Neon Genesis Evangelion: Altered Destinies
Launch Fourty-four
Asuka was on shift in Unti-02, watching Arael sleeping on the monitors. She had just ate, and was sitting in the cockpit, reading a ebook and talking to Misato.
"So we'll be doing a rotating watch on her forever?" Asuka asked.
"Or until the situation changes," Misato admitted with a sigh.
Asuka cursed softly.
"Not much else we can do," Misato added.
"Is it me," Asuka started, "or did Arael actually seem surprised by the whole idea of her needing to sleep?"
"She did," Misato agreed, "which makes you wonder how the Angels work, biology wise."
"You'd figure they'd need sleep," Asuka agreed. "What does Ritsuko think?"
"She just mutters 'Alien biology' and goes lay down," Misato chuckled.
"Which I don't blame her for," Asuka admitted.
"Okay, the night shift is taking over soon," Misato noted. "Do you need anything befofre I go?" she asked.
Asuka yawned, "No, I should be fine. Remind Shinji to come in to take the morning shift."
"Will do," Misato promised.
Asuka sat back, then opened the file she was reading. Nearly an hour passed, then she blinked as she got an incoming call. She accepted then smiled as she saw an old friend, "Aunt Tanya."
"Evening," Tanya smiled back as she continued warmly, "I figured you might want some company."
"Shouldn't you and Visha be in bed?" Asuka asked, looking at the display and noting it was nearly eleven at night.
"Are you implying we're decrepit?" Tanya asked, mock offended.
Asuka grinned, "Maybe not implying..."
"Little brat," Tanya laughed.
Asuka hesitated a second, "Could I ask you something?"
"Uh huh," Tanya nodded willingly.
"There's someone I like... how do I ask her out?" Asuka asked in a rush.
Tanya blinked, "Oh really? Who?"
"Mana, the Jet Alone pilot," Asuka admitted sheepishly.
There was a beat of silence then Tanya admitted, "You DO remember that Visha was the one who went after me, right?"
Asuka blinked then chuckled, "I forgot. So I should ask her, then?"
"Yeah. My advice would be pretty useless," Tanya grinned. She remembered, "I'm not even sure I realized I was being courted at first..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"I'm all right," Shinji insisted. "Really."
Viktoriya Ivanova-Degurechaff looked at her skeptically.
It was early the next day, and Shinji was on guard in Unit-01. She was also fielding a call from Visha, who had heard about the revelations Arael had dropped on her.
"Okay, it's a bit weird," Shinji conceded.
"Yes it is," Visha agreed, "learning you were apparently destined to be a guy is odd enough, but your existence changing fate..."
"I'm not sure I believe in fate," Shinji offered.
"Agreed," Visha conceded willingly.
"At least there might be a bright side," Shinji suggested.
"We might be able to change everyone's destiny," Visha agreed. She mused, "It's a great responsibility too."
"Yeah," Shinji admitted. She saw Arael on the screens, who looked kind of distressed. "Uh oh," she muttered.
Visha was also monitoring, "I wonder what's wrong..."
Shinji though of their interactions for the past few days, then realized something. "Has she had to use the bathroom yet?" she asked aloud.
Visha blinked, "Oh dear."
Shinji called one of the girls attending Arael, "Miss Kaede?"
"Yeah, we're busy. She looks pained," Kaede growled.
"Has she used the bathroom yet?" Shinji asked.
There was a beat of silence as Kaede processed that. "Oh heck," she sighed.
They watched with some amusement as poor Kaede took Arael into the bathroom, and presumably explained the mechanics involved.
"Poor woman," Visha muttered.
"Yeah," Shinji agreed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Major Motoko Kusanagi gazed at the smuggled out footage in disbelief. "This child is a ANGEL?!" she demanded.
The infiltrator in NERV was using scrambling tech to hide their identity, so they looked like a formless blur. "Apparently," the muffled voice said, "though she still has Angel abilities."
"AT Field," Motoko guessed. "She's invulnerable, then?"
"Yes," they answered. "Of course, that's assuming she keeps her AT Field up at all times."
"I'm assuming NERV is trying to figure out how to sanction the child?" Motoko asked, looking at the innocent looking blond.
"Trying," they sighed. "Short of directly attacking with Evangelions, they're stumped."
"N2 mine?" Motoko offered.
"Barely staggered the early Angels. She could probably shrug it off," the agent noted.
Motoko nodded thoughtfully, "Is the AT Field active at all times? If we could catch her by surprise, we could..."
"It appears to be constantly active," they reported. There was a pause, "I need to go. I'll report in again soon."
Motoko frowned as the connection was cut. She wanted to know who their operative was in NERV, if only for her own safety. She efficiently shut down the scrambler unit on her own communications, as well as turned off the system that convinced anyone attempting to monitor that she was really in China.
Checking the time Motoko realized she needed to get to work. 'I should check in with Maya too,' she mused, knowing her girlfriend was still busy as hell.
"Morning," Motoko nodded to the officer she was replacing on patrol.
"Morning," Leona waved. "With how deserted the city is, I kind of wonder what the point of us doing this is."
"Prevents looting," Motoko suggested.
"Okay, point," Leona conceded.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Tanya assessed Gendo with the ease of long experience. "Go easy on the day drinking, Ikari," the shorter blond noted.
Gendo twitched guiltily and did not look towards the bottle of vodka in his desk drawer. Thankfully it was odorless...
Tanya continued, "We've got a new problem."
Gendo sighed, "Another one?"
Tanya smiled grimly, "I have contacts in various places... they confirmed you have a leak."
Gendo frowned, "Verified?"
"My source has visuals of the Angel Arael, so I'd say so," Tanya said.
Gendo cursed quietly. That was a serious security breech... that information was supposed to be contained at a high level.
"Mind you, we shouldn't be that stunned," Tanya admitted. "A fair number of staff had to know something... but the fact our spy accessed video is concerning," she added.
"I'll put Maya Ibuki on it, we'll trace the leak," Gendo said briskly.
"How do we know she's not the leak?" Tanya wondered.
Gendo paused, frowning.
Tanya nodded, glad that he saw the problem. "You need to bring in an outsider," she said, then looked thoughtful.
"You have someone in mind?" Gendo asked.
"Yes, actually," Tanya admitted, "she's an associate of the US member of the committee. Also hates my guts with a passion."
"Eh?" Gendo blinked.
To be continued...
Notes:
My headcanon for Tanya/ Visha is that Tanya pretty much refused to act on any interest she had for Visha, and it was Visha who was the aggressor in the relationship.
It had occurred to me that I'd had Arael eat & drink, and that she was new to actually having a human body. Therefore, bathroom issues.
YES, I'm bringing in Mary Sioux.