Rebuild of Third Genesis

Two

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, former head of Project E, looked straight ahead, trying not to look up at those who were going to be passing judgment on her for her actions. The trial hadn't taken long, with her ignoring her advocate and pleading guilty.

After the limited Instrumentality the inhabitants of Tokyo-3 had experienced, Ritsuko had been struck by how guilty she felt for all the things she had done. Manipulating Shinji and Asuka, sabotaging Jet Alone, and tricking Toji Suzuhara into the Evangelion all weighed heavily on her, now. She couldn't undo what she had done, so all that was left was taking responsibility for her actions.

The head of the tribunal cleared his throat, the steely gray haired man studying her intently as he stared down from the borrowed City Council seats. The City Hall of Tokyo three had mostly come out of the chaos intact, and the army had borrowed the room for the trial. Finally he said grimly, "Ritsuko Akagi, you have chosen to plead guilty to the charge of attempted murder of Gendo Ikari."

There was a meaningful pause after he finished, and Ritsuko realized that they expected her to say something in reply. Maybe they expected some last minute pleading for leniency, or something? "Yes, sir," the blonde haired woman answered him simply. She really didn't think there was much else left for her to say.

Several men and women on the five person board clearly expected her to say more, however. They looked down at her with expressions ranging from a bit of awe at her guts to complete and utter disbelief that she was surrendering her fate so calmly to their hands. The head of the tribunal pushed his glasses up on his face uncomfortably before bending to carefully review his notes.

"Normally," the older man said reluctantly, "you would expect to face a punishment of life imprisonment for this charge, and in a way you will."

Ritsuko looked a bit more attentive upon hearing that, sensing that something unexpected might just be in the offing. 'Maybe there's some new, creative execution they want to test on me?' she thought to herself whimsically, struggling to keep a smile from her face.

He took his glasses off, and it was obvious he didn't much like what he was going to have to say, "Ritsuko Akagi, you are remanded to the custody of the new commander of NERV, to be held there under that individual's supervision as an intellectual asset." He looked decidedly grumpy as he added, "The commander will set the limits to your movement and conditions of your service."

'What the.." Ritsuko thought in surprise as she was quickly hustled out of the court room. Not long after she found herself waiting out by the front of the building with an military police officer, her hands cuffed behind her back. "What is going on?" she asked the officer, feeling just a bit indignant she hadn't been shot, r something.

"Uhm, I think...," the young man started before the older model jeep barreled around the corner, nearly clipping the terrified officer and skidded to a stop.

Misato Katsuragi waved cheerfully, the black haired woman sitting in the driver's seat, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Misato," Ritsuko blinked.

"Hey," Misato looked at the officer over her sunglasses as she asked, "what's she doing in cuffs? Get them off her."

"Yes, ma'am," the officer saluted before quickly un-cuffing Ritsuko, the young man being careful not to hurt her.

"I'll take it from here," Misato gave the man an airy wave. She looked over at Ritsuko and simply said, "Get in."

A few minutes later the battered jeep was burning rubber across the blacktop, exactly where Ritsuko didn't know. She took in the cracked open Geofront and NERV headquarters, the fallen pieces of the city scattered around it. She looked over at Misato and asked tentatively, "Are you taking me to see the new commander of NERV?"

"You're looking at her," Misato grinned.

"What?" Ritsuko blurted out in surprise.

"I didn't want the job," Misato smiled at her wryly, "but the United Nations wanted to clear out everyone who was even remotely involved with Gendo's dirty dealings."

"Which doesn't leave much of the higher ups," Ritsuko admitted, thinking of herself and Kozo wryly. She looked over at Misato's collar, "You're still a major?"

"For now," Misato shrugged. Metallic towers soon rose in the distance, battle scarred but still mostly intact, then drove up to the now exposed but mostly whole pyramid.

"I guess we still have a base," Ritsuko admitted as they came to a stop, a young soldier standing beside a entrance where the JSSDF had blown open a hatch weeks ago.

"For now," Misato agreed as they both got out.

Ritsuko followed Misato out watching her wince slightly as she moved a bit too quickly. 'She was shot, too,' Ritsuko remembered. "You all right?" she asked gently.

"I'll live," Misato shrugged, leading her inside the familiar facility of NERV.

They entered an elevator, rose up a few levels, then walked down a hallway until they reached an office. THE office, the office of Gendo Ikari, Supreme Commander of NERV. Unlike in the past the room was brightly lit, with the symbols on the floor obscured by dust and fallen debris as light shone in through open windows. Around the desk had been cleared, and surprisingly someone had dragged in a couch nearby the normally forbidding desk.

"My humble abode," Misato shrugged as she waved Ritsuko in ahead of her.

"What's been going on?" Ritsuko asked as she decided it would be best to sit on the couch. "I've heard the most outlandish things, even being in the hospital and stockade," she added.

"I'm still figuring things out myself," Misato sighed as she sat down at the other end of the couch. "Has anyone told you about how limited Instrumentality ended up being? The most places hit were NERV bases and SEELE locations, pretty much."

Ritsuko was so used to holding back information, to lying to Misato that she nearly did it again, but stopped herself firmly. "According to Yui's notes," she told her cautiously, "she expected a cascade effect to occur."

"Cascade effect?" Misato echoed, though her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"What was expected to happen," Ritsuko took on a slightly lecturing tone, "was that the initial transformations around NERV bases would in turn trigger other people, who would in turn trigger others, and so on and so forth."

"Which didn't happen," Misato noted, "any idea why?"

Ritsuko smiled slightly, "People's sense of self was stronger than Yui, SEELE or Gendo thought." She leaned back as she mused, "It's kind of nice to see the great Yui Ikari be wrong."

"That it is," Misato agreed. There was a moment of silence then she shook her head, "Damn, I haven't even asked you if you want to come back!"

"I thought I was under court order?" Ritsuko asked mildly.

Misato waved her hand, "Screw that. If you don't want to, I won't force you." She smiled, "I need someone with your skills, but I can dig around and find someone..."

Privately Ritsuko knew that was bullshit, there literally was no one on earth more qualified for this, but it felt good having Misato offer to let her go. "No, I want to help," she told her, "and not just because I was ordered to." She hesitated as she thought about what to say.

"You have things you want to make up for?" Misato guessed. As Ritsuko looked at her in surprise Misato shrugged, "Me too."

"You didn't do anything...," Ritsuko started to protest.

"Maybe, but I was willfully blind, Rits. I didn't ask questions and played the good soldier," Misato said, frowning.

Ritsuko decided a quick subject change was in order. "How much of the facility survived the N2 bombing and the invasion?" she asked.

"We haven't got a complete survey done, we need to rehire the staff," Misato admitted, "add it to all the other problems we have to deal with."

Ritsuko looked at Misato warily, "What problems?"

"Well, for one thing NERV, which is basically the two of us, a few other officers plus what's left of the old support teams, has been asked to prepare plans to protect the Earth in case of another alien attach," Misato said softly, dryly adding that, "I sort of talked the Security Council into refunding

NERV as a defense organization for Extra Terrestrials."

"You're kidding," Ritsuko said weakly.

"Nope," Misato sighed, "and that's not our biggest potential problem."

"And that is?" Ritsuko asked faintly.

"Do you remember how Gendo rammed through the resolution founding NERV in the United Nations?" Misato asked her. Ritsuko nodded, so Misato continued, "It seems that he provided the basic tech for creating EVAs in exchange for the votes he needed. So now we have several unauthorized EVAs running around."

Ritsuko swore softly, her thoughts racing With incomplete data there was no telling what bio-mechanical monstrosities that could be born...

"My thoughts exactly," Misato nodded.

Ritsuko sat forward, reaching up and rubbing at her eyes tiredly. "So what assets do we have to work with?" she asked, trying to drive back tiredness as she considered the situation.

"EVA 01 is still missing in action and EVA 00 and 02 are under repair right now, though you're help on that would be greatly appreciated," Misato smiled wryly.

"I take it things are a bit disorganized?" Ritsuko asked mildly.

"Oh, yeah," Misato nodded grimly. "Asuka is recovering in hospital, though it's starting to look like she may loose the function in her one eye."

"I thought the eye was healing nicely?" Ritsuko frowned.

"It should have," Misato sighed before adding, "The doctors think it's in part due to the feedback from her EVA being dismembered."

Ritsuko winced, having seen footage of the mass production Evangelions tearing Unit-02 apart.. "What about Shinji?" she asked.

"He's in a coma," Misato said softly, her eyes flickering with a bit of guilt, "Whatever he experienced in the end was too much for him to handle, at least that's what the psychiatrists seem to think. There's nothing physically wrong with him, he just won't wake up."

"So we're down to one pilot," Ritsuko frowned, "assuming we can get Asuka functional and that she'd be willing to pilot again."

"Not exactly," Misato said. Ritsuko looked up at her curiously and she said, "We were searching a series of unused storage rooms and found a Rei Ayanami."

To Be Continued...

Notes: Edited & added dialog, as well as tossing out elements inconsistent with chapter one. I'm tossing in some lingering guilt on both women's parts, which I think makes sense. Misato may be a lush but she was responsible for the kids & should have known what was going on at NERV. Ritsuko has even more to be guilty about, since she willingly helped Gendo.