Rebuild of Third Genesis
Eleven
The private jet came into the Asian region high above the islands and land masses that dotted the world, the pilot handling the high powered craft smoothly. The passenger compartment was busy with conversation, several of the women chatting as they prepared for what the evening would bring.
Hitching a ride with them from Germany was Mari Illustrious Makinami, the English pilot and self-styled bezerker. She had been running simulations of fighting Angels for years, but this would be her first visit to the city of Tokyo-3 itself.
Satsuki Ooi, temporary head of NERV-Berlin, watched the brown haired girl as she chatted away with two of the research techs who were also transferring to Tokyo-3. The tall brown haired woman wondered if Mari even suspected her true nature, cloned from the cells of Asuka Langley Soryu to be a 'spare' if the pilot ever went down.
'And do I have the right to tell her?' Satsuki wondered. As best she could determine Mari was happy with her foster family and life as a pilot candidate, did she have the right to ruin that? 'But doesn't Mari deserve the truth, too?' she thought.
"You look lost in your thoughts," her friend Aoi Mogami noted, sitting down beside her in one of the fancy seats. Her square framed glasses gleamed, and her short black hair fell around her face quite cutely. They had heard Misato didn't stress formality, but both were dressed in their fancy uniforms, just in case.
"Just thinking about our two young charges," Satsuki admitted, nodding to where Mari was arguing with Mana Kirishima, a technician they had brought along from Nerv-Berlin. 'And not incidentally the other Asuka clone.'
It was fascinating what different conditions had brought out of the two young women. Mari was a intense female warrior who ate, drank and presumably slept focused on piloting Evangelion, along with apparently shagging any single male living in a one mile radius. Mana was cheerful, outgoing, a frigging genius with computers, but probably the most non-violent person Satsuki had ever met. And, if the rumors were true, might be sleeping with as many people as Mari.
"You're trying to decide what to tell them," Aoi guessed wisely. She sat back in the comfy chair, sighing as she admitted, "I don't think we should tell them."
"No?" Satsuki looked over at her friend in surprise as she asked, "Why not?"
"How does it help them to know?" Aoi replied reasonably. "Right now they have fairly happy lives and appear to be reasonably content. Telling them would just wreck that."
"I know, but...," Satsuki trailed off, not sure how to put all her feelings in words. "Wouldn't we be lying to them?" she asked.
Aoi frowned, "Maybe, depends on how you look at it."
Not too far away Satoko Shinden looked out the window, gazing out at the waters and islands as the UN representative thought of the whirlwind trip around the world she had just finished. From the UN headquarters up to Canada, then a flight out to China. Hopping across the country she hit as many NERV facilities as she could, then headed up into Europe and the bases there. Finally she ended up in NERV0Berlin, just in time to catch a plane to Japan.
Frankly, Satoko wanted to just sack out, but she tried to stay awake to be polite. And, of course, she didn't want to be sleepy meeting Misato again. They had worked together in the trenches after the disaster hit, and had developed a strong admiration for the woman. The last thing she wanted was to have Misato seeing her groggy and out of sorts.
One of the stewardesses entered the compartment, smiling in a friendly way as she told them, "Our estimated time of arrival at Tokyo Airport is twenty minutes. If you want any food or drink, I'd suggest ordering now."
Satoko smiled as she waved, "Could I get a cola, miss?" A few moments later Satoko was sipping her drink, the caffeine laced drink helping revive her a little.
Satoko wasn't sure how she'd be received in Tokyo-3, especially considering her new role. As the new UN inspector she would be required to heavily monitor what NERV was doing and how they spent their money, and she strongly suspected the head of NERV wouldn't like that.
'Hopefully I can convince her I'm not an enemy,' Satoko sighed as she finished off her drink with a embarrassingly loud slurp.
"You look pretty jet lagged," a sympathetic voice noted, and Satoko looked up at the young woman standing nearby. Her dark brown hair was scruffy, suiting her crooked smile, but her eyes seemed warm and kind.
"Miss Kirishima?" Satoko asked her, hopefully getting the name right. She was pretty damn tired, after all.
"Yeah, but please call me Mana," she smiled. She sat down in a nearby chair as she asked, "Are you all right?"
"Just very tired," Satoko admitted, smiling back at the friendly young woman, "I've crossed so many time zones I don't know if I should be in bed or awake."
Mana half got up as she said, "Do you want me to let you rest?"
"No, no," Satoko smiled slightly as she answered, "I better not nap. I need to stay awake for a few more hours at least."
Mana hesitated a moment, fidgeting in her seat. "Uhm, I haven't been to Tokyo-3, what's it like?" she finally asked.
Satoko smiled back, slightly amused by the girl's innocent excitement, "It's a bit in poor shape, what with everything that happened."
"I've been following the rebuild on the news," Mana admitted a bit sheepishly, "They're rebuilding the city on the base of the Geofront, in the depression where everything fell in."
She tried not to laugh as Mana nattered on excitedly, and Satoko tossed in a few bits about how she and the others helped during the first few weeks after the event happened. "I guess you're looking forward to going to Tokyo-3?" she asked, smiling.
"Oh yes!" Mana nodded eagerly, "it's a top posting for a information manager like me! Plus, I'd get a chance to work with the original Magi."
"Aren't there Magi computers at all major NERV bases?" Satoko asked curiously.
"No, the original Magi have always been a step beyond the later models," Mana said firmly, "though no one is quite sure why." She dropped her voice as she added, "Some people even say that the Tokyo-3 Magi are haunted by their creator, Naoko Akagi."
"Don't suggest that to the current Dr. Akagi," Satoko advised, "she might get a wee bit upset."
"Oh, yeah," Mana looked sheepish.
This time the speaker crackled as the plane shifted course. "Coming in to Tokyo Airport," the pilot announced, "please return to you seats and buckle up."
Everyone hurriedly obeyed as the plane descended, and Satsuki took a nervous breath as she belted herself in. Aoi noticed her white knuckles as she asked impishly, "Don't like flying?"
"Flying I'm fine with," Satsuki said firmly, "it's landings that give me the shakes."
"Do you want me to get you something strong to drink?" Aoi asked gently, "It might take your mind off of it."
"No, then I'd be sick," Satsuki growled as they descended, the plane bumping a bit as it hit the winds at lower levels.
Instead of thinking about the landing Satsuki concentrated on the view out the window. The original Tokyo Airport was unusable, both due to flooding and the Jet Alone incident. And the replacement airport built for Tokyo-2 was scragged in the attempted Third Impact triggered by SEELE.
In the aftermath a improvised field had been constructed not far from Tokyo-3, and it was VERY improvised. The 'tower' was a recently built and rickety looking affair, and the landing strips were all made from recently poured concrete and painted by volunteers. It looked like something belonging in the third world, not a major nation.
"That's the airport?" Aoi squeaked as they circled. "I may get a drink myself."
Thankfully they made it down without too many bumps and thumps, and as they taxied to a stop they saw two military style utility vehicles driving up. The ramp for the plane went down as the stewardesses ushered them out, smiling cheerfully.
Maya Ibuki and Misato Katsuragi were driving the two vehicles, Misato stepping forward to greet them first. "I'm sure you're all tired as hell, so let's cut the formality and get back to Tokyo-3," she said simply. "I'm Misato Katsuragi to those I haven't met, welcome to Japan."
"I like this woman," Mari grinned before fighting back a yawn.
"All right, Satsuki, Aoi, and Satoko, you're with me," Misato gestured to her vehicle, "everybody else gets to ride with Maya. Move out!"
"You're reminding me strangely of my old camp counselor," Satoko noted as she and Satsuki silently asked each other who would take the shotgun seat. Satsuki willing conceded the post to sit in back with Aoi, and Satoko climbed in with Misato up front.
Misato chuckled, "Comes from taking care of teenagers too long." She started up the engine then floored the gas, the tires squealing before they lurched forward.
"Damn it, Misato! Do you want me throwing up back here?" Satsuki yelped even as she and Aoi hurriedly belted themselves in.
"Sorry," Misato eased up on the gas a bit even as Maya tried to catch up with them.
"I see you still drive like a maniac," Satsuki added grimly.
"I take it you know each other?" Satoko asked with some amusement.
"I visited Berlin a bit in the old days," Misato admitted as they drove to the basin that was the cracked open Geofront, then took a steep road down to the new city.
"And she was as bad a driver there too," Satsuki growled as she held the back of the front seat, the vehicle tipping forward at nearly a 45 degree angle.
"Isn't this a little steep?" Aoi asked weakly as she held on too.
"There's a more gently sloped road, but it's longer too," Misato said, completely looking away from the road as she addressed Aoi, "I figured you'd want to get here quicker."
"Eyes on the road!" Satoko yelped.
"Sorry," Misato turned back just in time to swerve around a truck, the driver looking terrified at the near miss. "Now, you have two options," she said as she drove, "you can stay at what's laughingly being called a hotel, or at NERV housing."
"What's the hotel like?" Aoi had to ask.
"Somebody has bought a old residential tower and is converting it," Misato said cheerfully, "but it's still pretty much a wreck. The only reason I don't shut him down is because we need somewhere to stuff the US observers. Scares them right off."
"I thought the US was persona non grata, because of their seizing NERV facilities for themselves?" Satoko asked.
"Why do you think I scare them off?" Misato gave a shark like smile.
"I think we'll take the NERV housing," Satsuki decided.
To be continued...
Notes: At this point the story will start really diverging from the original Third Genesis. I'll still salvage bits from the original, but it's much less relevant.
