Neon Genesis Evangelion: Altered Destinies
Launch Forty-Five
Kaworu Nagisa sat in Unit-05 as they tested his ability to synch with the Evangelion.
(He didn't mention that the core of the Mass Production Evangelions were based on clones of HIM. Synching with them was rediculously easy. Really, the bigger problem was preventing himself from synching up to 100%...)
Mayumi Yamagishi was in the next Evangelion, also undergoing synch tests.
"How does it feel, Mayumi?" Sumire Nagara asked.
"Odd," Mayumi admitted, "it sort of... feels like something is tickling the back of my brain."
"Let me know if you feel any discomfort," Sumire cautioned. She paused, "Well, you're doing well. Synch rate 30%."
"Thank you," Mayumi sighed.
Kaworu meanwhile was topping out at around 40%. Though the number popped up a bit when he got distracted from keeping it down. No one brought it up, obviously.
"How's it going?" Hilde asked as she checked in on the kids.
"Pretty well. If theyt can maintain these synch rates, I want them to try taking the Evangelions out next," Sumire said.
"Is that safe?" Hilde had to ask.
"Relatively," Sumire said honestly. "Any updates from Japan?" she asked.
"Holding steady so far," Hilde said. "Frankly, Arael is adorable to watch... which is kind of disturbing, frankly."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sumire agreed. She checked the monitor, "Okay, enough for this session. We're pulling you out."
"Thank you," Mayumi sighed.
Kaworu elegantly got out of the entry plug, casually jumping down to the walkway. Mayumi, on the other hand, awkwardly clambered out, then puked up LCL.
"Ouch," Hilde winced.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Kensuke Aida yawned tiredly.
"Ugh," Shinji agreed, the group having breakfast in NERV's cafeteria.
"At least we're not out fighting things," Asuka pointed out.
Rei was monitoring Arael in Unit-00, taking a shift on guard duty. All the pilots were pretty much based out of NERV for the duration, both to cover guard shifts and to be ready to mobilize if anything went bad.
'NOTHING like this happened in the other Ken's timeline,' Ken thought glumly. 'I have no idea what's going to happen.'
"Penny for your thoughts?" Asuka asked.
"Just wondering what's going to happen next," Ken admitted.
"Hopefully we can... just sort of disarm Arael," Shinji mused.
"Here's hoping," Asuka agreed.
Changing the subject Ken bitched, "I can't believe they're still making us take classes too."
"Really!" Asuka agreed, "With everything else that's going on too."
"Now now," Misato sounded amused as she walked up, "we want you to be ready for life once this mess is over."
"We could do make-up classes," Shinji offered dryly.
"Ha!" Misato snickered.
"Where's Ritsuko?" Asuka asked curiously.
"In her lab, trying to figure out what to do about Arael," Misato shrugged eloquently. She waved as she walked off, "I need coffee."
"At least you can hang with Toji and the others during classes," Shinji noted to Ken. "Are they okay with you being a pilot?" she asked.
"It makes for some distance between us," Ken admitted.
Both Asuka and Shinji gave him sympathetic looks. "Have either of them asked to ride in your Eva yet?" Asuka had to ask.
"Yup," Ken chuckled.
"You should offer that up to our female classmates," Shinji teased. "Hey babe. Wanna ride in my Evangelion?"
EVERYONE burst into laughter at that.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Maya Ibuki sighed as she slipped out of bed.
"Do you HAVE to go?" Motoko Kusanagi asked regretfully.
"Sorry," Maya sighed. "Things are insane at NERV right now..."
"The Angel that turned up," Motoko nodded.
Maya looked startled, "How did you hear THAT?"
"It's all over the security services," Motoko told her. She paused, "You KNOW how the grapevine works in Tokyo-3."
"It's supposed to be classified," Maya growled.
"Sorry. I could try to find out where it leaked," Motoko offered.
Maya sighed, "No, never mind." She paused, "You might want to think about getting out of town, actually."
"Huh?" Motoko looked startled.
Maya was dressing as she said, "We really don't know what's going to happen with the Angel." A bit sheepishly she added, "I'd rather you not be in the blast radius."
"That's sweet of you, babe," Motoko got up and kissed her on the cheek. "I can't, though... but I appreciate the thought," she added.
"Yeah, well," Maya blushed a bit.
"Be careful, yourself," Motoko added as Maya left.
Maya felt a weird.. twinge, as she headed downstairs to the garage. The thing with Motoko was supposed to be casual for both of them. Some good sex, companionship, but that was it. But apparently her feelings were more than friendly.
"Damn it," Maya sighed as she unlocked her car.
Her cellphone rang, and Maya put it on speaker. "Ibuki," Gendo said flatly, "where are you?"
"On my way back to NERV," Maya reported.
"Hmph. Get here quickly," Gendo ordered then hung up.
"Dick," Maya sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Mary Sioux was WELL aware of her name's use in fandom, but did her best to just ignore it. When she had been a teen, she had gotten into a few fights over it, but as an adult she (mostly) had grown out of it.
"You are SERIOUSLY Mary Sue?" the customs guy at the JSDF base blinked.
Mary sighed, "Yeah."
"Sorry, ma'am," he apologized before checking her through.
"Captain Sioux?" a lady officer met her outside. "I'm here to take you to NERV."
"Thank you," Mary nodded as they took her to an unmarked civilian car.
"Are you here on business or...?" the woman asked as they left the base then took the highway to Tokyo-3.
Mary felt a faint degree of relief that she wasn't gossiping about the Angel. Apparently the leak was mostly confined to forces in and around Tokyo-3.
"Business, need to know," Mary shrugged, "sorry."
Mary was astonished at how deserted Tokyo-3 was. Mind you, it was ground zero for Angel attacks, so she shouldn't be that surprised. But she had heard housing was dirt cheap... you'd thing some folks would take them up on it.
"Here we go. Good luck, ma'am," the officer said as she dropped her off.
"Thank you," Mary said, getting out and carrying her small bag.
Mary was vaguely dissatisfied with NERV security. They accepted her ID, scanned it, but seemed very casual about making sure she looked like the ID pic. Or asking for any other ID, too. It seemed very possible someone of her rough height and looks, with her ID, could get in easily.
"Captain Sioux?" the tech met her just inside. "I'm to take you to Degurechaff."
"Lead the way," Mary agreed.
The office was on a executive level, and oversaw much of Tokyo-3. The shorter blond was waiting for her, and smiled as Mary came in.
"I still hate your guts, Degurechaff," Mary said without introduction.
Tanya just grinned back, "Nice to see you too."
The poor tech blinked, "I'll just.. leave you alone."
"How's Visha?" Mary asked as she sat down.
"Well. I dragged her along too," Tanya admitted. "So. You know about the security breech?"
"Yeah. I'll start digging into it immediately..."
To be continued...