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 XIII:
I had never wondered why Shinji complained so much in the series about unfamiliar ceilings. To me, being in a new place, particularly if you spent any length of time living there, was a good thing, such as living in the college dorms. While I don't drink, party, or make many human contacts, just being in a new space away from old friends and family was a benefit in itself. It means you are living in a place where there are no haunting reminders of the past you don't want to remember.
As such, when I gained consciousness in the examination room, the same room I had been in for those first days in this world, I wasn't completely annoyed. It was a familiar enough place, the pattern of white and grayscale ceiling panels having a distinct arrangement. However, the familiarity was tied only with the pleasant memories away from the torture of Section Two, the cold, dark imprisonment of the brig, and the unwavering fear of uncertainty in the Katsuragi household.
No, this room meant two things. First, it meant I was alive, and whatever my injuries, they would be resolved. Second, and more importantly, it meant I had at least the doctor and whoever found my unconscious body in the locker room on my side. While there was no guarantee of it, a potential third premise was that Asuka had been restrained, and would get at least some kind of psychological attention. Attacking a fellow coworker or superior, I found out, usually led to a lengthy conversation with the local shrink. Regardless of NERV's operating principles, pleading not-guilty by reason of insanity was still valid in the Post-Impact world, and I was certain quite a few people in the GeoFront could use that argument.
"I do not understand how you do it," Misato sighed, standing over me. I couldn't see her face, as the fluorescent lighting blotted out her figure into a dark silhouette, but the outline was hers. I wanted to sit up, but resting her hand between my collar bones, Katsuragi pinned me to the examination table.
"Don't even think of getting up," Doctor Reynolds' voice boomed from the doorway as he strode in, wearing the usual labcoat, black slacks, blue dress shirt and tie I had expected. "Asphyxiation and head trauma aren't something you can just walk off."
The major folded her arms, glaring at me. "The doctors tell me if you continue being bludgeoned once a week, there could be significant neurological damage. Your body cannot heal if you continuously injure it."
"Somehow, I doubt Asuka is concerned with my health," I mumbled, a weary smile on my face. No, it was a half smile, as the left side of my face did not move. Panicking, I tried blinking my eyes, and only received a wink. Moving my jaw resulted in pain, but at least I had free range of motion there. Then I tried my left arm, from shoulder rotation to balling my fist, and found those responded normally. Whatever had happened, it meant the muscles controlling the entire left side of my face were compromised, but nothing else seemed to be affected. "What... happened?"
"It looks as if some of your facial nerves were injured," Reynolds said, walking over to my side again. "It was probably the way you were pinned. From your unusual arrival, the beating you took today, and the one from a few days ago, it seems you favor falling on your left. The damage looks like it's temporary, but should last up to two weeks, maybe longer." How I had gained this streak of bad luck in this world, I would never know, but I had to start taking more precautions. There was still a lingering doubt in my mind that I would be staying in this world much longer. If I ever did leave, it would most likely occur during the Third Impact. However, just because I was renting this body didn't mean I was going to drink and get into bar fights until I was toothless, blind, and pissing blood.
"Your left eye," Reynolds continued, "took the brunt of the damage." He held up a penlight, telling me to track it's motion as he waved it left and right. No matter how hard I tried, though, I could not follow the light source. Neither did my eye properly dilate when light shone into the pupil. However, my right eye followed the commands with ease. "I was afraid of that. You'll have to wear an eyepatch, and keep your eyelid taped down. I want to see you again in a week for an evening appointment. We'll do a more thorough diagnosis then, and hopefully we'll start seeing an improvement."
"Is Asuka okay?" I asked, tilting my head towards Misato.
"She is... busy," the major answered.
"She's stuck talking with the hospital psychiatrist, and depending on his vote, her pilot status could be terminated immediately," Ben replied. "What in the world did you do to set her off?"
I sighed. "I gave her advice about improving her synch ratio."
Misato cringed, her folded arms tightening around each other. "How can you be so stupid?"
"Do you honestly think I want to take over piloting for Asuka?" I shouted back, the lack of air making me feel a tad dizzy. "I want to pilot, but not at her expense."
Katsuragi snapped "Then why did you volunteer to pilot Unit-02?" That was a good question, and it trapped me into giving away my position on NERV. I had told them I knew about Asuka's declining ratio, and how I would be willing to pilot Unit-02 on stand-by. From the very beginning, my intent was to replace the Second Child, but it was not meant to hurt her or take away what dignity she had.
"Asuka is too nice of a person to be burdened with mankind's sins," I snarled, and disregarding the doctor's warnings, sat up to confront the operations director. "I chose to pilot because I am willing to take the burden. However, until she is smart enough to realize she shouldn't pilot, I will stand by her decisions."
Either by random chance or God modeling Himself after Gendo, the klaxon alarm sounded. I could make out just enough to understand I was needed at the Cage. "I just hope Asuka has it out of her system," the major said. "Get to Unit-02. Asuka has one more chance, but I want you in the plug!"
"Yes, ma'am!" I answered, turning to the doctor. Reynolds protested, but standing up, I took a bandage, taping my left eye shut, and slipped the eyepatch on. My legs felt unsteady under my weight, and seeing this, I was shocked to find Misato at my side, wrapping my left arm around her shoulders.
"Why are you doing this?" the major asked as we both stumbled to the Cage. I glanced over to the major, my head feeling light. "You hate me, don't you?"
"I agree with your desire for vengeance," I answered. "I would gladly support you, only if you were willing to put the burden solely on yourself." Katsuragi scowled at me, until I continued, the right side of my face pulled into a pleading look. "Rei is in danger. She will die in this battle unless things change. Regardless of what happens, the minute there is any sign of trouble, pull the neural connections, and forcibly eject Unit-00's plug."
"Do not forget, I am your commanding officer," the major growled under her breath. I nodded in agreement, and continued forward to the elevator. In the event of an emergency, and I thought this was a very nice procedure, each emergency elevator was automatically shut down, and returned to strategically located levels. It was a two minute walk, and it was the most painful, aggravating walk I've had to make. However, it did not last as long as it could have.
We stepped into the elevator, and I watched Misato slip her NERV I.D. card into a vertical slit just below the emergency stop button. The doors slid shut, and a warning message appeared both in Japanese and English over an LCD screen beside the floor indicator, identifying the major. "When this is over, I will teach you everything," Katsuragi breathed over the humming motor during the descent. "You must be aware of all emergency procedures."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I will... make sure nothing happens to Rei."
"Thank you, ma'am."
•••••••••••••
"What happened to you?" Soryu exclaimed as I climbed into the entry plug, the eyepatch still over my left eye. My black plugsuit was still damp from the prior synch testing, though enough had dried that the suit was stiff in certain places. It made crawling into the plug rather awkward. The Second Child cursed and protested, but I pushed her aside, and sat down in the reclined seat. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked.
"You did this!" I snapped back. Asuka was confused for a moment, especially since the left side of my face did not move. "You killed off half the nerves in my face! I can't even blink anymore!" Soryu turned her head and stared. I saw her mouth draw into a frown for a second. "Well... you just got in my way!" she answered defiantly.
"Asuka, we will talk about this later!" Misato snapped. "Unit-02, prepare to launch." The Second Child shrank back in her seat, but glared as if I was the one at fault. The entry plug hatch slid shut, and the L.C.L. began to pressurize. By this time I would have started my normal routine of dialogue, but I would not show any weakness in front of this girl.
There is a slight disorientation when the entry plug screws into the spinal column socket of the Eva, the same kind of feeling you get when swimming upside-down in water. I suggested to Maya the entry plug cockpit could be mounted on bearings, allowed to freely rotate axially within the the shell. Then again, by the time I had made this suggestion, there really was no more need for the Eva series, or so the others thought.
Maya called out as the various stages were taken up during synchronization. The restraints lifted, and I felt Unit-02 jerk forward slightly as the catapult trolley rolled into place. The Eva must have arrived without prior detection, because the Eva was being rushed to the catapult, many of the safety measures being skipped to save for time. "Unit-02, launch!" Asuka shrieked.
The pit of my stomach sank to merge with the rest of my intestines, and I felt the right side of my face pull down like a swatch of elastic. the ascent, for as quickly as it lasted, was murder. I could tell the catapult was ramped up to a higher acceleration than normally used. With the Fifteenth Angel, the acceleration was maybe half as intense. But this time, as we rocketed to the surface, the pain was so intense all my other senses just faded. I could have sworn my remaining eye went to grayscale, and I could barely hear as Rei called out she prepared to launch.
"Thank you, Misato," I mumbled under the roar of the catapult.
•••••••••••••
The second the catapult came to a stop, Asuka shoved the controls forward. However, the Eva did not respond. "Why won't you move?" she screamed. "I can't lose again!" I stared ahead through the goggles at the plug's virtual display. The Angel was rotating harmlessly above the surface, but I knew it would just be a matter of time before it would attack. It would wait until we made a move. Asuka, however, would not be able to control the Eva.
"Maya, synch ratios?" I asked in Japanese. It was one of the few questions and phrases I had learned to speak effectively, if not fluently. My hands twitched, and I thought I saw the Angel begin to descend closer to the surface. Whatever we had to do, we had to do it now. Standing still out in the open was just asking for trouble.
"Synch is 52 percent for Ikari, and...," Ibuki began to say. As Soryu cursed and smacked the control yokes, I heard her begin to sob. "It is... below operation for Soryu." The instant the words came out, I felt the redhead pull away from me, and to my astonishment, she smacked her forehead hard against the forward control panel.
"Beating yourself up is not going to help," I began, "but I know how you feel."
"WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY KNOW?" Asuka shot back. Her forehead was bleeding, but that did not stop her from assaulting the cockpit with her fists. Then she turned on me, her eyes wide like a predator homing in on its next meal. I looked over the girl's shoulder, and to my horror, noticed the Angel uncoiling.
With a swift uppercut to the girl's jaw, Asuka was distracted enough to toss aside with little effort. While I'm not a fan of girls going for the anorexic moviestar look, they definitely are easier to deal with if they try something funny. She glanced up at me, eyes glazed over. Setting her into the seat, I leaned forward, gripping the controls, and threw Unit-02 forward.
The speed was incredible. Immediately the Angel responded, charging towards our location. To my horror, I saw another catapult open and discharge the blue Unit-00 not two miles away. By now I was familiar enough with the controls to operate the tac radio and perform straight-line maneuvers without glancing down at the displays. "Rei, get out of there!" I shouted. "Misato, open Catapults Three and Four Alpha."
"This is Commander Ikari," Gendo's voice growled at nearly a whisper. "You will engage the target."
"Not without a plan I won't!" I snapped back. "This Angel's strategy is to penetrate the Eva's A.T. Field. We need multiple prog knives and Unit-01 deployed with a positron rifle to properly silence it. Units-00 and 02 will engage in close combat to pin the target, while Unit-01 can shoot it down."
"Listen, Susan!" Misato growled. "You are to follow our orders!"
I was running out of time. The Angel was approaching, and to my horror, Rei was advancing to take her position with a rifle. "I swear, women should never be allowed out of the kitchen!" I grumbled, changing direction and moving parallel to Ayanami. "Rei, talk to me!"
"Yes Pilot...Ikari?" the albino replied.
"Retreat to the hills, and take a position to snipe the target."
"Susan!" the major yelped. "What in God's name are you doing?" However, I ignored Katsuragi and continued to advance towards the Angel. Rei was about to say something, but I watched her face in the visual display draw back in fear. "Rei! What is wrong?" But Misato had her answer about five seconds later. That is about the time I heard her gasp and scream at me. "Susan!"
The Evangelion, I found, had an impressive top speed just below Mach 1. I was told later it could have gone faster, but playing chicken with the Sixteenth Angel, I didn't want to go any faster than I was certain the Eva could not quickly maneuver. "Sorry, can't talk and play chicken!" I shouted a little too loudly. I could see Asuka's face pale in the corner of my eye, the girl scrambling back into the seat.
"Get the prog knife!" she screamed into my ear. She reached towards the controls just as I smacked them away, pressing the release switches myself. Soryu's hands shrank back, and I watched her pull her legs close to her chest. She was no longer afraid, but more depressed. She understood now she really couldn't do anything, and whether or not we came out of this situation alive would be by blind luck rather than my lack of skill.
The Angel was closer now, almost on top of us as I reached up to the prog knife in the right shoulder palette. After two failed attempts to retrieve the knife, the Angel was way too close. Try grabbing an empty soda can taped to your shoulder sometime at a full-out run, and then throw in the difficulty of trying to tell a construct to do it through a joystick. That's pretty much what it felt like. I had to stop immediately and reach for it, but doing so would allow the Angel to kill me easily.
Unfortunately, I was too late.
End of Chapter XIII
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Yes! Finally got to the Sixteenth Angel, but it does feel a little rushed. Of course, that sort of adds to the tension, and I don't want this story to drag on too long (I can't stand more than a 25 chapter fanfic).
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