Tokyo-3 Arcana
Chapter 23
Watermelons, Plastic Containers, and Spells
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).
Author Notes:
The game mechanics stuff is taken from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, 2nd Edition.
GeoFront; Wilderness Section 22; Subsection 15-A
Ryoji Kaji's Watermelon Patch
02:42 P.M.
"Amazing workmanship on this little toy, Inspector Kaji." Rusilka studied the weapon Kaji had put on the table. Despite her curiosity, she obeyed Kaji's instructions as if the came from a revered ancestor with a long white beard. Therefore, she would treat the small object with due respect. The warrior would not touch the weapon without Kaji's express permission and instruction.
Kaji took it, checked the magazine was not inserted, and there was no bullet in the chamber. "Actually, it was made by machines. The assembly is handled by people, but the pieces themselves must be very precisely made for the gun to work." To demonstrate his point, he proceeded to disassemble the gun, laying the pieces carefully over a piece of cloth.
"I have some memories of one-shot weapons, but they were made by hand, by very specialized artisans, there were none in my clan, I think. Those were a pain to reload. Unlike these." She didn't touch the pieces of the gun, she only pointed at each one in turn, she looked as if she was trying to reassemble the gun in her mind. Kaji smiled and nodded to himself. Too many times he had seen a rookie make awful mistakes.
"Now, if you'd like to be ready to use one of these, you need to start at the beginning." A short but very complete lecture about the working principles of the handgun followed. And then, to Rusilka's amazement and delight, Kaji proceeded to reassemble the gun. He explained the order, and the reason for each step of assembly. The dwarven warrior watched attentively.
In the meanwhile, Asuka and Shinji were deep into magic practice. The red-headed pilot took to arcane magic like she had been born to it.
She had already learned the basic cantrips they had decided. To Misato's delight, after a couple of tries, Asuka's Ray of Frost really got a six pack of beers to the best temperature. And the spell had an upper limit of three six-packs! The Chief of Operations swished a soda as she watched Rei practice with her magic bow.
The bluenette had no problem with aim, her training had been for a sniper role, granting her a high level of patience, awareness, aim, and ability to judge distance.
Her sticking point was speed. She had taken Shinji's instruction to heart, and was busy practicing the draw and firing of the magical arrows against a few improvised targets Kaji and Misato had set at the other side of the property. Indeed, as had been suspected, the arrows vanished and rematerialized in the quiver four minutes after being fired. Not fast enough to be an advantage during a fight, but it helped to clear any evidence left behind, should they need to flee. Kaji was almost sure the arrows wouldn't even leave forensic evidence in a wound. And wouldn't collect evidence either. In other words, if Rei shot something, the arrow would return to the quiver, leaving nothing behind, and bringing nothing back.
Asuka finished with her cantrip practice, to Shinji's satisfaction and abundant praise. The Second Child almost glowed with pride. "Enough with these, Asuka. Let's get up to the next level." He said. She opened her spell book to the Magic Missile page. Asuka had stayed late to finish copying the complex diagrams and arcane words.
"Let's try something first. Are you qualified to use a gun? Outside an EVA, I mean."
"Of course. I have a special license to carry a gun in Germany. My permits here being withheld until I reach adulthood."
"Excellent." Shinji rubbed his hands. "I should try to get my own permit. Review the spell and check you have it memorized. I'll be back in a moment." Asuka nodded distractedly, while he walked back to where Rusilka was busy re-assembling Kaji's gun. The dwarf was taking her time.
"Excuse me, Kaji, Do you have another gun you could loan us? I would like to try something."
"Sorry, kid. I had to get rid of my spare. At the moment, I have only this one at hand. Misato has her own, but I'll rather not have it far from her." He rubbed his chin, "The only other gun I keep here is a paint gun I use for stress relief."
Shinji smiled. "Even better! Let's try it!"
Kaji raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you planning to do?"
Rusilka stopped, interested. "Let's see it. I need more practice to understand how these two pieces fit together." She sighed, covering the pieces and the partially assembled gun with the cloth, to protect them from contamination.
Tokyo-3, NERV Hospital; Room 107
Hikari stood next to Toji's bed. His father had been so glad to see her he had almost jumped. "No one had come to see him! Not even that kid with the glasses."
She nodded, a sad expression on her earnest face. "I am very sorry, Mr. Suzuhara. We asked Dr. Akagi for permission to come, but she only released my pass yesterday. I received her message after visiting hours…" Apparently, NERV didn't have or didn't bother to call to Hikari's mobile number, as they had just sent a message to her home.
Toji's father straightened up. And then deflated again. "I only wish he was awake to see you. See a friendly face after what happened…"
"I'm sure he will wake up soon," she answered, rubbing her new ring with her thumb, hoping things would work as Shinji had guessed.
A bip startled Hikari, Mr. Suzuhara checked his watch. "I'm sorry, Miss Horaki, I need to check on Sakura. Can you keep Toji company while I come back?"
Hikari smiled at the older man, "Of course, say hello to her for me, please."
The Class Rep prepared herself for trying to wake up Toji.
Horaki Household. Kitchen.
While Hikari attended to her visit, Limiry was busy organizing the pantry. Kodama watched her for a few moments, amazed at the energy the diminutive woman had at her disposal.
"Are you planning on doing something with that fruit?" Kodama asked, while Limiry balanced a melon on her right index finger, just as she had seen the Harlem Globetrotters do in a documentary. Amazing, as it was quite a heavy fruit, even if it was not particularly big.
"Oh, yeah! I'm gonna make a nice fruit cocktail, we have ice-cream, right? I have some nuts and raisins and peanuts! I bet it with taste amazing! Wanna share?"
"You know what? Yes. I'll help with that! Just make sure there is enough for Dad and my sisters."
"Worry not, worry not." Limiry smiled, glad to finally making some inroads with the eldest Horaki sister. The two began to work immediately.
GeoFront; Wilderness Section 22; Subsection 15-A
Ryoji Kaji's Watermelon Patch
While Shinji prepared the targets, Asuka reviewed the spell in her mind. Making sure every little nuance was right, for a moment, she wished Tom was here, but smuggling the jeweled cat would strain even Section 2 famous incompetence. No, the toy cat was safer back at Misato's apartment. Shinji had left him with a few manga books the cat had not read, to keep him busy for a few hours.
Misato relaxed on a chair, enjoying the Chill Touched soda Shinji had left for her. She was watching the two teenagers with interest. It was quite a change to have an assertive Shinji, and a somewhat subdued Asuka, but the ambiance in her apartment had improved a lot, so she wasn't complaining.
Finally, Shinji returned to Asuka's side. He pointed at the other end of Kaji's piece of land. "Let's try it this way. I put three containers on the fence, so we can have an idea of just how well you can use the spell. We will go from left to right, okay? I want you to aim at the big target on its side."
Asuka nodded, contorting her fingers the way Shinji and Tom had taught her, loosening them in preparation. Shini continued. "After that, we are going to try with Kaji's paint gun. I'll go first, to set a comparison. Can you see the target?" Asuka nodded, "I put a single bug inside each container, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to use the spell. How many times did you memorize it?"
"I went for three, Sempai." Shinji nodded.
"Okay, let's keep one in reserve. Today is just for calibration. Now, the target is set at about 35 meters from here, almost the upper range of the spell" (120 ft) "Now, pay attention; Magic Missile only has Somatic and Verbal components, so you don't have to worry about carrying anything at hand to use it." He set his feet firmly on the ground. "Once you have it down, you'll only need to point and say the word to shoot. But to begin, treat it like shooting a gun at the practice range."
Misato nodded approvingly at Shinji's instructions, the boy stood with the feet planted firmly on the ground, his arms hanging loose at his side, and his head held high. He looked sideways at Asuka, "Stand steady… eyes on the target… breathe deep… gather your magic… and…" Asuka's eyes jumped from Shinji to the containers and back, while Shinji's looked at them placidly.
Slowly and deliberatedly, the Third Child raised his right fist and extended his index and thumb, the stereotypical finger gun every child does. "Sharoot!" he whispered, and a small dart of light surged from the point of his finger, impacting precisely on the center of the target. After that, other two lights did the same, flipping the container twice. The darts even twisted a bit in the air to impact the flying plastic container.
Shinji smiled at Asuka, and blew on his finger. Small octagons dissipated around the point of his finger, looking like a very small AT-Field fragmenting. "Your turn, Miss Soryu." Misarto took a mental note to ask him about that. Was he powering his spells with his own soul? Was it a finite resourse?
"Do I have to point like that? It's undignified!" Asuka's voice brought Misato out from her musings. She turned bat to the teenagers.
"No. I was just playing a bit." Shinji tilted his head sideways, smiling. "Back on Oerth, this is a gesture without any context, a small advantage that can grant you a half-second while your opponent is thinking about what are you doing. There, the equivalent is simply pointing like this." He turned his hand with the palm downwards, almost pointing down, but raised his index finger up. The thumb extended itself to the side. It was a hand pose Asuka had seen in quite a few fantasy novels covers. Not that she was a fan of the genre… after her mother's death, she had focused on real-life subjects, mostly science and tech. but as those fantasy novels tended to be at the very front of most bookshops she had frequented, the images had stuck in her memory.
"That's better." Asuka imitated the pose, and shot her own missile. Followed by two more. The second container flew away. After the third dart of light hit it, the cover broke, and the insect inside flew for its life.
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Well done. However, shooting extra missiles can cost you time in battle. Time you not always have."
"Duly noted, sempai." Asuka smiled satisfied.
"Well. Now, let's try with this. If it works as I think, we might have the way to use the spell from an EVA." He hefted the paint gun, examining the mechanism. It used compressed air to shoot a ball of tinted gelatin at a target. Kaji had showed him how to work it a couple of time before letting him borrow it. From their table, Kaji and Rusilka watched the proceedings, though they were too far to actually listen Shinji's instructions.
The young man stood again, pointed the weapon at the smallest target, directed his magic through the mechanism, and…
"Sharoot!"
He pulled the trigger three times. Each paintball was now covered with light. For a moment, the lights coalesced into AT Fields, just before impact.
The container blew high in the air, the second and third missiles changed direction abruptly, following the container as it fell, and impacting it again.
Shinji put the safety catch on, before putting the gun in Asuka's hands. Misato ran to the pair. Excitedly, she took the weapon, and looked at it as if the old and battered toy was worth several million yens. She looked at Shinji, then at Asuka. "Can you imagine what the regular EVA-sized ammo could do to an Angel with this spell?" she asked.
Shinji smiled. "Lets check on the container first, okay." He went to retrieve it. Once he came back, the trio checked the damage. Kaji, Rusilka and Rei came to see what was happening. Shinji put the container on the table. It had been almost destroyed. Shinji asked Kaji, "Is this close to the damage a paintball would do, Kaji?"
The Special Inspector examined the remains. "No. A paintball would dent the plastic, but couldn't penetrate a target this light. The momentum is transferred to the target, making it fly away. This is real damage." He whistled. "It's almost like a bullet damage."
Shinji tapped his chin with a finger. "Then, what kind of the damage an actual bullet could do...?"
Everybody looked at him.
Misato rummaged furiously in her purse. "I don't know, but you are not trying that without these!" She pulled a couple of bottles of Cure Moderate Wounds potions. Now that Shinji had shared his secret, he had made sure they kept at least a couple of potions with them at all times.
Shinji took the vials, moved by Misato´s worry. "Thank you, Misato, in any case, I´ll cast Mage Armor before shooting."
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Evangelion Cage 7
Unit-03 waited in the cage. So far, it had not been examined by the Science Section, and it simply stood in the colossal pool, almost submerged in LCL.
It had no core, as the original had been corrupted by the 13th Angel and removed by Unit-01 in the most violent and expedient way. By simply ripping it out.
The tech crews awaited impatiently for the order to be given. They had a bet to win!
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Evangelion Cage 3
Yui Ikari and Rei I had spent most of the day chatting. For Yui, it had been almost like becoming a mother for the second time in her li… existence.
"So, I have a brother?" the child soul asked. If she could see her, Yui was sure her eyes would be big as saucers.
"Yes, and a sister too. They can only come to us when they enter the plug at our back."
"But… she doesn't hear me…" Rei almost cried. "I yell at her and she ignores me! Then I heard somebody else, I think it was a boy, and he scared me… I tried to run away, but I couldn't…" she sobbed.
Yui gasped, Rei was talking about the Cross-Compatibility Experiment… before the Shadow Angel. She remembered the second Rei trying to connect with her soul, but Rei's Lilith infused soul interfered with her own, resulting in a low synch score. She sighed sadly. "Your sister can't hear you, not with her ears. But Shinji, your brother, can. He couldn't then, but now he can."
"How?" Rei was becoming agitated.
"If he enters the plug at your back again, he will. He has learned how to listen. And perhaps, when he connects with me, he will be able to speak to you. I don't know if it is possible. We will have to wait."
"I don't wanna wait…" Rei sulked.
"Neither do I, but we must. I hope they will come to us soon. When your sister comes, try to help her. She needs you to move this thing we now live in."
"I will! I will be the best sister I can be!" the change in the child was amazing. Inside EVA-01's core, Yui smiled warmly.
Space, High Orbit
Over Japan
Zeruel listened closely to the signals he received. He had narrowed the search area to the inconsequent island under him. And from there, to a small but very densely built city. However, something interfered with his senses. He would prefer to find his creator's location, and appear directly there, but the best he could do would be to get close to the place and try to locate him from the ground.
Soon, alarms would sound all over Tokyo-3.
Author Notes:
I wish you all well in these trying moments. And I hope to have provided a few minutes of relief from this stress.
Be safe.
