Third Child; Third Angel
Shaun Gendo pushed gingerly through the crowd of London-III, muttering polite apologies as he did so, barely noticing those returned. A noon sun blazed down from sky, which made Shaun sweat beneath his layers of clothing. Even in the winter, the acceptable layers of clothing seemed a bit much to Shaun. Did he really need leggings, underwear, pants, a shirt, an overshirt, a coat, and an overcoat? Maybe during a blizzard…
Alas, such was demanded from society, and so he conformed, if only to avoid drawing attention to himself. But here in London-III, he could have been wearing a brightly colored bird costume and he would not have drawn more than a passing glance from its inhabitants, he guessed. Here he was invisible. At least until he bumped into someone else, in which case he became the immediate target fro said individual to vent any pent up anger they had stored.
They wouldn't say such things if they knew my father was Lord Gendo, Shaun thought to himself. But he wasn't one to flaunt his influence around like some of the other children he left behind at his boarding school. Now that he thought about it, he was rather glad to be free of that place and its stuffy atmosphere. Of its strict regimen of study and the harsh, unforgiving teachers who ran it - he thought – like a prison.
As he bumped his way through the slowly retreating crowd, he caught snatches of conversation.
"Whatever could be this time? This is the third time this week we've had to…"
"Probably the damn Krauts, again. It's always the bloody Kaiser…"
"…Could it be the Martians?"
"Ha. Not bloody likely. We smashed them good years ago. I have to give the Krauts credit, at least, for that: they know how to fight."
"Which is why we aren't ever at peace…"
"…Why London-III was constructed in the first place? To be a sandbar of sorts for any attacks to breach themselves on? NERVE's done a fairly excellent job of keeping us safe up until now, right?"
"If you call destroying the city every other week safe…"
Suddenly, Shaun emerged from the rear end of the crowd and found himself completely alone. He glanced around. The streets were deserted. A gentle breeze stirred the wind chimes and Tesla-lines draped between the tall buildings. The street signs informed him that he was at the corner of Flatsburg Road and Fleet Street. In other words, he was lost.
I should have remembered to bring the map father sent me. Thinking, he dug into his pockets and pulled out two pieces of paper. One was a note from his father that read, "Shaun. I require your assistance. Please come to London-III. Lord Gendo." The other was a portrait – picture, he had to remind himself, a picture taken with a camera device – of a young woman named Ms. Ato. Scribbled in ink along the margins were the words "Look here" and an arrow drawn to her ankles. Apparently, she was supposed to pick him up.
Shaun raised an eyebrow at the picture and sighed. The likelihood of being picked up now that he was lost was dangerously low. Maybe he was doomed to wander the abandoned streets of London-III forever.
Something on the edge of his vision caused him to turn his head. Some distance away stood a young girl, about his age, with short bleach-blond hair. She fixed an intent stare on him. He was about to ask her for directions when a retreating flock of pigeons distracted him. When he turned back, she had vanished.
Great, now I'm imagining things.
An explosion from inside the city shook the ground beneath his feet, unbalancing him, and causing him to fall against the hard façade of an apartment complex. Another sounded; this one closer. Dark shapes appeared in the sky above him. Gyrocopters, he marveled. Weapons of war derived from the notes of Leonardo Da Vinci to do battle with, first, the Germans, and then the Martians. What were they doing here within the city?
Five of them stopped and hovered a few hundred feet above the ground. Each let loose a barrage of bullets from the two Gatling guns equipped. It did the British proud to be able to use the Germans' own weapon against them. Somehow, Shaun suspected that whatever it was they were fighting – whatever caused an evacuation order – wasn't something cooked up by the Krauts.
His suspicions were confirmed only moments later when a massive black foot imbedded itself in the cobblestone street directly to his left, smashing one of the gyrocopters flat. The four remaining turned to flee, only to be swept aside by an equally large hand. Then the full terror of the monstrosity came into view.
The monster must have been hundreds of feet tall, uniformly blue-black all over its immense bulk. Each shoulder was shielded by a dull gray piece of armor that suspiciously resembled bone. Large spiked protruded back from each elbow; the hands ended into sharp claws. A vague replica of a ribcage protected a blood-red jewel protruding from its chest. The face was bird-like, with hollow eye sockets and only an upper beak.
Shaun was evidently too small to warrant the monster's attention, as it passed on by, each massive footstep breaking up the paved roads and rattling building on the their foundations, often causing windows to shatter or sections of walls to outright collapse. When it was out of sight, Shaun let out a stifled whimper and fell to the ground.
"There's no way that was the Germans," he said to himself. "No way. Nothing humanity possesses comes anywhere close."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
Shaun screamed in frightened surprise at the new, female voice that spoke to him. Kneeling next to him was a rather attractive woman dressed in a variation of the traditional redcoat of the British Royal Army. He hair was pulled back and tied so that it resembled a pony's tail, and a crucifix hung from a necklace. Above the right breast was the emblem of a fig leaf covering the word NERVE, with the last "E" mostly obscured from view, so it read NERV.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," she said soothingly. "Is your name Shaun Gendo? Son of Lord Gendo?"
"Th-that's right." He swallowed and attempted to regain full control of his muscles. "Are you Ms. Ato?"
"That's right. I'm here to take you NERVE headquarters."
She helped him to his feet and he noticed the large, gray-colored horse waiting a few feet away. Noticing his look, Ms. Ato said, "It's an ironhorse, developed by NERVE scientists for use in combat."
"Developed?" Shaun exclaimed. "How can a horse have been developed?"
She tilted her head to one side. "You know about life-threads, right? The strands from which all life is organized?"
"Sure. They teach us that in school. Charles Darwin discovered them almost two hundred years ago."
"Right. Well, we figured out how to manipulate those threads, and" she indicated the ironhorse "create this." She shook her head. "But we don't have time for this. Come on; I need to get you to NERVE."
She mounted the ironhorse in a very unladylike manner and pulled Shaun up behind her. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist – then squeezed them in a death grip as the beast took off at full speed down the road. The wind whipped into his eyes with such force that he had to keep them closed, and so had absolutely no idea where he was headed.
Sometime later, Ms. Ato halted the great horse and dismounted, producing a pair of binoculars from…somewhere. Shaun, legs aching from gripping the horse, gingerly slid off and joined her on the crest of a hill. "What…ah…What are you looking at, Ms. Ato?"
"Looking for the Angel…there!" A squadron of gyrocopters flew overhead; one looked drastically oversized compared to the others Shaun had seen earlier.
"Angel? Is that what - ?"
"Oh, bloody hell! They're going to use a T2 bomb!"
"What - !"
"Get down!" She grabbed him by the front of his coat and pulled him to the ground. The afternoon sky was suddenly ablaze as the explosive impacted the Angel and unleashed its full explosive power. Every building in the immediate vicinity caught fire, and soon London-III was burning.
Ms. Ato and Shaun struggled to their feet and surveyed the damage. "Is it dead?" he asked.
"I don't think so," she answered, but put the binoculars to her face anyway. Just as she said, the Angel emerged unscathed from the blast. "Bloody hell. Nothing should have survived that."
"What was that?"
"A T2 bomb. It was developed by Nikola Tesla. Supposedly it's the strongest we have." She gave him a wink. "Officially, of course."
Unsure of how to answer, he simply nodded.
The ironhorse had been knocked over by the force of the blast and now lay several feet from where Ms. Ato had left it.
"Shouldn't we help it up?" Shaun asked.
"It's a warhorse, Shaun, not a cow; watch." Sure enough the ironhorse got to its feet moments later and shook its gray head in irritation.
Before he knew it, he was riding behind Ms. Ato on the artificial beast, wind stinging his face and hands. When they stopped a second time, a large castle loomed over them. It immediately conjured up images of the Middle Ages described in school textbooks, of knights riding forth and rescuing maidens from dragons. Of King Arthur and Sir Lancelot.
The NERVE insignia was displayed all over the structure, built into the wall and towers with dark stone – onyx, it appeared.
"Is this NERVE headquarters?" Shaun asked in wonderment.
"Of course not," Ms. Ato replied. "It's only the above-ground portion." A pair of armored guards raised the portcullis and she directed the ironhorse to a platform of wood an iron. A third guard snapped the gate in place and stepped back. The platform began to sink into the ground. Shaun immediately began to panic, but upon noticing Ms. Ato's and the ironhorse's lack of reaction, he calmed.
It must be electric powered, he thought. Steam doesn't have the control electricity does, even if it is cheaper. It would fit that NERVE would have access to the latest and greatest technology.
Gas lamps provided a dim yellow light as they passed deeper into the earth. Shaun felt as though the walls were going to cave in and suffocate him, but just when he could no longer stand it, the ground opened up to reveal an underground cavern: the Geological Front, or Geofront.
"Welcome to the real NERVE headquarters," Ms. Ato announced without enthusiasm. "Careful," she warned as Shaun leaved over the rail to look down. "A lot of folk get vertigo their first time."
"Right." But he felt great. Spread out beneath him was a cavern of earth and sea, completely undisturbed by the world above. It occupied a roughly circular area of space with Central Dogma, the true center of NERVE, at the center.
Nerve center, Shaun thought dryly.
Time passed relatively slowly onboard the lift, marked only by the periodic rumbling of the monstrosity – had Ms. Ato called in an Angel? – wreaking havoc on London-III above. Isn't anyone going to do anything? But what could they do? The T2 bomb had barely scratched the thing, and that was supposedly the strongest weapon NERVE had in store. Officially, he amended, remembering Ms. Ato's comment. What did she mean?
After what seemed an eternity of silence, the lift stopped outside the large pyramid structure he had seen from the air and he was led inside. There they boarded another lift, thought without the horse.
Ms. Ato handed him a leaf of papers. "I almost forgot. These are from Lord Gendo; he wants you to read up on them before we get farther in."
Shaun took them, thinking, These would have been useful during the first lift ride. He flipped through them, not completely understanding many of the words and phrases used in the notes. The word Angel appeared there, too, with numerous references to Antarctica and the Martians. He furrowed his brow and backtracked to the first page, hoping it would make more sense. It didn't.
The lift stopped, and he looked to Ms. Ato, who remained still. Since they obviously weren't getting off here, he turned back to the NERVE papers.
The doors slip open and Ms. Ato faced a writing green mass of tentacles. She faced it with a stoic frown. "Hello, Rheetsko."
"You're late, Ms. Ato," it answered in a deep guttural, almost warbling voice. "An Angel is destroying the city above, and you…dilly-dally with the Third Children, err, Child.
Upon hearing the Martian speak, Shaun looked up from his papers and involuntarily screamed – the second time that day. "W-What is…" he stammered.
"This is Rheetsko," Ms. Ato said casually. "A Martian employed here at NERVE."
"Employed. Ha!" The Martina threw its – head? – back and uttered a screeching laugh. "More like enslaved." Two beady black eyes fixed on Shaun, and two on Ms. Ato. "Though I suppose it is better than living with the Deutsch – the Germans in your language – there I hear my people are no more than slaves."
Well, you did try to invade Earth, Shaun said silently, not daring to anger the alien. It was just as well, since the conversation seemed to end there. Rheestko eased its bulk into the lift and a tentacle reached out and pressed a button. The lift resumed its downward crawl.
From his position, Shaun could examine the alien in great detail. The entire body was a sickly green…mass. It seemed to move on locomotive tentacles; indeed the Martian seemed to be no more than a mass of tentacles, as per his initial observation. The mouth though, was very much humanoid: two lips – upper and lower – two rows of teeth, and a tongue. Four beady black eyes were set above a set of flaps – nose? – in a square pattern. One eye noticed Shaun studying it, but allowed him to continue.
Finally, the lift stopped again, and Ms. Ato and Rheetsko made for the door. Both stopped short and glared at one another. Rheestko yielded and waved two tentacles forward, a very human gesture. "After you," it growled. Even though it was an alien, Shaun could hear the resentment it its voice.
He found himself in a room of pure darkness when the lift door closed behind them. "What's going on?"
"I have to show something, Shaun," Ms. Ato said. "Brace yourself."
Rheetsko flipped a switch and a series of electric light flickered to life. A gigantic brass and bronze face stared at him from over the edge of a railway. What resembled the faceplate of an armored knight covered where the mouth should have been. Below him spread the rest of an armored body. Above him towered fins protruding from the shoulders.
"What is that?" he exclaimed, half in fright, half in curiosity.
"That," Ms. Ato said, "is the biological automaton, Evangelion Unit 01."
"And you will be its pilot," came a familiar voice. All three looked upward to see Lord Gendo standing on a platform above the Evangelion's head. Lord Gendo was, it seemed by nature, a rather intimidating person. It certainly wasn't his size, fot eh man was actually quite normal in that regard. It seemed that he carried his full presence with an air of authority and almost cotempt, looking down at the world as if standing above everyone. Yet, for the moment, he looked almost relieved, his aristocratic presence subdues somewhat. He wore a subdued smile beneath his glasses and neatly trimmed beard. "Good to see you son, it's been too long."
"Yes, father," Shaun said with a slight bow. "It has." It truly had. He had not seen his father for years now, since being sent away to boarding school, as all Gendo children did. He frowned. "Did you say that I'm to pilot this…thing?"
"That's correct."
"I thought you brought me here to, I don't know, protect me, or something!"
"No, Shaun. I brought you here so that you could protect us."
Shaun blinked. "What?"
"You're the only one who can pilot the Eva, Shaun. She was built specifically to fight the Angels, just as London-III was built specifically to intercept the Angels."
Shaun looked back to the Eva. Questions bounced around in his head, though he voiced none of them. What was an Angel? That monster outside? And he was supposed fight that? And this giant...thing! He was to pilot it? He'd never seen it before in his life! How was he to know how to…? "Isn't there another way, father?" He had no combat experience, never mind the fact that he was only fourteen years old.
Lord Gendo frowned. "If there was another way, Shaun, I would have done it. Throwing my son to the wolves isn't exactly appealing to me, but it must be done if we are to survive." He paused. "We have one other pilot, but she was injured a few weeks ago during a German attack on London-III. I could ask her to – "
"No. Don't. I'll…" he looked back up at his father. "Do you really think I can do it?"
"I know you can do it. It's in your blood. You can defeat Sachiel."
Shaun frowned and then the corners of his mouth turned up. Sachiel. So it had a name."Very well. I'll pilot the Eva."
"Thank you," Lord Gendo said with a small sigh of relief. "Excuse me; I have to make other preparations. Rheetsko, Ms. Ato, would you get him inside, please?" The lights illuminating the platform abruptly dimmed to black.
"Come on." Ms. Ato led Shaun around the side of the Eva's head and up a flight of stairs so that they were situated below the platform where Lord Gendo had been standing, but still above the Eva. A long cylindrical tube was waiting with its hatch open.
"This is the Entry Capsule," Rheetsko explained. "This is what you will control the Evangalion from. Once you are inside, it will be lifted and inserted into the spine of the Eva."
"There's no windows," Shaun observed. "How am I supposed to see what I'm doing?"
"You humans have, ah, borrowed some technology from my species, technology that allows the viewing of events from a distance. In your language, I believe the phrase is…moving pictures?" One tentacle came up to scratch its forehead in thought.
"Like the picture I sent you," Ms. Ato said, "but moving."
"Okay," Shaun nodded, not really understanding. He stepped over the side of the hatch and situated himself in the warm metal seat. His hands found the trigger controls of themselves and his feet rested naturally on the pedals. The hatch closed and locked, which triggered several electric lights to turn on, illuminating the cockpit. He felt the whole capsule move and a large metal arm lifted it into the air and inserted it into the Eva where the neck met the shoulders.
"Shaun, can you hear me?" It Ms. Ato's voice, but how…? "I'm using the radio to talk to you, Shaun. It's another of Tesla's inventions. Can you hear me?"
"Uh, yes, ma'am. I can hear you."
"Good. Flood the Entry Capsule!"
"What?" A thick liquid quickly filled the capsule rising to his mouth and over. He held his breath as long as he could.
"It's okay, Shaun. Once the LCL fills your lungs, you'll be able to breathe normally."
"How can I breathe in liquid? Oh." He'd just done it without realizing it. More lights filled the cockpit and the LCL became clear, and he quickly forgot about it. After a dazzling lightshow the spaces in front of him changed so that he could see the room outside the Eva.
So that's what they meant. I can see what the Eva's eyes see.
"Are you ready, Shaun?"
As I'll ever be. "Yes."
"Launch!"
The Eva jerked upward as electrically powered lifts carried the massive automaton out of the Geofront and to the city above. It was much faster than the lift that had carried him down, but it still took several minutes for him to reach the surface, during which he familiarized himself with the gauges and dials places below the viewing area. Most were pressure gauges, one read AT Barrier, and another EMERGENCY FUEL.
He emerged directly across from the Angel; it stopped and turned towards him, empty eye sockets fixed directly onto him. He nearly froze at the controls, but for his father.
"Shaun. Listen to me. The pedals and triggers control the movement of the arms and legs, respectively. You are hooked up to an electrical engine buried beneath the city; there is a plug in the back of the Eva. If that becomes severed or unhooked, you will operating on an emergency combustion engine, with enough diesel fuel for only about five minutes. See that gauge? If that hand reaches the left side, you will be without power.
"Try to walk forward."
"Right." Pedals control the feet. He depressed the right pedal, which lifted the right foot, eased the Eva forward, and pressed the pedal; he made a step. In his excitement, he pressed both pedals at ones, and the Eva tripped, crashing down on its face.
The Angel did not appear amused. It ambled forward and lifted Unit 01 by the head. Shaun felt a squeezing on his temples, as though the Angel were touching him as well as the Eva. But that's ridiculous.
"Shaun!" Ms. Ato and Lord Gendo shouted at him just as the Angel pounded on the Eva's face with a battering ram embedded in its palm. Boom. Boom. Boom. Shaun could feel the pounding on his own face, like something was digging into his left eye. He abandoned the controls and covered his face, trying in vain to shield it from the pain. He heard some chattering on the radio, his name shouted, but was unable to focus on it. Pain clouded his thoughts.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Crack! Boom. Crack! The faceplate of the Eva cracked, and Shaun felt as though his head was splitting. Then the ram pierced the Eva's eye and carried back hundreds of feet until it crashed into a building and slumped to the ground. Shaun screamed in pain, and nearly blacked out. He moved his hand away from his eye, expecting blood, but found he could see just fine.
"Shaun," someone shouted over the radio. "It's not really pain, or at least yours. You feel the Eva's pain."
"How is that possible?" he demanded, but was met with only radio static. Confused, he checked the gauges. The power cable must have snapped because the emergency fuel gauge was steadily sliding left. The Angel recalled its battering ram from the Eva's skull and blood mixed with motor oil spewed out the front and back, which only made the fuel gauge decrease faster.
Shaun pulled and squeezed and pressed desperately on the controls for the giant automaton, but it refused to respond. "No, no! Come on! Work. I don't want to die here." Finally he gave up. "I knew it. I can't do this. My first time out and I fail miserably. Father was wrong; I'm not an Eva pilot. I can't do this." Shaun buried his head in his arms. Despair came, but he didn't cry, though a part of him wished to. He was Shaun of House Gendo. He wouldn't show such weakness.
The lights inside the cockpit dimmed, sputtered, and cut off altogether. Unit 01 was completely out of fuel. He could feel the ground tremble with each advancing step of the Angel; he waited for his death to come and prayed it would be swift.
Then something happened. All the lights burst to life, much brighter than before; the radio began emitting static noise once more, which quickly focused to voices. "…Beserk…Impossible! Unit 01 is completely out of power, how can it…"
Evangelion Unit 01 roared. The faceplate split open, revealing a mouth – the ripped metal itself resembling jagged teeth. Without Shaun's input, the automaton climbed to its feet and faced the Angel, which seemed just as confused as Shaun was.
"Shaun," his father said on the radio. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes," he replied, wiping away his tears.
"Can you still control the Eva?"
"Um." Shaun tested the controls. Upon feeling his touch the Eva seemed to relax and accept his piloting. "Yes. It's much easier than before."
"Then use it! Kill the Angel!"
My father believes in me, he thought. So I believe in me, too. He thinks I can do; I think I can do this. The Eva wants me to succeed, that's why it got back up.
Unit 01 roared again as Shaun urged it forward; it charged headfirst into the Angel, but collided with an unseen wall. Unit 01 stopped completely in its tracks, and even began sliding backwards.
"An A.T. Barrier," Rheetsko gurgled over the radio. "Deploy your own!"
"What does that mean?" He never got an answer because the Eva assumed control once more, opened a slot in its right fin and producing a short blade.
"Progressive blade deployed," he heard over the radio.
The blade then extended, until it was a scaled up longsword, which the Eva gripped with both hands. An electric current shot all the way up the length of the blade, and it began to vibrate.
"Use it," Lord Gendo urged. "Cut through the A. T. Barrier with the blade!"
Instinct took over and Shaun swung the blade at the Angel. It collided with the invisible barrier again, this time producing a hexagonal shock wave. He sliced again and again, until finally, the barrier cracked. The Eva hopped back and lunged forward with the progressive blade. It pierced the A.T. Barrier and continued into the Angel, piercing just to the right of the red jewel. Momentum carried the two forward, but a small home tripped the Angel, sending it crashing backwards to the ground; the progressive blade kept it pinned down.
Shaun glanced at the layout of his Eva inside the cockpit. He noted he had one more weapon at his disposal. When Shaun saw what it was, he smirked. The left fin opened up and Unit 01 produced an oversized revolver. Shaun took aim at the Angel's head, narrowing his eyes, and fired. The air exploded with noise as loud *Cracks* rang out. Metal slugs tore through the Angel, blasting gory holes through the Angel's face.
He got off five shots before he was suddenly aware that Lord Gendo was shouting over the radio. "The core, Shaun! Shoot the bloody core!" Shaun stopped. "The red orb! Shoot it!"
Shaun and the Eva together dropped the barrel to line up with the core, adjusting his aim with an almost contemptuous attitude. He fired off the last shot, which echoed loudly in the almost absolute silence, and pierced the core. For a second, nothing happened, then the core liquefied, and the entire Angel melted into a blood-like liquid, flooding the city.
"Good job, Shaun," he heard his father say. "I'm proud of you."
Evangelion Unit 01 powered down completely.
Before we hear any complaints, we would like to clarify a few things.
1. This is an Alternate Universe setting.
2. It is a mix of steampunk, biopunk, dieselpunk, gaslamp fantasy (hence the title), and H.G. Wells and Jules Verne homages. Combined together, we have created awesomepunk.
3. Since it is set in London-III rather than Tokyo 3, almost all of the names have been altered but retained the beginning sound. For example, Shinji is now Shaun and Gendo is his surname. there's no real reason for THAT other than "Lord Gendo" sound cool.
4. These characters are likeable. Shaun isn't a whiner, and Lord Gendo isn't a jerk.
5. This Alternate Universe features a persistent Anglo-German war in the background (and sometimes foreground) of the Angel attacks.
6. More of the history of this world, and the true nature of Second Impact, as well as the Martians pre-invasion will be revealed as the story goes along.
Now that that is out of the way, I must give credit.
Credit for the initial concept of "Gaslight Evangelion" goes to TheHiddenAssassin. I kid you not, the exchange went like this:
TheHiddenAssassin: "Steampunk Evangelion."
Myself and TEAM DERRICK: "THAT'S F***ING AWESOME!"
And it spiraled out of control from there.
Most of the background for this alternate universe came from the hellish, Lovecraftian mind of TEAM DERRICK. Although TheHiddenAssassin and I contributed in no small part, alternate histories are just DERRICK's forte.
I did the majority of the writing, and they did most of the editing.
Credit for the title also goes to TEAM DERRICK.
Please tell us what you think, and don't be shy; we need all the help we can get.