Chapter 6: Rebirth we Must

…bleep…

'…be strong…'

…bleep…

'…come on Asuka…you're stronger than this…you won't cry…'

'…I don't need to cry…why do I need to cry…'

'…but you're tearing you're heart out…'

…bleep…

'…and you're forcing it back in…'

'…which do you prefer…to be strong…'

'…I am strong…'

'…or to be a pathetic crying lump of shit…to be…weak.'

'…n-…'

…bleep…bleep…bleep…

"H-how long before he regains consciousness."

Misato shook every time she walked across room 24-H in NERV medical wing…this time was no different.

"His vitals look stable…he's doing just fine…as to when he'll come around…I haven't the slightest clue."

Misato's shoulders slumped slightly though she still felt reassured. Letting out a low whistle she and Dr.Akagi turned to face the massive window looking into Edward's room. One horrible night spent in a local panama hospital followed by three nights here…it was a miracle that the man had survived this long…let alone humoring the possibility of a return to consciousness.

The four children had come straight out of school on hearing of the chance of recovery to check on their young guardian. Each of them seemed visibly shaken, though Asuka seemed to be taking it rather calmly…on the outside.

Behind the set jaw and gently quivering blue eyes roared a maelstrom of violent emotions. She remembered seeing the man fall, she felt hands come out from the darkness and take her heart in their palms. As the man fell she felt the fingers begin to tighten their icy grip. She saw his eyes and hers began to glisten with her pain…

Her knees gave way as she fell towards his body, in the darkness of her blinding shock she reached out for a ray of light. Her fingers clasped a wrist, a violent jitter but contact remained, her eyes met his for all but fleeting seconds before they broke away.

Asuka jerked her hand away from Shinji's…the fuck was she doing!!!!!

'What the fuck are you doing' she said or something like that…

's-sorry…' had come the expected response. Huh…he was such a wi-

"Actually he shouldn't be alive at all."

Asuka let out a startled breath as she turned to face the new voice.

On feeling four pairs of eyes trained on her Yui Ikari slowly turned away from Dr.Akagi and Misato to face the children.

"Hey there, how're the lot of you doing, hello Touji."

"Hello Dr.Ikari"

"Asuka."

"Good morning obasama."

"Morning Shinji dear."

"Erm uuh…morning mother."

"…Hello Rei…"

"Good morning ma'am."

…bleep…

It was like that hand had returned to all of them and sucker punched them all in the gut. It had been a year and a half but the atmosphere still seemed to quadruple in intensity whenever Yui and Rei stood in close social proximity of each other.

"Uh…erm w-what was the m-mental state of the patient…" said Dr.Akagi as she sought to cut through the crushing silence.

"Well" Yui replied almost immediately.

"Actually his mental activity is off the charts, his brain cell impulses are about double that of a normal brain."

"Huh" Misato shrugged, immediately perking up

"That's amazing…maybe we should shoot him in the neck more often."

Yui chuckled and lightly shoved Misato's shoulders.

"Well whatever it is, coming back to your first question we can't be sure when he regains consciousness. I'd expect to see him up and about in about a month or so."

Conversation continued among the adults as the children crossed the hall and took a seat on the medical wing's 'waiting' benches. It was then that they noticed a solitary figure walking down towards them.

Even the adults noticed the figure walking towards them each seemed to straighten up in turn…all except.

"Morning Yui."

"Hello Gendo dear…where are you off too."

"The results for Edward's tests Dr.Akagi." said the gruff voice in a commanding tone.

"Now now Gendo, remember your manners." Yui cut in before Ritsuko could do a thing.

"Err…um…s-sorry Yui." The mighty Gendo whispered under his breath.

"The results for Edward's tests…p-please."

That feeling of awkward standing coupled with the conflicting need to disappear and or run from the nearby environment returned to Misato tenfold as she watched the NERV commander crumble.

"And what did I say about ignoring peoples questions."

"Y-ye-sorry Yui." Gendo mumbled as he took a brown folio from Dr.Akagi

"Erm…I'm going to the UN summit on the rebirth program. Its being held in Osaka so I should be back for the briefing in the evening."

Giving the children a curt wave…that by all means could have been the swing of death's sickle the children would have been just as petrified…Gendo Ikari made his way silently towards the exit of the wing leaving the others in the rhythmic beeps of Edwards numerous heart monitors.


"Come on, pay attention…"

The four children stiffened in their seats and turned their heads towards the screen. Beside them Ritsuko gave Misato a hurried prod turning her attention to the deputy commander standing before the LCD screen bearing a large emblem of the Virgin Mary.

Three rows above them Yui sat beside an impatient Gendo Ikari as Fuyutsuki began his talk.

"Grmm…well, as you all know we are here today for a briefing on all this mess that's being going on. Commander Ikari saw it necessary that all of us be shown the complete story behind the Manus and their Mecha's…as you all know you all have two projects back to back in Eastern Europe under the rebirth program one of which is with them."

"Ahhhh…boorin-"

Sadly the second child's predictable protest was cut out by the irritated stares the others gave her.

"Fine."

"Uh…thank you miss Soryu. Now on to business, to better understand the Manus of today we must understand how the Manus came to be. The Aether Manus was commissioned by Pope Boniface the eighth on October 25th 1294.

At this time, Christianity was at the height of its powers…not spiritual powers necessarily though, but its political powers."

A few eyebrows were raised at this.

"You see, Europe had only just emerged from the dark ages and had led several crusades in the name of the Holy See. The Vatican's word was stronger than law. Thus the Manus was created to be a sort of, bureaucratic and administrative wing of the Vatican. They had no real say when it came to the faith; their main objective was to ensure the smooth flow of funds and to ensure that perpetuation of the faith. The Vatican used its immense political strength to place members of the manus in important positions in the courts of various kings all over Europe. Their members were not necessarily bishops or priests, actually most of them were educated intellectuals etcetera."

"Hey, wasn't the Vatican against science and education as such?"

"Uh yes Asuka, they were. But you see the Manus were created as a bureaucracy and were distant from the actual faith of Christianity. So, even though the head of the Manus were extremely devout Christians under the Vatican, they had slowly learned to put political interest ahead of holy salvation. Till about the fourteenth century the Manus were simply the political wing of the Vatican…but it was about now that it attained its true power. The period between the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries heralded in the modern age. The Vatican-with the emergence of naval exploration had a whole new agenda on its hands…the alleged 'civilizing of the rest of the world'. So the Manus was entrusted with the duty of ensuring that the missionaries had the right tools and funds to promote the faith. With this the Manus gained a firm foothold in the emerging arena of sea trade. Using their position they inserted their men in key positions in the East India trading companies of the Dutch, the English, the French, the Danish, the Swedish and the Portuguese. As time progressed the Manus gained footholds in the spice trade and the slave trade. By the middle of the eighteenth century the manus had gained huge amounts of wealth, only a small amount of which was returned to the Vatican."

"They had their fingers in every god damn pie." Gendo grumbled as the others turned hesitantly around to see Yui gently smack him on top of the head.

"Come on Gendo, don't use such language in front of the others."

"Uhh…s-sorry Yui."

Everyone-especially Fuyutsuki-shifted most uncomfortably.

"Errrrr…ummmmm…yes, well the Manus went through another transformation during the late eighteenth century. This period saw the emergence of the industrial revolution and the birth of industries and…most importantly…democracy. The Manus used its now staggering political weight to place its members in high posts in governments across Europe. They invested huge amount of their fortune in various industries and this began the relationship of the Manus with industry. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Christendom saw a general decline in the faith while the Manus continued to prosper. Throughout this period the Vatican began to slowly look down on the Manus, even the head priests of the Manus weren't spared.

1933 and the great depression hit. The Manus found that many of their industries were falling and loosing out, to add to that, the Vatican was threatening to dissolve the Manus completely. So the Manus decided to dissolve itself. It broke into a hundred and thirty one front organizations. Actually the Manus broke into groups of investment firms, this allowed them to be far more flexible with their money. These firms gave out loans and aid to other suffering industries and in turn grew. During the First World War and the depression the Manus slowly shifted their political and economic base from Europe to America. During the recovery from the depression, the Manus shifted their interests and ordered their sister firms to begin investing in arms manufacturing industries. Many of its older firms continued to give economic aid to others and would soon become its modern power base. The core of the Manus continued as the 'Aether Manus', which became-and still is-the hardcore right wing Christian lobby in numerous governments across the world. So now the Manus became a sort of…"

"Uhh…was it like a secret organization…you know like those m-masons or s-something."

"Correct Mr.Ikari…uh I-I mea-"

The room fell deathly silent again at the deputy commander's words. Fuyutsuki opened and closed his mouth several times without saying a word. There was only one person in that room who had been addressed as Mr.Ikari…and it by all means wasn't Shinji.

"Good job drear."

Yui cheerfully resounded as the others once again found themselves between a rock and a hard place…or in this case Shinji and his father. Gendo silently nodded at Shinji and reverted to his normal position. His fingers slowly came together ready to mesh… suddenly he caught sight of Yui eyeing him. Slowly one of his hands reached to readjust his glasses as the other patted Yui's hand, an innocent and miniscule smile across his face.

"Erm…well continuing. The Manus went on as such until the twenty-first century. 2000, the second impact occurs and man's belief in the world. The Manus helped the Vatican to increase donations and attendance in churches across the map…they played the only card they had…apocalypse. Thus the Vatican allowed the small organization they thought was the Manus to survive and prosper. The rest of the Manus on the other hand re-organized itself once again. Their firms now bean to invest in scientific research and defense initiatives, why much of the sub-contracting that was done during the construction of Tokyo-3's defenses were to companies largely owned by the Manus. Most of the other firms began investing on a large scale in charity organizations and aid/relief institutions…though they were 'non profit' organizations; the Manus raked in millions under the table. These organizations worked primarily in the southern hemisphere helping in the reconstruction."

The deputy commander looked down and pressed the remote in hand. The screen behind them had been showing dull images of the depression and the crusades, now it sowed an all to familiar picture…it was of course, and artist's rendering.

"January of two thousand sixteen…the third impact occurs. The world is complemented and Shinji Ikari chooses to allow humanity to return to its original state."

An odd silence ensued where Shinji felt as if he wanted to sink into the seat upon which he sat.

"Mid February-as according to lunar charts-what's left of complemented humanity instantly reverts back to physical form and the world is partially rebuilt by forces that till date remain unexplained. Within the first few weeks up till mid march the Vatican earns a large fortune from church donations and attendance sores. People of the world are touched by death and look to re-deem themselves as such. Religions across the world see exponential increases in their support. The Manus reveal the true extent of their powers to the Vatican and the Vatican bow to their power. They were made aware of the Manus' reach and accepted their position unconditionally. Now a hundred and twenty of the Manus' firms bought up aid and relief institutions and openly affiliated themselves with the Manus. The remaining eleven firms remained secret and continued to keep their money in scientific research and technological development. April of two thousand sixteen, the Aether Manus press charges against SEELE top members and they are put on trial. 21st June, the Aether Manus seize all SEELE assets and make them their own. 23rd June, the UN launches the re-birth program, and NERV is its inaugural member. The program gives huge amounts of monetary aid to help in the reconstruction of the world. July of 2017, the Manus unveil their Mecha series; with the spotless record of their countless relief organizations on their side the Aether Manus are accepted into the re-birth program."

Fuyutsuki pressed the remote once again, now the screen lit up with images of several bishops.

"Since its inception, the Aether Manus have been led by a group of seven bishops known as he court of seven."

"Now that's imaginative…huh."

"Hey!! Pay attention Touji."

Misato snapped as Touji and Shinji sniggered away.

"Ever since the Manus came clean to the Vatican, the holy see placed their own representative to chair the court."

A new picture came up behind the deputy commander.

"This is father Alfredo Fiorenzo, he's been a member of the court for over twenty years now. Post third impact, the Vatican gave him a fatter paycheck and promoted him to the head of the Manus thinking he'd be their dog. Sadly he did what all heads of the Manus did before him…he played for both teams…he just made sure that the Manus always won."

A new picture came up as Shinji swore he hear rustling to his left.

"This is father Moeketsi Pollock, he's South African, as far as we know he's been the one in charge of the Mecha program."

Misato gave a curt nod.

"And this brings us to our next segment of the briefing…the Mecha's."

Right on cue Ritsuko stood up and readied herself.

"Dr.Akagi and her team have been kind enough to gather a fair amount of information on the Mecha system. Dr.Akagi, if you would."

"Err, thank you commander Fuyutsuki."

Ritsuko hesitantly took the deputy's place. Taking the remote from him the picture on the screen behind her changed now to an image of the new Mecha and the Eva system standing side by side.

"To begin with-"

But Ritsuko was cut short by the sight of a figure standing beside the door on the far end of the briefing room. With tiered strides the man walked up to the screen, clad in deep navy blue pants and a red NERV jacket, bandages wound around his neck.

"EDWARD!!!" most of the room screamed in unison. Asuka jumped out of her seat and over the first row and wrapped her arms around Edward's neck.

"Hey-ak"

Edward tenderly patted the German girl on the back while he bit down profusely on his left knuckles…his neck was still immensely tender.

Prying himself from her he walked up to the others who were al standing up in amazement.

"Edward!!! You're not cleared to leave the wing for-"

"Ahh Yui…I'm sorry…that place just aint for me. Sup T man."

"Wow, thought you were a gonner there." Touji said as he returned Edwards high five.

Moving on he gave Shinji a hearty smack on the back…a little too hearty for the pilots sake. Moving on to Rei, Edward's smile disappeared turning a way in his most theatrical manner he spoke.

"Hello Rei."

"Hello Edward." Came the reply.

Silence.

"Well, I suppose that's better than having a drunk chick falling all over me." He said while facing a suddenly irate Misato.

"Yeah…huh…but I think you meant Asuka." Touji jibed as the Shinji burst out laughing. Rei finally cracked a smile.

Misato placed a gentle arm on Edward's shoulder.

"I'm glad you're ok captain."

Edward seemed rather unsure of what to do. Hesitantly, he tapped her shoulder in return and headed of towards Gendo and Yui. On reaching the commander and his wife he subtly slid a tiny disk into Gendo's palm. Greeting the two, Edward returned to and sat down on the front row. As Ritsuko continued her talk about the Mecha series Edward tilted his head back and lazily looked up at he ceiling, noticing Shinji behind him.

"Psst."

"Huh"

"Hey Shinji."

"What?"

"I know what you mean, I'd have gone crazy in that room looking at that ceiling a minute longer…and I was only conscious for five minutes."

"Yeah, well you got no idea. When you've been to that place as many times as I have…well you'd want to die than having to suffer the pain of healing your wounds in that room."

Edward chuckled as Shinji reverted his attention to Dr.Akagi's speech lest Misato shout him at.

"…They recently introduced the liquid puppet master system as their standard piloting system for the Mecha's. The standard puppet master system was a system by which one of the Mecha's was designated the 'Alpha Mecha', its remotely piloted by a human and transmits orders to up to nineteen other Mecha's. During the panama incident the emitter on the Alpha Mecha malfunctioned and thus they lost control of all the Mechas. The liquid puppet master system is a revolutionary system…which is…well ahead of anything we've come up with."

Dr.Akagi finished rather shamefacedly

"Well the liquid puppet master system allows the pilot to designate the 'alpha Mecha' at will. He can interchange it between Mecha's, thus the only way for the Mecha's as a unit to fail is that each and every one of them malfunction."

"Who built the Mecha's Dr.Akagi?"

Fuyutsuki chimed in. It was obvious from his tome he knew the answer…he just wanted to steer the talk in the right direction.

"The Mecha's were created by an organization know as the Phoenix Corporation. We don't know to much about the industry except that it was one of the Manus' more prized possessions. It was started by Victor Von Drake in Germany and was continued by his son in law Ferdinand Von Drake…they were both fairly high-ranking men in the Manus power grid. Victor being part of German nobility."

The talk went on for a few more minutes until Yui decided to call it a day. As they all left prepared for day after tomorrows mission, they had some work ahead of them. After most of them had moved out of the room Gendo ordered Ritsuko to remain behind.

The scientist was fairly unsure of what the commander wanted, when he approached her, his orders were fairly…bizarre.

"Dr.Akagi, I want you to hack the SEELE databanks with the MAGI system. Send all the information to my console."


"The rebirth program will take flight soon, I hope father, that you will ensure that it does fly our way."

Nodding the bishop from Asia bowed his head and left the circle. Now it was only father Fiorenzo and father Pollock. Now the real business would be discussed.

"Father Pollock, I hope all is going well."

"Yes father, we have received Mr. Smith's shipment of the new Mecha's fitted with the LPM system. We shall accomplish the four remaining tasks with distinction."

"I do hope so father." Fiorenzo spat rather bitterly.

"Father Tao can only do so much for us in rebirth."

Pollock nodded.

"So, how goes the Verus Deus project Moeketsi?"

"We need to clear rebirth first."

"Yes…and how goes the gnarus res project."

Father Pollock knew where this was going.

"We have five of the three gnarus are with us, we only need the last…and for that."

"I know father Pollock. We need re-birth to swing our way…so you see how imperative it is to succeed at these tasks before us…now go…I already have a plan to trip up those sinners at NERV."

Sorry for the long wait…I was just out all the time…now things are hopefully going to get really interesting. Though I'm quite sure most of you found this chapter a real drag…I enjoy filling in historical backgrounds of these guys…it gives everything more depth…lets see.


TO THE CRITICS

THE fifth:

Don't worry…everyone gets a small dilemma…its psychopathic mental tendencies for all!!!!!!!! I haven't re-read this chapter for errors so be gentle.

Ginny:

Erm…well Edward isn't the same as that other guy…he's completely different…he just looks the same. Read chapter six again…there's a big hint at the fact that the're two different people entirely