Neon Genesis Evangelion: Altered Destinies
Launch Forty-Three
"Do you think she accessed the Magi while trawling the internet?" Motoko wondered aloud as the bridge crew monitored the situation.
"There is a disturbing thought," Aoba noted.
"I still want to know what it learned off 4chan," Midori, a staffer who was covering for Maya, mused impishly.
"Hopefully something harmless like cat memes," Motoko noted.
As they were talking, Misato walked onto the bridge, and looked at the monitors displaying Arael. "Any changes?" she asked.
Midori saluted, then reported, "Other than an Angel level AT-field, she appears entirely human."
Misato nodded, "Any indications she has a Core?"
"Not that we can detect," Midori said. "She appears to sense when we do high intensity scans, which makes me nervous."
"Yes, me too," Misato nodded. She continued, "Notify me or Gendo if anything changes."
Misato walked to the elevators, then got off on the floor with Gendo's office. She walked up, then knocked.
"Come in," a woman answered.
Gendo, Tanya Dugurechaff, Ritsuko and Maya were all waiting. "Sorry, was checking in with the Bridge Bunnies," Misato reported.
"Understandable," Tanya nodded. "No changes?"
Misato took a seat, "No, thankfully."
"So, what's the meeting about?" Ritsuko asked briskly.
Gendo gestured towards Tanya.
"I've been asked by the Committee to look into ways to stop Arael if needed," Tanya said briskly. "Ideas?" she asked.
"Other than a Evangelion?" Misato clarified.
"Correct," Tanya nodded.
"The issue is her AT-field," Misato admitted, "as long as it's up..."
"Conventional weapons are basically useless," Ritsuko finished.
Maya asked, "N2 mine?"
"We've hurt a Angel with one, but that's it. And, honestly, the earlier Angels appear to have been somewhat weaker," Ritsuko noted.
"So this Angel might just shrug it off," Tanya said.
"Yeah," Misato said. "Really, short of tricking her into voluntarily bringing her AT-field, we're out of options."
Tanya and Gendo had discussed, earlier, the possibility of triggering Rei's half Angel side, and using her against Arael. The question was, would that actually work? And, of course, what would Rei do after that...?
The other option was the Lance of Longinus. A alien artifact, it could pierce AT-Fields, but it's existence was classified to the highest levels at SEELE and NERV.
Gendo sighed. "Rotate the pilots, I want one Evangelion ready to deploy at all times," he ordered, "we need to be ready if Arael acts."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You're adorable!" Vishe exclaimed, hugging the girl.
"Awk," Arael yelped. The slim blonde submitted to the hug, though she also looked quite confused by it.
"PLEASE don't do that," Satsuki Ooi winced, the busty bridge crew part of a team watching over Arael.
"She could probably pulp you with her AT-Field, accidentally," Kaede Agano added rather nervously. They'd probably get pulped too.
"It's fine, it's fine," Visha patted Arael on the head.
Arael kind of leaned into the touch. "This is surprisingly pleasant," she noted. "Is this (ALIEN SCRIPT) and completion?"
"I have no idea," Visha admitted.
Just then Arael's stomach growled. Loudly.
Visha looked accusingly at the other women, "Has anyone fed this poor girl?"
Aoi Mogami looked sheepish, "Uhm..."
They ordered some food delivered. At first Visha was worried, but Arael seemed to know how to eat already.
"What is this?" Arael asked.
"Rice balls," Satsuki showed her how to eat them.
"Try this," Aoi served her some sushi.
"Hmm," Arael chewed.
The whole group ate lunch, then Kaede took out some pudding cups. "Here you go," she passed them out.
"This is...," Arael asked.
"Pudding! You eat it with a spoon," Satsuki demonstrated.
Arael spooned up some, put it in her mouth then stopped. She beamed as she swallowed then blurted, "SO GOOD."
"That's so cute!" Visha sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Kensuke Aida was waiting in Unit-04, in case Arael went on a rampage or something.
"Holy crap that is awesome," Toji noted. He and Hikari were standing outside on the catwalks around the Evangelion.
After the kids school had been moved inside NERV, the curious types had started looking around. Obviously NERV staff kept them from getting into anything really classified, but at this point Evangelion itself was public knowledge.
"What's it like in there?" Hikari asked curiously.
"Kind of odd," Ken admitted, "breathing LCL is very funky."
"One of these days I want to try that," Toji noted.
Ken thought of the other timeline, where Toji had been a pilot and had been maimed. "Yeah, maybe," he said.
"Have you seen the Angel girl?" Hikari asked curiously.
"And is she cute?" Toji asked, then yelped as Hikari hit his arm.
Ken chuckled, "I'm actually monitoring her video feed sitting here." He added enviously, "She just had pudding."
"How long is your shift?" Hikari asked curiously.
"Six hours," Ken sighed. "I want a pudding too!"
"Poor you," Toji laughed.
As they were talking, they saw Asuka and Mana walking up towards them. "Shouldn't Mana be on standby too?" Hikari asked curiously.
"Jet Alone is too bulky for this," Mana noted, "and it can't counter AT-Fields, so..."
"That makes sense," Toji admitted.
"Ken, you okay in there?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah, just bored," Ken admitted.
"Bear with it," Asuka said, "You're already half way done."
"Yeah, yeah," Ken sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Shinji Ikari was napping a bit, before she took a shift. Which meant this was almost certainly a dream of some kind.
The white haired pretty boy was addressing Arael. "What do you think you are doing?"
"I had pudding and lunch! Have you had pudding? It's delicious!" Arael told him cheerfully.
"Well yes I've had it, and yes it's delicious," the pretty boy noted.
"Uhm, hello?" Shinji addressed them.
The pretty boy seemed to see her for the first time. "Shinji?" he blinked, getting a good look at her. "You're a girl?"
"Why do people keep saying that?" Shinji wondered aloud.
The pretty boy smiled wryly, "Interesting."
"Miss, have you had pudding?" Arael asked.
"Yes, I have," Shinji told her, "If you liked that, you should try ice cream."
"Oooh!" Arael said excitedly.
"Please stop tempting her with food," the pretty boy ordered, then waved a hand at her.
Shinji felt a sudden falling sensation... then awoke in her bed.
"What was THAT," Shinji muttered,
To be continued...