It was three hours after the Angel disengaged that the invading forces made it into the command room, carrying combat shields and primed guns fully ready for a fight that never happened. Following Major Katsuragi's directives to the letter, none of the techs and engineers present in the gargantuan room dared to waste their lives on a doomed battle and raised their arms in surrender, many of them pre-emptively so when the presence of soldiers on the other side of the door became obvious. Such a show of submission didn't stop the sergeant in charge from barking orders at everyone, however, making certain that everyone present remained sitting and still and that the soldiers in their command didn't drop their guard for a single moment.
The tense minutes that followed came to a stop with the arrival of a second group, the leading figure ordering the soldiers to lower their weapons and motioning for the rest of their retinue to follow in the climb to the command room's main floor. The second group of soldiers struggled to carry a large coffer up the stairs, panting and growling obscenities under their breaths until they set it down at its destination with a heavy thud. Without a hint of pity for the plight of their grunts, the officer in command, a Lieutenant by what looked to be UN military rank markings, ordered the coffer open and its contents assembled. Finally, the officer turned to regard Ritsuko.
"We need a connection to the MAGI," they plainly stated in heavily accented English, and Akagi's otherwise patient expression shifted by a raised eyebrow.
"What for?" she replied in her own personal version of the language. "I was under the impression that you already had one."
"We need an actual connection, a physical one. It will be necessary for the new Commander to properly take over."
"Hmm. That thing inside the box is this so-called 'new Commander', I presume?"
"Yes, it is. It's good to see that your genius wasn't exaggerated," the officer shot back with battle-weary sarcasm. "But if you'll excuse me, doctor, I'm not here to answer your questions. Unlock the MAGI, and I'm sure that the Commander will be more than willing to chat with you."
"Very well," Ritsuko agreed, refraining from voicing a scathing comeback. "But first, I will ask that you take off your helmets. UN markings or not, hiding your identities is making the crew more restless than they already were."
The Lieutenant scanned the crowds for a moment, finding to no real shock that everywhere their eyes went the civilian technicians would quickly look away or do their best to hide under their desks without appearing too obvious, if they hadn't already gone into hiding from the very start of the breach. Akagi had a point, and their orders were very specific about keeping good relations with the residents.
"...Fair enough," the officer eventually agreed with a hint of annoyance in their voice. They then took off their helmet to reveal a hardened woman's face in her late twenties or early thirties, with hints of pale blonde in her military style haircut and a piercing gaze of icy blue. Her rough features and demeanour spoke of a likely origin in the Baltic hot zones, or perhaps even further east into Russia. The rest of the soldiers present followed suit, revealing a multitude of ethnicities and skin colours from all over the world behind the armoured visors, as well as a wide range of satisfaction with the order to lay bare.
"I am First Lieutenant Tasha Zakharova, UN Special Ops detachment. We apologise for the way we entered, but we couldn't take any chances considering the situation," the newly unveiled Lieutenant spoke, as soothingly as she could muster. It was clear that she wasn't a people person. "The Commander will elaborate further on the day's events, but I want to stress that no harm will come to any non-combatants present in the base. Our business is solely with the transgressions of Commander Ikari and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki."
The words, delivered without a microphone or any other voice amplifying device, contributed to their feeling of power by echoing slightly throughout the gargantuan chamber. The placating message, however, was not lost on those crew who were somewhat fluent in the English language, their not so gifted companions turning to those who had understood for clarification. Before long, the people who had barricaded themselves behind their terminals slowly began to come out, the process helped by a few friendly waves from what appeared to be the more outgoing members of the invading group, and some degree of normalcy returned to the work of the command room. The wariness remained, but a faint sense of relief was steadily returning to the room. Satisfied, Tasha turned back to Akagi.
"Now, about the MAGI?"
The Lieutenant's line was more a demand than a question. Her patience was clearly wearing thin, a fact that caused Aoba and Hyuga to unsubtly shy away from the overbearing foreign newcomer. They then wordlessly asked for direction from the only person in the room that continued to appear unfazed by the entire situation.
"Open it up," Ritsuko acquiesced, motioning with her head towards the long haired bridge operator. "And Aoba, please help these nice people take care of their business down there, will you?"
The guitar-loving man visibly cringed, but accepted the orders without further protest. He keyed in a command in his terminal before stepping down towards the lower levels with a small retinue of soldiers, the three towers of the MAGI slowly rising up in the background. Tasha followed them with her eyes, a deep scowl forming on her face.
"My technicians are skilled enough to work on the MAGI without a chaperone."
"Absolutely out of the question. Even if it weren't a supercomputer unlike any other in the world, the MAGI is an irreplaceable family heirloom. I will not allow anyone to tamper with it without supervision. Will that be a problem?"
"...I suppose it can be allowed." The Lieutenant relented, promptly identifying a battle that she wasn't going to win. She quickly ordered a pair of soldiers in the background to begin the setup operations and, before long, metres of cabling began to be placed along the route to the MAGI. Tasha left her troops to their work and hardened her gaze to look once more upon her temporary kingdom, quickly going back to a discrepancy in her reports that she had identified as soon as she arrived at the top floor. "One more thing, Akagi."
"What is it?"
"I was under the impression that the upper echelon of the bridge crew consisted of three people. But I can't help but notice that only two men are up here," Tasha motioned meaningfully to the empty seat in the centre. "Where is the last person?"
Ritsuko followed the Lieutenant's hand to Maya's vacant terminal, then turned back to supervise the MAGI with a careless shrug.
"Oh, the third one is currently running an errand for me."
"Is that so? What sort of errand?"
"The sort that won't prove to be any kind of hindrance whatsoever," the doctor replied without an answer, moving to check her watch. "In fact, I'd expect that you will hear from her shortly."
-O]|[O-
Maya's hands shook as she checked the First Child's straps to make certain that she was still firm and stable in the wheelchair. Taking Rei out of the hospital wing had not been difficult once the doctors in charge of the First Child heard that she was on Ritsuko's orders, but even with a blanket draped on top of the girl's unconscious body to hide her identity, walking around the occupied hallways of NERV HQ had the young woman very on edge. No soldier so far had questioned her explanations while she was in the medical ward, but now that she had left that area their stares had turned more inquisitive and their hands had travelled closer to their guns...
...or that was the impression Maya got, anyway. She had never enjoyed the thought of weapons in the first place and having so many of them around her during the last hour had done little good for her sanity.
"O-Okay, calm down, Maya. Your heart's about to burst, but you're doing this for Senpai and for Rei-chan," Maya used her breather to take a peek at the state of her patient beneath the blanket. She was still heavily sedated, the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest as she breathed proving the only sign of life, and the tendrils that had appeared during the Angel fight, even if apparently dormant, had not receded at all. Knowing her Senpai as she did, Maya already had a feeling that she had been lying through her teeth during her conversation with Asuka, but seeing Rei's pitiful state firsthand... Maya just couldn't imagine what her Senpai could possibly do to keep her word. "...Hold on just a little bit more. I will get you to that place Senpai talked about and then... and then she will make it all better, I promise."
Her convictions reignited, Maya allowed the blanket to fall back in place and resumed her journey. It was only a couple of minutes later that the young woman arrived at the intersection that would lead her to one of the restricted elevators going further down, from where she could hear the faint sounds of a conversation. It was likely a checkpoint, she reasoned, before Maya steeled herself and stepped down the hallway.
It wasn't long before she was spotted and made to stop by two large men.
"Sorry, miss, but this area's restricted," one of the soldiers firmly stated while stepping closer to her, his teammate keeping a close eye on Maya. "I'm gonna have to ask that you come with us."
And, just like that, Maya's fragile determination crumbled under the sight of the soldier walking towards her, their weapons not pointed at her but ready to shoot in the case that she did something suspicious. Or something that could have been taken as suspicious. Or something that could have accidentally been misunderstood as suspicious.
"I'm..." the young woman stumbled, her eyes never leaving the man's rifle. "I-I'm..."
"Miss, are you alright?" the soldier inquired, noticing where Maya's eyes had travelled and quickly putting his hands up in a placating gesture. "Look, I know this is intimidating, but we're telling you to come with us for your own good. It could get dangerous out here and..."
The man continued his attempts at soothing Maya, but she wasn't listening, her eyes still glued to the gun. How close had they gotten to these soldiers shooting their rifles at everyone in sight? How close could they still get to that? How likely was it that she would still... have to shoot at these people, too? Could she force herself to pull the trigger when the target was flesh and blood and not some paper outline of a person?
The soldiers sounded fairly young, likely no older than thirty, but Maya suspected that they wouldn't have the same qualms that she did if the need arose. But it was then that it hit her: her Senpai's decision had been to entrust Maya with a way of making that terrible possibility less likely to occur. She couldn't disappoint her, she couldn't disappoint Rei-chan and, perhaps more importantly, she couldn't disappoint herself. Closing her eyes, Maya forced herself to break contact with the man-made tool for taking lives and took a deep breath.
"I-I'M HERE UNDER REQUEST FROM DOCTOR RITSUKO AKAGI!"
...
"...Ouch," the soldier cringed, turning towards his teammate when he made sure that his ears still functioned. "Ritsuko Akagi? Isn't she that big shot scientist we were told to keep on side?"
"That's her, alright," the other soldier confirmed, motioning with his head towards the wheelchair. "Does the person under that have anything to do with your request?"
Maya slowly nodded, still too spent for words.
"Then we're gonna have to take that blanket off. I'm sure you can tell why."
Maya nodded again and reached for the bottom of the blanket, slowly pulling it back until it was gathered at the back of the wheelchair and Rei was fully visible.
"That's one of the Pilot kids," the soldier that was closest quickly identified her. "The First, I think."
"Rei-chan's badly hurt," Maya confirmed, her voice still shaky. "The doctors are having trouble treating her, s-so Senpai asked me to bring her to another laboratory she has further down into the Geofront. So that she can... heal her."
"And how's she gonna pull that off? The poor girl looks like she has a tree growing out of her!"
"That's none of our business, but this does look important. Hold on for a second, please," the second soldier stated, reaching for his radio. "Ma'am, this is Corporal Hamill at checkpoint Alpha-12? There's a woman here asking to pass through to the lower levels, she claims to be under Akagi's orders. She's got the First Child with her, in a wheelchair. What should we do?"
A few moments of silence lingered while the soldier eyed Maya, listening to the words from the other side of the line.
"Yeah, shortish black hair, petite. Cute thing, really, her nametag has 'Ibuki' on it," the soldier relayed back. "I take it you know her?"
A quick pause, and the man agreed to something with a brisk nod.
"Roger that, I'll take care of it," he finally replied, ending the call. "You can pass on through, but I'll be coming with you. Will that be a problem?"
"No! I... I don't think so, at least."
"Good, then let's hurry."
-O]|[O-
Not a second after her non-response, Ritsuko saw the Lieutenant react to a message on her radio. The usually intimidating woman blinked in confusion for a moment, before fixing her disbelieving stare on the head of Project-E.
"Is something the matter?"
"...I was just told that Maya Ibuki has been spotted at a checkpoint and is now being escorted to the depths of Terminal Dogma," Tasha relayed back, still surprised. "Are you a psychic or something?"
"Better, I'm a Jedi." Ritsuko replied without missing a beat.
A second of silence followed the deadpan delivery, Hyuga breaking down into giggles in the background shortly after.
"Maybe so," the slightest rise of a corner of Tasha's lips indicated that the woman did indeed have a sense of humour. "In any case, Agent Morgan sends her regards."
"We're almost done over here, ma'am!"
Both women turned to the reporting soldier, Ritsuko quickly noticing how the contents of the coffer had been assembled into a pyramidal device with a sphere on top, equipped with what appeared to be cameras and other information gathering equipment. Several cables ran from the base of the pyramid to the three towers that made up the MAGI.
"Good. Flip the switch, then," the Lieutenant ordered, her underlings not quite so literally starting the process of connecting the device. A few moments and blinking status lights later, the sphere on top whirred with life and began to move in its pedestal.
"Connections established. Video and audio feeds working at full efficiency. Currently running a background check on the quality of the link with the MAGI. This will be followed by an in-depth analysis of the information stored in the MAGI as well as a test of my control of NERV HQ's functions," a familiar, neutral male voice reported, before the sphere rotated to the right and towards Ritsuko. "It is good to see you again, Doctor Akagi."
"I thought it might be you," Ritsuko dispassionately replied, implying that the feeling was not mutual. "I have to question the need to bring this large device into the command centre, though. You could have used the room's speakers to make your entrance without being anywhere near as obstructive."
"Perhaps so, but some speeches are better delivered personally. I deemed a new alliance to be one such case."
"What are you talking about?" One of Ritsuko's eyebrows rose above its twin. "You're still hiding behind an interface, there's nothing personal about this..."
The doctor's words trailed off, her mind quickly connecting Arthur's bizarre comment with some other strange details she had noticed in the past: his penchant for hiding behind speakers or other people. His overly polite and unnatural way of speaking, coupled with his calm and collected demeanour. The manner in which he had managed to hack into the biggest and most secure supercomputer in the world with a simple backdoor access, with the best computing experts in all of Japan being none the wiser about his movements...
A lot of Arthur's feats and idiosyncrasies had not seemed human to Ritsuko for a long time, but the worst of her suspicions had been dispelled when Legion's love for cybernetically augmenting the human body became apparent, only to rise back up in full force at that very moment. After all, it was hard to ignore the likely evidence staring her straight in the face.
"Wait a minute... You're-!"
"I am Arthur," the new Commander gently interrupted. "It would be exceedingly rude to call me anything else."
"It's... self-aware? How did you-?" Ritsuko demanded of the calmly spectating Lieutenant, her voice rising a few octaves despite herself. "No! Why did you create a self-aware AI?! Are you people insane?!"
"As I said, doctor, you're being exceedingly rude. Even if I'm aware that, as a member of the sole intelligent species in the planet, it must be daunting to meet someone like me," Arthur continued, conciliatory despite his words. "To put some of your fears to rest, however, I will have you know that I am the only one of my kind, and that I have no interest in the annihilation of the human species, despite what popular culture may lead you to believe."
"That's..." Ritsuko gritted her teeth, letting out a sharp release of air at the AI's lacklustre attempt at humour. "That's reassuring, but it's still barely even the tip of the iceberg regarding the issues I have with this... development."
"I am certain that your remaining reservations will vanish once we get to know each other a bit better, now that we will have ample time to do so." The AI's camera focused on the bridge crew and Ritsuko in turns, speaking to all of them. "Nevertheless, I would prefer if my true nature was kept to this small circle for the time being. Reassuring everyone in NERV HQ about my non-genocidal intentions would require a vast amount of resources better allocated elsewhere. I am sure you understand."
"I understand, alright," Ritsuko gruffly agreed. "You don't need to state the obvious."
The agreement of one party secured, Arthur's attention shifted to the remaining two. Hyuga and Aoba shared an uncomfortable glance, before they nodded with a sigh.
"Damn, today keeps getting crazier and crazier," the long-haired bridge man moaned, reaching for the bridge of his nose. "Fine, our lips are sealed. What about Ibuki, though?"
"I will personally brief Miss Ibuki on the situation when-"
"No, thanks," Ritsuko interrupted. "I will do that myself."
"...As you wish, doctor. And thank you, I appreciate your collaboration." Arthur's eye turned towards Tasha. "Lieutenant, please regroup your troops on this floor and have them form up around us. It is time we properly introduced ourselves."
With a brisk nod, Tasha stepped forward to Maya's empty workstation and grabbed the attention of the soldiers under her command, motioning for them to rendezvous with her post-haste. The troops did as told and quickly formed a semicircle around Arthur's pyramid, dozens of still anxious eyes following their movements until the main screen of the command room changed to a panoramic view of the main floor, with Arthur in the middle of it. Curious murmurs erupted at the sight of the strange device that most present had only caught a short glimpse of.
"Good evening, everyone," the faux-man began, all conversation in the room quieting down in quick succession. "My name is Arthur, and I am here under the authority of the United Nations joint committee. As they previously stated, the fine men and women behind me are part of the United Nations military arm, and directly under my supervision. First of all, and before I go into the reason behind our presence here, I would like to congratulate and extend our deepest thanks to all of you, for your courage and determination on the frontlines of our fight against the Angels. Doubly so for the brave Evangelion Pilots that make up the first and last line of defence and who have sacrificed more than any of us. I hope that knowing that the rest of the world can rest easier because of NERV's combined struggles at the walls can make those sacrifices bearable."
A familiar scoff filled the audio waves, clearly signalling that the Second Child had also been invited to the speech, but no witty or disparaging remarks followed. Sohryu either wanted to hear what the invaders had to say for themselves, or realised that throwing one of the tantrums she had been infamous for would serve no purpose. Either way, Ritsuko approved of the girl's choice.
"But, as much as it pains me to say so, not everyone in NERV HQ shares the same valiant spirit that you have. Not everyone has remained loyal to the directives bestowed upon NERV by the United Nations, by the entire world, choosing instead to corrupt our righteous struggle and use it to serve their own selfish desires, the wants of a group that your leaders, Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki, serve without question. It is through that serfdom that they made you secretly complicit to this perversion of your mission, planning to use our fight as a means to enslave all of humanity under the yoke of a ruling few."
The murmurs rose anew, disbelief and scepticism in equal measure. It was true that the Commanders weren't very well-known or particularly loved by their staff, but thirteen Angel attacks and over half a year of war, more than that for most of the people in HQ, had been spent under their command. They were a great part of the reason why NERV HQ still stood, and the denouncing of an invading army didn't appear to be sitting well with a big part of the personnel who understood that fact.
"World domination?" Aoba muttered to himself, just loud enough for Ritsuko to overhear. "Really?"
"I am well aware of the gravity of my accusations, but it is because of that same severity that we didn't act sooner, and made certain to come prepared. In fact, now we are more than ready to lift the long-lingering veil of secrecy from your eyes, as we fully intend to do."
The lights in the gigantic room dimmed slightly, bringing the attention of everyone present to the main screen once more. The panoramic view of the invading forces faded and, instead, a number of files began to appear on screen, the clearly visible access path marking them as data buried deep beneath the most secure layers of the MAGI.
"Brave ladies and gentlemen of NERV, heed my words: today I would tell you about the Human Instrumentality Project."
-O]|[O-
The office of Commander Ikari looked the same that day as it had any other, darkness easily winning the battle against the light that filtered through the massive window panes in the back of the room. Two men waited side by side inside of the poorly lit chamber, one sitting and one on his feet, giving credence to the long lasting rumours within HQ stating that staring menacingly at the far wall was everything they did while alone in the office.
But silly falsehoods were far from their minds at that moment in time, for a different battle had been raging for the last few minutes just outside of the office, the invaders clearly having succeeded at pushing past all of the blockades and into the heart of HQ. The two Commanders of NERV remained tall and proud in spite of the encroaching crisis, however, the sounds of ricocheting bullets and fired explosives failing to make them budge even a single millimetre.
The gunfire then stopped, suddenly and without much fanfare, faint groans and voices becoming audible in the distance. It appeared that the war situation inside NERV HQ had developed not necessarily to the local forces' advantage.
"Knock, knock~!" a bright voice confirmed as the doors were violently thrown wide open. "We've got an urgent message for one Commander Ikari and one Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki~! I hope you'll forgive the mess we made on our way here, but some very rude people wouldn't let us pass. The nerve of them! And we even asked nicely!"
"So you do." The Sub-Commander drily provided, his eyes looking past the soldiers and at the scene that could be barely seen in the hallway. Fate had not been kind to the Section-2 agents that had been stationed as the last line of defence, despite their preparations. "Dispense with the pleasantries. What are your demands?"
"No fun and all business, I see. Keep that up and you'll get some early wrinkles... although I guess it's a bit too late for you already, professor! Oops!" Mari's reply was cheerfully fake, the young woman raising her handgun to the two men. "And as for me, I'd be more than happy to put a bullet in each of your foreheads for all the shit you've done, but I don't get to call the shots, as it were. Lucky you." She then allowed the weapon to drop back down when she considered the message clear, continuing in a more businesslike tone. "Instead, I come with a generous offer: collaborate with us in bringing down SEELE, and we'll ensure that whatever sentence you end up with at the end of this will be reduced, depending on your efforts and within reason, of course."
"Generous indeed. Is that the sort of offer you recruited Akagi with?"
"Yes. Although, honestly, she didn't even need that much incentive to stick the knife in your backs. I bet she would have done it for free if we'd asked! She was really, really angry for some strange reason..."
The old professor's eyes shifted meaningfully to stare at his co-conspirator's back, the urge to repeat the words 'I told you so' no doubt proving hard to contain. In the end, however, he managed to avoid the obvious bait, settling into his usual posture.
"We appreciate your kindness, but refuse." It was Ikari who replied next, cool as ice. "The old men and their plans are of no consequence to us, and our own goals are unlikely to align with yours. We stand to gain nothing from submission."
"You stand to gain nothing from opposing us to the bitter end, either, but I won't be the one to complain about this turn of events."
"Do not believe you've won," Ikari growled at Mari's careless shrugging. "Your hold over this base will be tenuous at best, to say nothing of your chances against the old men. We will have our opportunity."
"Big words coming from the defeated, but I believe we will take our chances. And I wasn't talking about our takeover, by the way," Mari elaborated with a vicious smirk. "Rather, I was referring to the fact that your objective is unachievable, because your objective herself doesn't care for your success."
Gendo Ikari's hands tightened at the mention of his missing wife, the change in pressure so minute that most people would have likely missed it. But it was not invisible to the young agent's trained eyes, a chink in the man's impenetrable defence that Mari would wager was paired with confusion behind his tinted glasses.
"Oh? Is that perplexity and bewilderment I see in the Supreme Commander of NERV?" Mari cooed, clearly enjoying herself. "Fine, let me put it more plainly: she doesn't want to come out of Unit-01. She doesn't want to meet you."
"Lies," Gendo growled, and the young woman before him feigned being shot through the heart.
"Oof, such hurtful accusations! But consider this: how do you believe that I, a complete stranger to any of your designs, managed to flawlessly synch up with Unit-01?"
"Simple. You obviously fooled her with the Dummy Plugs developed by Akagi, or a variant thereof."
"That was the original plan, I'll admit. But, no," the Fifth Child replied back, taking some theatrically slow steps before the gigantic desk as if she were a detective in a mystery novel. "...I've actually spoken with your dearest wife multiple times, now. She's a lovely, if insane, woman. And she was none too happy to hear about how you decided to ignore your parental obligations. As a matter of fact, ensuring the Third Child's safety in the future was my ticket in."
"A likely story. One that anyone with a passing knowledge of the Evangelions could fabricate," Ikari answered, unimpressed. "You will need to try harder than that."
"Ouch, and the merciless accusations continue!" Mari howled, pressing her hand to her chest a second time and dramatically holding on to the desk for support. She then smiled a wide smile, making sure that the Commander of NERV was meeting her gaze. "But I know I'll get through eventually. After all, 'My heart's true nature can only shine when I'm with you,' as they say."
The man's hands clenched once more, this time far more visibly, and the Fifth Child watched with satisfaction as Commander Ikari barely took a second to go white in the face.
"H-How...?!" he heatedly demanded, standing and slamming his hands on the table. "Where did you hear that?!"
"Struck a nerve, did I? Was the fact that you fancied writing poems in your younger years supposed to be a closely guarded secret? One that only you and one other person knew about? One... Yui Ikari, maybe? I wonder how I could have possibly managed to come across such unbelievable information, if I never spoke to anyone in possession of such knowledge..."
"That's... impossible," Ikari stammered, shaking his head in feverish denial. "T-There must be some other way, some o-old paper I missed..."
"You wish." Mari's playful stance quickly turned ice cold. "But, like I said, Yui Ikari doesn't want to come out. Yui Ikari doesn't want to reunite with you or her son. Yui Ikari is far too obsessed with her own grandiose goals to care about anything she left behind." A cruel smirk spread across her face. "Your scenario was doomed to failure from the very beginning.
"...And I'd say I feel bad for you, but that'd be lying."
A sepulchral silence fell upon the room, Mari's words appearing to echo to every corner of the chamber. All throughout, the young woman kept her eyes on Ikari, drinking in the sight of him collapsing into his seat, his hands slowly reaching towards his face and tremblingly taking his opaque glasses off, before they unceremoniously dropped upon the table. The eyes that were now revealed spoke of a man that had been robbed of something essential to his existence, a guiding light for each and every one of his days, and all it had taken to rob one of the most powerful men on the planet of his unshakable will had been a short and simple reveal at the right moment.
The power a few words could wield was truly frightening, sometimes. Even the Sub-Commander's usually calm demeanour had been shaken by Mari's words, the old man noticeably shifting to look at his superior with deep concern. Clearly, such an emotional response out of Ikari had long since stopped being possible in his mind.
It was at that time that the room's speakers blared to life, Arthur's familiar voice filling the room and snapping Fuyutsuki back to attention, the man's quick mind busying itself with deducing how the voice could have made it to one of the most secure rooms in the entire base for a fair few moments. The old professor's attempts were cut short when Arthur's speech began in earnest, however, his expression turning more and more grim with each passing sentence.
"Well, look at that," Mari chuckled at the welcome sound. "It sounds like they already started."
Finally, he looked to his right and at the Commander. The man had further sunk into his seat and was currently staring at a spot on the faraway wall, almost swallowed by darkness. He looked nothing like the driven husband that had been willing to do anything and everything in order to get back what he most desired. He looked lost to despair, hopeless, just the same as he had looked that fateful day a decade ago when Yui had been taken from them, or when she herself had decided to leave them behind, if the agent's words were truly to be believed.
It was in that exact moment that Fuyutsuki understood that they had truly, utterly lost. Trying to find any ray of hope in this crushing defeat was simple folly.
"...I will be taking you up on your generous offer," the old professor finally stated with a heavy voice.
"That was a swift change of heart, Professor Fuyutsuki, but far be it from me to judge. Welcome aboard." Mari replied, a sarcastic smirk on her face. She then motioned to one of the soldiers with her. "Get him to a nice, quiet room and see if he knows something we still don't. Let Arthur know we got ourselves a new asset, too."
The man nodded in agreement and walked over to the Sub-Commander, politely but firmly leading him away from the room. When the door had closed another of the troops under her command turned towards Mari.
"What should we do about Ikari, ma'am?" he asked, contempt clearly audible in his speech. He was formerly Bolivian, Mari remembered, one of the South American countries that had been hit the hardest by the instability of the after Impact years, and that were still struggling to recover. There was no doubt in Mari's mind that the man would relish the chance of getting back at one of those responsible for that catastrophe.
And Mari could more than understand the feeling, for that temptation existed within her too. In spite of their orders, it would be so simple to turn off their cameras and microphones and kill the man under claims of 'armed resistance'. There was no chance in hell that obvious lie would get past Arthur, of course, but since Ikari was completely inconsequential to their plans, it would just... be swept under the rug in their pursuit of the larger prey. Partial repayment for a life lost, for everything she had ever loved and treasured, was right there, just a simple squeeze of the finger away, and there would be no second opportunity like that one. That, Mari fully knew.
But even if the temptation lingered for a few, heavy seconds, it remained as nothing more than that. After all, they would truly be no better than those they hunted if they made their own justice there. Ikari would pay for his crimes, as would all of his associates. No matter what.
'Besides, shooting him now would be a mercy.'
"Cuff him and get him to a cell," Mari ordered before the dark thoughts returned, turning away from the wreck of a man sitting in a chair that was now far too big for him. "I don't think he'll be much good to us."
-O]|[O-
Misato Katsuragi had been uncertain of the scene that would greet her the moment she arrived back at the command room. A handful of likely possibilities had materialised within her mind during her trek through HQ, but the reality that she found when she stepped through the gate had never even made it into any of her calculations. So unexpected, indeed, that she had to stop for a second and make certain the day's exhaustion wasn't getting to her.
The tactical head of NERV had expected a mixture of anxiety and animosity to still permeate the gigantic room hours after the violent phase of the takeover had passed but, while her vision had been correct in that regard, the palpable anger and displeasure in the personnel of NERV HQ appeared to be directed in a completely different direction to that of the invading forces. The soldiers had even slung their rifles on their backs and were trying to be useful to the crew in whatever small ways they could, a testament to the deescalating tensions even if the sight of several men in full combat armour going around with trays full of coffee was beyond ridiculous.
Not that Misato minded beyond her initial shock. If anything, this turn of events was likely to save her from some of the many headaches she was bound to suffer in the future.
Misato resumed her climb to the observation platform, her ascent followed by many a curious glance and shady whisper which she pointedly ignored. She quickly reached the top to meet with a haggard-looking Ritsuko, who flicked her eyes to look at her for a fraction of a second before promptly refocusing on her work.
"You look like hell," she offhandedly remarked.
"Thanks, right back at you," Misato replied to her co-worker's comment with a similarly weary voice. "I feel like it, too. Our gracious new overlords believed a nice, long and pointless chat with me was in order. I had to listen to them go on for an hour before they remembered that there was an Angel on our doorstep, and that they need me to kill it. Haven't felt that bored in years." She then pointed at her neck, now lacking the accessory that had adorned it for the past month. "At least they were kind enough to take that damn choker off."
"Allow me to apologise on behalf of my subordinates, Major. Your circumstances being as they were, it was deemed appropriate to follow standard procedure even if no one in this base doubts your commitment towards our current struggle, if only to appease our superiors. I implore you to put this unpleasantness behind our future relations."
Misato's left eyebrow rose above its twin, her steely eyes tracking the obnoxiously familiar voice to the newest, pyramidal addition to the floor of the command room. The device appeared to stare back.
"...Is this freezer talking?"
"Aha, I see your wit is as sharp as ever, Major. But indeed, it is I, Arthur. Allow me to briefly explain why-"
"No, thanks. I'm happier not knowing," Misato rudely cut the freezer off, shifting her attention back towards Ritsuko. "Get me up to speed on the target?"
"Reactivation of the Angel is expected within a thirty minute window. MAGI have detected subtle internal changes in the target during its regeneration process, but there have been no physical changes to it, so far. There is still no consensus in the MAGI as to what to make of this new information, but it's safe to say that a divergence from our previous encounter should be expected."
First question, and already a piece of new intel she had been hoping not to hear. Misato fought down the urge to click her tongue in frustration.
"Great. How are Asuka and Unit-02?"
"Stable, to a certain degree. Enough that she should have no trouble piloting, and since Unit-02 retreated from the previous skirmish with almost no damage there is little you need to worry about in regards to her potential combat efficiency." The doctor briefly pressed a few fingers on her aide's terminal and the main monitor changed to the tactical layout of Tokyo-3 and its surroundings, the screen focusing on the location marker for Unit-02 a few kilometres away from the city. "I took the liberty of deploying her within intercept range of the Angel some time ago, just to be safe."
With a nod, Misato's eyes briefly flicked to the video feed of Unit-02, the orange square showing her redheaded charge in the middle of her usual pre-sortie preparations, eyes closed and mentally preparing herself for the trial ahead. Despite everything that had happened in the last few hours, Asuka looked no different than during any of her previous sorties, a testament to her experience and deeply ingrained martial mindset. But Misato could tell that she was just putting up a front, even without the help of Ritsuko's diagnosis.
'…I should take her aside for a nice, long talk about everything that's going on when we take care of this bastard. Better not to let whatever she's thinking fester,' Misato pondered, before her eyes narrowed at a point in the distance. '…I should probably involve that bitch with the glasses somehow, too. The way she handled her cover was an explosion waiting to happen, but I bet Asuka wants to give her a piece of her mind, anyway.'
"...And Units 00 and 01?" the Major continued along that same train of thought, hoping for a miracle.
"Unit-00 still requires extensive repairs that have been put off in favour of Unit-01, not that the First Child is in any state to pilot, at any rate. As for the latter, the infected muscle tissue we were forced to cut out of its arms still hasn't regenerated, despite how much we attempted to accelerate the process..."
'Oh, right,' Misato briefly tuned Ritsuko's explanation out and let out a mental groan. 'I forgot that God doesn't exist.'
"Hold on a minute, Ritz," she then gently interrupted. "Wasn't the thing that Unit-01… ate from the Fourteenth Angel supposed to help with that? You know, alongside the infinite energy part?"
"...Yes, the S2 Engine. The fact that it's not helping Unit-01 regenerate the extirpated muscle tissue makes no sense whatsoever, but what else is new?" Ritsuko sighed, grabbing the bridge of her nose. "We have tried feeding it everything that I could think of on short notice, from spare part tissue to a limb from a failed EVA prototype, and nothing has succeeded at accelerating the regeneration process."
"Just our luck, eh?"
"I don't believe in luck. But I'm not a proponent of theology either and I'm finding it hard to think of today as anything other than divine punishment for my sins," the doctor grumbled, finally managing to transition back into her usual professional self. "...In any case, Unit-01 could still attempt to sortie with the shoulder mounted weaponry that the engineering department jury-rigged while we worked on the Evangelion itself, but without any proper safety testing on the weapons themselves and the handicap of Unit-01's very state, I believe I don't need to state how inadvisable an idea that would be," Ritsuko finished, throwing a pointed stare Misato's way. "No matter how very you."
"Hey, I'm not that desperate yet. Let's leave that possibility in the pile for now," the Major defended herself before turning towards Hyuga. "Status of the city defences?"
"All green and ready to go across the board. MAGI recommend engaging the Angel within range of the defensive perimeter for the highest probability of success." Hyuga keyed a command into his computer, shifting the tactical map to a trio of blips moving around at a languid pace. "We have also been allowed the deployment of several N2 warheads at our discretion. The bombers carrying them are already circling the outskirts of the engagement area and awaiting our command."
"Must be part of the Russian arsenal if they got here so quickly. Blackjacks, probably," Misato quickly reasoned, thinking of the handful of supersonic bombers in service with the Russian Air Forces. "Good to know they've got our backs. But hopefully we won't need to call them in. Keep me posted on any changes in-"
The sudden blare of the Angel alarm cut off the rest of Misato's order, the bridge crew flying into a flurry of activity not an instant later.
"Energy spike detected within the target!" Maya reported. "MAGI are classifying the event as a possible transformation!"
"…Guess this one's the gentlemanly type. Give me a visual!"
The tactical display vanishing at Misato's command, the image was replaced by a live-feed of the surface from three different satellites and, in it, the Angel's circular body appeared to swell larger and larger, slowly but steadily growing to a thickness five times its original size before several bulges began to show in the Angel's surface, almost as if something was trying to come out of its body.
"…What the hell is it doing?"
And then, as if to answer Misato's question, the swelling lumps exploded into a shower of purple liquid that dyed vast swathes of the forest. A blanket of pristine white feathers came into sight as a circle of angelic wings continued to sprout along the halo, thin tendrils of tissue keeping them connected to the main body even as the main ring appeared to deflate to a thickness closer to its original size. It was not until all of its new wings stopped growing that the Angel's transformed body began to rotate once more, the foliage under it swaying side to side as if under the blades of some massive helicopter.
And as the MAGI's conflicting opinions on the enemy's capabilities resumed, the Angel began to slowly hover forward.