admitted to committing blasphemy. To some extent, she did: research involving the technology of the conglomeration of extradimensional alien races that invaded and conquered Earth in the Seven Hour War during Second Impact was strictly regulated. Some, like graphene-based computing architectures, were widely used; others, like everything involving dark energy, were outright banned. Synth research in particular was a controversial topic. Not just because of the many lives lost to Combine synths during Second Impact and the Great Revolution, but also because of the moral quandary regarding their nature. Simply put, humanity had enough bad experience with malevolent aliens; enslaving other lifeforms, lobotomizing them, cramming their bodies full of cybernetics to the point they are more machine than alive and using them as mass-produced weapon platforms in place of heavy vehicles was anything but benevolent. Especially with the adults still vividly remembering the ultimate perversion of the human body that was the nightmarish Stalker: a barely living hulk, little more than a skeleton with skin and metal limbs. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said, 'he who fights monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster' – and humanity did not want to risk winning their freedom at that cost.
Another ban stemmed out of simple pragmatism: everyone knew how a sample of ultra-pure xenium caused Second Impact. It was a no-brainer that xenium would end up classified as Class 1.7 Quantum Explosive and Class 7.2 Non-radioactive Nuclear Material; in layman's terms, unlawful possession was legally punishable with up to and including a life sentence. On the other hand, the exotic material's ability to manipulate space-time made it the Holy Grail of teleportation technology and FTL research, two fields in which humanity far surpassed the Combine's level. Use for anything else, however, was forbidden for fear of triggering another invasion. Accordingly, xenium mining operations in Xen were the most heavily regulated, controlled and guarded activity in human space.
Dark energy didn't even get that much use: while a sufficiently-sized dark energy core was basically a perpetual motion machine able to supply the entirety of Earth's electrical needs all by itself, produce abundant amounts of reaction mass for auxiliary dark fusion reactors, as well as dark matter's gravity-canceling property teasing scientists with the prospect of anti-gravity propulsion, the fact that a Citadel-grade reactor could cook off in a dark energy flare rivaling strategic nuclear weapons gave everyone pause. Add in the fact that even trace amounts of dark matter caused detectable distortions in space-time and people and politicians alike screamed to ban the technology – once again, for fear of triggering another invasion.
Not that it prevented the AEL from building a small dark energy core in the depths of the Geofront where gravimetric sensors couldn't detect it that deep inside the planet's gravitational field... but Yui had no intention of crucifying herself by revealing that.
As soon as he could rein in the chaos somewhat, Calhoun asked what everyone in the room was thinking. – "Who authorized you to perform that kind of research?"
"I know what I'm doing. We did not modify any existing organism to create the Evangelions." – It was a partial lie but Yui was fully aware that she was the one holding all the cards here: she knew things they didn't and could choose how much of it she wanted to share.
"As in, plural? How many of these things do you have?"
"Right now? Two. Three months from now, three. One year from now, four. Give me another year and I can start mass-production." – Yui's smirk became borderline smug. – "How many do you need?"
"And what exactly do you intend to do with them?"
"We're a for-profit company. We intend to sell them, of course."
"To whom?"
"To the military. Who else would have the resources and funds to operate them?"
"Your company, apparently." – Calhoun remarked dryly. – "If we truly are your intended buyers, doctor... then how come we haven't been informed of it until now?"
"Because I've done my homework." – Yui shot back, going on the offensive. – "Most proposed weapon designs never obtain enough funding or support precisely because they exist only in the conceptual stage, with no definite results or assurance that they will work. What I am offering you is no mere proposal. It exists, and it works. You've seen it yourself."
"And just what makes you think we wouldn't confiscate such a dangerous weapon?" – he pointed out.
"Nothing. However, we know how it works. You don't. Trying to figure it out yourself would cost you time, effort and money. We, however, are experts. We worked on this project for years now. We know everything about it and are offering our expertise."
Yui crossed her arms in front of her. – "We are offering to sell you the ultimate land-based weapon system – and you are arguing."
She saw Sokolov starting to open his mouth – no doubt intent on telling her to watch her tone – when the sound of slow clapping echoed across the room. The officers all looked at each other, but none of them was the source.
That was when Yui's image moved to the side and another hologram materialized next to her: an old, balding man with a visor over his eyes.
"Ten-hut!" – Calhoun barked. All military personnel in the room immediately jumped to their feet and saluted.
Keel Lorenz, President of the Confederacy of Man, dismissed his top subordinate with a wave. – "At ease. Der will be time for pleasantries later. Die AEL has my mandate for performing all of der current research projects." – he intoned with a strong German accent.
"Of course, sir." – Calhoun replied smoothly and without missing a beat.
"Very good. Now, I would like to have a word with die good doktor myself." – He glanced across the room and over the other officers. – "I trust you to clean up this... mess."
"Sir, yes sir!" – the generals and admirals of various rank chorused. That's how the highest ranks of the Confederate military worked: while the commander-in-chief had the metaphorical steering wheel, the president could override his orders without warning at any time. And it wasn't just de jure authority either: from the moment Yui saw the room on the other end of the communication link, she didn't miss the uniformed figure standing behind Calhoun, the small, golden omega symbol in place of his rank insignia identifying him as a commissar. These political officers of the infamous National Security Bureau took orders directly from the president and could instantly end anyone's military career on a whim. Needless to say, neither of the two branches of the military had loyalty problems – except for a few mavericks who usually ended up getting slapped down very quickly.
Emphasis on 'usually', that is.
As soon as the connection ended, Yui could barely suppress a gulp. She was, for all intents and purposes, caught red-handed by her highest benefactor.
The same benefactor she was now alone with. Well, alone over a communication link.
"And now, doktor... I believe you owe me an explanation as well." – Keel stated calmly. Yui couldn't see his eyes behind the visor but she could feel him looking her directly in the eye.
"Not just an explanation, I'm afraid." – she admitted. There was no point in being anything but honest this time. – "I feel the need to apologize, mister president."
"How so?"
"I'm aware you granted us Sample N-0 for safekeeping and research only. Cloning, modification and weaponization does not fit those categories, I know. But as far as we understand, Project Evangelion is nowhere near the power of the original, so the risk should be greatly reduced. Still, an abuse of your services for us at this magnitude is going too far. I'm sorry." – She bowed her head.
"I see. I will be honest, doktor. This pet project of yours – Evangelion, did you call it? – has attracted my attention. While it is true that your research does not exactly align with your public motives, I am willing to overlook it for now."
That was already more than she expected out of this. – "Sir...?"
"When I look at this technological monstrosity of yours, I see great potential. Mark my words, it shall be die cornerstone of a new age. And I wish to see the coming of this new age, regardless of any obstacles." – He paused. – "Like this... creature, that attacked the city. Der may be further attacks in the future. If der will be... we will need something that can combat this threat." – He looked her directly in the eye. – "Do I make myself clear?"
And there was the catch. – "Well, we'll be quite stretched with both manpower and funds for the foreseeable-"
"It was not a request." – he interrupted. – "Suspend your company's other projects and operations, if you must, but make this one your top priority. Unfortunately, I cannot allocate much public funding without raising questions. I believe you do not wish to go public with your operations at this time, correct?"
"If possible, sir. If it comes out that we are developing what are, for all intents and purposes, biological weapons, it could drive investors away."
Keel nodded. – "Understandable. I will make arrangements to provide financial assistance as a black project – but again, I cannot provide much. Make good use of it."
"...yes, sir."
As much as she didn't like being on the disadvantaged side of a deal, Yui recognized long ago that there was always a bigger fish. In this case, the biggest fish there is.
Geofront, AEL Headquarters
September 29, 2041
0742 hours
Yui paused her typing to sip on her coffee. As much as she was used to doing all-nighters, they still left their toll on her. Especially all-nighters that involved endless negotiating sessions, demanding her brain to run on peak performance all the time. The military weren't making it a secret that they wanted a piece of the project – and as if that wasn't enough, the government jumped into the fray as well, demanding an investigation to find out what else she might be hiding. She had a feeling that the only reason why the facility wasn't crawling with soldiers right now was due to President Lorenz' interference. Yui didn't have anything against having friends in high places – it certainly helped sometimes – but such overt and blatant backing wasn't exactly to her taste.
It made her feel powerless, as if she was only in her position due to riding someone else's back.
At least some things went the way they were expected to. It wasn't even three hours ago that she was notified about the crew reopening Hangar 3, having successfully withdrawn the liquid nitrogen coolant. It cost the company a fortune to convert the hangars into cryochambers, especially due to the sheer amount of insulation needed to prevent the system from leeching heat from the entire facility. Not just because it would've dropped temperatures nearby to dangerously low levels but also because it wouldn't have been energy-efficient, what with the system being designed to flush that heat out into the Geofront (from where it would get back into the facility through the air ducts).
But everything worked as it was supposed to. The crew were tired but they were about to finish their work draining the cryoprotectants and confirming the lack of cellular damage. The next shift will take it from there with a full system diagnostic, the details of which she was writing out right now.
With her own work about to be done as well, it left her thoughts free to wander.
'Neural pattern almost identical to Rei's... Nagisa, just who exactly are you?'
She brought up a list of company personnel and selected Kaworu's name, bringing up his profile. It didn't contain anything she didn't already know, though she noticed a synchro-profile file now being attached to it. 'Looks like Lilith finished it.' With nothing to see here, Yui scrolled lower and opened his medical profile.
'Physical examination: subject demonstrated above average physical fitness. Significantly above average musculature, reflexes and eyesight. Hearing partially impaired from overpressure-induced ear injury... rate of healing suggests injury is not very recent? Strange... Unusual lack of pigmentation; I saw that... Tattoo on left arm? On a 14 year old? Curious. Those things don't come cheap nowadays and with his background, I doubt he could afford one. Bloodwork summary: above average count of erythrocytes... above average amount of leukocytes, possible leukocytosis... Subject confirmed rarity of sicknesses; maybe that's why.'
She paused at the next line.
'Tentative blood type O, antigen anomalies require further testing...?'
The enigma that was her newest employee grew even further. She knew immediately upon seeing him that he was most likely affected by some kind of genetic disease, maybe an extremely rare form of albinism, that gave him his unusual appearance. And now his blood type couldn't be conclusively identified. Off the top of her head, Yui couldn't name any genetic disorder that caused such a thing, especially with the MAGI being able to cross-reference all online medical records it had access to. Albinism also seemed to be in doubt, as his eye color and lack of photosensitivity didn't add up either.
Nor did the next line she saw. 'This must be a measuring error. There's no way for someone to have that much telomerase and not walk around with half a dozen tumors.'
A small message popped up unexpectedly, informing Yui of something she already expected in a few hours. While the AEL didn't run any human experiments, the MAGI's spare processing cycles were spent sequencing the genome of all employees in search of markers that could hint at dormant allergies and other sicknesses of a genetic origin. Such a technology would definitely be useful in the civilian sector, mainly for pediatricians.
What Yui didn't expect was a single line in the analysis:
TELOMERE LENGTH: ~5.23 MILLION BASE PAIRS
"Something is definitely wrong with the equipment." – she murmured, her mind immediately recalling her university lessons. – "Human telomeres are measured in thousands, not millions... not even embryonic stem cells have that much."
The mystery in her mind only grew once she saw the next three lines:
WARNING: 46,712,461 BASE PAIRS
NOT CONSISTENT WITH COMMON HUMAN GENOME
VERIFY SAMPLE QUALITY AND EQUIPMENT FUNCTIONALITY
"Forty-six million? That's too far beyond error tolerance; it can't be a machine error..."
She trailed off in terrible realization as her mind finally connected the dots.
Tattoo on arm.
Abnormally long telomeres.
Altered genome.
Biological anomalies in physiology and physical structure.
Unusual EEG patterns.
It all sounded uncomfortably familiar to the woman. Bizarrely so.
Her hands leapt at the keyboard faster than a hungry Antlion at its prey, hammering in credentials to open a secure data vault that laid dormant at the depths of the MAGI's storage units, untouched for the last ten years. – "...let me be wrong... please let me be wrong..." – Submitting the data for analysis, the result was soon displayed to her.
SMPL_KN – ARCHIV_GC2
COMPARISON COMPLETE – 100% MATCH
POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION AS SECOND CHILD
Ever so slowly, Yui's head inched back to lie against the chair's headrest, her eyes closing in resignation. – "...oh my god."
While she appeared calm outside, her mind was in an utter turmoil of emotions. Happiness. Fear. Concern. Shame. It was the absolute worst case scenario, one she had absolutely no solution and no preparations for. On one hand, she was immensely relieved. On the other hand, she was absolutely furious at herself... for several reasons.
'How could I have missed this?! The resemblance is blatantly obvious, why the hell didn't I notice it any sooner?!'
Before she could properly formulate her thoughts on the matter, her terminal signaled an incoming call from the internal network. Acting completely on reflex and muscle memory, Yui opened the channel. – "What is it, Maya?"
"We've finished Unit-01's preliminary system diagnost..." – the technician trailed off, seeing her superior's pale face. – "Ma'am... are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Yui shook her head. – "It's nothing; continue."
"Umm... as I was saying, the preliminary diagnostics are complete. No problems have been detected." – the technician replied uneasily. – "Are you sure you're alright? I can call someone over, if you wish."
"I'm fine." – Yui insisted. – "Is he operational?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Patch him to my terminal. Also, regarding the diagnostics... let me know when the next shift checks in."
"Understood, ma'am." – The window blinked out, only to be replaced several seconds later by another, displaying only the caption UNIT-01 – SOUND ONLY.
"Can you hear me?"
"Synthetic consciousness interface PrE-SCI-0025_01-ADAM online. Voice print analysis confirmed; authorized user identified. Answer: yes." – came an electronic but noticeably masculine voice.
The corner of Yui's mouth twitched upwards at that. – "Still as eloquent as ever, I see."
It was nothing unexpected. Unlike Lilith, Adam wasn't even a year old at the time he was shut down and cryopreserved. That time wasn't enough for his personality to fully actualize yet, nor was he able to do anything in that regard while "asleep". His awkward and sometimes sesquipedalian manner of speech in particular was still the same one he was initially programmed with. That's not to say he couldn't understand normal speech; it's just that he wasn't familiar with speaking like that himself, hence he fell back to force of pre-programmed habit.
Yet even with the little time they could spend together, Lilith bonded with the younger AI even quicker than she did with Rei, taking him under her metaphorical wings like an elder sister. It was partly because of the facility's human personnel identifying Lilith as his sister that Adam chose to self-identify as male, citing that it reduced ambiguity in conversations about them if they aren't referred to with the same gender-specific pronouns. Or, as Lilith theorized, he might have wanted to be different from her because he respected her too much to elevate himself to the same level as her.
A second window popped up, captioned UNIT-00 – SOUND ONLY. – "I am here as well, hakase-dono. And brother, I am pleased to see you operational once more." – Lilith said, her voice carrying the undertone of a smile.
"Acknowledgment."
Yui's frayed nerves needed a distraction. Something to keep her mind occupied with, something other than her disturbing discovery. Fortunately, she knew just the way to do it. – "Lilith, are you ready for debriefing?"
"I am at your disposal, hakase-dono."
"Adam, I trust you have synchronized your system clock?"
"Acknowledgment."
"Good. Yesterday, an unknown entity similar in scale to Evangelions has appeared and made its way to the city, whereupon Lilith engaged it in combat and killed it. Lilith, what are your observations on the entity?"
"I am unsure. It showed no outward signs of biosynthetic enhancement, yet a land-based creature of such size should not be able to exist naturally. Its humanoid physical structure is far too inefficient at this scale; a quadrupedal or hexapodal bodily structure would be more efficient. Due to the square-cube law, it should not even be able to move without cybernetic assistance in an atmosphere with similar oxygen content as ours. Presuming, of course, that the entity is an oxygen-breathing lifeform: I detected no activity that would suggest respiration, despite the presence of semi-external organs visually analogous to gills."
"I see... and its capabilities?"
"Just as unusual, Hakase-dono. Its forelimbs contain what appear to be retractable spines that can extend to a significant distance. There is also the high-energy release it appears to utilize as a long-range directed energy weapon. I was unable to measure its cycle time based on the data available but its firepower is troubling: the energy levels required suggest an internal power source of artificial origin."
Yui nodded. – "I concur. Bioelectricity alone cannot account for what must be at least several hundred megawatts."
"Additionally, it seems to possess some form of energy shielding sufficiently powerful to withstand a great deal of punishment. I have observed intermittent activations while I was engaged in combat, although the entity appeared to use it against ranged attacks only. I haven't observed it utilize this field at the same time as it was attacking; it may be possible that it is unable to attack while shielding itself. No infrared signature, radio noise or radiation spike was detected while the shield was active; as such, I cannot even begin to speculate how it works. It might be related to the entity's capability to temporarily neutralize gravity and fly across short distances to traverse difficult terrain and control the distance at which it engages its target; however, the entity's repeated use of ground-based locomotion suggests it might not be able to sustain this ability for long."
"Maybe Earth's gravity is too high for it?" – Yui offered.
"Logic of last statement computes." – Adam piped in. – "Previously stated theory of platform Lilith claims subject cannot naturally evolve and exist in current environment. Correlation might be present."
"Quite so." – Lilith replied. – "There is also one additional factor, although I am not sure how to explain it. During the engagement, Nagisa-kun was repeatedly speaking to an unspecified third party, as if he was in conversation. I also detected anomalous EEG activity in Rei's low-level cerebral functions during pauses. It might be possible the entity was attempting to communicate with Nagisa-kun."
Yui leaned forward slightly. – "What exactly do you mean by 'anomalous'? Are we talking ESP here?"
"I realize there have been no experimental results in the field of parapsychology within the past century, but it seems beyond coincidence. I believe we should explore the possibility."
While Lilith had no way of knowing, that statement raised even more question marks in Yui's head. It served as an additional confirmation of her suspicions about the boy, yet many more questions remained: what triggered his possession of ESP? How did the process work? And lastly, how can an alien creature be compatible with a human brain?
The first one she already knew the answer to, thanks to Rei. The second and third were somewhat harder to crack; vortigaunts were widely known to possess a form of group telepathy and with the proper chemical catalyst are capable of 'dividing the false veils of the Vortessence' which some theorized to be astral projection. More unusually, vortigaunts were starting to be employed by the government in judicial procedures to verify testimonies and confirm eyewitness accounts. Then there was their absolute mastery over electricity - to date, no biologist managed to figure out how exactly can a bipedal creature roughly shoulder-height to a human can throw lightning, much less do so with enough concussive force to blast a human-sized target back several meters.
The public explanation had been short and simple: bizarre alien biology.
Of which none have been observed in humans. Until now.
Yui took a deep breath to psych herself up for what was coming. It looked like there was no avoiding the topic she wanted to avoid after all. – "Both of you, switch to RSA-4096 and listen well."
With the advent of computer hardware sufficiently powerful to house artificial intelligence, the Confederacy was forced to upgrade their encryption algorithms as any AI could crack the lesser ones in a matter of days, if not hours. What they didn't know was how grave the situation was: upon its first activation, the MAGI summarily cracked every single RSA key in two weeks, without using any existing information on how to do so. Lilith still hasn't managed to crack RSA-2048 but was working on it in her free time.
Fortunately, the MAGI was specifically programmed to not attempt decrypting anything that goes through Yui's terminal.
"I am listening, hakase-dono."
"Platform ready to receive classified information."
"Alright. I have information regarding Nagisa that you both need to be aware of. Especially you, Adam; he'll be your pilot from now on, so you're going to be working with him." – With a few commands, she forwarded her earlier findings across the secure channel.
It took the AIs a few seconds to process the data burst. – "This... is unexpected indeed." – Lilith noted. – "Did you have foreknowledge of this?"
"No, and that doesn't make me feel any better."
"Probability of specific person meeting specified criteria located at specific location within a specific timeframe negligible." – Adam added. – "Hypothesis: occurrence of specified event not random. Evidence: none."
"I cannot tell how Rei will react if she were to acquire knowledge of this."
"That's precisely why I'm telling you this. I don't want any of you to notice something is off and start asking questions that might tip them off. For the moment, I don't want either of them to know."
"I understand. My lips are sealed." – Lilith assured.
"New operational directive acknowledged. External information cache ARCHIV_GC2 security level changed to confidential, internal memory only. Purging all references in communication logs... Purge complete." – Adam added.
"I'm sorry to have to ask this of you. It's my fault; I made a terrible mistake."
Chapter rewrite complete on 15/05/12.
I'm aware Japanese never uses multiple honorifics at the same time; keep in mind however that Lilith is an AI and as such, she's not above inventing her own neologisms. For those not in the know, hakase [博士] is a term for someone with top-tier academic expertise (as in, PhD; the closest western equivalent is 'professor' - in canon, Ritsuko was addressed Akagi-hakase by several characters on the original Japanese voicetrack) while dono [殿] is a deprecated honorific that used to be the proper way to address the speaker's feudal master but is rarely used nowadays due to its lack of self-humbling giving it a level of respect lower than sama; Lilith uses the original meaning. What makes this way of addressing sort-of correct is that hakase, like senpai, can be used on its own, not just as a honorific. In this case, Lilith's use of hakase-dono reflects on her respect and formal recognition of Yui as her creator and is no different than, say, C-3PO saying "Thank the Maker".
The classification mentioned in the context of xenium being designated as hazardous material is the real-life hazard identifier system devised by the United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. It is not a scale but rather, it defines what makes a particular material dangerous. Class 1 designates explosive materials, class 7 designates radioactive materials. Subclasses 1.7 and 7.2 are made up (class 1 only has six subdivisions, class 7 has none): 1.7 designates an explosive material that can affect the fabric of spacetime, 7.2 designates a material that only emits ionizing radiation under specific circumstances.
The actual physical properties of xenium are never mentioned in canon, only that it is in-part exotic matter. Mass-wise, it is a transuranic element but it cannot be placed on the periodic table because of its non-baryonic constituent particles. Its crystal structure is stable enough that it cannot explode by conventional means– but zapping it with a high-energy stream of particles will trigger a violent reaction that releases oscillating waves in the fabric of spacetime. Organic tissue, being soft and pliable, isn't affected by it but large, rigid objects rapidly develop structural failures that break concrete and bend steel. This warping effect is what gets harnessed and controlled for wormhole formation.
