Tokyo-3 Arcana
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).
Chapter 14
Let's Talk About This for a While.
Tokyo-3
Ayanami Apartment; 9:43 A.M.
Rei Ayanami knelt on the bare floor of her apartment, despite her lack of fear, carefully cultivated in her psyche by Commander Ikari; she was prudent enough to arm herself with an improvised weapon, a frying pan she took from the kitchen she barely used. She had considered taking a knife, but she didn't know how fast the creature could be, so she settled on a weapon with a wide area of impact. Very slowly, and ready to jump back, she approached the place where her school bag had smashed over the spider.
The blue-haired pilot could see the shiny black legs twitching feebly under the bag and a slowly spreading pool of malodorous ichor.
Carefully, she began to lift the bag; holding the frying pan at the ready to strike at the creature at the first sign of movement. The arachnid was dead. The last glimmer of reddish glow dimmed in its eight eyes, until they lost all their red color.
Its abdomen had burst with the impact, spreading guts and ichor all around her school bag. The contents were most probably ruined; especially the laptop. Rei had heard it break on impact against the hard floor.
Rei wrinkled her nose at the pungent odor. She prodded at the dead creature with the edge of the frying pan, while her mind calculated size, weight, and surface of the animal.
"It cannot exist. At this size and proportions, the spider wouldn't be able to even breathe efficiently, much less to move and stalk prey actively."
She realized she had not enough data to account for the undeniable fact that despite its own impossibility, a giant spider had entered into her apartment. Still with the pan at the ready, she snapped a couple of pictures with her cell phone; and after returning the device to her skirt pocket, she took a pencil out, and carefully lifted the head.
"Big chelicerae." She observed. "Probably strong enough to pierce leather or thick skin." A thick, greenish liquid oozed from the points of the fangs. "Probably has poison sacks, well developed."
While she studied the spider, a soft wind blew into the room. With it, the spider's body began to decompose rapidly. Rei's eyes opened wide in surprise, and she blinked twice. She hurried to grab a sealable container, and hurriedly scooped ichor a leg and the head into it using the edge of the frying pan. Once she thought there was enough evidence inside for a detailed analysis, she closed it hermetically.
Four minutes later, all that remained of the creature on the floor was a fine dust evaporating in the wind. Hardly a stain, marking the contour of its body remained. It was barely a discoloration on the dirty floor. As if somebody had made a half hearted attempt to clean the place.
Even the remains in the container evaporated into silvery mist.
"Need more data." She said, to no one in particular. Distractedly, she rubbed her shoulder. The sudden movement had reawakened the sympathetic pain from the fight with the Thirteenth Angel.
Her mind ran through several possibilities. In normal circumstances, Commander Ikari would been first in her list of reliable people to ask advice from, but the recent events had changed things. Dr. Akagi was out of commission temporarily. Lt. Ibuki was… approachable, but her clearance was low. Major Katsuragi, maybe, but she was either on medical leave for the day or coordinating rescue operations in the Matsushiro Secondary Base. Maybe Pilot Ikari. Yes. He had demonstrated acceptance of her and her… oddness. Rei was sure he would listen to her story with an open mind.
She changed into a clean school uniform, grabbed the container and her school bag, and put everything inside a plastic bag, a bag Pilot Ikari had left at her place some time before, to help her with any future cleanings of the apartment.
She would visit the Katsuragi apartment and ask him for his opinion.
Tokyo-3, GeoFront
NERV HQ; Brig, Cell 17, 09:50 A.M.
Shinji Ikari sat on the hard bench that doubled as bed in his solitary cell. The blast door had been opened, allowing Major Katsuragi to enter the cell. They had been occupied with small talk for the last few minutes. Occassionally, Shinji's eyes wandered towards the sling that held her right arm, and the cast that covered her forearm. While Misato's occassionally glared at the rough orange coverall he had been given.
"There's no deed to apologize for that, Misato. There was no time to tell me, and things went pear-shaped before you could straighten things up. I am really glad to see you're okay, Misato. I was worried. What about Rei, Asuka and Toji?" Shinji had a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Despite being technically on medical leave, Misato had managed to visit him in his cell. She had cashed in a few favors from the Brig crew.
Misato smiled sadly. "I got lucky, Shinji. Rei is okay, though she will be suffering from residual sympathetic pain for a few days. Toji is still asleep. I guess the Angel did a real number on him. Asuka is back home, she was the least harmed by all that happened. Rits is the one who got it worse, and your father will have her back at work tomorrow morning, the bast..." She interrupted herself. "Sorry."
In her embarrasment, Misato missed how Shinji's eyes, normally warm, friendly, and accepting, grew wider with worry at the mention of his jock friend; and then, colder than the Antarctic of her nightmares when his friend spoke about Commander Ikari's actions.
"No need to apologize for that either, I actually share your opinion." He shrugged, the look in his eyes signaled the end of that particular line of conversation.
She waved her hand to enphasize her next point, "Urm... well, yes. Still, I should keep my big mouth shut. Commanding officer and all that."
"No problem. How are things at home?"
"Oh, you know me, I just can't keep things in order without you."
Shinji rolled his eyes, and laughed. "Jeez, Misato. It's been only one day! I can't ask you to clean the apartment, but at least don't make a bigger mess!"
Misato smiled apologetically, "Sorry. It's just that Asuka is crankier than usual, must be the time of the month. I swear her hormones are going crazy. Half the time she's all silent and still, and the rest of the time she makes me feel like somebody lit a fuse or something. She looked torn between staying home or coming here."
"Maybe she just needs something to do." Shinji rubbed his chin thoughtfully. And an idea arrived. "Hey, that reminds me, she and I bet laundry duty, and she still owes me two weeks. Please remind her to use some softener."
Her eyes brightened, "Really? A bet? And you bet laundry duty? You should have bet a kiss or something like that." Almost since she met Shinji, she thought he and Asuka would make a good couple, as they could compensate for each other's shortcomings. In part, that was the reason she had invited Asuka to live with them, and the synch training had been mostly an excuse.
However, Shinji's face became hard, instead of blushing like she expected. "Don't joke about that, Misato. Please."
"What did I say?" She realized then she had stepped into a minefield and backstepped. "Oh, sorry. It seems today I'm brained in the addle."
Shinji couldn't help but chuckle at her obvious attempt for humor and shrugged dismissively. "Just leave it. I'm not in the mood to talk about that." She tried to shrug too, but winced at the sudden pain in her shoulder. Shinji took note of that, for a few seconds he was torn between the need to keep his magic secret, and the need to help his friends. The voice of the Justicar rang clear in his memory. "You never leave your people behind, never." Misato would recover eventually, but … Sighing, he took his decision.
"You should go home and rest, Misato. I'm not going anywhere for a while, it seems." Just as she opened her mouth to argue, Shinji continued, "We will speak later, okay?" Shinji's eyes shot up for a second, towards the surveillance camera; warning her from saying anything. "Do me a favor, will you? There is a small bottle in my backpack, at home. It has a red mark of paint in the cork."
Misato's brow furrowed. "You want me to bring it here, right? What is it? Some kind of energy drink?"
"No, and before you ask, it's not alcoholic nor any drug. It's... something else. I want you to drink it. Tell Asuka I told you to. You'll feel better. I promise, I will explain everything later." Shinji released her hand, and continued. "There are things I'd like to tell you, in private." Numbly, she nodded, realizing he had packed more than the obvious meaning in his words.
Just what in the name of all the kami had happened to Shinji inside that damned Angel? He still was that sweet kid who took care of her, although it should have been the other way around, but now it seemed there was a steel core in him. Would the surprises ever end?
She decided to have a long talk with her ward once he was released from the brig. A guard walked to the door of the cell, and tapped the bars twice. He looked at the pair, and said, "Sorry to interrupt, Major, but visit time is over. You should go back home and rest."
Shinji stood up, and helped Misato to her feet. As his friend left the cell, he called. "Ah, Misato, one more thing, could you ask Asuka to gather my laundry? I think something might have fallen behind my bed."
"Sure. No problem."
She didn't miss the way he tapped the side of his nose, very careful to do it out of the camera's angle and the guard's view.
As Misato left the GeoFront, her mind whirled with questions and doubts.
Tokyo-3, NERV Hospital; Room 107
10:27 A.M.
Mr. Suzuhara waited. He occupied an uncomfortable chair next to his son. Toji slept still. His chest moved up and down, up and down, with the regularity of a clock.
The doctors didn't know what had gone wrong with him. All the tests they could do showed him in almost perfect health. But he just kept on sleeping.
"C'mon, Toji. I know you like to sleep late, but this is ridiculous!" His father whispered, forcing some good humor in his voice, hoping his son would wake up.
Meanwhile, away from prying eyes, Toji's spirit wandered through a strange landscape. Big mountains covered the horizon, one of them must have been a volcano, as a white plume of smoke rose from it's very tip. The place was quite beautiful, there were trees and grass. The air was mildly warm, and the sun was high on the sky. If he wasn't lost, he would really like to wander around.
He wandered for a long time. Several hours at the least, and he hadn't come closer to any place.
A glint captured his attention. With nothing better to do, Toji walked towards the place he had seen the glint.
As he got closer, he saw what had reflected the light. It was a sword. Resting in the boney grip of a skeleton.
The owner of said skeleton had apparently died with his back to a tree. The remains of a set of leather armor still clung to the skeleton. It was clear the man had died fighting, there were several arrows protruding from the remains. The bones of several short creatures with big heads were all around him. Toji counted at least eight creatures. Some of them still held rusty knifes in their hands.
Toji admired the sword from a few steps away. Squating down, he spoke to the skeleton. "Uh, sorry, man. It seems they got you in the end." He took his track jacket off, and covered the bones respectfully. As he stood, he heard a voice behind him and turned.
"Well met, young man." Somehow, the man was translucent, and wore the same clothes the skeleton had on, but without the rents and dried blood. "Thanks for your respect." The man pointed at the now covered bones.
"Uh... Hello..?" He scratched his head, thinking, "I am dreaming, right?"
"You are dreaming, true, but this doesn't make me any less real." The ghost tried to kick a skull, but his foot passed through without any effect on the old bones.
Toji scratched his head. "That doesn't make any sense, man."
The ghost sighed.
Tokyo-3
Katsuragi/Ikari/Soryu Apartment, 12:37 P.M.
Asuka paced around the living room. She was still full of nervous energy. A while before, Misato had called, to let them know Shinji was okay, although still locked in the brig.
Kaji watched her as she walked a trench in the floor. "What's wrong, Asuka?" the agent asked,
"I'm going nuts in here. I'd really like to go to Hikari's. Any problem with that, Kaji?"
"Hmm... Katsuragi asked me to stay here with you while she checked on Shinji. I guess we can wait until she arrives."
Asuka pouted for a moment, but Kaji was used to her tactics, and didn't relent. "Tell you what, call Miss Horaki and see if she can come here. I'm sure Katsuragi won't object to that."
"Great!" she chirped, but actually and for a first time since she had met the scruffy-looking man, she would have prefered to be away. "I'll call her." She needed to talk to somebody. And somebody who knew about magic.
Before the german-raised pilot could reach for the phone, the doorbell rang. "Maybe it's Hikari!" She ran to the door.
As the door slid open, Asuka looked in surprise at Rei Ayanami. "Wonder Girl? What are you doing here?"
"Pilot Soryu." Rei bowed fractionally, "Is Pilot Ikari at home? I find myself in need to speak with him." She carried her school bag and an empty plastic container.
Asuka tilted her head, for some reason, her instincts told her Ayanami's presence was no coincidence.
"He's not here," she answered, "Commander Dumpk... I mean, Commander Ikari had him arrested. He didn't like that Ikari broke ranks and killed the Angel without his permission."
"I see. I'll talk with him later, then." She answered, and turned around to leave.
"Stop right there, Wonder Girl." Asuka grabbed Rei's arm. Now that she had the chance to actually study Rei's face, she really saw the resemblance to Shinji's features. Especially in the shape of their eyes and nose. 'It seems the baka is right, Ayanami could be his sister. I guess it won't hurt to actually talk to her.' she thought.
"Look, I don't know when he will be released, but maybe Katsuragi or myself can help. She went to NERV a while ago to speak with him. She is on her way here. You could wait."
Rei studied Asuka for a few seconds. Her usual vitriol was curiously absent, and it seemed she was doing an effort to be civil and helpful. "I accept. I will wait for her." She bowed respectfully. "Thank you."
Asuka ushered her into the living room.
Author Notes
Shinji has no access to healing magic at the moment, at least not directly. The Justicar does, as part of his Ranger class abilities. Shinji has some Ranger training, but he lacks the levels needed to have access to healing magic (that would be at Ranger Lvl 8, according to the Pathfinder Corebook, 1st Edition). So, he brought quite a few healing potions with him. He always carries one in his backpack and one in his clothes. He had one on him when the Angel Alarm sounded, but it is currently in his locker at NERV. The potion in the backpack is at easy reach for Misato or Asuka.
Should somebody actually analyze the potion, they would find only natural ingredients, like herbs, honey and water; the magic won't show up in any scientific analysis Earth scientist have devised. The only way to test the effects of the potion would be through consumption it.
However, should magic become common on Earth, I am sure somebody would eventually find scientific means to detect and measure it. Or maybe, technomagical means.
