Asuka Soryu Langley. Second Children. Chosen. Her mother wouldn't let her forget it.
Ever.
It had been an adjustment coming to Tokyo-3 at last with her mother for actual deployment. Action against the Angels had been more intense than anticipated, so she was told, necessitating the early deployment of her Unit 02.
That's the official story anyway, but Asuka knew differently. The real reason was because Kyoko was hot and eager for Asuka, her perfect project, to excel in action.
There had been a time Asuka would be eager to oblige her mother. All her life Asuka had been raised knowing she was special. Chosen. But that began to turn the more Asuka's misgivings were summarily dismissed.
"Nonsense. You will adapt to Japanese culture flawlessly."
"Don't be ridiculous, you'll ace every test. Those children can't possibly compete against you."
"You have been trained since birth to be the best Evangelion pilot. Nothing will defeat you- neither first, nor the Angels."
It had been fine to boost Asuka's confidence in the beginning, but the girl was craving affirmation now. And nobody was giving it to her as she arrived in Japan in June, 2014.
The Red Queen
Norsehound
The Big Wing Stratobomber carrying Evangelion 02 had landed at the Yugawara airfield. Asukas new boss and coworker arrived there to meet them.
Misato, clad in her red tactical jacket, held the wind out of her hair as she greeted them. "It's been a long time, Asuka! Welcome to Japan!"
Asuka recognized the woman. She was one of three UN military officers tasked with overseeing the development of Evangelion tactics in Berlin. Asuka was indifferent to her, though she had been friendly in the past.
Asuka opened her mouth to speak, but her mother interrupted her. "She's charmed, I'm sure. I am Kyoko Zeppelin. You are here to take us to NERV actual?"
Misato blinked at the interruption, but pushed past it. "Yep!" She turned to Rei, "This is Rei Ayanami, by the way, the first-"
Kyoko interrupted her, "I have little time for pleasantries. Take us to NERV HQ immediately."
Misato recoiled a little. "Yes… very well director, this way."
Asuka locked eyes with Ayanami, but the Japanese girl said nothing before turning to follow the Major. Asuka dipped her head and obediently followed the other women.
Kyoko was organizing papers in the passenger seat of Misato's car as they rode. "How disorganized is NERV that they have to run a staffer to retrieve us? This is a job for the transfer crew."
Misato side-eyed Kyoko but kept driving. "Actually, I volunteered." Misato replied, "I wanted to greet you both personally to Tokyo-3, and make introductions with Rei."
"That's redundant," Kyoko grunted, "Shouldn't you be organizing cleanup efforts from the first battle? Or at the very least drilling for the next attack?"
Misato sucked in a breath. "Here in Japan we do things differently, Dæirector. We aren't as industrious as you Germans."
"I'm half Japanese. Do not patronize me again." Kyoko replied.
Misato decided it was better to cut her losses. "Yes ma'am." She grunted.
Asuka during all this had been stealing glances at Rei, trying to figure out what kind of person her fellow pilot was. "Hello Rei." Asuka said.
Rei turned her head to look back. Asuka could see her red irises now, and matched with the blue hair it made the girl stand out unnaturally. "Hello." The girl responded.
Asuka glanced at her mother, who was busy talking to Misato. Asuka considered her question. It was pathetic but, at the moment, the little girl within her was alone in the strange woods. "Would you like to be friends?" Asuka asked Rei.
Rei turned back to the window. "If I am ordered to." she replied.
Asuka felt her hope constrict like a closing flower. She kept her hands in the pockets of her jacket, and lowered her head.
The NERV technician held a clipboard as she recited, "You will be quartered in Unit 12 Black, subfloor 882. Once you are settled in your residence, report to the subcommander."
Asuka and her mother were in an office complex within the geofront. The technician who met them, a Maya Ibuki, was thier guide after Misato and Rei had left.
Kyoko nodded. "Good. Well start unpacking right away."
Asuka hesitated. "Mother…"
Kyoko turned back to glare at Asuka, before rotating fully to look at her progeny. "What is it, Asuka?"
The girl clenched her fists. "I thought we agreed I would have my own place when we came to Japan."
Mother and daughter stared each other down. "I don't remember making such an agreement, Asuka."
"I do. You promised." Asuka said, "if I exceeded in my coursework back home, you said, I could be quartered off base in a place of my own. To study." She dipped her head, "it was the summer I almost ran away from home."
Again, Asuka added to herself.
Kyoko side-glanced over her shoulder as if to verify that Maya was still there. Sighing she said, "Fine. Ibuki, what kind of accommodations can you find for my daughter?"
Maya blinked nervously, unsure where to step around Kyoko's suggested hostility. "Well, um, I could research for alternatives-"
"I do not think my daughter will wait. What can you find me… now?" Kyoko toned.
Maya consulted her tablet, found something, then thrust it towards the pair like it was on fire. "I found this!"
Kyoko took the tablet to examine the residence, then returned it to Maya. "Approved. See to it immediately."
Asuka breathed out a sigh of reli-
"Asuka." Kyoko toned, bringing her daughter's head back up. "I expect you to maintain perfect grades while you are there. This is conditional on your performance. One slip up, and we will revisit the arrangement. Understood?"
Asuka's stare was level. "Yes, mother."
"Good." Kyoko responded, and said to Maya, "Find someone to take my daughter there while you lead me to my residence."
"Y-yes ma'am" Maya replied and consulted a radio she had with her as she started to walk deeper into the base.
Asuka trudged after her mother. She had thought by asserting herself to claim the one win she had would make her feel empowered. Instead, she was feeling the stool sway under her while the noose of her mother's control straddled her neck.
The apartment building was doomed for demolition in the next six months. Her unit had bare concrete walls and the most Spartan of appliances.
But it was hers.
Asuka dropped her belongings to the floor of the empty room, closed her eyes, and sucked in a deep breath. Yes there was the sound of rhythmic hammering outside. Yes the room felt stale and cold. Yes it was hideous and bare.
But it was hers, which made it the most beautiful place on earth. For once she could breathe freely because, behind her, the door was locked. And her mother was quartered beneath her feet in the base. Far away.
Asuka's breath came out staggered as she started to cry. Long ago, in front of her hospitalized mother, she had vowed never to cry again. And her mother helped her keep to it.
But now, in the place behind a lock, Asuka sank to the ground as she let herself cry. Out flowed years of pent up fear, disappointment, misunderstanding, and anger. She was like that for a long time.
The red plugsuit was new. It was different from the training suits she used in Germany; this one was sleek and cut down. Succinct. Red.
She felt lighter boarding her Evangelion for her first sync test in Japan. She knew the system; in the early days she thought the flashes and sparkles of the entry plug start up system was magical. That sentiment had given way when she remembered what usually happened after.
Following the startup sequence, the strange lines of English characters scrolled into existence before her face. She read them, in spite of being told they were gibberish.
You are everything; the center of my world, my heart.
She rationalized these as motivational messages someone, somewhere, inserted into the software. Odder still though was how Kyoko, the very architect of the interface system, was unable to scrub the messages from the start up sequence. So, they persisted.
Asuka didn't mind them though they did disappoint her every time. Words of love and care should have been coming from her mother, not her mother's machine. The irony was not lost on her that these motivational messages came only when Asuka was sitting right where her mother wanted her.
Kyoko's voice broke through her thoughts. "All right Asuka, let us begin. Start at sequence; set."
"Set." Asuka repeated. She closed her eyes and tried to relax.
Synchronization tests like this were exercises to test the pilots rapport with the machine. Asuka didn't know the specifics. She just knew it was important for holding her control over the Evangelion, and that the higher the number, the better. This metric meant more to her mother than her grades by an entire magnitude.
And Asuka lacked just as much control on influencing it's outcome. There were tricks, of course, that she relied on during very bad days to inflate her scores if she needed. She didn't need to set the bar high, lest her mother demand that much from her in the future.
Her mother spoke then, "33%. Not bad, but that's two points over the first, Asuka. You and I both know you can do better than this. I've seen it."
Asuka flexed her hands against the control sticks. "I'm sorry," she said, "i'm still getting used to-"
This sounds like an excuse. She's going to hear it that way. Asuka realized.
"-everything."
"I'm not interested in your excuses, Asuka. We'll re-set, I want to see better from you before we finish today."
Asuka took in a breath and re-seated her grip on the control handles. "Okay."
"Start at sequence; set."
"Set."
Three more tests and a score of 36% tops. It was 7pm and she still had a full assignment to complete. Not to mention find dinner.
She made it to the lockers and started to take her time stripping down, relishing the privacy. When she heard footfalls she seized the suit up against her breasts and turned her head.
Ayanami had entered. The girl was dressed in the same outfit she was wearing when Asuka first met her, a school uniform of some sort.
The other girl stood in front of her locker, opened it, then started to undress. She seemed to ignore Asuka's stare, so Asuka decided to ask as she half turned away, "You have a test this late at night?"
"Yes." Rei answered without diverging from her effort. She was naked now, Asuka averted her eyes as she held her plugsuit against her skin.
Asuka wanted to argue the irrationality behind the late schedule test… but she knew better. She herself had been driven to similar extremes. "Its not fair, is it?" Asuka asked. "They call us pilots the defenders of mankind, but they aren't really nice to us, are they?"
Rei didn't answer, she only slipped on her plugsuit and triggered the wrist unit. The suit clenched around her.
Asuka waited and listened as Rei left the lockers only saying the one word to her. Asuka sighed out released tension and sadness. The single peer she had- the first child- was unwilling to be friendly to her.
Japan was cold.
Asuka finished dressing in her street outfit: black shirt, red leggings, olive hoodie jacket- and headed for home. She had work to do.
The pile of fast food bags and wrappers had been a growing heap on top of her stove. Dealing with them was a task she kept putting off for the sake of studies, though it crossed her mind that she might have to free up the time for it to happen. But… when?
When she didn't have duties to attend to on the base, Asuka Soryu Langley was consumed with homework and studies. She already held a university degree in general biokinetics from the University of Germany. Now that she was in Japan, her mother had enrolled her in courses to study metaphysical biology through Tokyo-3's advanced University. Due to her status as a pilot Asuka needn't attend physical class, allowing her to study at home.
There was the brief mention of placing her in a high school classroom for pilot candidates- class 2-A within Tokyo-3 municipal high school, but her mother had shot down that option.
"They are beneath you, Asuka. The last thing you need is to consort with that sort of riff-raff." Kyoko had scoffed. "You don't need to pollute your environment through exposure to those inferior children."
Never mind, Asuka noted, that Rei attended those classes. Asuka would admit though, the company of peers would be refreshing. But it was not to be.
Her room was festive now at least. A luxurious twin bed with soft red sheets, lively pillows thrown into the corner where her bed met the wall. Carpets were laid out, and she had replaced the curtains. Christmas lights twisted above her bed.
Her doll had been a permanent resident on the bed, too. It was the only one she owned from… from before. The only exception. Her only friend now, too.
Asuka shook her head at these thoughts to wave them away. Back to classwork.
She hacked at understanding the damn thermodynamics problem in Japanese for the second time, using assistance from a Japanese to German dictionary, before giving up and using a translator service. The assignment text was almost illegible out of machine translation, but combined with the mathematical elements of the problem, she applied the answer. She hoped it was right. She sighed angrily and then noticed the time. Almost midnight.
She had a 6am start. She needed to go to bed now.
She closed her laptop, checked the front door locks, turned off the main light and paused as she sat on the bed. She hugged Dolly to her chest and stared at the phone sitting on her new end table. This would be the perfect time for her mother to summon her to the base on some errand or another. It happened before, it would happen again.
She glanced at the clock now; 12:15am. It was likely now that her mother might be asleep. Asuka risked getting dressed in pajamas and turning off the end table lamp. Only the twisting stars of the Christmas lights over her bed stayed on.
Lastly- the very last thing- she took the A10 connectors out of her hair and set them on the end table. A rule since childhood, instilled originally as a reminder of her greatness, was that she must wear the connectors at all times. She must show the world her superiority.
But how they separated her from everyone else. How it was a constant hand from her mother, always present to remind her there would be no escape.
Always there to tell her that she was Asuka Soryu Langley. Second Children. Chosen.
