Chapter 17: Asuka's SDAT Player
Asuka, Tokyo-3 streets
The Second Child walks to school on a monday morning. Her SDAT player's earbuds are blasting the sounds of the album Dani and Kaji had gifted her into her ears. Paramore... Riot. The loud music makes a vain attempt to drown out Asuka's grinding thoughts.
She'd arrived in Tokyo-3 with the Pacific fleet on a sunday night. She'd stayed with her Unit 02 as it was placed alongside its inferior siblings in Tokyo-3's Eva cages. Then she had to spent the night in a hotel, because apparently 'Major' Misato had forgotten that Asuka would be moving in with her. Forgotten! How!? Was it Misato's endless appetite for piss beer? Her love of booze certainly made mornings completely unbearable when they lived together in Berlin. Neither of them were able to cook very well at all, and with Misato knocked out, Asuka had to knock together a stack of buttered bread for breakfast and lunch basically every day. It was bland, it was undignified and it was embarassing!
But a more likely reason for Major Katsuragi's forgetfulness unfurls itself in Asuka's mind. Last night, after falling down into her bed, dead tired, she'd texted Kaji to see if he could fix her problem. And he could, and he did! He vowed to have her stuff offloaded from the Over the Rainbow and shipped to Misato's apartment first thing in the morning.
Asuka chuckles as she pictures Misato's face riiight about now, with Kaji showing up on her doorstep (with a mountain of boxes) just as she's about to leave for work. Despite her intense feelings for her handsome handler, she can't begrudge him a chance to suprise Katsuragi.
However the Second Child is still upset. In her brief correspondence with mister Kaji, she'd learned that the Third Child, one Shinji Ikari (son of the Commander? Hmm..) was living with Misato now.
All she really knew about Ikari was that he was one hell of an Eva pilot... And for him to be living with Misato? Were they...? No...
Asuka really didn't like that she'd been replaced in Misato's life by the boy who turned his Eva into a giant christmas tree ornament and then created the very hole in the Geofront that now prevented her from taking the bus to school.
But the fact that she's already found three... four... five vectors of teasing/browbeating/impressing the young hotshot pilot distracts her from her woes.
She reaches down to her SDAT player as she hears the opening bars to her least favourite song on the LP... For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic.
Just talk yourself up... And tear yourself down!
The first time she heard it, she nearly choked on her drink, then quickly pressed 'skip'. Almost didn't listen to the album... But CrushCrushCrush was awesome to listen to when reading her Pacific Rim comic...
You've hit your one wall, now find a way around.
She'd deleted it... But it found its way back onto her playlist last night, when she'd uploaded the album to her NERV issue SDAT player (with Wifi, Bluetooth, sattellite tracking, and half a dozen other things that helped tie the vital Pilot into Tokyo-3's digital nervous system in case of an attack.) The fact that it was hardened and shielded and thus looked like a Gameboy in a cardboard box wasn't even a problem. Asuka had the wonderful womanly technology known as a purse! Easy fix! Didn't even need to be a genius to think it up!
'Well what's the problem?' You've got a lot of nerve!
She snorted in amusement at that last word as she realized the cosmic joke with regards to her employers. She'd never gotten this far into the song before... Was this why Dani had given her the album? To psych her? Or to... to teach her stuff?
Nah! She pulled her hand out of her purse, 'skip' button untouched.
So what did you think I would say that you can't run away that you can't run away?
So what did you think I would say that you can't run away that you can't run away you wouldn't...
Shinji, Tokyo-3 streets
I never wanted to say this... You never wanted to stay!
Shinji was walking to school. On his way down the building's steps he'd seen an unknown man walk past. The guy gave him a very Danny-like appraising look, but then just went on his way.
Probably a Section 2 security agent... There was also a moving van downstairs, but again, Shinji didn't really care. His mind was already thinking about school, and his friends... And meeting the Second Child.
I put my faith in you so much faith and then you... just threw it away!
Turn the corner, zebra crossing... He waits for the light to turn green, even if there's not all that many cars around. A big hole in the Geofront plate the size of two residential districts will do that...
You threw it away!
The light turns green and just as he's about to step forward, a girl in a school uniform steps into the road, seemingly not even breaking stride as she walked up behind him.
The thing he notices about the girl isn't her gait, or her head swaying side to side as she listens to some music or other.
It's that she's got red hair. Fiery orange-red, flowing hair.
I'm not so naïve, my sorry eyes can see...
The way you fight, shy of almost everything!
Well if you give up, you'll get what you deserve...
This is not a Japanese girl. And she's two blocks from his school.
In all likelyhood, he just got passed by the Second Child.
For some reason, Shinji Ikari feels his gut constrict. Butterflies? Fear? (Both, his mind decides with the voice of his recently reaquainted mother.)
Shinji recognizes the onset of a minor panic attack... But he swallows the bile in his throat and crosses the street as fast as he can.
So what did you think I would say that you can't run away that you can't run away?
So what did you think I would say that you can't run away that you CAN'T RUN AWAY? YOU WOULDN'T!
Asuka
This was a mistake.
A ragged breath escapes Asuka's throat as she tries to run away from the flashback that is already almost blinding her to the empty street in front of her.
I never wanted to say this...
'Her daughter discovered the body.'
You never wanted to stay...
'Mama?' - 'That doll is not my daughter!'
I put my faith in you SO MUCH FAITH and then you...
' It's Doctor Soryu. She hung herself.'
Just threw it away.
Guitars strum, Asuka's legs fail her and she slumps against what some distant part of her recognizes as a Neidbau wall.
You threw it away!
Hot tears drip down her nose and cheeks, but her cynical admiration at finding pettiness even in Tokyo-3 blooms into bitter defiance.
'I'll get over this, again. I'll heal. Again. Fuck you, mom. I don't... fucking... NEED you!'
Shinji
The Third Child stares in subdued horror as the collapsed girl shakily pushes herself off from the sheet concrete wall and swaggers forward.
Morbidly, the image of of the Third Angel slamming its arm onto the asphalt, then lunging at Unit 01 is at the forefront of Shinji's mind.
Unwilling to stop fighting, but not caring whether it'll live or die.
You were finished long before we had even seen a start,
Why don't you stand up be a man about it, fight with your bare hands about it now!?
Without even fully realizing it, Shinji takes a step toward the girl with the fiery hair, and puts his hand down on her shoulder.
Then his ever sluggish brain kicks in and he realizes there are better ways to get the attention of a mentally unstable girl than to enter her proverbial AT-field without warning.
Asuka
I never wanted to say this.. (say this...)
She feels the hand on her shoulder and freezes stock still. Vaguely she realizes she's having a full-on panic attack.
You never wanted to stay well did you!?
Images of ravens tearing open her belly, one of them jabbing its beak into her eye-
I put my faith in you SO much faith and then you...
Just threw it away...
Her mind freezes over and all that's left is her constricted throat. She's completely alone.
No, wait, hang on a minute, her brain says. There's literally someone holding you right now.
I never wanted to say this...
You never wanted to stay...
So what do I do? Do I turn around? Or do I run away?
...
...
Heh.
And I put my faith in you so much faith and then you...
Just threw it away.
Despite everything, all my fears and pain and worries, under the bangs that hide my eyes, I smirk.
"Don't let pain, or fear of pain, ever keep you from your goal..."
Dani's voice, speaking wisdoms tailor-fit for my vicious, defiant, hating sorry excuse for a soul.
I make my choice. Exhale.
The Great Asuka Langley Soryu... Er...
Okay, fine: Asuka-chan the weak and vulnerable mewling fucking kitten turns around and...
Shinji
What do I do!? She's trembling... Do I let go?
No. Stay.
Don't fucking run away now, Ikari...
The thought bubbles up into my concious mind an instant later... Touji's voice... Okay, odd.
I'm not entirely sure, but did the girl just laugh? Under her breath, a quiet huff? I couldn't quite tell.
She turns around, and...
Asuka
Huh... Just a kid?
Well for a boy my age he looks alright I guess... Probably going to school too, from the look of his clothes.
"Um..." I look away... "Thank you... Er, I was..."
For christ's sake Soryu, you're a scientist! It's just adrenaline! Overcome it!
"Hum! Yes, I was having some trouble, remembering the death of my mother... I... It would comfort me a lot if you never share this with anyone. Please?"
That's it girl, recompose, and give a winning smile... If he actually keeps his mouth shut, this is how happy the great Asuka Langley Soryu will be! So please... please...?
Shinji
Wow, she's pretty.
Wow, she's pretty.
She's kind of sad, though... so...
Wow, she's beautiful...
Okay Ikari, that's enough... Hormones are one thing, but this is the Second Child you're talking to, the one who basically toyed with the Sixth Angel before obliterating it in a barrage of nukes.
...Not helping, brain!
Thankfully, the warrior goddess is asking Shinji a question. She was remembering her mother's death, and would like him to keep it a secret.
Well, uh, wow...
Close your mouth, you're not a gaijin tourist, he hears the voice of his aunt scold him.
I scratch the back of my head, trying to make the cold sweat go away. I resist the impulse to apologize for grabbing the girl so unexpectedly... Right at this moment, there's bigger fish to fry.
"Okay." I grind out. "You have my word... I... I know what it's like to lose a parent."
The girl's pleading smile fills out with elation, then breaks like a pane of glass.
"You... also lost someone?" She asks, voice weak. Then she blinks. "Who the heck are you anyway, grabbing me and talking to me like this!?"
I instinctively cringe back from the sudden explosion of rage... But I've had worse, so I lean back toward the girl... And the (tiny, neglected) misschievous side of me can't help but feel a little glee at the prospect of giving my brash new colleague a good suprise.
"Well unless I'm mistaken and those aren't AT-connector hair clips, I'm your fellow Eva pilot!"
Asuka
...
...
Wait, what?
Shinji
The girl's confused look, mouth gasping like a fish, pupils flitting around as she looks for a comeback, any comeback, is very satisfying.
I'm very happy that my informal sarcasm lessons, walking and talking with Danny and Rei on the way back from school almost every day, have paid off.
"So..." I hesitantly edge forward. "I'm Shinji Ikari, and I pilot Unit 01..." The girl frowns at me, but doesn't seem to go for the bait just yet.
"I know you pilot Unit 02... Watching you and Danny's sister fight the Sixth Angel was incredible by the way... But I don't know anything else about you! To start off, what's your name?"
My nascent tactical sense, to its credit, warns me to take a step back when the girl in front of me straightens up. The enormous, toothy smile on her face almost seems to glow.
But I realize I've just dangled a steak in front of a shark. Worth it to console her though... Probably.
"Well, Third Child..."
Major Misato Katsuragi
Even having seen Dani and Danny powering up before, I'm still taken aback a bit.
One moment they're both floating inches above the Geofront lake, and the next they're both enveloped in that blinding-white ring of light, henshin-ing into to their totally-not-spandex super modes...
The water under Dani's feet explodes out of the way, like something out of a fighting manga... While Danny's feet smugly touch down on a growing sheet of ice.
...I don't know how Danny can just exude arrogance like that, with just body-language, but... hmm, it's probably for the best he's not Soryu's role model.
All a trick to goad his sister in to attack, of course... And Dani is one to take the bait, to plow straight through an ambush with overwhelming force...
Sure enough, just as I predicted, a barrage of ectoblasts, quickly becoming an uncountably huge swarm, flies out from the female Phantom as she backpedals into the air.
The slow projectiles seem to arc outward, a huge cloud of explosions waiting to happen, in the air between Dani and Danny for just a second... and then all hundred-ish blasts collapse onto Danny, who didn't quite seem to realize the quantity of firepower his sister had thrown out as a first attack.
He sidesteps, and a huge amount of Dani's power is wasted, simply blowing up ice and water... But Danny is clipped, and is sent flying end-over end toward the eastern side of the Geofront...
Dani, of course, pursues, picking up speed, gathering up ectoplasm in her hand, ready to give her clone brother a mighty supersonic punch...
C'mon Danny, I've got a month of coffee delivery riding on this... Stupid Ritsuko and her reverse psychology... Counter... c'mon...
"Um, Katsuragi?" The edge of annoyance in Fuyutsuki's voice peels me off the window of Commander Ikari's office.
"You will not be the only one reviewing the video logs of that sparring session later."
He adds, tactfully reminding me that trying to figure out the Fentons and their tactical capabilities is my job as well as really, really cool viewing.
But the aging consigliere's playful smirk is enough to soothe both my faint embarassment at getting caught out, and my lingering resentment toward Fuyutsuki for supporting Commander Ikari in all this... insanity.
The subtle joy in the man's eyes seems to say, without words: "Yes, it is cool, yes it is impressive, I completely understand."
It's a painful reminder that Fuyutsuki hadn't sold his soul like Ikari had, and was,- just like me, - trying to strike a balance between saving the world and losing everything worth saving in the process...
So I sit back down and wait for the Commmander to show up.
Turns out, I didn't have to wait long. The door swings open, and out step two Section Two agents, then Ikari, with Ritsuko in his wake.
A quick glance toward Fuyutsuki and the old bastard's little indulgent smile confirms he'd basically known Ikari was about to barge in, and set things up so that he'd have nothing else to bitch about.
The little things we do to keep the crazy ones happy...
I pray to whatever god is responsible for Second Impact that Yui's return will keep the Commander from going full Colonel Kurz on us before the year is out.
The Commander sits down, and Rits smiles at me, before pulling up a program on her notepad device. "Rerouting holoconferencing." She says with a computer monotone (to Ikari).
The whole room briefly goes dark, except for the still-open windows... But then the walls flicker with static, like an old TV set to a dead channel, and the room returns to normal, with one exception.
A caucasian woman with long, black hair, with a streak of bright purple dyed in, sits on a holographic green sofa across from Ikari's desk.
I vaguely note that the chairs Ritsuko, Fuyutsuki and I are sitting on, along with the couch, complete something that looks a lot more like a therapy circle than a board meeting.
Therapy session. Hologram Emitter.
Danny recently used the hologram emitter...
Danny's wife is a psychologist, occasional psychotherapist.
Danny's wife is caucasian, and looks roughly like that...
And the image comes together in my head, irrespective of the absurdity.
Before Ritsuko or Ikari can say anything, I raise my hand and wave. "Hi! Sam Fenton?"
The woman blinks, then turns toward me, snapping her fingers. "Ah! Misato?"
I grin and nod. "Yep! You're Danny's..."
Sam Fenton grins smugly. "Danny's better half, yes." Oh I like you!
Before I can even think of worrying about maybe not being quite so blithe in front of my personal evil overlord, Samantha Fenton stands up, pulls out her notepad, and smiles directly at Gendo.
"Commander Ikari, thank you for letting us use your office." The woman is the image of slightly-askew proffessionalism, with a perfectly tailored business suit, completely (and purposefully) ruined by a blouse dappled with skulls and very retro stockings.
"Of course." Gendo replies politely but curtly. The office, with its holoprojector and surveillance shielding, was one of only two places where this conference could be held. The other was the MAGI computer lab, and that area was far less protected from prying eyes.
Sam taps her pen to her lips, seemingly in thought, then spies the empty fourth chair. "Commander, I know it's asking a bit much, but... before we begin to try and..." The woman seems a little lost, out of her depth, but then quickly recomposes herself. "Before we begin to explore the, ehm, clusterfuck that the world, Tokyo-3 and your family have become, I would ask you to sit on that chair over there. Your desk creates a..." She briefly gesticulates... "A distance to the rest of us sitting here that, -to be frank, -might fit your regular dealings, but right now, is exactly the opposite of what we want to achieve, no?"
Um, Did she really just go there? Well, I suppose she's working off the cliffnotes Danny and I gathered, so, yeah, she's right, but STILL!
The Commander doesn't say a word, the image of calm. He rolls his chair back, stands up, and smoothly walks over to the chair.
I'm not... entirely sure...
He sits down, elbows on his knees, very slouched, giving no further signal to Fenton.
"Very good." Sam remarks, with seemingly genuine respect.
Okay, what the hell is going on?!
The sound of a sonic scream shaking the building, followed by a blinding flash of venom-green light from outside, signaling an end to the Phantom sparring session, only serves to punctuate my astonishment.
Shinji, School
It was... interesting to see Asuka intergrate with the people I've gotten to know as friends. She'd met them all on the Over the Rainbow already, and she seems to be determined to live up to first impressions.
A lot of the bluster isn't just European ego, though I would've probably noticed that even without seeing her almost break down in tears this morning. She's angry and sad and the only thing keeping her together is plowing forward.
Touji has risen to the challenge, curtailing the Second Child's smartass remarks with smartass retorts of his own.
And Ayanami seems to be joining in from time to time, though Rei is understandably a little new to the whole 'banter' thing, so she takes it slow.
They both seem to be enjoying eachother's company well enough, though Asuka is still very guarded around her fellow Pilot.
Overall everyone seems to be doing alright. Kensuke referring to Asuka as a 'movie star' turned out really well.
Though he confided to me later that he meant 'the other thing, with the ego'. Well, he mimed 'big head' to me anyway.
Ah, Kensuke... He's a true Otaku: Sponges up for information he's interested in, doesn't bother to keep up with the rest of his learnin'.
Heck, Asuka's only joined in the sign language lessons this morning and she's already managed to pick up a few of the basics. Then again, she's a genius, but Aida is deaf, he has no excuse!
When my fellow 'stooges' (as Asuka calls Touji, 'Suke and I...) got their inner ears destroyed by Danny and it became clear there wouldn't be a fix for the problem any time soon, it was Horaki who came up with the idea to form a student club to try and learn some basic sign language together. It's also an unofficial support club for Pilots (and the brave fools who risk their lives needlessly to help them). Though, admittedly, about a quarter of our 'sign language' is nothing more than pidgin improv, and if anyone who actually spoke sign language saw us at it, they'd probably call us idiots...
And there I go with the self-deprecation again. It was a cool gesture from Hikari. Done.
Time for lunch break... and my SDAT player lets me know I have a message.
From Commander Gendo Ikari.
I almost panic, but then I see the title: "Don't worry, not an Angel alert. Or any other emergency for that matter."
Well, okay then...
Outside, under Rei's tree (its 'owner' peeling an orange not three feet away, but I trust her not to pry), I open my inbox again, and start reading.
"Dear Shinji,
I'd resolved to write to you before I came back into contact with your mother, Yui Ikari, whose current indisposition we are now both aware of.
However, I did not have the constitution to face you, so I made excuses, put contacting you on the bottom of the pile of my admittedly busy schedule.
You can rest assured, the airconditioning filters have been refreshed, a lab mice infestation of the Geofront has been curtailed, though not exterminated... and finally, most damningly... Unit 01 has been patched into the MAGI.
Your mother and I have had a brief exchange of words and she has given me an ultimatum. "Fix this mess" that I've made, and she will judge me as I go.
Right now, I'd be lying if I said I wrote to you for any reason but to get closer to Yui.
But that's just it; I'd be lying.
The truth is that I am afraid. I am afraid of you, of your rejection, and far more of what you represent... Your mother's love, perhaps still lost to me? I... I miss her. Everything I have done I have done to have her back.
It was selfish, and most certainly not in the best interests of anyone. Not you. Not even Yui. Perhaps not even me?
I am a competent administrator and planner. I'm also incapable of being your father, for reasons more to do with what would perhaps be called insanity outside my own head, than any love lost between us.
I wish I was sorry about that, but the truth is... I am simply indifferent.
Perhaps there are some embers of... something or other, hormonal bonds, romanticism that hasn't been eaten away by everything that's happened... That could make me reconsider. But not here, and not now.
I know you want my affection. My acknowledgement, a yardstick of your progress to measure yourself by. I can't claim to love you. But I can be honest what I think of you.
You have never disappointed me, and I haven't set low standards.
Your competence in battle, keeping your head level and still being extremely invested in your Eva's state of mind, and the state of mind of the First Child, shows a remarkable (even when undeveloped!) talent with people that reminds me of all the qualities posessed by both your mother and myself.
While your constant compassion and awkward kindness has been... unpleasant for me to witness, due to my aforementioned fears...
I have no doubt that should things have gone the way they had been going, with the friendship of your unconstrained tyrant* Danny and his family, you would've broken out of my attempts to emotionally isolate you and your fellow Children, and brought about a change in NERV that would most probably have resulted in myself permanently being removed from power.
Again, I am not afraid to be honest with you. Honesty will set one free, especially when one's plan is both falling apart and suddenly superfluous.
Your indomitable desire to reach out and trust has been the catalyst for something better than what I could've achieved.
And if I weren't 'a crazy fool', as Katsuragi will most certainly call me, I'd be extremely proud of you.
I suppose I am thankful that Yui is now back with us, at least in the most important sense.
I hope this message will bring you clarity and with time, will alleviate your worries.
Kind regards,
Gendo Ikari.
P.S. The word 'tyrant' has classically meant 'one who rules through force or threat of force alone'. I thought it a fitting way to describe Fenton. "
Shakily, I stand up. Ayanami drapes her arm over my shoulder, and pulls me into a soft hug.
"Because you were crying." She answers, without me even having to ask.
I don't quite know what else to say...
"You are not particularly joyous... Are you sad?" She asks, neutrally, but with the slightest... (slyest?) tinge of worried curiosity thrown in.
"I don't really know..." I hug Rei back. "He's an asshole." I blurt out, out of the blue.
Rei immedeately pulls back and stares me in the eyes, a storm of unrest under a thin façade of stunned Ayanami.
"Is that your final conclusion?" She asks me, with a desperate edge to her voice.
"Well..." I sigh. "Yes and no." I sit down on the grass... well, I crash down onto the grass, and Rei wastes no time sitting down in a seiza next to me.
"Turns out, I was spot-on two months ago, when I was terrified of him, when I hated him, and you told me to give him a chance."
I swing my finger at Rei as I say so, the motion as wild and weak as I'm feeling right now.
"He would've ruined my life, all our lives, just to get at her."
A small part of me tells me to not bother Rei with the bile and anger that I'd been trying to deny since that day I met Father, but I need to ground my frustrations right now, so I laugh mockingly at my (our?) father, in the face of my suddenly-sister, as I shake my head in disgust.
When I'm done venting, I look up at Rei, who now looks just as sad as I feel.
"I'm not gonna give up on him though." I add resignedly.
This seems to surpise her, so I try and get over my disgust and summarize my father's state of mind without insulting him too much more.
"He's listening to mom now, so he's on our side... He's not gonna actually try and hurt us anymore..." Though if he ever does... "If he does, though, I'm gonna need you to step aside."
She nods. "If necessary, yes." She sounds... well she sounds cold again, which generally means she's defaulting back to factory standard because she's sad.
"...But yeah, I think I can allow him the opportunity to try and fix what he can. He's..." I hesitate. "He decided to open up and trust me..." I shrug. "And maybe there's more to his feelings than even he realizes..."
While I stand back up, I think on that... "Yeah, probably... But that's his problem, not mine..."
I look at Rei, and am reminded of my mom's face... "If he ever comes around..." I smile sadly at my sister, and she nods quietly.
"Then we will still be here." She completes the sentence. Then her eyes widen and her gaze suddenly snaps to the distant shoreline. "Unless, of course, the Angels take us first..."
She trails off, and I'm unsure whether to A: Laugh and show my sister I appreciate her newfound sense of understated cleverness, or B: Run like hell to Asuka and then to the nearest entrance to the Geofront.
I decide to indulge in an appreciative chuckle for about, I dunno, three heartbeats pounding in my ears, before I flit my eyes to the Stooge Picknick Table, and Rei and I both start running.
Misato, Gendo's Office
My head's spinning.
The last three hours, Ikari, Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko have been regurgitating NERV's deepest secrets and actually LISTENING to my input, as well as Sam's.
Ah, Sam. 'Sam Fenton, Psychologist' to be exact. She's a weird one. Stern, stubborn, honest, tenacious... With an odd sense of style.
I remember NERV's dress robes and involuntarily blush. With NERV's pseudo-religious slant, I should not be complaining about someone else's fashion sense...
She's managed to drag a ton of very important tactical information out of NERV.
1-The Angels are attacking here because of that Angel Danny found under the Geofront (named Lilith apparently, after a jewish tale about Adam's defective, malignant first wife).
2-The Angels want to get at Lilith, or ADAM (Full capitalization apparently, says Fuyutsuki) to merge with one or the other, doesn't matter which, and attain godhood for themselves.
3-Lilith is the progenitor of all life on Earth. There's been a scientific theory that the Moon was formed, and Earth's iron sank to the Earth's core, due to a planetoid named Theia slamming into primordial lava-earth.
Turns out, that was most likely Lilith in her Black Moon starship. A giant sphere made of an unknown, obsidian-like material that's impervious to all matter (and apparently also ghosts, Sam added).
4-ADAM, the 'first Angel' was already on Earth, inside his own White Moon, when Theia (or, apparently, Lilith's Black Moon... Fuyutsuki made an inappropriate joke about women drivers. Even Gendo glared at him) crashed into the planet at what's estimated to be a significant fraction of light speed.
5-The above two points are a VERY big problem. Throughout history, there have been a number of people with extrasensory perception and ability to see the future, the past, et cetera.
...Ritz namedropped Siddharta Gautama, Jesus of Nazareth, all the way up to Martin Luther and a few other important religious figures throughout human history. Through some quirk of their genetics ('something we'll get to in a second', Ritz said) these people were able to see the past, with Lilith, ADAM and even the people who CREATED Lilith and Adam, the 'First Ancestral Race', the first sentients to truly conquer the Andromeda galaxy (and/or any galaxy they knew of), apparently. And they were also able to see the future (we'd apparently get to that later. Again.).
Now this group of people who could see throughout time... They knew eachother, of course, because they could see eachother, and respond to another through two-way visions. They arranged for their information to be stored in a repository, to be found when the end of time would come. They also did a lot of other stuff... Mostly found the majority of Earth's religions... But about a hundred years ago, this repository of knowledge, of prophecies was found. SEELE immedeately swooped in, having been aware of weird goings-on with regards to religion for a while now.
Sam asked if SEELE was the Illuminati, and/or the Knights Templar, explaining their conflict with religion. Fuyutsuki mumbled a dismissive 'got it in one'. Apparently, according to Gendo, the past wasn't relevant, especially considering the Dead Sea Scrolls also predict the future, and explain the nature of the Angels. Though Ritsuko did point out that it was the Knights Templar who originally found Lilith under Hakone and nailed her to her cross, to keep her from turning their physicians into LCL while she slept. (Yikes...)
6-The nature of the Angels: Apparently the First Ancestral Race felt... lonely or ambitious after they'd ruled their home galaxy for a few million years. So they wanted to induce and protect life in other galaxies throughout the universe.
They created the Black Moons to create life on other worlds, with creatures within that exuded LCL: the primordial soup of life, from which the simple microbes could form and branch into all sorts of things. Though Lilith and her sisters also induced life to veer toward a humanoid shape, since that was the form of the First Ancestral race.
The White Moons were supposed to each house an ADAM. It's capitalized because an ADAM was supposed to be singular. They could split themselves apart and recombine, but overall, there was supposed to be a SINGLE entity in each White Moon that would protect worlds that already bore life from being wiped out by crap like solar flares, meteorites or roving aliens.
An unexpected stellar event sent Lilith careening from her intended destination of Mars into Earth at interplanetary cruising speeds. First Impact.
This sudden cohabitation of ADAM, Lilith and preexisting microbial life (that got obliterated. We're all Lilith's children, sadly.) created perfect conditions for something to go horribly wrong.
In and of itself, the accident did nothing much. They both went inert. Lilith didn't watch over her children and ADAM didn't keep earth safe.
'Hence the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs, and the siberian supervolcanoes, et cetera.' Ritsuko added, though I'd only heard of the first one, I nodded vigorously.
But both their AT-fields (which spanned the planet) blended together. Lilith's was supposed to guide humanity, and ADAM's was just a giant well of psychic energy.
(Apparently Tesla wanted to use ADAM's AT-field to power electrical appliances. Edison, who was SEELE, stopped him. Huh, thanks Fuyutsuki...)
It was at this point I went: "Ah-ha, that explains ghosts!" Ghosts are a LOT like ADAM. Pure energy, ability to 'temporarily split up', and also a lot like Lilith, pure LCL, mutable...
Ritsuko frowned at me. "It certainly explains the ability of the Prophets to see the past and future, skidding across the edges of Absolute Territories throughout time. As for the Ghost Zone and its inhabitants... we don't know yet. We're working off the theory that it actually manifested because all us Lilim, children of Lilith with ADAM's AT-field all around us, started having feelings and thoughts that ground a hole into subspace, (or wherever the Ghost Zone is located). With ADAM's will to manifest power and fight, and Lilith's desire to individualize and expand, it eventually became a very interesting place."
"There's also the possibility that the Ghost Zone is the local area of a place many old stories have called the Warp, the Nevernever, Hyperspace, et cetera... Another area of space accessible only through our subconcious or, apparently, technology." Fuyutsuki added.
"We are straying off topic." Gendo interjected, and Ritz continued.
7-Second Impact. It was apparently triggered by my father, Shiro Katsuragi, injecting a significant amount of Lilith's biological material into an inert ADAM.
At this point, I started cursing my father's stupidity, until Gendo told me rather cuttingly that it wasn't poor Katsuragi's idea, and that Shiro was was very reluctant, but he was under SEELE orders.
That shut me up for a bit (and dazed me too... If I didn't know any better Gendo was angry... well, annoyed with SEELE that they got my dad killed), so Ritz continued.
The experiment went wrong, as is evidenced by Antarctica being ground zero of a giant explosion and an inverted AT-field that rolled over the planet, turning a third of Earth's population into LCL. Another sixth was killed in war afterward.
More worryingly, by correlating the information she'd been recently (!) given by Commander Ikari with data on Ghosts, Angels and Evas, she's come to a terrifying conclusion.
8-The Angels are ADAM's children, but with Lilith's compulsion to grow.
The First Ancestral Race had never intended for ADAM to ever reproduce or change in any real way. Thanks to my father and SEELE injecting Lilith's material into ADAM, he basically... had babies. ADAM's explosion divided him into fourteen different entities, four of which we've already killed. The other ten are still out there, and they seem to be very good at adapting themselves.
And if they manage to absorb Lilith or ADAM's core... well, we're not sure WHAT will happen exactly, but the Angel will become a god and humanity will be obliterated.
9-Ritsuko also warned that Evas are basically brainless Angels made into giant humans that can wield ADAM's power. When an Evangelion actualizes (what Shinji apparently did when he saved Rei and obliterated the Fifth) all the giant cyborg's different stitched-together parts come together into a coherent whole, including the Pilot, sort of like a starfish reattaching a limb or Frankenstein's monster suddenly healing it sutures. This process is very unstable, liable to destroy things on a planetary scale if the Pilot isn't in control of the change or the monstrously psychokinetic super-Evangelion that emerges (so we got VERY lucky when Shinji 'actualized' Unit 01).
If an Eva manages to control ADAM or Lilith we've basically got a God on our hands. Capitol G-God. No human, according to Ritsuko, can handle power like that without instantly going irrevocably insane. As she'd put it: The worst an ascendant Evangelion can do is kill us all and sterilize the planet. The worst a human/Evangelion or Angel merged with ADAM or Lilith can do is torture and rewrite our eternal souls for the rest of eternity.
...
Yikes.
As for Ghosts...
10- They seem to be the opposite. Entirely Lilith's children, but with ADAM's ability to instinctively use matter-energy conversion to blow shit up (and do other ghost-y stuff). As for Danny and the other 'half-ghosts' they're actual people rather than just self-perpetuating clumps of emotion and LCL, which means they're not only far more powerful wielding 'the fire of Prometheus' as Ritz called it in a fit of eloquence, they're also not at risk of becoming a personality motivated by a single all-consuming destructive drive. Or at least that's what Sam assures me.
After it was all over and done with, Sam also convinced me not to shoot and/or otherwise maim Commander Ikari for his past transgressions, seeing as they at least sort of furthered NERV's goal, and as we've all established by now: He's a crazy person. Even he admitted that his motives 'weren't in (our) best interests'.
The real kicker was that I'd apparently been described in the true Dead Sea Scrolls, as had all of NERV's senior staff.
But something happened before I got the chance to really start reviewing the cliff notes Moses, Jesus and the Buddha specifically left me to make sure their greatgreat-etcetera-grandchidren didn't fuck this up.
"The scarlet harlot" indeed... (Though apparently the less flattering parts of that passage were edited in by small-minded bureaucrats twisting the original to slander the Roman Empire), heh.
The base alarm rang: there was an Angel on its way. The Children had already left school, and the MAGI was spooling up the air raid sirens and getting ready to put Tokyo-3 in fortress mode.
"Crap" I bite out, running to the elevator, trying desperately to parse the huge information dump I should've gotten MONTHS ago.
Now that I know what EXACTLY will happen if this Angel, or any other Angel, gets into the Black Moon below the Geofront, I'm even more stressed than I would've been otherwise.
I'd expected, at WORST, that the world would be subject to slow death by Kaiju. Not some giant pink tapeworm or one of its relatives achieving apotheosis followed by literally unimaginable hell.
As we all pile into the elevator, (Well not Sam, she's turned off her hologram and I suppose is nailbiting in front of her computer half a world away) I recall that Unit 01 is still buggy and if Shinji goes past 100% synch ratio he's likely to short out his Core. At least Sam and I managed to cajole Gendo into letting his wife go out and fight. Though I think even if he refused he'd get a very pointed E-mail from Yui not much later. Heh.
Things are looking up. Four down, ten to go, and there's always SEELE...
-
Evangelion Locker Rooms, 5 minutes to Eva launch
"It is extremely inappropriate for you to assert that Pilot Ikari and I are romantically involved."
The boy in the middle locker room blushes as he hurries to put on his Plugsuit.
"Oh, why? Because it's ruuuude? Well so is holding hands and holding meaningful gazes on the elevator! I thought Japan was supposed to be civilized!"
A biting curse in German, and a right foot is pulled out of a left boot. "Focus, Soryu.."
"If you find the displays of affection and concern between myself and Pilot Ikari to disturb you, then you will have to learn to deal with it." The soft voice intones neutrally. "It improves our combat preformance as a unit."
"W-...! Th-!? Are you implying I don't do teamwork, Ayanami?! I'm-"
"Not finished!" The soft voice cuts through the other's shouting, then continues at her own pace and volume. "Your misinterpretation of our affection is an insult in and of itself. We are technically estranged siblings, and are rediscovering our bond."
"Whu.. what?" The other voice can only say.
The sound of a plugsuit tightening up is followed by the First Child stepping out of her changing room. "The fact that you, pilot Soryu, have an interest in one or both of us is flattering, but the way you express it... is not.'
A loud thump from Changing Room 3 as a girl's fist hits the wall. She's seeing red, as well as blushing redder than the plugsuit she's almost done with.
A second plugsuit tightens up, and the Third Child steps out of the middle locker room. The boy, too preoccupied with the imminent fight, dumbly acknowledges the First Child with a shallow nod, then sighs and stares off into the distance as he waits for the Second Child to finish suiting up.
Central Dogma, 4 minutes to Eva launch
Everyone at a console is keeping a close eye on Tokyo-3's conversion into Fortress mode and the Evangelion cages, where a reality-bending god-machine is slowly being warmed up, as well as its predecessor and descendant, Unit 00 and Unit 02, which have the same potential for continent-razing fun.
However, Danny Phantom, a broad-shouldered man in a green jacket and his clone, Dani(elle), a woman with a ponytail that reaches down to beyond her waist, are talking to Major Misato Katsuragi and SEELE operative Ryoji Kaji .
"So what do you want us to do?"
"What are you planning?"
A shrug from the girl. "Hover around, shoot around a bit, maybe try and find attacks of opportunity or distract the Angel."
Katsuragi smiles. "Sounds good. You have your earpiece?" The other woman nods in the affirmative. "If the Pilots or I need anything special, we'll let you know."
Kaji looks around the group. "What's with all the smiles?"
Katsuragi shrugs, still clearly a little happy. "We've got three Evangelions at full power, we've got these two..." She says, pointing with her thumb at the Americans. "And we've still got the fleet to help shoot the Angel if needed!"
Agent Kaji laughs. "Yeah, I heard. U.N. tried to recall the Admiral... Didn't work."
The American man speaks up. "From what he said to me, he's technically liable for court-martial, but he's talked it over with the entire fleet and they decided to stay after they put it to a vote. The Pacific Fleet's defected to Tokyo-3 in all but name."
Kaji puts his finger to his chin in thought. "So you've got a lot more power at your disposal than what you think the Angel has? Especially with Ayanami having that Ectobeam cannon..."
Misato winces. "Well, hopefully. It's still going to be a close-run thing... It always is." She says grimly. "But right now we've got literally everything we could've possibly gotten our hands on together, short of future visions from the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. As a battlefield commander, I'm pretty happy with that."
"Perhaps not." Another voice adds. They look up to see Commander Ikari standing by the exit. He leans over the railing. "Tell Unit 00 to descend into Terminal Dogma and take the Lance of Longinus from Lilith."
Danny blinks. "That... that's the giant monster that tried to get into my head just before the Fourth Angel's attack?"
Misato nods. "The progenitor of all mankind, apparently." She says cuttingly to Gendo, who just shrugs noncommitally.
"The Second Angel is contained perfectly fine without the Lance. It is simply a precaution." He pauses briefly. "You want all of our resources invested? The Lance is a First Race artefact. A weapon designed to kill Angels, and presumably do much more complex things in the field of psychobiology, but as far as cudgels go, the Lance is the best." The Commander intertwines his fingers as he leans on the railing, but keeps staring meaningfully at Misato. "You wanted all our assets, right? The Lance can cut straight through AT-fields." Ikari adds neutrally.
After another moment's hesitation, Major Katsuragi relents and relays the order to Rei, who clicks her 'radio' in confirmation, making Danny smile a little.
Just as he's about to wish Misato good luck and fly over to Tokyo Bay himself, Danny suddenly realizes something. He snaps his fingers in realization. "Hey, Misato! Before I go, remember that Shinji and I saw Rei during the first... well the THIRD Angel's attack?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "We should go now... Dani? But remember what Shinji and I told you about it. It might be important!" And then he jumps into the air and goes invisible as he floats up through the ceiling, closely followed by his own sister-clone.
Misato turns to Fuyutsuki, after having quickly summarized exactly what Danny and Shinji saw when they first arrived in Tokyo-3. "Hm, well... Pilot Ayanami is derived from Lilith. She is essentially Lilith's soul. It could be that the greater part of Lilith is dreaming while she sleeps. Dreaming of the First Child, and perhaps of other things as well. If that's true, then we need to find a way to counteract it." Misato nods slowly. Definitely a liability they... or, well, Ritsuko... will need to have a look at as soon as this next Angel is reduced to primordial soup.
...Primordal soup that looks like energy drink.
Evangelion Communications Channel, 2 minutes to Eva Launch
"Shinji, has Asuka been informed of... well, of me yet?" Yui Ikari asks her son, her holographic representation standing next to his piloting chair.
Shinji catches a thought of Yui's: To find out who made the nanites that allowed her 'out' of the Core, and also see if they could be transferred to the other Evas...
Well, Unit 02 anyway. Freeing Unit 00 will be even more delicate.
"No she hasn't." Shinji says sadly. He's put two and to together already. Asuka's mom is probably inside Unit 02, isn't she?
Yui sighs in empathy with her son, but then she gets an Idea. "Hmm, Shinji-kun, give me a sec..." She taps on a holographic keyboard, representing to him that she's busy coding.
"By the way, coding when you're pure data is really cool." Yui exclaims to her son, and Shinji can't help but smile a little.
"Okay! Pilot Ayanami, Pilot Soryu, can you hear me?" Yui shouts out over the Eva comms. Shinji notices that her voice has an electronic twang to it.
"Here, Unit 01." Ayanami says with uncharacteristic warmness. Yui blinks. "Oh, she's inherited my brains, hasn't she?" She teases to Shinji.
"Yes First Child, I'm here." She replies with similar warmth, knowing Ayanami will probably know the thrust of her feelings well enough.
"Second Child here... Um, who... are you?" Asuka asks.
Shinji glances up to his mom, slightly concerned.
"We're gonna have to tell her who I really am after this next Angel. This ruse is stupid." Yui pouts, then switches to her 'electronic' voice. "I am an Artificial Intelligence, basically a MAGI unit, that formed during the Third Child's merger with Unit 01. I am a manifestation of the Evangelion's will, and Shinji's desire to protect himself and others." Shinji slowly nods, hoping Asuka will fall for it.
"So you're basically his mommy?" Asuka remarks humourously, and Unit 01's left hand clenches into a fist.
Um... "I doubt I have the late, great Yui Ikari's intellect, or her looks..." Yui teases faux-sincerely. "But yes, as far as I can tell, this MAGI unit is pattered after Shinji Ikari's memories of his mother." She lies glibly.
And then her face falls as she realizes something very important. Her holographic knees fail on her and she crashes down onto the ground.
Shinji blinks and through the bond with his Evangelion, he manages to hold his mother in his arms. "Mom... Calm down. We've got a battle coming up. Pull yourself together..."
Yui nods slowly, standing back up, and taking a few deep breaths of fake air. She looks down at her son, and smiles sadly. "I'm the biggest idiot in the world. That whole line I just pulled out of my..." She coughs, and blushes. "Out of my hind-brain, about an Eva being controlled by a MAGI?"
Shinji blinks incredulously, then sighs with acceptance born of despair. "That would've worked, wouldn't it?"
Yui gives a halting nod. "It... it would've been perfect. Would've even allowed for adult pilots. Sure, it... it would've taken a lot more work designing better MAGI, but in theory..."
Her son laughs mirthlessly. "If it's any consolation, I get it. You all but literally had the weight of the world on your shoulders. Still do, by the way..." He snarks at his mother, who raises an incredulous eyebrow.
"And think of it this way." He follows up. "If Humanity makes it out of this insanity alive, we can build Evas that aren't walking war crimes." The bitterness in Shinji's voice has already made way for weary acceptance and a sort of schadenfreude that Yui can only be thankful for accepting.
She does the only thing she can do: She hugs her son, giving him a well-deserved kiss on the cheek. Shinji for his part just smiles.
Unit 00 and Unit 02, 1 minute to Eva Launch
"Glad to have you back with us, Wondergir-" Asuka's mostly sincere greeting to the First Child dies on her lips as she sees the newly repaired cobalt-blue Test Type Evangelion walk up to her and Unit 01 with a giant, gleaming red spear slung over the shoulder that isn't holding her sniper cannon.
"-Wow. What the hell is that?!" Asuka asks. For some reason, she feels a sting of pain go through her right eye. She blinks vigorously and rubs her eye, making sure to de-synch from 02 as she does so.
"This is the Lance of Longinus. It is an artefact of the First Ancestral Race. A weapon to kill Angels, created by those who created ADAM and Lilith."
Asuka's grin can't have been bigger. "Okay! Misato, Rei! Both of you, listen up. You both know I love spears, they're my favourite sparring weapon. And I lost my Progressive Spear fighting the Sixth... And, and Rei has her sniper cannon already, and-"Asuka seems to have gotten a little hyperactive. Fortunately, Shinji cuts her off.
"Does it have anything to do with the fact that it's red?" He drawls. Unit 02 turns and seems to loom over Unit 01, and Shinji wisely takes a step back. "Just sayi'n. And I don't want it..." He trails off. The latter admission seems to have gotten Unit 02/Asuka to turn right back to Unit 00 and Rei.
While normally Rei would check with the Commander or Major Katsuragi, she is charmed by the Second Child's uncharacteristic response and tosses the Lance to Unit 02. The red Eva's arm shoots out with trademark fast reflexes and it wraps its fingers around the weapon.
"Thanks Ayanami!" Asuka gives the Lance a flourish in the tight quarters of the Eva Cages, trying to find its center of balance. "It's perfect."
A moment's pause. "Cool paintjob by the way. Cobalt's a powerful color. Just like, say, red." Her glee can be heard through the comm channel and the First and Third Child both smile as they get into the catapults on either side of their happy teammate.
"One warning." Rei says sternly.
"Yes?" Asuka replies, feeling the Lance pulse with the same steady heartbeat-like rythm as her Evangelion's core.
"Do not throw the Lance. It will get away from you, possibly all the way into solar orbit."
Asuka blanches. "Seriously?"
Rei, and Unit 00, nod sagely. "Presumably. It does not quite have a Core of its own, but the Lance is made of the same psychoreactive organic aluminium as a Core. Expect it to 'do weird stuff' as the Major would say."
Asuka chuckles dryly. "Okay..." She hesitates for a moment. "Thanks for the warning then, Wondergirl: No special attacks with the Spear of Destiny..."
Ayanami closes her eyes in satisfaction. Good, she understands.
"Yet!" The german girl adds jokingly.
Before Rei or Shinji can respond, the Eva catapults activate and all three of the Evangelions are hurtled up out of the Geofront to face the next Angel as it hits the beach.