Next chapter's here. I know last one was sloppy; that's because I was writing in a hurry and just threw it together, sorry. It's just that I'm utterly terrible at writing filler. Plot, battles, I have no problem with those; filler is my weakness.
I got a little carried away and had to trim a certain section in this chapter – gotta adhere to the T rating. I mean, I have no problems with M-rated fanservice (as the fifth chapter shows) but I have no way of knowing whether my readers share that or not. Truth be told, I have a slightly... modified M-rated version uploaded somewhere else (can't say where or they might take it as advertising another site). That version's non-canon as I only wrote it as an experiment whether I can write lime or not.
CHAPTER 7
TEAM / WORK
As soon as the locker room's door closed behind her, Shinji paused in her steps before she spun and planted a fist into the locker she just passed. – "Damnit!" – she swore. – "Me and my big mouth! I just had to go and show off to that bastard, didn't I? Waa no..." – She placed both hands on the locker. – "AHŌ!" – she screamed as she headbutted the locker with all her strength.
Pausing a while to catch her breath and fight off the pain in her forehead, the girl balled her hands into fists before pushing herself away. Belated she noticed that she accidentally slipped into the dialect she was using for years before fate in the form of a bearded sadist with scary shiny glasses dragged her into this mess. Shinji was a believer of 'live and let live' – that is, she didn't deliberately antagonize anyone unless said person gave her reason to. And what that person (she disputed his right to call himself her father) did to her generously fulfilled that criterion.
She still didn't have a clue why he did it but she wasn't about to brood over it forever. She was here and in control of her own life – that's all that mattered. Right now however she made a grave mistake: she revealed just how sharp her mind was, giving away her main weapon to oppose that person with. That was a major problem as it more than likely made that person suspicious of her, resulting in that person having her watched even more closely. Not to mention a possible retaliation on Kensuke and his family just to spite her... while she wasn't sure that person would be capable of doing that, she didn't want to be proven right.
Shinji temporarily purged these thoughts from her mind as she went to her own locker and started discarding her clothes. As a side effect of the installation being underwater, the corridors were noticeably colder than the buildings topside. While it could easily be rectified by turning the internal heating a bit higher, that was reserved for winter months only to lower operating costs. Shinji learned from experience that she has to redress fast; that experience was now proven as she was having goosebumps even before she glanced around (she still didn't get used to dressing in a locker room) and pulled down her panties, fully exposing her body to the world. Shinji never wore revealing clothes; the boys' school uniform she had was testament to that. Only her roommate ever saw her like this and said roommate was another teenage girl so neither minded. Not that Shinji had much to look at in the first place but she wasn't an exhibitionist either.
After packing the pile of freshly discarded clothes into the locker, she lugged out the heavy G-suit and began the laborous process of putting it on.
"How are the preparations for Katsuragi's plan proceeding?"
"It will be completed on time." – Fuyutsuki smirked. – "Are you becoming impatient, old friend?"
"All that matters is defeating the Angel as per the scenario dictates. Everything else is secondary."
"Even your daughters?"
Gendo nodded. – "Rei will do everything I ask of her. She will support me to the end."
"And Shinji?" – presented Fuyutsuki the loaded question.
"Sentimentality has clouded her judgment. Nevertheless, I have underestimated her resourcefulness."
"Do you mean the fact that she took action on her own? I did not expect that either." – Fuyutsuki admitted.
Gendo pushed his glasses to their proper place, the light reflecting off the lenses obscuring his eyes. – "It does not matter. I will not allow a petulant child to interfere in the scenario – and neither will you." – The warning was unspoken but clear: 'turn on me and I won't hesitate to put you down'.
It was a warning the older man heard many times when he was forcibly conscripted into the organization for knowing too much. Knowing about the truth behind Second Impact.
The silence lasted for several minutes until Gendo lifted the phone built into his desk and dialled the internal number of Section 2. – "This is Ikari. Allocate priority detail for monitoring Aida. If he shows signs of complicity with a third party, detain and interrogate him then dispose of him."
"Yes, sir." – came the curt answer before he killed the connection.
"You're willing to believe her, then?"
"Do not mistake my actions for anything but what they are, professor. If the Committee find out we ignored a whistleblower, they can use it to undermine our position. For the sake of the scenario, we have to appease them until we slit their throats."
"One hour until sortie, girls." – greeted Misato as she walked into the pilots' ready room. – "How are you two?"
"No problems." – Rei answered curtly, without even turning around.
"Same here." – Shinji added while pointing her thumb at Rei who was currently sitting with her back to Shinji.
Misato looked between the two and mentally shrugged as she realized they likely didn't say a single word to each other since their arrival. – "Good. The Evas are almost ready so be prepared." – she said as she stepped out once again.
Shinji glanced at the girl who was still steadfastly refusing to acknowledge her existence and sighed. – "Look, I know you don't like me. I can't correct that unti-"
"I do not require your approval of my actions." – the other girl cut her off.
Shinji rolled her eyes. – "That's not what I'm trying to say. What I'm saying is, care to at least tell me why?"
"Stay away from father. He is mine and mine alone."
"What do you mean, yours?"
"It does not matter. This is your only warning: stay away from him or I will kill you."
Yet again, Shinji could do nothing but roll her eyes. 'I have no idea how that bastard managed to indoctrinate her so deeply but he did a good job.' – "What makes you think I want to have anything to do with him?"
"You are genetically related to him. Therefore, you might believe to have a valid claim to him. "
Shinji risked her chances and asked the question she intended to for a while now. – "Do you even know why he threw me out?"
"I know not. However, he would not have taken this course of action without reason. You must have deserved it."
That had gone way too far; Shinji spun around with full intent of busting in her sister's mouth... only to see Rei having already turned around and extended a palm towards her. – "Watakushi ni fureru na. [Don't touch me.]" – she warned coldly.
Shinji remembered what happened in the run-down apartment and backed down, although she was still boiling from anger. 'Deserve? What could a four year old possibly do to deserve THAT?' she seethed inside.
Fortunately, Misato chose this moment to enter the room. – "Ritsuko says your Evas are ready so-" – She stopped cold when she saw the two girls about to jump each other. – "Did I miss something?"
"Are you alright?" – Misato asked quietly as she was leading Shinji to Unit-01's hangar.
"Yup." – Shinji answered simply.
Misato was visibly unsatisfied with that answer. Right before they entered the hangar, she pulled the girl aside. – "Look... I know I probably have no right to say this, but... I'm sorry you have to pilot again. I saw how you ended up last time so I thought-"
Shinji saw where she was going and interjected. – "Correct; you really have no right to say that, seeing as you're my superior and could simply order me to do it. But thanks anyway."
Still, the older woman pressed on. – "Just tell me one thing. You knew you could leave at any time and don't have to put up with it any more. Why didn't you?"
Shinji looked to the side. – "I don't know myself. I mean, I don't care about the fate of the world, it sucks anyway." – She shrugged nonchalantly as she broke free of the woman's hold and walked into the hangar but inside, she was asking that very same question from herself.
The night covered the city like a dark blanket. All buildings stood dark and empty, their occupants evacuated to the city's storm shelters. Normally those shelters would only be used in the event of severe weather but as the city could simply float out of the way of any typhoons, the shelters saw little utility. Now however they were packed to the brim with worried citizens as Avalon ensued a complete news blackout.
Most citizens, especially younger children, were already asleep due to the late time of the day. Possession of outdoor pets was heavily regulated. As such, nothing live was there to see when an inconspicuous garage door opened and Evangelion Unit-01 stepped out of the disguised entrance to NERV.
Inside the machine, Shinji cycled the LCL in her lungs a few times before hailing her superiors. – "This is Unit-01. I'm in position and initializing RED Field." – Another thought was followed by a quiet hum starting up somewhere behind her as her own signal disappeared from radar.
"Understood, Shinji." – came Misato's voice. – "We can't get you any closer than this; you'll have to cross the remaining distance on foot."
Shinji was about to answer when Ritsuko's voice came through. – "Shinji, I know Misato went over this plan already but there are some technical data you should know. Your Radar Echo Dampening Field will mask your radar signature; we don't know if the Angel can detect you but keep it on whenever you can, just in case. Use it to get close to the Angel while staying in cover. When you need to leave cover and move where the Angel can see you, use the Phantom VIR system; it will temporarily morph the Evangelion's outer hull to have a negative refractive index, effectively acting as thermo-optical cloaking. Again, we don't know if the Angel can perceive in the visible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum but it should work."
Distantly, Shinji heard one of the techs saying they had five minutes until the facility is breached, after which Misato took over once more. – "Ritsuko, leave the poor kid alone with the technobabble. Shinji, all you need to know is that you can't use both systems at the same time so be smart. If you're using the VIR, get behind concealment before switching to RED. If you're invisible but it notices your presence by radar, keep moving before it pins your exact location down. This is very important: your Evangelion's armor can't take even a single hit. We're sending the Angel's location now." – On cue, a red marker appeared on her HUD, indicating a point five hundred meters behind her. – "Here..." – Another marker appeared, this one green. – "...is the Flash Cannon. It's powered by an umbilical cable connected directly to the city's power plant so don't worry about ammo."
"As Misato so eloquently put it," – Shinji could hear the scowl in Akagi's voice – "I'm going to make this quick: the Flash Cannon is a directed energy weapon. Just point and shoot; as long as you hold the trigger, it will keep firing. You need to get beneath the Angel's outer rim and attack from there. There's a good probability it can't fire at that angle and the Flash Cannon can penetrate the AT-field from that distance. Keep the beam focused on a single point and don't stop firing until you reach the core."
Shinji nodded to herself. – "Grab the Flash Cannon, sneak up to the Angel and roast it from up close. Got it. Where's the core?"
"Dead center of the Angel. We'll mark it when you get close enough."
"I am in position to begin diversionary operations." – reported Rei from another channel.
"Alright then." – acknowledged Misato. – "Both of you, good hunting. Operation starts now!"
At that signal, both Evangelions leapt into action. Shinji rounded the corner and started running as fast as she could. She didn't have much time as with the nighttime, the Evangelion couldn't recharge itself with solar power. As a consequence, every action she took drained the capacitors directly; using shields or hover was out of the question.
At the docks, Rei gave a mental order. A resonating hum started emanating from Unit-00 as its hover system activated, compartments on its back and calves opening up to make way for the vernier thrusters that immediately flared to life. The Evangelion rose up into the air before it leaned forward and shot out above the sea. As soon as she gained over a hundred meters from the shore, Rei commanded the Evangelion to turn around before she targeted the Angel's waypoint and sent her missile pod a launch command.
In a few microseconds, the suit transmitted all target data into the bulky rocket before it launched. Quickly activating its onboard terrain-tracking radar, the Comet Cruise Missile soared off into the cityscape and deftly avoided the few buildings in the way before impact... leaving absolutely no damage on the Angel.
The effect was immediate: Ramiel quickly found the source of the attack and retaliated. Rei was prepared for it however and briefly clocked Unit-00's verniers to maximum performance, the thrusters howling as they complied. Unit-00 leapt up high above the air, narrowly avoiding the energy beam targeting its former position which turned the seawater there into a massive steam explosion.
Meanwhile Shinji quickly hefted up the Flash Cannon, making sure she wasn't standing on its cable before running off. 'What am I even doing here?' she asked herself silently as she dashed down the street. 'I should just pack and go.' She leapt over an abandoned car, the cable abrading the painting and leaving a nasty gash on the vehicle's roof.
'No one would even care.' She rounded a corner and almost came face-to-hull with the Angel; remembering the quick briefing, she turned on the Phantom VIR. A cold sensation enveloped her body in a near-suffocating hug as her Evangelion faded out of the visible spectrum; at the same time, her HUD switched to crude wireframe models of her surroundings as not interacting with incoming light anymore blinded the suit's optical sensors too. That's what the radar-based Sensory Image Terrain Exposing Camera was for. She could still see the Angel through the buildings even before she bounded across the street into cover and switched the cloak back to the RED Field.
'Katsuragi only pretends that she cares. But I know she sees me as part of her job, nothing more.' She dodged into a narrow alley leading in the Angel's general direction. 'Suzuhara and Aida have no idea what I have to go through. I can't honestly expect any sympathy from them.'
'Do I even want sympathy from anyone?' Just as she finished that thought, she arrived at the end of the alley. Turning on her cloak, she leapt across the street at the same time the Angel fired at what she knew to be Unit-00's position.
Rei didn't have much problem dodging the Angel's potshots as she jettisoned the empty missile launcher early on. There was no need for it as she already had the entity's attention, evidenced by the energy beam she elegantly avoided with an aerial cartwheel.
'I don't. I'm not going to be an emotional leech.' Shinji assured herself as she rounded the last corner and cloaked herself one last time. 'Saving the world from Third Impact... I simply can't feel anything when thinking about it.' Just as she was about to cross into the Angel's shadow, a discomforting thought occurred to her that made her falter in her steps.
'Does that mean I'm a cold-hearted bitch?'
The warning tone of her Evangelion's low energy supply broke Shinji out of her reverie; she disengaged the cloak and took aim. The Angel instantly noticed something was wrong as it stopped firing. 'NO. I am not my father. I will never be like my father.' she swore as she swung the Flash Cannon's muzzle towards her would-be victim.
'NEVER.' She depressed the trigger.
In the darkness of the night, the weapon's brightness was almost blinding; Shinji's eyes hurt from looking at it even after she squinted as much as she could without shutting her eyes entirely. Like a giant welding torch, the concentrated plasma stream speared into the Angel's AT-field, struggling against it for several long seconds until the field finally gave out and shattered into a million pieces that immediately faded out of existence.
Shinji almost jumped in surprise when the beam bore deep into the Angel and the entity let out a piercing shriek that sounded uncannily close to a woman's scream. Not letting up, she kept up the assault without wavering in her aim. The hole penetrated into the Angel's underside belched out molten, white-hot slag of what once was its crystalline matter, dripping onto the pavement and instantly melting through it as well.
Then finally the entire Angel shook and released an even louder shriek as its core was vaporized by the intruder, its crystalline body briefly flaring up with the inner brightness of a thousand suns that turned the entire city even brighter than a cloudless midday before the drill on its underside broke off and the Angel crashed onto its side, flattening a building in the way before finally becoming dark and motionless.
As soon as its enemy was dead, Unit-01 dropped the smoking Flash Cannon and stumbled back, wildly clawing at its head. – "Aah, damnit!" – Shinji swore with a painful hiss as she blinked a few times but no luck: her burning eyes stayed blind.
"So, what's the verdict?" – Shinji grumbled as Ritsuko put away the ophthalmoscope.
"You have a normal pupil reflex and I see no retinal damage so you should regain your eyesight in a few days." – the woman answered while Shinji got off the examination bed. – "In the meantime, you should stay indoors and avoid looking into strong light sources; wearing sunglasses might help too."
"I have some at home." – Misato piped in. – "Don't know whether it will fit her head though."
"Good, then there's nothing more to be said." – With that, the blonde left.
"Go get changed." – ordered Misato. – "I'll take you to the locker room. Once we get home I'll give you that thing. You'd probably want to stay for a few more days until you're back to normal, then-"
"Ah yeah, regarding that... I'll be staying for a while more, I think." – the girl muttered while looking at where she guessed her feet would be.
Misato didn't understand for a moment before she smiled. – "You're staying to pilot, aren't you?"
"Make no mistake; I'm not doing it for anyone but myself." – the girl snapped.
"Why, then?"
"I have my reasons." – Shinji stated simply but didn't elaborate as she allowed Misato to lead her to the locker room. Inside however, she knew the answer now.'He abandoned me when I needed him the most. Rei got injured because of me; if I were to leave, it could happen again and it would be because of me. As much as we don't see eye to eye, she's still my sister. If I were to leave now, I'd be abandoning my family and would be no better than him. Screw that; I'm better than that.'"While I'm dressing, could you give Rei a message?" – she asked.
"Sure. What do you want me to tell her?"
Shinji remained silent for a while before she started speaking. – "I know you hate me. I know you want me to stay away from him; why, I don't know. Anyway, don't worry about that. After what he put me through, I don't want to have anything to do with him. Not now, not anytime soon. Get all huggy with him if you want, I couldn't care less. You can keep on hating me if you want; just know that it'll get your message across easier if you also tell why. That's all... I guess."
Answer to anonymous review(s):
rrrr: It's not that she doesn't like girls; she's just naturally suspicious. And about her intelligence: Shinji is the son (or in this case, daughter) of not one but TWO of the world's best scientists and not to mention chessmasters. There's just no way he/she wouldn't inherit at least some brains.