Act III, scene V: The Changing Office
Earlier this morning at NERV HQ
Shigeru Aoba was not feeling his best at the moment.
The system failure that rendered the presentation for the weird Inspector an utter failure did not – to his surprise – result in his demotion; it seemed that his thorough report, despite essentially saying "I have no idea what happened" was accepted, and he got away with a stern rebuke from the Commander and the Major. He had to admit that unpleasant as it was, it was the best outcome he could have counted on.
Still, this failure weighed heavily on him, not only because it was so public but mainly because it was completely impossible. The diagnostics – and he ran every conceivable one and a few that the designers of MAGI likely did not think of – indicated an extremely unlikely string of coincidences, with a probability about as low as his second breakfast suddenly tunneling through the table it was set on.
And yet it happened.
He could not also shake off the very vivid memory of having heard the sound of meowing at the time of the accident; the more he tried not to think about it, the more he was certain that he indeed had heard it. The incapability of explaining it was slowly turning into a growing ailurophobia; an occasional meow heard on the street made him shiver and made his ears burn.
All this has certainly made him more nervous and tired, thus affecting his overall well-being; it was, of course, not crippling – but he certainly would feel better if he had solved that mystery. Yet he had to close yet another of his night shifts without any resolution; all was fine with NERV right now, and his persistent diagnostics have turned out to be in vain.
He just passed the conn to the morning shift – the shift that was supposed to be headed by Lieutenant Maya Ibuki, but seemingly, she has been requisitioned for field work by Doctor Akagi, leaving the day shift in the hands of one of the lower-ranking technician whose name Aoba forgot a few moments after verifying her identity. He was about to leave and catch up with his regular chores when the elevator door opened before him and he froze in place.
A medical emergency team, complete with a full-body capsule used only for serious cases, was filling the cabin. "My apologies, Lieutenant. You'll have to wait", one of the men in a white uniform told him. "Close the door", he told one of the men.
Aoba acknowledged the whole situation with a wordless and confused nod and just waited for the door to close before pressing the elevator call button again – but then, doubts started to appear in his head. 'Who could it be? Did someone slip in the Cages and fell down the shaft? No… people don't usually walk around there at night, do they?'
After all, this was a full-service medical capsule – something used only for serious emergencies or high-demand patients; before today, he saw it used once. Moreover, the surface of the capsule was dimmed, as if hiding the identity of the person was more important than monitoring their state at all times.
He shook his head. 'This is weird', he concluded and decided to go home despite some curiosity nudging him to stay for breakfast and investigate. 'Accidents happen here all the time', he shrugged to himself. 'This one might be more serious, but can't be really important…'
...
NERV HQ, 9:55
Major Misato Katsuragi was sitting at her desk, her expression despondent. 'And I'm quite sure I don't even know the half of it…' she repeated to herself, shaking her head in a vain attempt to banish a growing headache.
Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki was sitting in the chair in front of her, waiting patiently. He was used to waiting; Gendo Ikari was a man who preferred to pore over things and refused to make snap decisions. Of course, the reasons for Major Katsuragi's delay were different – but this mattered little. He would wait as long as it was needed.
"All right… Professor", she finally started. "Call them all in. Tell them to be here at 11:00. I'll hold a meeting for them… and then address the NERV itself. Then we'll send an official message, and then the missives to all the branches."
"Will an hour be enough for you to prepare, Major?" he asked, caution obvious in his voice, along with a hint of worry.
"It should be", she replied confidently. "If I push this away, I'll never do it. And we have to give people something before the NERV is abuzz with rumors."
"That would be prudent", the Vice-Commander confirmed in a calm tone. "By your order, then. Department officers' meeting at 11:00 and general announcement once it is done."
"Correct. Let's hope there will be no riot as a result", the Major remarked bitterly, with just a hint of a crooked smile in the corner of her lips.
"I would be more worried about an Angel attack in the meantime", the Vice-Commander replied, his expression still deadpan. "NERV personnel, as you are very well aware, not to mention contribute to, is disciplined and competent. And now, if you excuse me, I have messages to send."
"I dearly hope you're right, Professor", Misato murmured to herself once the door of the secret office closed behind the man. "Or my tenure in this chair is going to be a short one…"
...
Maya Ibuki's apartment, 10:03
Doctor Ritsuko Akagi considered herself an experienced woman; she has seen a lot already in her life, and truly few things surprised her anymore.
But having witnessed Maya Ibuki's eagerness, willfulness, and creativity, she felt forced to revise this point of view. Especially after she realized a few, hitherto unknown to even her, uses of the–
An incoming message signal disrupted the mounting pleasure, interrupted her musings, and put a sudden pause into the younger woman's ministrations. Normally, they would have ignored it – but the fact that it sounded on both phones simultaneously indicated something quite important. "Um… I guess I better check it?" Maya declared sheepishly, freeing her hand and reaching for the device. "We're to go to NERV, sempai", she added a moment later. "It's marked urgent."
"Urgent?" Ritsuko furrowed her brow, unhappy with the interruption. "We're on fieldwork", she stated without missing a beat and openly ignoring the fact that the only work they did since the last evening was the hard labor of giving each other pleasure. "Let me see… oh wonderful, this is a command-level summon. What does that bastard want?"
"Sempai?"
"This is the kind of order only Commander and Vice-Commander can issue", Ritsuko explained with annoyance in her voice. "Not some 'I want to discuss something' or 'there is a minor emergency', this is literally 'come and stand at attention'. Or, if you want to be blunt, 'heel'", she finished with a crooked smile. "Well. I'm afraid our honeymoon has come to an end, Maya."
"I'm free this evening, sempai!" Maya declared without hesitation. "If you're willing… that is", she added meekly, almost as if she was suddenly scared by her own courage.
"I am, but let's see what we hear once we appear to the summon", Ritsuko replied with a smile; she had to admit, that despite all her doubts, the perspective of spending the evening – and the night – with the girl that was dressing in front of her right now was quite appealing. 'Whatever happened to me, this part became reality', a part of her mind registered. 'Be it my own autosuggestion, another facet of my fledgling schizophrenia, or an actual supernatural intervention, absurd as it may be… it worked. It worked splendidly. I want her. And… and I am fine with it. Perhaps I needed that push… no matter whence it came?' she concluded before carrying on with a smile on her face. "It might be that we end up spending that night together… working in the lab. Depends on what the matter is."
"It will be fine – as long as it is with you, sempai!" Maya declared with a radiant smile.
Ritsuko did her best to maintain a steady façade of her smile. 'You don't know even a small part of the nightmares I had my part in making, sweet Maya', she remarked grimly to herself. 'I wonder if your adoration and love will survive seeing even half of them… but we'll worry about that later', she decided as she suddenly realized that seeing the girl in front of her brush her short hair was evoking the not-too-obvious just adorable reaction. 'What did I get myself into again?' was her last thought before Maya spoke the words that made her aware of her own state:
"Sempai… I am the last person to tell you to put some clothes on… but you're going to need to before we go. I'd really hate the first day of this relationship to involve breaking you out of a police cell."
...
NERV command conference room, 11:20
The conference room was full of department heads – and dead quiet. The news delivered to them was most dire and most unexpected indeed.
"Do you have any questions?" Major Katsuragi, Acting Commander of NERV asked, doing her best to keep her voice level. She has been practicing this delivery for most of the little time she had – and it seemed that she delivered it quite well; at least the Vice-Commander's approving look was telling her that.
A wave of headshakes rippled across the room, starting from Doctor Akagi and ending with some Lieutenants whose names Misato would need to look up.
"Good", she nodded with hidden relief. "I expect you to hold to this information until I make the public announcement at noon. Dismissed!"
A few moments later, she was alone, with a heavy awareness of a difficult task ahead of her. She let out a sigh – and headed back to the secret office that seemed to become her sanctuary more and more with every passing moment.
As much as she hated public speaking, she knew there was nobody else to replace her in that role.
...
NERV HQ, 12:00
Major Misato Katsuragi took a deep breath, pressed the WIDE COMMUNICATION button, and followed it with the ALL NERV HQ button. The red diode lit up, indicating that from now on, she was broadcasting across the entire complex.
"Attention, all NERV personnel", she started, slowly reading the text she was preparing for the last thirty minutes, doing her best to maintain a level and professional tone. "This is Major Katsuragi speaking."
...
People across the entire building stopped their activities; hearing an HQ-wide announcement that was not a combat alarm was a rarity; having it delivered by someone who was not Commander Ikari was unheard of.
But despite that, not everyone seemed concerned.
"Hey, Cat-Chaser, you're going to stand and gawk, or you're going hand me that?" the old technician grumbled at Tensui Mochizuki as the boy stopped mid-movement as the Major's voice sounded from the speakers.
"But – but we just got called to attention?" he protested. "It's important?"
"Oh come on, boy, nobody's going to care if you listen", the man shrugged. "Now, hand me that spanner. Then you can listen, for all I care… as long as you also keep listening when I call for another tool. No matter what those up there have to say, we'll never hear it – unless the current flows!"
"Um. Yes", he spoke as he handed the tool to his superior – and turned his attention to the speakers, his ears burning red.
...
"I am speaking to you as the Acting Commander of NERV, by the procedures of the organization and with Vice-Commander's support", she continued, suddenly aware how odd this sounded, almost like she had orchestrated that change in power; yet, she knew that she had little choice but to carry on while doing her best not to think about the hundreds of people listening to her. "Commander Ikari, as of today's morning, has suffered a serious loss of health, making him incapable of performing his duties in the foreseeable future."
...
Sergeant Miyoshi smiled a crooked smile as she listened in. "[I guess someone finally snapped and fucked the old fuck up?]" she commented in a language of her ancestors, loud enough for a few people next to her to hear and wonder whether she was cursing him, cursing them, expressing regret, or issuing a particularly strange order – at least until they looked on her face. "[A dick up his ass and another on his name…]"
Those that worked with her recognized some of the words – and even if she never told them their meaning, they remembered when she tended to use them – and knew better than to ask.
Especially when she was smiling that kind of smile.
...
"Thus, as per NERV procedures and based on the decision of the Vice-Commander, I have assumed the position of the Acting Commander", she spoke the declaration with more emphasis than she intended – but it was either that or shaking voice. "The day-to-day operations will not change. I expect you all to carry on as you did before, to the best of your ability. The future of humanity rests on our shoulders. We must do this responsibility – justice", she finished, made a pause, and added, in a less speech-like tone: "And I know you will make me proud."
...
Corporal Shibutami was listening to the speech intently. "Teacher, what does this mean?" she turned to her instructor.
"That very little changes for us Corporal", the man replied with a shrug. "You're still going to finish your training, and you're still under evaluation."
She managed to contain the twitch of displeasure on her face; while she was indeed returned to the training program based on the recommendation of her commanding officer, her psychological evaluation was still in progress – so, she was not allowed to continue her firearms training, restricting her to hand-to-hand combat exercises and rather boring studies of procedures, laws, and regulations. Still, things were looking up for her – and she was not going to disappoint anyone again.
Of course, this did not stop her from asking questions. "The Headquarters is a rather safe place", she remarked. "And the Commander was here, wasn't he? With the inspection ongoing, and all that…"
"It's not our place to ask such questions, Shibutani-san", the man reminded her, his voice a tone sterner. "Now, remind me where were we before the announcement?"
"Exercise five – disarming a knife-wielding opponent", she recited without an error or hesitation. The fact that the instructor had a rubber knife replica in his hand was something of a hint, after all.
"Good. Show me", he said – and after half a second, the Corporal no longer had any time for thinking.
...
Major Misato Katsuragi pressed the CLOSE button, made sure the red diode was out – and collapsed into her chair; the only reason for not sliding down in was the fact that it was really deep – clearly made for someone larger than her – and able to hold her in place.
Her heart was pounding, her face was red, and her ears were burning with embarrassment. "'I know you will make me proud'… God, this was cheesy", she hissed to herself. "Just short of 'be good kids, mommy counts on you!'" she exclaimed to herself as her palm met her face. "God… I'm a shitty public speaker; at least the Commander rarely did this, so I don't have too big shoes to step into…"
"I'd say you didn't do half bad, Major", a sudden alto voice from nowhere made Misato jump.
"You!" she blurted out, seeing the familiar figure of the Inspector in the chair in front of the desk. "Are you following me?"
"Yes", Voland admitted openly. "And I am here to tell you that you did well. Just carry on like this, and this may work."
"I'd feel better if you said something like you're destined to succeed", she admitted bitterly.
"Well, Major", Voland smiled a crooked smile. "It depends on what you prefer: a useful truth, or a comforting lie?"
"Heh. You surely don't pull your punches", she replied with a sigh.
"You said that to me before", Voland shrugged. "And nothing has changed. As I told you before, I respect you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have trusted you with all this", they gestured widely, "at all."
"What awaits me if I fail… Professor?"
"Well, I told you what will happen in general. But if you're asking about yourself, personally… just your guilt, and consequences thereof", they replied with a shrug. "And whatever afterlife you believe in, coming soon after you die. But as I already told you: you have the seeds, you have the tools, you have the means… and I don't expect you to fail. And I am here because I believe that you could use an honest good word since you are unlikely to believe that of the Vice-Commander or your subordinates… your culture being what it is."
"Thanks, I guess", she gave Voland a look both thankful and doubtful. "But I'd really appreciate it if you did it in a way that wouldn't give me a heart attack."
"Of all your internal organs, your heart is not the one I would be worrying myself in your place", Voland shrugged. "But your request is noted. Not that we are going to see each other much more. The inspection is done, and you will receive a request for a closing meeting. Today, if possible."
"I can't say that I'm not glad, Inspector", she admitted openly. "You sure turned this place on its head, a feat I did not think possible for a–ah. Right", she let out a sigh as Voland smiled a crooked smile in response. "If I may ask…" she continued, "did you find what you wanted to find?" she asked, doing her best to keep her voice steady despite her growing weariness.
"Oh, by all means", Voland's smile straightened. "There are just a few more things to do, one more person to help… and then I shall be taking my leave altogether."
"Where to?" the Major asked just before realizing this was most likely not her best idea. Fortunately for her, her guest seemed to be in a good mood.
"To a place more peaceful than this Earth right now", Voland replied with a smirk – and they were gone, just as they appeared – between the blinks of her eye.
Major Misato Katsuragi took a deep breath and decided that writing the official e-mail message could wait for a few minutes. And there were a few more things she had to do – things that would make at least a few people unhappy.
Fortunately, dealing with unhappy people, especially when she had law and good arguments behind her, not to mention the support of the Vice-Commander, was the thing that worried her the least in all this.
...
Kitchen Assistant Souchi Nagai was having a good day; the announcement of the change on the top came as a surprise to him, but in the end, it was nothing but a distant thunder to him. After all, nobody above the manager of Catering Station Gimel – and perhaps the Human Resources department – was aware of his existence.
At least this is what he was telling himself. Truth be told, something has been bothering him for a while: since he completed a single strange order for a tuna, an order that involved delivering the dish to the ventilation system, with a request to pick up an empty bowl that came later, he was getting those with certain regularity – and, as he noticed, he was the only one to get them. Moreover, his schedule seemed to change, seemingly at random, to fall on days when the tuna was delivered and those odd orders were placed. When he asked his supervisor about the changes, all he heard was "MAGI optimize our work as they see fit, and you're getting paid to make sandwiches, not to ask questions", leaving him little more choice than to carry on.
And so, once another such order came today, he fulfilled it to the best of his ability, not giving it much thought – only for his superior, the man responsible for mentoring assistants, stop him as he was about to leave after his shift: "Nagai, a word."
"Yes, sir?" the boy stopped in his tracks. "Is there something wrong?"
"Quite the opposite", the usually grumpy man smiled. "Congratulations, Senior Kitchen Assistant Nagai!"
"Um… sir?" the boy asked in a tone of utter confusion.
"You're getting promoted! This just came from MAGI's evaluation reports, with a commendation", the man explained as he waved a piece of paper in his hand. "Keep this up, and you'll make Junior Cook in less than a year! Now, remember to report to Human Resources before your shift tomorrow and pick up the paperwork! Now, off with you!"
Souchi Nagai was well-versed in the ways of courtesy, so he was able to speak all the necessary thank-yous and reassurances pretty much automatically, despite the shock; he was also able to depart the kitchen backrooms without walking into anything.
And he refused to think of what just happened – especially that, for some reason, every display he looked at on his way out seemed to display, just for a fraction of a second, just for long enough for him and just him to notice it, the same text: "he liked it very much! thank you!" – with a shape of a heart made of pixels following the text.
'I am going crazy. Or our supercomputer really likes tuna… no. How can a computer like tuna? I'm going crazy', he concluded. 'But hey, at least I got a promotion!' he countered in his thoughts merrily, trying his best to ignore the message that blinked on the screen he just passed: "be safe! see you tomorrow!"
After all, working at NERV, even on such a low post, had enough perks to endure quite a lot of insanity.
...
Doctor Ritsuko Akagi entered the familiar office, a place she associated strong memories with and had a very strong love-and-hate relationship with as well – just as with the previous occupant of it.
'I truly wonder how Katsuragi will be different… even if this is temporary, even if she said "day-to-day operations won't change", I wonder how different it will be. Well, one thing's for sure… "no make-up days" are going to be a thing until they fix Gendo's sorry butt…' she mused as she slowly approached and stood under the representation of Malkuth and looked at the current occupant of the office expectantly. She might have requested the meeting, yes, she might have a rather anger-inducing business to take care of, and this was her old friend – but right now, that friend was behind the Commander's desk with Vice-Commander standing behind her. Not to mention, they had a serious fight just a few days ago and barely spoke to each other ever since.
"Come closer, Doctor", the Major requested in a raised voice that was still less audible that the voice of Gendo Ikari's in the past. "We didn't have time to move the desk or put the proper chairs in, but I'm not going to yell. And if you want to ask me how the Commander managed to whisper and still be heard by someone in your current spot, don't bother – we don't know."
"I might have a theory… Commander? Major?" the Doctor started as she approached.
"'Major' will do. It's 'Acting Commander', I'm not going to be in this seat forever", the Major shrugged. "Now, before I ask you about that theory, I believe you have something to say… and I have a good idea what that might be", she continued with a sigh. "Please hurry, we have the inspection's final meeting in half an hour."
"Don't worry, I'll be brief: you're depriving me of my most valuable employee, Major", Doctor Akagi started, her confusion gone the moment she was allowed to let her anger out. "Without consulting me. Why?"
"This is a consultation, Doctor", the Major replied, her tone of voice gaining a sturdier note. "She was appointed Acting Director of the Tactical Division, in a mostly administrative capacity, not a–"
"Maya – Lieutenant Ibuki is a vital asset to my department!" Doctor Akagi burst out, eliciting a momentarily surprised expression on the Major's face and a raised eyebrow from the Vice-Commander – a gesture that did not elude the Doctor's attention. "Sorry", she shook her head. "But my point stands: she is vital to my department", she insisted in a lower voice.
"She is also the only officer with both the necessary security clearance and sufficient experience with Evangelion units to act as my temporary replacement. You are well aware that my work in that position extended well beyond just commanding the Units in battle, and I will have no time for that part now. And–" the Major raised her hand, seeing that the Doctor was opening her mouth to protest "–if you wanted to say that she has no tactical training, you'd be right. Hence, she's being appointed in the administrative capacity only. I intend to command the forces in battle myself. The Commander is expected to be present during the battle, so I'll be happy to let the Lieutenant stay on her regular station… as long as I know she made sure the Units are in their best shape before the shooting began."
"The Science Department's work will suffer because of that", the Doctor pulled another argument.
"Post an opening for another full-time technician. I'll approve it", the Major replied with a sigh. "And I expect you to fill it with someone competent as soon as possible. But Lieutenant Ibuki is going to take over most of my administrative and logistic duties, starting tomorrow morning; this decision is not open for debate. Once the dust settles", she made the shortest pause, wondering whether she was not saying too much, "we will work on a more permanent solution where I would surely consider your input."
Doctor Akagi mulled over those words for a few seconds. 'Okay, I hate this, but she's not wrong. Especially since even Ikari didn't know when the next attack would come. I'm glad she doesn't know everything that happened recently, though… then she'd snatch Maya from me immediately', she mused before replying: "As you command, Major. I merely wonder why you chose Lieutenant Ibuki in lieu of Hyuga or Aoba."
"Isn't it obvious? She is the most knowledgeable about Evangelions", the Major explained matter-of-factly. "By the virtue of working with you a lot, of course. The others are competent, yes, but she is the best – this is the impression I got from your personnel reports. Were they perhaps… inaccurate?"
Doctor Akagi could only shake her head – and admit that while Major Katsuragi surely lacked the steely glare and cold charisma of Gendo Ikari, she was by no means a weak leader.
And she was certainly not to be underestimated.
...
Lieutenant Shigeru Aoba did not like to sleep right after his night shift; he did it only if he had two of them in a row – and as unforgiving and demanding employer NERV was, the managers were aware that this was not a work mode to use too often for people whose work required remaining alert at all times and whose mistakes could easily lead to the loss of irreplaceable equipment, not to mention the death of thousands.
Of course, that meant that at the end of the day following the night shift, he was sleepy, tired, and not very capable of doing anything that needed focus. And thus, when the e-mail alert went up on the computer terminal in his apartment, it took him a few long minutes to comprehend what was going on – and to shrug it off with some hope in his heart. After all, no matter how he respected Commander Ikari, this respect was compounded with a large amount of fear; Major Katsuragi, while commanding similar respect, seemed to care more about people's lives.
And with such thoughts, he went through his evening routine and headed to his bed.
It was only a few seconds before his eyes closed when the realization struck.
The capsule. The announcement. The identity of the man inside.
He saw it. He would have been the first to know. He could have spread the supposed news and he would be the center of attention for at least a moment.
And he wasted that opportunity.
Shigeru Aoba was definitely not feeling his best at the moment.