Evangelion: Deterioration
The lights, as white and fluorescent and ever-blinding as they were, didn't bother the man sitting cuffed to a metal bench. He wore a large mask that covered the front of his face, bearing the mark of seven eyes. His arms and legs were both caught by chains that contained him in the corner of the prison cell. He was stuck in that sitting position, waiting for whatever the guards outside decided to do next. But they never did much; everyday passed with lunch and dinner and nothing more. Whatever more there was to life wasn't evident to the prisoner. All he knew now was this prison.
Above the cell's airtight metallic door were the words "A Monument of Man's Sin" had been inscribed into the black lining that covered the corners of each dimension of the cell. The prisoner didn't know what sins he had committed; he thought of all his past actions as deeds for his friends. The guards treated him like a newspaper blowing in the wind and the psychiatrists that visited him almost daily saw him as a lab rat ripe for studying. But all he truly wanted was an arguably sane reason for being in that place, and he was never given one.
The door opened with a chunk, and in walked the recognizable Dr. Muira. The prisoner had seen her face too many times that he couldn't keep count. Instead of being a welcoming sight, however, she dropped his stomach into the bowels of his body. He knew that was about to be faced with more questions and mentally picked and prodded as an object rather than a human being.
"Good morning." She said, pulling a tin chair from the opposite corner of the room and plopping herself onto it. The prisoner said nothing in return.
"Do you have any thoughts to share?"
He said nothing.
"Alright. Well…" She looked down at her clipboard, reading a long list of items through her thin glasses.
"The guards tell me you've been eating more regularly and most of what they give you. That's good improvement. Hmm… oh, yes. They say you've gained eight pounds. That's very excellent for a man of your… physique."
She had no need to tell the prisoner that he was thin. He knew that very well. Under his black jumpsuit his ribs poked out from under his skin, and his arms were more bone than flesh. The last time he had seen his own face his skin dipped into his skull under his cheek bone. His very skin grew whiter every passing day.
"I'm glad that you're taking care of yourself a bit more. They say if you keep that up you may be out of this facility in a short while."
"That's a lie", he finally spoke up.
"Hm?"
"They always say that." His voice was slightly muffled under the red mask. On her paper, Dr. Muira began to write down what the prisoner had said.
"It's just what they wanted me to tell you, is all. I know nothing about lies." Miura rose from her chair and pushed it back into the corner she got it from. "I'll be meeting you back here later today; this was just your morning checkup. I'll be on my way." She was about to turn to get to the door when she spotted the prisoner's name tag on the ground face down. She knelt down and saw that it had been torn off of his jumpsuit. "Oh, you must've peeled it off because of your boredom again, haven't you? Oh, well I'll tell them to sow it back on or give you a new one soon." Miura placed the name tag in the palms of the prisoner and without another word left him alone in the cell. With nothing to do but sit and wait for her return later, the prisoner played with the name tag in his hands. Looking at it and revealing it's front side, he read what it displayed shamefully: "Prisoner a1 Shinji Ikari".
…
The sun was already setting under the vast red landscape, shifting the colors of the sky to a purplish-orange as it all faded into the night. The calls of cicadas had ceased and gave way to a warm silence that echoed without noise throughout the ruins of the city. Slowly the lights of Installation Death-Site 2 began to turn on, illuminating the roads carved out of the blood red ground and the small buildings that dotted the area. The white of the structures of the facility contrasted the harsh reds and purple sky above.
"You know, I don't like what the captain has in store for the plan."
"That's all she can do, Shinichi. You know Akagi works hard for ZWEITE." Monika tried to persuade her partner as they drove down the narrow straight road through the blood valley.
"I guess, but really trying to convince them to give us that genocidal bastard? She has to be insane."
"Sometimes I think we all are. Hey, read to me that dossier she handed to us. I wanna know more about this kid."
Shinichi reached into his bag that sat between his carseat and the door, and pulled out a small white folder. Printed onto the front was "Classified Info: Subject A1", and "Official Eyes Only". He opened it and began to read.
"Ikari, Shinji. Born June 6th 2001. This kid is pretty weird if you ask me. Looks like he was an outcast as a child. Here, it says 'severe abandonment issues, suffers from trauma and attachment issues as well'."
"His dad, Ghendo. He was head of NERV. From what I heard he was as odd as his son. I can see him trying to get rid of his own kid."
"'Incident in focus: December 26th, 2015. At 1400 hours a blue signal was detected in NERV HQ. Operatives were quick to find that the Fifth Child, Kaworu Nagisa, was an angel and had begun his descent towards Terminal Dogma'. What's that?"
"It's where they kept Lilith, I think." Monika stopped the car on the side of the road under a light to look at the paper along with Shinichi.
"Oh, ok. Well, it says that 'Ikari was deployed in Evangelion Unit 01 to combat the angel. In Terminal Dogma Ikari fought against the angel's controlled Unit 02. Unit 02 was swiftly defeated, and Ikari confronted angel. Angel gave itself up for Ikari and allowed itself to be killed. Ikari complied'".
"Well that doesn't sound so bad. Does it say how he tried starting the Third Impact?" Monika read over Shinichi's shoulder.
"Yeah, hold on. You're getting my light, back off."
Monika rolled her eyes.
"Pilot's ego was completely shattered. Orders from head of defense Misato Katsurgai were issued to Ikari to return to the loading bay. Ikari did not respond. Evangelion Unit 01 made contact with Lilith, groping its neck. Lilith reacted with sudden activation and the process of the Third Impact began. More orders were sent to Evangelion Unit 01. Ikari failed to respond once again. At 1415 hours the order to detonate the NERV base was issued to prevent the Third Impact from continuing further. At 1417 hours the activation of self-destruct code 05 FDO was confirmed. NERV base and the geofront along with the above-ground city of Tokyo-3 was obliterated'. Holy shit".
"Holy shit indeed. No wonder they have him locked up". Monika turned back to the wheel and started up the car once again, traveling down the road toward the ZWEITE Facilities up ahead. "How'd he even survive that big of a blast? I mean, were driving through the crater it caused and it's a goddamn valley".
"It says that they found Ikari's Eva's remains in the center of the explosion. It only had the upper half of its left leg, wow." Shinichi dipped his nose into the file to read more. "They felt everything in those things. That kid must've gone into a world of pain."
"Yeah, it seems like his whole life has been like a world of hurt, though."
"Well, if they do give us Ikari, do you think he'll even agree to pilot the eva?"
"We'll just have to see, Shinichi."
…
The two arrived at a small parking lot paved out from the red ground partly surrounding a large building that towered over the others nearby. On its northern side it bore proudly the symbol of ZWEITE; a blue star with a circle in the center with the letter Z encased inside it. Monika pulled her car around and parked across from the prison. As they jumped out, guards came over to escort them.
"You two are Shinichi Kawasura and Monika Norman, correct?"
"Yes, we are. We were sent to discuss the transfer of Prisoner a1."
"We've already received word of your plans. Come inside and talk to our supervisor."
Inside there was a quiet and small lobby, with a single staff member sitting at a terminal on the far side of the room. Two sliding doors led out from the left and right, and both displayed the label: 'Cell Blocks'. Out from the left door came the very recognizable Dr. Ibuki with her two guards following her. She violently shook Monika's hand.
"Norman, right? Welcome to Death-Site 2. Please, follow me to the prisoner's cell."
"Well, you were prepared, doctor." Monika said as Ibuki led the two through the same door she had come out of into a dark hallway lit only by the lights shining through the slits in the doors of the cells on each opposite wall.
"Yes, I am. Dr. Akagi contacted me just before you got here, and we want to get Prisoner a1 out of our hands as quickly as possible. Honestly, I'm quite happy to give him to you."
"Really, Doctor? I expected you to say something like, 'oh, he's the best psychological subject in the world' or something".
"Oh god, no I'm not one of those psyches. I more or less run this Installation, and having that kid here has been stressful for the past five years".
"I'd bet".
The three, followed far behind by a few guards down the hall, finally arrived at the prisoner's cell. Akagi turned around and swiped her key into the door, which quickly opened. Bright white light came flowing out into the hall, and the image of a masked man in all black chained to a bench met Monika and Shinichi's eyes.
"That's him?" Shinichi hesitated to ask.
"Yes, that is. He's had two psychoanalysis sessions today and we've already cleared him for a transfer. Before we do send him out, however, we need you two to talk to him directly; see what he thinks about doing whatever Dr. Akagi wants him to do".
With the sound of the words 'Dr. Akagi' the prisoner raised his head up.
The two stepped into the chamber, and the door closed quickly behind them. They stood around for a moment, staring right at the man they knew had almost completely destroyed the world only a few years prior. Slowly, Shinichi bent down onto his knees and drawed the dossier from his bag once more.
"Good evening, sir. I- I understand your Shinji Ikari, correct?"
He did not respond.
"Well… uhm, well we've been sent here by Dr. Akagi. You know her, correct?"
Again, he didn't bother talking back.
"She wants us to… she wants us to ask if you would, uh if- if you would be willing to pilot Contingency Evangelion Unit 00". Suddenly, the prisoner snapped to look at Shinichi after staring at the wall for the entire one-sided conversation.
"Your asking if I want to pilot a fucking eva?"
"Well… yeah." The mask the prisoner bore intensely terrified Shinichi.
The prisoner laughed. "You really think I'm gonna do that?! You're all insane!"
"Alright, it was worth a shot". Shinichi stood up quickly and stuffed the folder back into his bag, turning to the door.
"Shinichi, wait for a second." Monika grabbed his arm. "Shinji, come on. We're here to he-"
"Don't call me by my name thinking it'll make me feel more comfortable. You're all fools, each and every one of you. All of you are going to die if you try to build more evas, you hear me? Go crawl back to Ritsuko and tell her that I personally want her to rot in hell", he interrupted her. They all stood in silence, not knowing what to say next.
"Let's go." Monika broke the silence. The door opened once more, and they ran out into the hallway to see Dr. Ibuki, who had watched everything that transpired in the cell on a monitor next to the entrance.
"Well, I see that he's not fit to pilot it. I should've known". Ibuki seemed defeated.
"What should we do now?" Shinichi asked, still trembling in his voice.
"I'll contact Dr. Akagi to see what her take is. Maybe she'll have him forced to do it. In the meantime, head back to ZWEITE HQ. I'm sorry it had to end like this, I was really hoping to have him out of here tonight".
"We understand everything, Doctor. We'll be on our way, thank you".
They left without another word, and the prisoner was left alone in his cell once more. Inside and displayed on the security monitor, he screamed his lungs out. Yelling, he kicked his legs as far as they could go in their chains and slammed his fists to the bench.
"We're all dead! We're all dead!", He repeated, over and over to no one but the walls of his cell.