I do not own the rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion, or any of the characters, equipment, or locations written in this fanfiction. The purpose of this fanfiction is merely for the non-profit enjoyment of other readers. If requested by Gainax, Hideki Anno, or other parties which represent aforementioned objects in this story, I will remove it promptly.
Chapter XII:
"You start attending Shinji's class in a week?" Ritsuko asked while we ate breakfast. With Shinji's help, we had purchased just enough groceries, dishware, and linens to keep the doctor and I living like civilized human beings for a week or two. By then I had determined to have the forged documents made, and as long as the now brunette Akagi could remember her alias, we could start arranging her new financial situation.
"Yeah," I answered. "I still do not know how to speak Japanese, but Misato assures me I will be considered an exchange student, so that will take some of the pressure off. Do you think you could help tutor me a little?"
Akagi nodded. "I have nothing better to do," she sighed. I wished there was a way the doctor could've enjoyed herself more, but until the forged documents were made, she couldn't risk interacting with the rest of the world. As it was, the residents of Tokyo-3, from the grocery store cashiers to her old friends, would easily identify her unless she was significantly disguised.
It had taken an hour or two to convince the woman to dye her hair to a dark brunette. I suppose I understood her desire not to look like her mother, but I was always convinced after watching Episode 21 that she was far more attractive as a brunette. Blonde women, especially the bleach blondes going for the Paris Hilton look, just annoy me.
"Well, after the Sixteenth Angel attacks, we will have a four day vacation, all expenses paid," I replied. "We will be far away enough to avoid contact with NERV, and you can apply for U.S. citizenship. It will be safer there." This seemed to catch the doctor off guard. She reacted even stronger when I asked "Have you ever been to the United States?"
"Once," Ritsuko answered. "Wait, how did you manage that?"
I held out the digital camera I had purchased with Kensuke the previous night along with our gear. "If I can get a few pictures for some forged identification, we have tickets to California, passports, even driver's licenses in about five days." Ritsuko's face went pale, the woman realizing I was serious. "Before you ask, Gendo is quite easy to manipulate, if you know his weaknesses."
"Is that what the cases are about?"
I nodded. "Part of my price to work for NERV."
"But you still haven't answered, what are in the boxes?"
"I cannot tell you, not just yet," I sighed. "Let us just say they are insurance policies for a few friends."
Ritsuko grumbled. She knew I wasn't going to say anymore. She stood up, getting ready to head out the door, when I rushed after her. "You know you can't go outside!" I snapped. "Section Two is still patrolling, and if you hadn't noticed, they have been very interested in following me."
"I will not live here if I cannot trust you!" Akagi shouted back. "What are in the boxes?"
I sighed, and gripped the woman's hand, dragging her to the room. She resisted, but once I made my way to the boxes, she understood. At least, I thought she understood, because when I drew my folding knife, she cringed and retreated a few steps. "All I've heard is what's in the case, what's in the box, what are you doing?" I snarled. "Fine, you want to know what's in the boxes? LOOK!"
Slicing the boxes open along the packing tape, I set the covering layers of blankets on the floor, and gripped the rifle in my hands. "Armalite M4," I said, presenting the weapon in my hands. "It's a beautiful weapon. Collapsible buttstock, carbine barrel with the birdcage muzzle break, and just for the pleasure of it, the M-203 grenade launcher. For convenience, I switched to a Colt lower receiver, so it will be compatible with all NATO military AR-15s." Watching the doctor stumble back into the kitchenette, I set the weapon back, and went for the next.
"Romanian AKM assault rifle, the post 1956 version of the AK-47," I smiled venomously. "You can tell by the stamped steel receiver, instead of a milled receiver found in the earlier models. It's very common, so common, in fact, if you have to shoot your way out of a third world country, you will have the advantage that every other man trying to kill you will be a walking source of ammo." I held out the weapon to Ritsuko. "Feel the weight. It's not much, and it kicks harder than the M4, but it's simpler to use, won't jam easily, and delivers more stopping power."
Ritsuko trembled as she gripped the weapon. It was obvious she didn't feel comfortable with it. But I wasn't finished yet. "Now, for our anti-material needs," I grinned, cracking open the huge elongated box in the corner. "This is the South African Denel NTW-20 anti-material rifle in 14.5 by 114 millimeter Russian." The weapon was huge, weighing approximately 29 kilograms. I had to set it diagonally along the floor, as the barrel was over a meter long. For convenience, I added a 15x 50 millimeter scope. It would be hard to find targets at that range, but that's what a spotter was for. "One of these will easily take out some aircraft. Now, would you also like to see more in the way of small arms, or is this enough?"
Ritsuko stumbled out into the kitchenette, and ate her breakfast in shocked silence.
•••••••••••••
It wasn't until later that afternoon I would be required at NERV for more synch testing and combat training. Until then, I had some time to purchase the remaining necessities for the apartment. It was slow work, primarily because I couldn't read any of the signs or ask the various sales representatives in the stores where things were. However, the other problem was making sure Ritsuko wasn't spotted.
We had gone out and purchased her new sets of dresses, t-shirts, and slacks, the doctor preferring khakis over jeans. Wearing a scarf wrapped casually around her neck and a pair of large, dark sunglasses, it was quite difficult to tell she was the same woman. As much as she wanted to dress the same as before, I discouraged it. "The less you look and act like your old self, the better," I muttered to her when no one was paying attention. "It's only for a while."
The small cargo van we had rented served our needs perfectly, shuttling the supplies back and forth from the apartment. The thought of purchasing a car had been filling my head for quite some time, but buying a vehicle would be a trade-off of utility and style. I knew precisely what I wanted, but it kept occurring to me a small Chevy S-10 or moderately powered van with some decent towing capacity would be more practical. There was at least one factor I would settle on right then and there. If I was going to buy a vehicle, unless it were a motorcycle, it would be American.
"Have you decided on a name yet?" I asked as we sat and ate our lunch.
The doctor glared at me, setting her hands on the table. "I have had just about enough of this!" she said, her voice ice cold. "You are making me change everything I am, and being incredibly pushy. Has anyone told you how arrogant you are?"
"Yes, all the time," I answered dryly. "But this is what has to be done, unless you would like to be captured by Section Two." I sighed, leaning back into the chair, staring up at the ceiling. "Gendo will just kill you, anyway. You are no longer of use to him, and while I do enjoy your company, if necessary I can always move back in with Misato. We are on a time-critical schedule here, and I need to know what you intend to call yourself before I have these documents made up."
"But my new identity doesn't matter now!" she exclaimed. "There is no one around for kilometers who even remembers me!" This was true, of course. But that was not the point of learning our new identities and using them even amongst each other. For me, my reason was the fact I had no true identity in this world except what I had invented.
"The point is to become comfortable with your story," I said calmly. "What happens if someone calls you Ritsuko, or Doctor Akagi, and you instinctively react to it? It's a simple enough trap, and can be used by anyone." The doctor nodded in understanding. "It would be far easier to do this if Kaji were still alive. His connections could possibly have been a way to offer you some kind of protection."
The doctor cringed for a moment, her eyes drawn down to the floor in reflection. "That is... not an option, so do not spend time thinking about what cannot be done," she said. It was cold, but it was factual. While being with her was comforting, there were those moments I had to question why I bothered to let any of the people in Tokyo-3 live. Each one, regardless of age, had one reason or another they deserved to die.
•••••••••••••
"You are... doing well," Maya called out over the entry plug speakers. The L.C.L. was certainly easier to breathe, and I did feel somewhat in tune with Unit-02. However, this was the test plug, not the actual Evangelion. While Shinji and Rei sat next to me in their respective test plugs, I watched Asuka glare directly at me from the observation window of the control room. I knew I was taking everything away from her, but she had the opportunity to redeem herself after I was finished with the others. Also, if she was going to slowly recover her ability to synch with Unit-02, it would be better for her pride to do it alone, until she was comfortable with the level of her performance again.
The whole situation irritated me, watching how people were used, and those same people using others. Staring back at Asuka through the small video display of the test plug, I felt the back of my brain begin to throb. The pit of my stomach started to itch from the inside, the thoughts racing faster through my mind. Gendo, Seele, all of these vermin, all working together to destroy everything great about humanity. "Your... synch increasing by... three-point-two percent," Ibuki stuttered. I could hear panic in her voice. "Still increasing... now five percent."
The nature of the Eva was simple enough to grasp. They hated the people who created them, even hated their existence. They belonged more with the enemy we were killing than the allies we were protecting, the very allies which would lead to our destruction. There was definitely more than enough rage in each construct to make for a very interesting psych evaluation had they been human. Of course, at one point, they had been human, and that was perhaps the greatest source of rage I found.
"Umm... there is...problem," Maya said, her head seeming to twitch with each word. "Unit-02... we are...shutting it down." Asuka folded her arms on the catwalk handrail, resting her head on them for support. I thought I could see her lips moving, as if she were muttering to herself. It didn't surprise me, but again it just added fuel to the fire. I could feel the adrenaline working it's way slowly through my veins. "Susan, we are cutting synch!" Misato snapped. The microphone was tripped just long enough to make out a couple words.
Maya and Misato had pulled me aside, and agreed upon a limited but effective vocabulary of Japanese for me to communicate with the technicians during the Eva's activation and synch testing. The two words I distinctly remember before I was pulled from Unit-02's test plug were "contamination," and "feedback." As the high pitched whine of the L.C.L. coolant pump motors slowed to a stop, there was a hint of a feeling that struck my mind. The best way to describe it is like hearing your thoughts echo. While I knew I had let a similar thought slip through my mind, this one was slightly different, and I'm fairly certain it didn't come from me.
'Justice,' an indistinct, grunting voice seemed to say.
"No," I said in response. "Justice is too slow, too difficult. What we do must be swift, decisive, and precise. What the world needs is a vengeful cleansing. It needs... punishment."
•••••••••••••
"What did you do to my Eva?" Asuka snapped at me while I showered. Even as a guy, dressing or performing any compromising activity around others of the same gender was unsettling. I dislike others, and I hate them even more when they watch me. My goal in life has always been the same. I was a silent, invisible observer of humanity, existing only as a name on file to make my presence legal.
Therefore, Asuka's constant hounding, especially while I was undressed in the locker room and she wore her plugsuit, disturbed me.
"What do you mean, what did I do?" I snarled, still looking straight ahead in the shower stall. The Second Child was to my left, and glanced over my figure. "Damnnit, eyes up here, pervert!"
"Don't you dare imply that I was admiring your miniscule features, Fifth! Even for a boy in a woman's body, you are pathetic!"
Shutting off the scalding hot water, the only true way to enjoy a shower, I wrapped a towel around myself and scowled. "You deprive me of my privacy, accuse me of sabotaging your Eva, and then humiliate me by mocking what I can't control? You know, the last time I checked, I have a decent enough rack that Kensuke didn't look up too much, and just because you aren't getting any action doesn't mean you can take it out on me!"
"You sick little pervert!" she screamed.
"No, get it right, Kraut! I'm a sexist, capitalist pig! And just for your information, I have a girlfriend back in my world, so you can forget trying your dirty talk." Soryu's mouth immediately slammed shut, her eyes widened. Looking back on it, I must admit I broke every single guideline for preventing verbal abuse and harassment at NERV dealing with Asuka. However, the redhead had it coming. To my surprise, the girl started laughing.
"I don't see how anyone could care for you, Fifth!" Asuka cackled. "You're too much trouble!"
"Anyway," I grumbled, making my way to my locker, turning the combination lock a few times. "You were saying something about Unit-02?" This brought the girl's anger back in full force, but now it was more subdued, her voice reduced to a whisper. She crept behind me, glaring while I dressed as quickly as possible.
"I can't synch anymore," she breathed, her voice cracking. The minute I had a blue polo shirt and jeans on, I guided the dejected pilot to sit on the bench in between the lockers. "It... Unit-02 won't even register a percentage anymore!" she breathed, her voice letting out raspy curses I dare not repeat. There was nothing I could do, but I had to think of something.
"Was there anything different... in the test plug?"
"Of course there was, stupid!" Asuka snapped. "I didn't synch!"
"No!" I growled. "Asuka, what was different about the plug?" As brilliant as Asuka was, when it came to the Eva, she was clueless. "Feedback from the Eva, the L.C.L. pressure, hell, even the temperature inside the plug, was any of it different?" Soryu was giving me an odd look.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Asuka," I growled under my breath. My hands found their way to her wrists, fingers clenching down to the point the girl winced, trying to pull away from my hold. "It has EVERYTHING to do with it! The Eva is a living, thinking creature, NOT just a mech. For God's sake, your MOTHER is in that thi-"
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER!"
I immediately stood up, put on my pair of sneakers, and walked out of the locker room. "I told you before, Asuka. Whether you want to accept it or not, she is in the Eva, and if you ever expect to pilot again, you better start trying to settle whatever issues you have with her." Of course, I was in no position to talk, but I knew what had to be done. "Your mother did not want to abandon you."
I was nearly to the door when I felt two thin hands shove hard into my back. I immediately toppled to the floor, the redhead sitting on my back, driving her fists between my shoulder blades. In a second her hands were around my neck, forcing my head into the tiled floor. "Don't you DARE!" Soryu sobbed. I couldn't believe I was actually hearing the girl cry. "Never! Never talk about her like that! She abandoned me, and your lies won't change anything!"
I gave up, allowing myself to go limp as the redhead started to apply more pressure to my jugular. "She didn't leave by choice!" I hesitantly spoke, my voice strained as my air supply was cut off. Everything started to go dark.
"Then who's to blame?" Soryu screamed. Immediately I tried to reply, but I could barely stay awake. My lungs and chest were burning in pain, my vision going to red, then black. "ANSWER ME!" the Second Child barked again.
"Seele, and Commander Ikari," I gasped, just as everything went silent.
End of Chapter XII
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I suppose this will work for Chapter 12. Comments/questions, please submit a review.
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