Kyoto Spaceport
October 8, 2041
0619 hours
"You sure I'd be fine without a mask? 'Cause if you're messing with me and I suffocate, I'll haunt you 'till the end of the world." – the girl stated with absolute seriousness as the two stood in the ship's cargo bay, now firmly anchored to the ground by gravity. With gravity also came the blessing of her almost hip-length waterfall of blond hair now firmly hanging downwards instead of floating all over the place.
"Do you see anyone wearing a mask here?" – the man shot back, without even a hint of annoyance. It was evident that both were used to such attitude from each other.
As the main loading ramp opened, the cargo bay's stale air mixed with the fresh atmosphere outside. It was a welcome change, as that very same air was recycled and circulated across the ship ever since its departure from Polygonus a week before. While it was still breathable thanks to the constantly working life support system, after a while it gained a faint odor somewhere between sweaty and metallic. Every ship had its own smell, as veteran spacers could attest. Well, as veteran as one from a civilization with barely more than two decades of recovery back from the stone age can get.
"So... what do you think?" – the man asked as they walked down the ramp.
"I don't know." – the girl replied absently. – "It feels... different. Gravity's lighter, too. And it's a bit chilly."
"Yeah, it's supposed to be like that at this time of the year. But you should know that."
"I was... like... three, when we left." – she pointed out.
An awkward, heavy silence settled over them for several minutes before the girl spoke again. – "Why are we just standing around, anyway?"
"I've been told to meet a liaison for the company I'm supposed to be inspecting at the spaceport when we arrive." – he replied.
Before he could continue however, his ears picked up the telltale sound of an electric engine. The source quickly swerved out from behind a hangar, heading directly towards the landed frigate.
The man's mouth drew into a smirk. – "Well, I'll be damned... Haven't seen one of those in ages."
"That's a bike?" – the girl asked with audible interest.
"Yeah and no, you can't have one." – At her blanched expression, he threw his hands up defensively. – "Don't look at me like that! I have no idea how long we'll be here and those things aren't exactly designed to be ridden in full EVA gear."
The nimble vehicle dodged between several larger ones – drawing a multitude of yelled complaints from various people who barely got out of its way – before swerving to a stop right next to the two, the engine cutting out immediately.
The biker, clad in a black trenchcoat and an equally black helmet, fluidly reached into a pocket and pulled out a small device. The officer was confronted by a holographic image of himself, attached to a personnel file he knew well... for it was his own. – "Are you this person?" – the biker asked with a clearly feminine voice.
"Yes..." – he said slowly. – "Who wants to know?"
Rei finally took off her helmet, much to the other two's surprise. – "I am Rei Ikari, temporary representative of the Artificial Evolution Laboratory. I was instructed to contact you with information regarding your assignment and accommodations during the course of that assignment."
"Why did you dye your hair?" – the blond blurted out abruptly, visibly baffled at Rei's appearance.
"I did not." – Rei replied curtly, without even looking at the other girl.
"Is blue hair some kind of local fad?"
"It is not."
By then, the man finally found his own voice. – "Okay, okay, hang on a minute... Just how old are you, really?"
"I am fourteen years of age."
The two blondes shared a look.
"And you're saying you work for a company." – he continued, voice completely deadpan.
"That is correct. You are to report in the chairman's office at 1200 hours; accommodation will be provided under the following address..."
While the two talked business, the blond girl walked off to the side, watching the yellow-brown contour of the hills north of the city. Looking south, she wouldn't have seen anything other than the city's skyline, crowned with the dark spire of a Combine Citadel. Kyoto was one of the few cities world-wide that still had Citadels, most of them having been toppled during the Great Uprising of 2018. Since Tokyo was left devastated by a combination of widespread urban fighting and the complete destruction of the local Citadel towering over Chiyoda by toppling it over Chūō and part of Kōtō with a nuclear weapon smuggled into the base of the multi-kilometer spire during the Uprising, Kyoto became the Confederate regional sub-capital. Aside from being an administrative center, the city also held Japan's largest spaceport and was the regional hub of the Planetary Teleportation Grid. Anyone who wanted to use the PTG to leave the archipelago had to go through Kyoto first.
Not that she cared, of course. That stuff belonged to history books and like all teens her age, she didn't like school curriculum one bit. What she cared about now is the myriad colors of the autumn forest at dawn, a sight that took her breath away. She had seen enough brown on Polygonus, the color of the dusty terrain tinted by the red dwarf Proteus during half of the 57-hour long day; this, however, was different. It looked... fresh. Natural.
Alive.
Tokyo-2, Inner District 5
1047 hours
"Did you see the class rep?"
"What about her?"
"She was barely around between classes. Looked really busy."
"I wonder if something's up?"
"Actually, yeah." – Kensuke piped in as the three boys were waiting for the PE teacher with the rest of their class. – "I did some snooping around; heard her talking to Makinami. It looks like we're getting another transfer."
"Again?" – Tōji wondered, turning to Kaworu. – "You've only been here for, what, two weeks?"
"Yeah. You think it's someone from offworld this time?"
Kensuke shrugged. – "Beats me. But the admission request came down directly from the Ministry of Education. That means it must be a big fish."
Tōji rolled his eyes. – "Figures... You see our guy yet?"
"Haven't seen anyone unfamiliar. What if it's a girl?"
"Some ojōsama?" – The jock leaned against the wall with a sigh, his almost-small gym shirt stretching over his toned chest. – "Shit, I really don't need one of those 'be thankful I'm lowering myself to your level, peasant' types. The class rep is enough."
"I think you'd have a much easier time if you were to stop pissing her off all the time." – Kaworu supplied.
Tōji only scoffed at that. – "Asking for the impossible, much? I can't stop existing." – He glanced around. – "Still, if she's hot-"
"Hot?" – Kensuke interrupted incredulously. – "What, the girls we have are not enough? How about Makinami, I heard some guys call her a walking wet dream!"
Tōji shrugged. – "I dunno, she's... weird. You know, reading those creepy yaoi mangas in class and shit?"
Their conversation was broken up by the class filing out onto the court, the trio keenly watching the student body for anyone new. Or at least, Tōji and Kensuke did; Kaworu wasn't all that familiar with everyone yet. But with the beginning of October, it was the last class to be held outdoors – an event of general unhappiness for the male portion of the student body, as the following months would see them cursed with a lack of eye candy in the form of the girls' swimming class. No wonder then that the majority of the boys decided to make good use of this final day, immediately beelining to the fence that separated the two groups and firmly rooting themselves there until the teacher arrived.
Tōji and Kensuke were among them as well, with Kaworu tagging along for a lack of anything better to do.
It was him who first noticed the anomaly on the other side. – "Someone's already in the pool."
"Them girls aren't in yet." – Tōji murmured.
"I know I saw something down there." – Kaworu insisted. And indeed, there was a shadow skimming under the surface of the water.
"C'mon, man, the class rep would skin anyone who goes in before she says so."
"Yeah." – Kensuke agreed.
The argument was interrupted by the swimsuit-wearing girls filing into the pool area. The first row halted in their tracks the instant they saw the occupied pool, prompting an immediate pileup. One of the girls called back to the rear, followed by the crowd parting for an evidently annoyed Hikari marching towards the pool.
"See?" – Kensuke continued. – "I told you so."
As soon as Hikari reached the pool's edge, the water above the shadow parted...
...and Aphrodite herself entered the world.
Most, if not all, girls in the school had dark hair, mostly due to Japanese heritage or random chance of having parents with dark hair. Thus, the eruption of strawberry blond among the flying droplets of water was like a nova to all onlookers.
The newcomer promptly tossed her mane behind her, even as she was immediately beset by Hikari. The boys couldn't tell what the two talked about, but it didn't seem to matter: Hikari briefly turned back towards the class and ordered them into the pool.
"Sorry about that." – the blond girl said, resting her back against the pool's edge with a sigh. – "I saw the pool and thought I'd get a quick dip before everyone arrives."
"You like swimming?" – Hikari asked, crouching down next to her.
"Yeah, but I don't get to swim nearly as often as I'd like."
"Why, you come from Africa or what?" – Mari piped in, smoothly dropping herself into the water but trying to splash as little as possible.
Hikari didn't notice when the blond's eyes briefly wandered onto her friend's generous chest, followed by a subtle twitch of an eyebrow. Then the girl shook her head and pointed skyward.
"The colonies?"
"Yeah. Even if you do find a public pool, ticket's usually thrice as expensive as here, or so I'm told. Haven't been to Earth for ages so I don't really know."
"Where have you been?"
The blonde shrugged. – "All over. Dad's in the military, so we move around a lot. Anyway, name's Asuka. Asuka Langley Shephard."
By the time class ended, news of the new girl spread like wildfire across the boys. As soon as the girls started leaving the pool, every single boy glued themselves to the fence when it was her turn.
"Well... we got ourselves a hottie, man." – Tōji murmured, voice barely above a whisper.
"Yeah" – Kensuke agreed, only taking his eyes off her to glance in Kaworu's direction. The other boy was resting his back against the fence, facing almost directly away from the pool. – "You're not interested?"
"Not really." – Kaworu replied, stretching himself. He only hung out around the fence because his friends were there too; he couldn't care less that the girls were in swimsuits... even though the two genders switched PE locations every day and last time he was at the pool, a full half of the girls in the class were ogling him in particular. With his pale skin, he stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Your loss. I don't think you'd be her type anyway."
"Why?"
"'Cause your name stinks!" – Tōji broke out into roaring laughter, Kensuke immediately facepalming with a groan.
Kaworu just looked between the two of them, completely and utterly confused. '...I don't get it.'
"...you just had to use that stupid line, didn't you?" – Kensuke asked in an exasperated tone. – "Never mind he doesn't even know what kanji are, much less what they mean. You really need to keep working on your delivery."
"Sorry... sorry..." – Tōji gasped out between bouts of laughter. – "Couldn't miss that chance...!"
Kensuke rolled his eyes at that. – "Anyway... wonder how long it'll take until half the school will be running after her."
They didn't had to wait long for the answer to that particular question: as soon as she stood up, a large majority of the boys started hollering and whistling.
She briefly paused at that. The boys couldn't see her roll her eyes, or the frown of annoyance. But they did see her quick and to-the-point response in the form of a raised middle finger.
Just like Tōji a short while before, Mari was laughing so hard that Hikari unconsciously positioned herself closer to her friend, in case the latter encountered problems with breathing.
Geofront, AEL Headquarters
Same time
"Ma'am, the observer has arrived."
Yui nodded. – "Thank you, Maya. Send him in."
Her first impression when the door opened was that of someone who wasn't much for formalities or professionalism. Despite the uniform, the man's posture was that of calmness, his steps a casual stroll rather than a militaristic march. Yui had learned long ago to watch out for small things like these; establishing a rough profile on someone's personality allowed her to choose her wording and steer the conversation in the way she wanted, controlling the playing field without resorting to blatant manipulation. It was far more efficient than direct manipulation, as people tended to let their guard down when they saw no need for keeping it up – something she could use to her advantage.
What she guessed from this officer was that he was the laid-back type who didn't really give a damn about what he was sent here for. Quite far from what she was expecting, but it was a welcome surprise. Not having to constantly look over her shoulder to make sure he doesn't find out anything he's not supposed to would go a long way towards keeping her blood pressure under control – which, in turn, would go a long way towards making it easier for her to talk with the man without snapping at and alienating him.
His heavily graying blond hair and blue eyes were telltale of someone of northwestern descent. When Yui looked into those eyes however, they told her an entirely different story than the one she surmised from his attitude: that of a man who had seen hell itself and crawled out of there to live another day.
In that regard, she was reminded of a picture she once saw of Gordon Freeman.
"Welcome to the AEL. I'm Dr. Yui Ikari, chairwoman of this company." – she introduced herself as she rose to meet him, rounding her desk.
The officer nodded at that. – "Lieutenant colonel Adrian Shephard, Confederate Armed Forces." – They shook hands.
"American?" – Yui guessed.
"Used to be. Quite the setup you guys got here." – he quipped before Yui returned to her desk, with him taking the lone seat in front of the desk. Yui had it brought into the office on purpose, as making him stand wouldn't make a good impression.
"To be honest, I expected the military to send an intelligence officer or something like that." – Yui said in a tone that made it clear she meant no offense.
Shephard promptly held up his hands mock-defensively. – "Don't ask me, doc. I'm just as much in the dark about what the brass thinks as you are. They told me to get over here, so I did. That's all there is to it, really."
"I see. I trust your trip here was pleasant?"
"Pleasant?" – He scoffed. – "That's definitely not the word I would use... Have you ever traveled anywhere by Waygate?"
"I haven't had the need or opportunity yet."
"Let's just say that if you thought a train trip across the planet was boring, use a Waygate. You'll be amazed." – he deadpanned.
"I'll keep that advice in mind."
Shephard sighed. – "Alright doc, let's talk business. Scuttlebutt says you guys stirred up quite the hornet's nest in the higher echelons, but brass wouldn't tell me anything about it. Said I'd get my briefing over here."
"Well, then..." – Yui shifted in her seat. – "About half a month ago, an alien entity of unknown origin appeared in China. A combined navy and army force engaged it but failed to destroy or even damage it before it reached the city. At that point, our company opted to release a research project we have been developing for the past few years. It succeeded in killing the entity in short order. However, the fact that development had taken place without involvement or even knowledge of the military did not settle well with your superiors."
"No shit, Sherlock." – he muttered under his breath.
"Language, please."
"Sorry. How big was that thing, anyway? The alien, I mean."
"The military confiscated the carcass, so we could not obtain an exact measurement. However, its height was in the range of sixty meters."
The man's eyebrows promptly shot up as high as they anatomically could. – "Sixty meters? What the hell was it, Godzilla?"
"I don't know. Would you like to see a collated summary of our observations?"
Shephard waved her off. – "Eh, don't bother. I'm not a scientist; chances are, I wouldn't understand a word of it."
"As you wish." – Yui said, inwardly surprised at his open admission. – "However, the offer is still open if you change your mind later."
"Frankly, I'm not even sure this wouldn't count as classified information for the brass."
"It's based entirely on our independent observations; sharing it with you is my own prerogative." – Yui remarked. – "After all, how do your superiors expect you to carry out your job here if you are not allowed to find out anything?"
Shephard chuckled. – "Touché, doc."
"Of course, we cannot give you unlimited access to our research materials. We still have industrial secrets to consider, after all."
"Okay. I'll try not to get in your way. Any more than necessary, I mean."
"That is enough for me, colonel." – For now, at least.
He shifted in his seat, folding his arms. – "So... what exactly is this research project that got everyone riled up? Because if it managed to take down that monster thing you mentioned, I'm guessing it's not a biological weapon."
"Not the kind you are thinking of. Project E replicates Combine synth technology with terrestrial materials and science, utilizing a purpose-created lifeform as the organic framework."
Shephard just gave her a blank stare.
"It's a bipedal weapons platform similar in principles to a battleframe, but has a flesh-and-blood body underneath the armor."
That seemed to get things across. – "Ah. So, it's... like... a gigantic, high-tech attack dog, or something?"
The corner of Yui's mouth drew into a smirk at that comment. – "Nothing of the sort. You will receive detailed technical data later. For now, I need to report your arrival back to your superiors; do you have any complaints so far?"
Shephard shrugged. – "None that I know of. Logistics is moving us in right now, though I noticed the apartment isn't empty. I'm sure you know something about that but still asking, just in case."
Yui nodded. – "Ah, yes; I believe you've already met my daughter Rei?"
"Yup."
"She's one of our two test pilots-"
He nearly jumped out of his seat at that. – "Whoawhoawhoa, test pilot? Did I hear that right?"
Yui's eyes narrowed ever so slightly in annoyance for being interrupted. – "Yes, you did. The owner of the apartment is our other pilot, Kaworu Nagisa. He should be in school right now, but he knows about your arrival."
"...school?"
The uncertain tone of his response immediately got Yui's attention. – "He's the same age as Rei. Why?"
The man visibly gulped. – "Um... that... could be a problem."
1647 hours
For the third time that day, Asuka let out an annoyed sigh. That gray-haired creep had been following her ever since she left school. She suspected he was a stalker... as it certainly wouldn't be the first time that happened. On every single planet she visited in her soon-to-be-fourteen years of life, she always had a gang of boys drooling after her. She never seriously dated any of them as they were always more interested in the packaging than the contents, not to mention the potential interference a serious relationship could mean towards her intended career path.
And at any time a Romeo-wannabe got a bit more forceful, he quickly found himself on the ground with a bleeding nose and severe abdominal pains.
Even in this age, very few teenage girls had military-grade close-quarters combat training in unarmed hand-to-hand, knife and bayonet - and of those, even fewer were fully certified to pilot a battleframe. And with extraordinary skill, too: she often heard that her prowess in the cockpit was on par with a professional pilot. Most of it was thanks to her connection to the military via her father; he was the one who taught her fighting and pulled strings concerning the rest of her training. He alone knew what she truly wanted to do with herself and didn't object; after all, they shared their grief.
Naturally, there are some things even family don't share with each other. For Asuka, it was her sexual orientation; for her father... Asuka suspected he did military service before Second Impact but the man never talked about it, so she didn't press. Eye for an eye. Live and let live.
As she rounded a corner and saw the gateway of the house she was passing next to, the girl had an idea. Instead of continuing her journey, she stealthily slipped into the nook and pressed herself against the wall for as much concealment as possible. Sure enough, her stalker rounded the corner and walked past her without stopping.
"Hey, you!" – Asuka called out as she emerged from hiding, noticing with hidden satisfaction that her unexpected reappearance made the boy jump. – "Why are you following me?"
"Why would I follow you?"
'Nice try.'"Oh, and you just happen to live in this direction, right?"
"Yup. But I'm not going home yet." – And just like that, he continued to walk away.
'Gotcha.'"Then you were following me."
Kaworu rolled his eyes in exasperation, pausing in his step again. – "No, I was going there." – he said, pointing at the hobby electronics shop on the other side of the street. It was the same establishment he tried to visit on the day Sachiel showed up – and the same one he visited a few times since, now that he had something resembling a stable income.
Asuka didn't believe him one bit, but decided to leave it at that. – "Yeah, yeah, whatever."'He obviously made that up just now to avoid getting busted. Does he think I'm stupid?' she grumbled inwardly.
As he rode the elevator to his apartment, Kaworu was thinking along less offensive lines. He recognized her from school but didn't expect for a moment that she would actually stop and accuse him like that. It would indeed seem that they lived in the same direction, as luck would have it. The teen just couldn't decide yet whether that luck was good or bad. Only time would tell.
He, of course, didn't forget that today was also the day he was supposed to receive permanent company at home. Thus, he wasn't surprised at the additional name tag reading A. SHEPHARD on his door, nor at the number of boxes piled up along the wall next to the door itself.
Or the boxes lined up along the entrance corridor.
"I guess you're the guy who owns this place." – quipped Shephard as he emerged from the kitchen. – "Am I right?"
"If you're the guy sent by the military, sure." – the boy said as he finished forcing his shoes off of his feet. Scruffy as they were, at least these ones didn't have a hole on their soles yet. Even so, he suspected that he'd need to look into getting new ones sometime in the future. – "Name's Nagisa, Kaworu Nagisa."
"I know; the door's tag was a giveaway and doc Ikari mentioned you too."
"I hope she knows she owes me one for this."
Shephard snickered. – "Got voluntold, eh? Anyway, my name's Shephard and to tell the truth, I freaked out a bit when the doc told me how old you were."
"Why?" – Kaworu asked in complete puzzlement.
"My daughter's a bit... twitchy if a guy gets closer to her than she likes." – He turned towards the bathroom. – "Asuka, could you stick your head out for a minute?"
The bathroom door opened...
...and out came a very familiar blond teenager, currently drying her hair with a towel.
As soon as her eyes fell on Kaworu, Asuka groaned. – "Ah, for the love of... what the hell are you doing here?"
"I take it you two already met?" – Shephard quipped dryly.
"This creep has been stalking me since school, can I kick his ass?" – she asked in a completely casual tone.
"Considering that he's our new landlord, I don't think so." – the man replied in an equally casual tone.
She let out another groan at that. – "You've got to be kidding me..."
"Afraid not, kiddo." – He then turned back to Kaworu, who spent the entire exchange looking back and forth between the two. – "Anyway, I was surprised someone of your age would be living here all alone."
Recovering from his puzzlement, Kaworu shook his head. – "I moved in here myself less than a month ago."
"Studying abroad?"
The teen made an embarrassed chuckle. – "Not quite, but... you could say that I'm here for school reasons. I used to live in Europe."
He didn't notice both of his new housemates ever so slightly flinching at that.
Asuka was the one who recovered first. – "Well, if you two are quite done with the pleasantries, I'm outta here."
"Asuka, don't be an ass." – her father warned.
"I'm not an ass." – She looked at Kaworu, eyes narrowing. – "Just because we live in the same place doesn't mean we're friends or anything. Better remember that."
"Yeah, yeah..." – Kaworu sighed before heading for his room, walking past her.
"Don't 'yeah, yeah' me! I'm talking to you, asshole!" – Asuka snapped after him, causing him to stop in his tracks. – "Just so we're absolutely clear: my stuff is off-limits, my room is off-limits, I am off-limits. Trespass on any of these and I will chuck you headfirst through the nearest window, your house or not. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Good."
Behind them, Shephard buried his face in his hand with a sigh.
Chapter rewrite complete on 15/06/27
Believe it or not, Kaworu's personality in the initial version of this story was originally inspired by Kamina. Over the years, however, I realized that Kamina's usual memetic portrayal completely misses the forest for the tree: it is downright stated that his bravado and MAN AMONG MEN attitude is a fake one he puts on to provide emotional support to those around him. To quote Wikipedia, "Diffusion of responsibility is a sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when others are present. Considered a form of attribution, the individual assumes that others either are responsible for taking action or have already done so. The phenomenon tends to occur in groups of people above a certain critical size and when responsibility is not explicitly assigned." The way I see it, Kamina is consciously aware of this but also recognizes that he's not the most qualified person to take action, hence he takes that responsibility onto himself in order to motivate others into acting. On some level, Kaworu's current incarnation is fundamentally the inverse of Kamina: he actually IS qualified to act, but either fails to recognize or refuses to acknowledge that fact. As this story is still a very long way from over, I'll leave the eventual verdict up to the reader's interpretation.
The pun Tōji tried to make on Kaworu's name is something that will most likely fly over the reader's head without an explanation. As you probably know, Kaworu's given name is canonically written in katakana (カヲル); the middle character of his name, ヲ (wo), is an archaic one that has been supplanted by オ (o), pronounced the same way. One possible way to write Kaoru with kanji is 薫, meaning 'incense, smell, fragrance, aroma'; its feminine version, Kaori, is written with the 香 kanji for the same meaning. Despite having a feminine version however, Kaoru is actually a gender-neutral name commonly given to both genders in Japan.
