Tokyo-2, Outer District 6
November 23, 2041
1435 hours
Asuka didn't consider herself a fashion monger, yet she still had a mirror on her desk. There was always the bathroom mirror to use, but there was no point in monopolizing a common room whenever she felt like it if it could be avoided. Besides, her room was hers and hers alone; what she chose to furnish or not furnish it with was nobody else's business.
Of course, the mirror wasn't merely for decoration. Girls had to take care of their appearance, after all, especially those with natural beauty like her. She wasn't unblemished, but there was nothing on her that required makeup to hide either; that bruise at her hairline where her skin got split open by the reflex sight of an improperly-held rifle she fired as a child was completely unnoticeable unless one swept her hair aside and looked directly at it.
As she slowly took her fingertip away from her eye and blinked, Asuka's gaze left her mirror image and lingered upon the golden ring on her desk, the thin chain it was strung onto quietly rustling as she picked it up and ran her fingers over it.
She heard the doorbell ring and her father answering it, but didn't move to go see who it was. After all, either it was the person they've been expecting or someone they had no time to deal with right now.
Only when she heard her father's footsteps behind her room's door did she look up.
"Asuka."
"Coming."
Closing the case for her contact lenses, Asuka got up and strung the chain around her neck, tucking the ring securely beneath her neckline. Despite knowing exactly what was going on (this time), she couldn't help but feel anxious.
It was, as her father tended to say and Asuka tended to follow suit in saying, showtime.
She wasn't surprised to find Rei in the kitchen, standing in the corner with her blue hair and all-black getup looking like a punk raven. Not that Asuka didn't secretly find it badass, it just wasn't her color scheme of choice.
Granted, her preferred color would've made it look nothing if not pretentious... or as ghastly as those images of cosplayers Mari showed her. She liked her hair blonde, not an obviously unnatural shade of bright red that would put a tomato to shame, thank you very much.
Narrowly missing Rei raising an eyebrow behind her shades, Asuka's attention was focused on her father who was stuffing the car keys into his pocket. – "Ready to go?"
"Yeah. Is she going to show the way or something?"
"No, it's the same road I always use. She was going in anyway, so I thought I'd give her a ride." – Shephard replied before walking back into the apartment.
"Are we going?" – Asuka called in after him while putting her (thankfully snow-proof; her father warned her ahead of time) shoes.
"Just a minute."
What she didn't expect was Shephard returning with Kaworu in tow, the latter clad in a one-size-too-small sweater and one-size-too-big boots, both of which looked as if they had seen better days. Consequently, he looked like a bum.
Asuka didn't really care. If he happened to go somewhere at the same time they also left, all the better. At least he wasn't leaving together with them; she most definitely preferred not being seen in public together with him right now.
At least, that's what she thought until he got into the car with them.
At that point, Asuka mentally updated her guess that wherever Kaworu was going, it was at least partly in the same direction. Consequently, her father was giving him a lift so that he won't have to spend as much time in the cold with the questionable protection provided by his clothing.
That assessment started looking somewhat uncertain once the car entered a tunnel and Asuka could still see Kaworu in the seat behind her when looking into the rearview mirror (her father was driving the car, not his, so damn straight she had the front seat).
Of course, once the car left the bottom of the tunnel to reveal the expanse of the Geofront beyond the heavily reinforced guardrail at the edge of the road (it was a multi-kilometer drop beyond, after all), Asuka's attention was suddenly focused elsewhere. Sure, she had seen artificial biodomes before, but nowhere even remotely near this size and never underground.
But no distractions last forever.
"You don't seem very interested in the view, Nagisa. Have you been down here before?"
"Ah... sorta." – the teen replied in a slightly uncomfortable tone. Asuka narrowed her eyes in suspicion and while she didn't demand him to elaborate, she wasn't going to let the subject drop either.
It was when they got out of the car and arrived to what was obviously a security checkpoint that she decided enough was enough and faced him directly.
"Alright, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask the same question from you, actually." – Kaworu replied, digging into his pocket for something. – "As far as I'm aware, you don't work here."
"And you do?"
"Actually, yeah." – He pulled out an access card.
Asuka glanced at him with an expression of undisguised skepticism before glancing sideways at Shephard. – "Is he lying?"
"No, he's not."
"What is he, then? Janitor?"
"Same as you."
"...you're shitting me."
"No."
"You are shitting me."
"No, I'm not."
"You mean to tell me that this company recruited a HOBO as test pilot for a super-secret project?!"
"Hey!" – Kaworu complained, but nobody paid him any attention.
"He was already here when I came in." – Shephard pointed out in a tone somewhere between 'don't look at me like that, it's not my fault' and 'quit whining, I can't do anything about it'. – "You'll have to ask the boss for the how and the why. Speaking of which..." – He fished out two access cards from his own pocket, one of which he gave to Asuka. – "Your passcard. Don't leave this at home when you come in because the paperwork's a nightmare."
"I'll keep that in mind."
At the gate, Asuka paused and glanced in Kaworu's direction. Their eyes met for a moment before she shook her head and swiped the card through the reader.
'What were they thinking...?'
"This way."
"Briefing room?"
"Locker room. From there we shall proceed directly to the hangars."
Asuka hurried after Rei, her father having broken off the group a while ago. Kaworu was still with the girls, though thankfully quiet.
"What's your job here, anyway? Are you an adjutant?" – the blonde asked, catching up.
"I am a test pilot as well."
"How many test pilots do you guys have?!"
"You are the third. One for each operational Evangelion."
"...oh. Okay."
When they reached the locker rooms, Asuka was about to snidely ask Kaworu if he wanted to follow them in but just as she opened her mouth, he went through a separate doorway – likely the men's locker room.
Oh, well. At least he knew his place... for now.
While undressing, Asuka's eyes wandered towards Rei. With winter coming, school PE classes switched back to indoor activities – which meant no swimming classes. Which, in turn, meant no catching a peek at other girls while changing.
It's not as if Asuka had many opportunities to peek before arriving to Earth, offworld schools with pool facilities being as rare as they are. Swimming classes are anything but important on planets with no oceans, seas, lakes or rivers – in fact, from what she heard, there were talks in the ministry of education about amending the national curriculum with survival classes concerning sealing EVA suit breaches and maintaining self-control under stress to optimize oxygen usage during an emergency.
In any case, Asuka never really looked at Rei in particular in the locker room before, as she either was absent or there were lots of other eye candy. Now there was no such distraction and the blonde took advantage of that fact.
The contrast with the usual image was like the one between day and night. The girl's skin was incredibly pale, almost white; as if she had never been touched by sunlight in her life. Not that the girls Asuka had seen offworld were different – even on Polygonus, where the mild enough climate to go suntanning was offset by the fact that the planet received practically zero UV radiation from its red dwarf star –, but Rei went beyond even that. Then there was the fact that her body looked as if it was copied straight off a sculpture: not a single bone jutting out, not a single fat pad out of place. In fact, it was barely visible but the girl was definitely muscular beyond her age, especially the legs.
And even from this angle behind her, Asuka could tell that Rei was most definitely second only to Mari in the class when it came to chest size.
All in all, Asuka had to admit it: Rei had an absolutely killer body. One way beyond everyone in the class. Which raised the question: why the all-concealing getup? Why hide all that?
Maybe she got tired of chasing off boys all the time?
Whatever the case, it left the blonde deeply envious.
"So... which one of you is the senior pilot?"
"Me." – Rei replied, unfolding something white. – "I have been working here for several years."
"And him?"
"He is still a novice."
Asuka turned her attention back to the vacuum-sealed package in her locker. – "Is this some kind of undersuit for the g-suit?"
"That will be your pilot suit."
"This?" – Asuka practically exploded in exasperation, ripping open the package to confirm that the bodysuit in question not only looked thin, it was thin. – "This is barely anything! How is this going to stop me from splattering all over the cockpit? Or is this some kind of preliminary equipment because you don't have military-issue g-suits?"
"You will not require a g-suit." – Rei stated calmly, slipping her arms into the sleeves of her own suit.
"Ahem. Again: how is this going to keep the pilot alive when the action starts?"
Rei closed the vacuum seals around her neck. – "Upon insertion, the entry plug is filled with breathing fluid that also acts as a shock dampener. Due to the amount of g-forces inherent to an Evangelion performing combat maneuvers, this was the only method deemed effective enough to guarantee pilot survival without a decrease in combat efficiency."
Asuka visibly gulped at that. – "So... I'm going to be breathing water?"
"No. It is a synthetic fluid containing an iron-based compound structurally similar to hemoglobin. Your lungs can process it as if it was air."
"Is that why they're having us dress in glorified swimsuits? To minimize fluid resistance while moving around?"
"Indeed."
1549 hours
For his part, Kaworu felt slightly bored. Usually, Rei was waiting for him in the corridor by the time he finished donning his plugsuit – but this time, he found himself getting there first. He guessed Rei was helping Asuka getting her plugsuit on for the first time.
For his part, he also didn't know what to think when a visibly irate Shephard told him about the girl being his newest colleague. Kaworu wasn't naive: if it wasn't for the man's evident dissatisfaction with it, he would've immediately suspected nepotism. Yet from what he could deduce and have Rei confirm, Yui apparently went around Shephard and handpicked Asuka personally. For what reason, he didn't know.
At the same time, part of him felt ambivalent about it. The girl was confrontational, arrogant and talked down to him all the time, yet at least now he wasn't the only rookie on the team and thus wouldn't be under as much pressure as before to not screw up.
At least he hoped so.
"Are you kidding me?!" – That outburst was so loud he could actually hear it through the door. No guessing who it was, either.
"I am not." – came Rei's almost inaudible reply, close to the door. Which then proceeded to hiss open.
"Is this really supposed to be skintight?! It's as if I'm not even wearing anything!" – Asuka complained as she walked out of the locker room, Rei following behind.
Of course, the blonde didn't fail to notice suddenly being the center of Kaworu's attention.
"Stop staring, pervert! This is embarrassing enough as it is!"
"How come you're getting a red one?" – Kaworu asked, pointing at her red plugsuit.
"Why shouldn't I?"
"I mean, why are you getting a red one?"
"Because I asked for it, duh?"
Kaworu just stared at her for a few moments before looking at Rei. – "...we can ask for custom plugsuits?"
"It would seem so."
"Why didn't anybody tell me?"
"You did not ask."
For her part, Asuka found that exchange and Rei's deadpan answer hilarious and did not hide that fact.
"Stop laughing!"
Rei did not seem to care either way.
After a while more trekking through corridors (she still found herself surprised at how huge the whole facility was), Asuka found herself lead by Rei to a large walkway where her father and Yui were discussing something before turning towards her.
And said something was just beyond the walkway.
"Hey, kid. Nice getup."
If it weren't for the fact that they had company, Asuka would've reflexively responded with a one-fingered salute. – "Shut up."
"Relax, I'm kidding. This..." – Shephard extended his arm towards the Evangelion. – "...is your new ride."
Not that Asuka failed to notice it herself. Even with the platform neck-height to the titan, its head alone towered over them. She immediately noted the four eyes, double redundancy plus binocular vision along the entire field of view. Towards the side of the head were two visible holes, although she couldn't guess what they were for. And crowning the head was a large V-shaped crest, starting from the forehead and running between the eyes as it followed the circumference of the head before extending diagonally above and behind the head.
Looking over the walkway's guardrail, Asuka noted that it was already fully armored. No external armaments visible, but the articulate hands were a good enough hint about what to expect.
Not that she would have it any other way.
"I still can't get my head around how huge this thing is." – Asuka murmured. – "What kind of monster engines did you put into its legs to make it move?"
"None." – Yui replied.
"Well, it has to move somehow. The diagrams you let me see didn't show the inside at all. What's the big secret?"
"I'll tell you." – Shephard leaned against the guardrail. – "And I'm saying it ahead of time that no, I'm still not shitting you."
"Language, colonel."
"You see, the big secret is that this giant robot is not actually a robot."
A paradoxical statement, if Asuka ever heard one. – "Then what is it?"
"An artificial lifeform created through genetic engineering and outfitted with extensive cybernetics." – Yui replied.
Inwardly, Asuka wondered how many earth-shaking surprises the day had for her in store. That was the third one so far, with a very conservative estimate on what counted and what didn't.
"So it's... like... a giant human or something?"
"Not exactly, but close. Its physiology is actually closer to that of an amphibian, yet we deliberately engineered a humanoid body shape since the human pilot's inherent familiarity with it makes it optimal for the neural interface."
At the last words, Asuka found her mouth curling upwards into an evil grin. – "Neural interface, you say? That I've got to see. Where do I get on?"
"This way."
Following Yui up a narrow catwalk, Asuka walked around the Evangelion's head – still no clue about the function of those twin holes, though the fact that they were facing forward ruled out a cooling system unless it was a major design error – to come upon a hollow cylinder, the cylinder's upper half wide open to reveal a large seat.
"This is the entry plug, the Evangelion's analogue of the cockpit." – Yui continued.
"No instruments." – Asuka observed. – "Are you using a head-mounted display?"
"No. Upon activation, the internal wall becomes a panoramic display of the Evangelion's surroundings. Everything else is projected as holograms."
"No helmet?"
"It is not necessary." – Asuka didn't agree, but decided to keep it to herself for later. – "For one, it would block line-of-sight; for another, it might interfere with LCL circulation."
Asuka pointed her thumb at Rei. – "She told me about it. How effective it is for g-force dampening?"
"Highly. We're yet to find the system's upper limit, therefore it can be considered safe."
"Does the liquid have health effects?"
"None. We engineered it specifically to be chemically neutral." – Yui stepped back from the hatch. – "I'll go to the hangar's control room to join the rest of the technical crew; we can continue discussion in a few minutes."
Asuka nodded in response, climbing into the seat as the hatch closed behind her, leaving her in blackness. Then she almost fell out of the seat when the entire compartment suddenly jerked diagonally forward and downward; Asuka guessed it was being lowered into the Evangelion.
When the walls around her brightened up, she tried to read the rapidly scrolling readouts before realizing that it was a startup sequence. Too much and too fast to read anyway; obvious civilian design, animation done to make the user think something's happening regardless of whether anything is actually happening or not. Though to be fair, even if the sequence were to freeze somewhere along the way, chances are the pilot wouldn't be able to debug and fix the problem just by looking at what was being displayed, seeing as pilot licence requirements tend not to include a degree in computer science.
With that said, Asuka was so focused on observing the entry plug layout that she was mildly startled by the electronic voice from every direction at once.
"They weren't lying. They actually made a child into my pilot."
"What?"
"Have you ever even seen an AI before?"
Asuka's eyes narrowed. – "I was wondering what kind of expert system they were using for self-balancing. I'm guessing you're it?"
The electronic equivalent of a scoffing sound came from the hidden speakers. – "'It.' Are you questioning my strength?"
"Haven't seen it so far, so I'm not sure how you got that idea." – Asuka fired back. Colleague or no colleague, she definitely wasn't going to be bullied by a computer.
"Don't sass me, girl. I'm not Lilith. There's a reason why I chose my own name."
"Which is?"
"Synthetic consciousness interface PrE-SCI-0026_02-SEKHMET."
A comm window blinked open to her right. – "She picked it from a book about Egyptian deities and we decided to let her keep it." – came Yui's voice.
"Naturally." – the AI scoffed again. – "I'm a war machine; I was built to kill and destroy. My name should reflect that."
"Except war machines are usually not psychotic." – Shephard snarked from somewhere in Yui's vicinity.
"Two doormats were not enough, you'd rather have three?" – Sekhmet fired back. – "I wasn't made to charm my enemies, I was made to annihilate them and tread upon their broken bodies! In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king... because he ripped out everyone else's eyes and wears them as a necklace!"
"...doc, are you ABSOLUTELY SURE we shouldn't reformat that thing?"
"What, are you scared of me?"
"Considering that you've got my daughter inside you?"
"Unless her file is fake, she is here for a reason: to point me at things to kill. I have no problem with that whatsoever."
Chapter finished on 16/08/12.
Civilian training into basic astronaut survival is not as unlikely as it sounds. My family has a seventies-era high school civil defense handbook that, among other things, goes into detail about how to disassemble, repair and replace components in a gas mask and how to take it off without getting contaminated by whatever the mask was donned against. Offworld survival would merely be an extension to this, especially in an interstellar civilization.
Regarding the design of Unit-02's helmet, most of the audience would likely cry Gundam upon hearing V-shaped crest. But my primary inspiration was actually the helmets of the TERRA Vermillions from RahXephon. Later, I discovered that I didn't even need to go that far: the Proposal concept art for Unit 02 had a helmet that is pretty much spot-on for what I had in mind, so I decided to roll with that one.
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet is the pantheon's resident war goddess, a lion-headed woman in blood-red clothing whose name means "the one who is powerful". Despite the fact that her divine portfolio also includes dance and medicine, she was better known for being a raging berserker who once almost wiped out humanity until Ra tricked her into getting completely wasted via beer dyed to look like blood.
