Neon Genesis Evangelion: Altered Destinies
Launch Twenty Four
Ritsuko perceived that within NERV there was a constant game of move and counter move between 'her' faction of herself and Misato and their opponent, Gendo Ikari. It wasn't obvious, in fact Ritsuko was doing everything she could to keep it covert, but it was gradually effecting the organization's various operations.
Ritsuko's objectives were fairly simple. She wanted to know what Gendo was really planning for the Evangelions and their pilots, especially after the Angel's were defeated. She knew that there was money pouring into NERV that wasn't crossing her desk, and project tags in computer files she was unaware of. Working with Misato she was gradually assembling the data, but so far they only had pieces of a larger puzzle.
Gendo, on the other hand, was trying to contain and limit Ritsuko's access, while still using her abilities for the Evangelions. He had already promoted Maya Ibuki put to a 'equal' status to Ritsuko, and she was being given several jobs that would have previously been given to Ritsuko. Also Maya and Kozo were beefing up internal security, which left Ritsuko having to be more cautious than ever.
On a purely personal level Ritsuko felt betrayed that Maya would go to work directly for Gendo. She had trained Maya personally, the younger woman was practically her protege, but she seemed willing to cast aside personal loyalty for advancement. Worse, Maya was nearly as good as Ritsuko in computer technology, which meant she had to be even more careful to cover her tracks.
Ritsuko sat in her office, studying files she had extracted from her mother's personal logs. The information had originally been on old yellow post-it notes, plastered all over the inside of the Magi, and Ritsuko had spent a long day copying and sorting the information.
As Ritsuko read, she had to acknowledge her mother had a unhealthy obsession with Gendo Ikari and a deep hatred for Yui. In fact on most of the notes Yui was not referred to by name, instead simply as 'that bitch.' They had worked together for years, yet she had hidden a hatred that was almost unholy in it's intensity.
'Mother, you were very messed up,' Ritsuko mused as she read a rambling journal about a drunken night the three had spent together.
A familiar phrase, 'human instrumentality' caught Ritsuko's eye, and she leaned forward to read more. Apparently while drunk Yui had mentioned the concept of human beings successfully evolving into a higher state, what she called 'instrumentality.' Sadly there wasn't much else there.
Cross referencing files showed Ritsuko that there was a 'Human Instrumentality Project' mentioned in a budget report from NERV, but it was a mention buried in the back pages under several flow charts and other filler. Clearly, someone had been trying to keep anyone from noticing it...
Part of Ritsuko wanted to use a custom search engine and dig through the Magi files, but common sense stopped her. There was no reason Gendo couldn't have monitors in place to spot such a search, and she didn't want to reveal what she now knew. Instead she made herself plow through her mother's files, no matter how distasteful it was.
Meanwhile, in another part of NERV Misato looked on with obvious amusement as Kensuke Aida got killed. Again.
"This is so unfair," the young man complained as Shinji, Rei and Asuka killed him again in another simulation run. The three were under Misato's orders to go after the boy, but she wasn't going to tell him that.
"Life isn't fair," Misato smirked as she sat back, her purple-black hair shimmering. "Besides, we need to get your synchronization scores up, and the best way to do that is through this sort of test," she told him smugly.
'Not to mention it's fun,' Asuka admitted as she hunted the young man, her orange hair flowing around her in the LCL filled entry plug. She leaped out from behind a building just as Unit-04 was passing, then calmly riddled the silver Evangelion with her rifle.
"Shit!" Ken yelped, staggering as he tried to put a building between him and Asuka, scrambling to avoid being shot again. Thankfully the more he used the Evangelion the easier it became, and he was getting very motivated to survive
As Ken moved Rei deployed her progressive knife, holding it tightly. Once he was near enough she truck, driving the blade into the virtual Evangelion and putting the already weakened foe down.
"Congratulations," Misato smirked, "you lasted a good minute longer this time."
"Oh yay," Ken said dryly.
"Rebooting simulation," Misato told the pilots, "Ken, you get a head start."
The kids waited as Ken tried to slink through Tokyo-3, then after thirty seconds the other three moved out. This time Rei accessed the long range rifle simulation, basing herself on a rise above the city as the other two equipped themselves with the pistols Ritsuko was developing.
Misato noted with approval that the kids were thinking tactically as well as developing more team moves. A long distance attack coupled with their pistols would be better than rifles, especially in the confines of a city.
'And this is good practice if someone ever launches the Mass Production model Evangelions after us,' Misato noted.
This time Ken was smart, jumping Shinji when the girl was concentrating climbing over a tram line. The lack of serious martial arts training both had showed as they flailed around, but Ken managed to grab hold of the pistol. He swiftly fired into the Evangelion's face, the feedback putting Shinji out for awhile.
"Not bad, Ken," Misato noted even as she decided to give Shinji some unarmed combat training.
Sadly, Rei was also well away from the fight, and saw everything. She sighted through the rifle's scope and flatly murmured, "You will not hurt my Shinji."
Ken didn't even see the rifle shot that took him through the chest, and he never had a chance to fire his stolen pistol. "Crap!" he cursed as his Evangelion shut down.
"Damn it, Rei, do you have to take all the kills?" Asuka complained.
"Sorry," Rei answered mildly, "I'll try to let you kill him next time."
"Let?" Asuka answered dangerously.
Mana Kirishima watched with amusement, the dark brown haired girl munching on a snack she had gotten from the vending machines on that level. "Thank you for letting me watch," she told Misato cheerfully.
"You're welcome," Misato answered, smiling. She added cheerfully, "I'd even have you participating, but Jet Alone doesn't interface with our simulation system."
"I'd like to join in on the fun," Mana admitted, nodding to the screen where, after yet another reboot, Asuka was wailing on Ken with her bare hands.
"Damn it Asuka, put him out of his misery!" Misato ordered.
"Spoil sport," Asuka sighed.
"Anyway," Misato looked at the grinning Mana, "Ritsuko's working on a software patch that should let us tie in Jet Alone too. Should make these fights even more interesting."
"I guess so," Mana said as the system rebooted again.
"Let's make things a little more interesting," Misato said as she manipulated controls then addressed the pilots, "Everyone, I'm changing the environment."
"How so?" Rei asked politely, her voice as calm as normal.
"Retracting buildings," Misato smirked, "you're fighting on a open field now."
"Oh hell no," Ken whimpered as the various buildings he'd been using as cover retracted into the ground, leaving them on a mostly flat, empty grid.
"Oh yes," Asuka grinned evilly.
And the killing continued...
Meanwhile, Toji Suzuhara was feeling rather left out of the plot as he went home from school without his best friend. On the other hand he was walking home with his girlfriend Hikari Horaki, whom he had gotten a lot closer to lately, so it kind of balanced out.
"Do you think we should visit NERV?" Hikari asked thoughtfully, her pigtails swinging as she walked. "I'm worried about Kensuke."
"I think he's fine," Toji shrugged as he thought about the excited phone call he had gotten from his buddy. "I bet he's loving being a pilot."
Somewhere deep in NERV in between running for his life Kensuke sneezed. Then died, again.
"I guess so," Hikari conceded, the two walking along together.
There were more UN forces out in the city lately, probably due to the rumored hacking attempt at NERV. Not that anyone said there was a hack or anything, but in a company town like Tokyo-3 word got out eventually. The two teens nodded pleasantly to a busty officer observing the unloading of a tank-like sentry, then moved on.
"We should have got a photo," Toji noted wryly, "Aida'd be having a fit over that mecha."
Hikari shook her head, "I'm pretty sure they're classified."
Hikari's big sister was a employee at NERV, though admittedly only in the secretarial pool. Still, Kodama Horaki heard a lot of rumors and information, at least some of which she passed on to her little sister. She also helped support the family, along with Dad's income...
They reached Hikari's home, where the smaller girl smiled up at Toji. "I'd invite you in but I think Kodama's going to be home," she admitted.
"Yeah, I think I'll skip it," Toji winced. Kodama was a very nice lady, he thought, as well as a preview of how hot Hikari was going to look in a few years, but she was also a very protective big sister. She seemed to assume he just had one thing in mind, and it wasn't just friendship.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Hikari went on tip-toes to kiss his cheek, "and I'll bring you something nice for lunch."
"Thanks," Toji blushed furiously as he hurried away.
'Boys,' Hikari thought fondly, then went inside. As she went in she called out, "I'm home!"
"Welcome back," a familiar voice called from the kitchen. Hikari followed the voice to see her big sister sitting at the kitchen table, a laptop sitting there as she typed away.
"Hello, big sis," Hikari smiled at her warmly.
"Hey," Kodama nodded, her shorter brown hair cut close to her head. "I made dinner already," she nodded towards the pots, "help yourself, just leave enough for everybody else."
"Right," Hikari nodded cheerfully as she uncovered various pots to see what had been made. "How was work?" she asked as she sniffed the savory foods.
"Oh, not bad," Kodama noted thoughtfully, "I think my two immediate superiors are plotting against each other, Major Katsuragi is nuts, Doctor Akagi is hiding in her lab and Commander Ikari gives me the willies."
"So same as usual?" Hikari asked as she dished up food.
"Same as usual," Kodama agreed.
Notes: Didn't want to jump into the next Angel yet, so I thought I'd dip into the back story a bit. Ritsuko and Misato are still trying to figure out what Gendo is up to, Gendo and Kozo are trying to keep everyone in the dark, and Maya is playing her own game.
To avoid Aida becoming a Mary Sue (Or Gary Stu) I decided to show him being trained, AND getting his ass kicked. Don't worry, he'll survive.