Evangelion: Continuum
By Daetor
Chapter 7: Mission in Berlin
Disclaimer: Don't tell me that you STILL don't get it...
Shinji and Asuka were both in John's office soon after breakfast. Asuka seemed relaxed, but inwardly she was slightly worried, Shinji's face on the other hand was set in silent determination, he imposed calm on himself. He wasn't going to let himself worry before the mission even started or before they even knew what it was. After all, it wasn't like it was any more dangerous than the things he did during the angel wars. Back then, he didn't even have the powers he had now, ad with them, he didn't have the option to cut his own pain down by silencing the nerves through his will.
Though not a soldier, Sarah had taught him more about his powers than John could have. John knew how to fight and how to use certain abilities in battle, but he didn't have an understanding of Shinji's rather unique abilities. Sarah on the other hand knew quite a bit about influencing the body, since she was trained to do it as a medic. She was used to commanding cells to regenerate damaged tissue on other people or even herself. It was a matter of feeding the cells with energy and converting that energy to matter depending on the cellular needs. Shinji was able to do that subconsciously apparently, fact which meant that he could not only regenerate, but also order his cells to change into other forms and then form other forms of tissue. Sarah had explained that cells sustained by an AT field could create any kind of tissue, including biological energy weapons. Seeing as he had unlimited energy at his disposal, his only limit being the fact that he could harness only so much in a certain time, Shinji could literally be a sort of walking biological weapons factory.
Those thoughts were washed out of his head as soon as John finished shifting through the few folders that were on his desk and placed them in a drawer. He raised his head and looked at the two silent teens before him, he sighed inwardly knowing that now they were anything but children and things would get even uglier soon enough.
"Well, I guess we should get started here. We'll be going on a mission on Earth, our objective being to rescue a few people and then obliterate one of SEELE's main Evangelion production facilities. Asuka, you'll be familiar with the area, since we're going to Berlin. That's where SEELE's main NERV base is, that's where they take care of most of their researches and where they most likely developed those beasts we keep running into." John said and then took a short pause looking for any reactions from the teens. Asuka seemed a little bit more tense while Shinji seemed to be curious. "Anyway, the fact is that the NERV base you knew is only the cover for a much larger complex developed by SEELE in secret. That thing is comparable with the old NERV base you guys knew, only that it's even larger than that and it's probably heavily guarded. It's too cramped for Eva sized battles, so I suspect that they're guarding it with those clone troopers of theirs. No matter what the situation is, it's unlikely that we'll be able to bring in the Avatars, not without drawing a lot of attention on us and also doing quite some damage to Berlin."
"So we'll just have to get in and fight our way the old fashioned way?" Asuka asked.
"Eventually yes. Before that though, we'll have to rescue a few people as I said, people that SEELE has been using for quite some time. They are researchers that unwillingly helped SEELE develop these things. They live more or less in the city, but they're being monitored by SEELE agents as far as I can tell. We'll have to contact them and make arrangements to move them back to Sanctuary, out of SEELE's reach. This will probably take some time." John said, again waiting to see how they would react.
"I take it that we'll be on our own during this mission, right?" Shinji asked.
"Yes and no." John replied. "We'll have to handle the first part of the mission by ourselves, then we'll have to get to the hidden complex. After we enter it, we'll be able to open an entrance to the Dirac sea and bring in some mech divisions to help us clean the place out. After that's been taken care of, we wipe the place clean with some really big bombs or Asuka's powers if she'll feel up to it and ensure that those bases won't be used by anyone for quite a few years."
"So, basically this is a sort of seek and destroy mission." Asuka stated. "How long do you think we're going to be out there?"
"I'd say in the best case scenario, at least a week." John replied. "So you guys better pack up a few things to go. We'll be staying in Berlin in a house I arranged to be bought. We'll have forged papers and new identities there, so that we look like citizens. It was pretty easy for my agents to handle the job seeing as they have a rather significant psychic boost. SEELE has to rely on normal human agents, unlike us. They can't really use those clones in the open, and since they're soulless, they aren't as good as real people."
"Well, it doesn't sound to hard…" Asuka said.
"The first part isn't too hard, but the second part will be dangerous. Those clones can use AT fields, so they'll put up a fight. Not to mention that their strength is in numbers, and we'll deal with a lot of them." John said, then sighed. "There's one more thing that might change your mind though. The clones we'll have to kill are made from Kaworu Nagisa's DNA, as a consequence, they look just like him."
Shinji paled at that bit of information, Asuka at first gained a sadistic smile, the idea of killing that guy over and over again was quite appealing, especially since these were just soulless dolls. Still, that expression lasted only about a second, she noticed Shinji's reaction and she immediately became concerned. She took a hold of his left hand, seeing as he was sitting to her right. Shinji closed his eyes and let out a shuddering breath, after that he calmed himself.
"They're not Kaworu and I think he'd feel insulted by their existence, so, I'm still coming. I think it's going to be a good thing to dispose of those… things." Shinji replied, he was a bit silent, but determined as ever showing that he had indeed matured a lot since the Angel wars ended.
"Very well, then the two of you should go pack up some things and get ready to leave. We're leaving tomorrow morning, at that time, it will be evening in Berlin." John replied and got up from his desk, heading for the door. The pair also got out of their chairs and left the room, both of them wondering about how everything would turn out.
--
The two former pilots returned home, both pondering the current situation. Shinji didn't like the situation at all, it seemed that no matter how low SEELE went, they managed to find a way to go even lower than that. The idea of fighting clones made in the image of the one person that was his friend at the end of the Angel wars wasn't a pleasant one. Still, he wasn't going to be tricked by that, he was going to show those SEELE people that he wasn't going to be their tool and that he wasn't as easy to manipulate as before.
Asuka wasn't really happy of going back to Berlin, she would have been happy if she wouldn't have had to return there ever again. There were too many bad memories there, memories of her mother's apparent suicide, of her abandonment by her father, of the long and lonely days spent training and learning, never once being appreciated for who she was, never being loved. That place meant nothing to her, if she would have been allowed to do it, she would have blown it up to pieces with her power. If Lilith was able to kill every human on Earth, then blowing one little town in a fit of anger wouldn't have been too much.
As soon as they got home, they were greeted by Misato, the reasons why were pretty obvious to both of them. No matter how powerful they could become, she would always be worried about their safety. Also, she had no idea what they were supposed to do in this mission or where they were going, so she was obviously going to nag them about it. Shinji and Asuka exchanged a knowing look, shook their heads and went in passing on other side of the purple headed woman without saying any words. Still Misato wasn't going to give up this easily.
"You two wait right there, I want to know what's going on around here." She stated in a neutral tone, not because she wasn't annoyed by their attempt to ignore her, but because she didn't want to risk setting Asuka of. No matter how much progress the girl made in regards to her temper, she was still rather volatile. Shinji sighed, deciding that no matter how much they wanted to avoid it, she would have to know some of the details. Even though she would be even more worried about them after hearing these things.
"We're going to Berlin Misato, that's where one of SEELE's main research bases is hidden, we're going to take care of it, with some help obviously." Shinji said calmly, then remained silent, waiting for the older woman to asses his statement.
"Well, that makes sense." Misato said. "The German branch of NERV was our lead research base in regards to Eva technology and weaponry. If they built another base there, they could justify the expenses surrounding it with the help of the NERV base. A rather good trick…"
"I suppose, but that's besides the point, it has to be destroyed and the people being forced to work for them have to be rescued." Shinji replied pondering Misato's reaction. "It will take a while to contact some people around there and attempt to rescue those scientists."
"Yea, I figured as much." Misato said. "You guys will be there at least a week, if not more. Earning the trust of those people won't be easy if SEELE is as bad as they've proved themselves to be. Who knows what they're doing to keep those people working in that lab. They won't trust you guys so easily and even when they will, it will be a little difficult to get them out of there. Speaking of scientists, I just heard that you guys found Ritsuko in that facility where Gendo was working on his plans. Why didn't you guys tell me earlier and what happened to her?"
"Ah, well, we kinda forgot about her…" Asuka said. "I mean, with all that happened after we came out of the base, it slipped out of our minds, if you get the idea." Asuka spread her wings out of her back to punctuate the statement. "Last I heard, she was transferred in the sixth sphere… they have psych ward there."
"What? Why?!" Misato asked, shocked that her friend from college needed that kind of help. Things may have gotten colder between the two of them with all that happened, but she still had hope that she could patch things up with the faux blond.
"She had a nervous breakdown about three hours after she was brought in." Shinji replied. "John said that she was apparently unstable, everything she saw surrounding Sanctuary, things that literally break the laws of physics and so on made her mind loose what control she had left. Apparently, all that happened because of my father to her, plus something that happened during Third Impact or right before it really screwed up her mind. Apparently it's surprising that she lasted this long without going completely insane because of the mental stress."
Misato took a deep breath then sighed. She was surprised, especially since Ritsuko seemed to be in control most of her life. Still, what happened in room full of Rei clones had taught her that her old friend could snap and loose control if enough pressure was applied. "Will she ever recover?"
"Well, that's what they're hopping, but nothing is certain." Asuka said. "Not to mention that I felt a great deal of disarray in her head. I have no idea what's going on in there, but I didn't probe in an active way and I'm not on expert in understanding how the mind works despite my powers. All I can say for sure is that she was screwed up badly, worse than what I ever felt around Shinji or any of us."
"I guess I shouldn't be this surprised…" Misato said. "She did have a lot of problems and despite what it looked like, she was more distant to those around her just as much as you guys were if not more. Having all those secrets and lacking any kind of support didn't help at all, at least that's what I think."
"She's nuts, that's all there is to it." Asuka replied. "I always thought she was nuts, that plan she had during the 12th should have been proof enough that she was not normal."
"What plan?" Shinji asked, he never did learn about what happened while he was trapped in Leliel.
"Ah, well, she wanted to drop almost 1000 N2 mines in it, theoretically it would have destroyed the angel, but at the same time, it would have killed you. Before the operation could commence, you went berserk and ripped the angel to pieces from the inside." Asuka replied. Shinji's eyes widened a bit then he shook his head. He had no idea things were that bad. He was starting to recover his memories from during the berserker incidents, but they weren't crystal clear yet and they couldn't explain what happened outside or while he was completely unconscious.
"I remember going berserk, but I had no idea I was so close to loosing it all." Shinji said. "You're right, that is nuts…"
"Ok, enough of that… Ritsuko has here flaws, but so do we all, it's not fair of us to judge her." Misato replied. "We all made a lot of mistakes during those times, regarding the war and one another. Things have changed and I'm sure that she will change too when she recovers. She deserves a second chance."
"I never said she didn't." Shinji said. "I said she WAS nuts, I don't know how she WILL be when she recovers. Personally I don't care as long as she doesn't try to cause any troubles."
"I don't care, she can do what ever she wants, but if she causes troubles, she'll see just what I'm capable of. During the war all she cared about were the Evas. If she would have been a little more supportive and if she would have given us a little more information, I wouldn't have had that breakdown and I wouldn't have tried to kill myself!" Asuka replied, she was pretty loud, but she was trying to keep it in check. That time was hard for her and you could say that she was pushed over the edge. She had heard what Akagi said before the 15th raped her mind, she
practically pushed her to attempt to fight it like that and refuse to retreat, thinking that her job was on the line like that. At that time, she didn't have anything else besides Eva…
Shinji placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, Asuka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, those memories were always painful, it would be years before she would be able to think about those things without loosing her temper or getting on the verge of tears.
"I think we should get going and start packing." Shinji said pulling her away. "We're leaving tomorrow and we might need to get some stuff besides what we already have." Asuka nodded and they both left leaving Misato alone with her thoughts.
--
Later that day the two teens were both walking in a park around Sanctuary, even if the weather was cold, it was still nice to be out. No to mention that when you're able to generate even a weak AT field, a little cold is the least of your worries. Packing everything they needed didn't take nearly as long as they thought they would, being able to move objects around with your thoughts helped in that matter. So, they decided to go out for a bit, Shinji was the one to suggest it feeling that there was a too big risk to get in another tense situation with Misato because of the mission.
As they walked and enjoyed each others company and admired the view that was still new to them, they noticed another boy beginning to wave at them. Shinji had no idea who he was but Asuka soon recognized him as Kenji, the pilot of one of those Evangelions they encountered in the Alaskan base. They stopped and he ran to them, greeting them as he reached the pair.
"Hey, Shinji and Asuka right?" He asked after gasping a bit.
"Yea, that's us. Who might you be?" Shinji asked, curios as to who the boy was, Asuka had told him about Kenji, but as he never saw him, it was impossible for Shinji to recognize him.
"Oh, yea, you wouldn't know me… I'm Kenji, Kenji Sadamoto." Kenji said with a short bow.
"Right, you're the pilot of the second Eva." Shinji replied thoughtfully. "Nice to meet you, funny running into you here."
"Well, the thing is that I'm a little lost, I didn't really get the chance to get used to the place and when I started wandering around like I used to back home, I realized I had no idea where I was, not to mention that I have terrible problems with my orientation." Kenji said smiling sheepishly at the two. "When I saw you guys, I thought that maybe I could get some directions or something."
"Ah, well, there's a simple solution to that." Asuka said. "Why didn't you use one of the maps?"
As people were brought from Earth into Sanctuary along the years, John saw it fit to install digital maps all over each city. The reason for that was that it allowed the refugees to have an easier time orientating themselves and eventually getting used to the city they were sent to live in. Still, you had to know that they were digital for them to be of any use to them if you were the kind of person that had problems finding the direction of the North pole with a compass like Kenji was.
"What do you mean?" Kenji asked utterly clueless.
Asuka muttered something under her breath that sounded like idiot and a few other words, possibly the same thing only in different languages. Shinji just rolled his eyes at her reaction, no matter how she behaved towards him, she would always tend to have at least a little bit of a superior attitude with other people, it didn't matter if they really were inferior or a potential threat.
"The maps are digital." Shinji explained. "If you touch them, they show you where you are and the small keyboard usually situated on the right side is used to type in locations. Once you enter a location, it shows you how to get there from you position."
"It's so simple a brain dead monkey could use it." Asuka added while Kenji wisely chose to ignore her comment. As much as he wanted to say something back to her, knowing what she was capable of from witnessing what she did in that base, he knew that it was potentially suicidal.
"Thanks anyway, I think I'll be able to find my way now." Kenji replied.
"Well, glad we could help." Shinji asked. "Getting used to this place takes a while even when you have a lot of help around you like I did, it must be a lot harder for you though."
"You have no idea." Kenji said. "Despite everything, I'm happy with how things turned out. I had no idea I was being used as a simple pawn and I got to learn the truth about my mother. Though…" Kenji's eyes turned to the ground before sighing and continuing. "She didn't want to come back… it was too painful for her, my mother moved on…"
Asuka shuddered as she heard that, she didn't want to think how she would have felt if her mother had decided that she wanted to move on instead of being reincarnated, even though that wasn't really the proper word for the process. Shinji nodded solemnly, he understood both what Kenji was going through and at the same time he knew why the boy's mother did what she did. His mother had explained to him that being a part of the Evangelion was a rather painful and mind shattering experience. He had experienced a bit of that himself after being absorbed by Unit-01 in the incident surrounding the 14th's attack.
"What happened to that other pilot?" Asuka asked, trying to change the subject from an obviously uncomfortable subject for all of them.
"You mean Cassandra? She's around town from what I heard, I think her mother decided to remain and get a new body, but aside from that I don't know really. The only reason I even know her is because we worked together." Kenji replied, grateful for the turn in the conversation. "She's a real bitch really, bordering on psychotic if you asked me. When she heard that we might be fighting one of the former pilots, she couldn't get into her Eva soon enough."
"That sounds partly familiar…" Asuka said thoughtfully. "I might have done something similar before Third Impact, though, I wouldn't have been that happy to fight another pilot. Except maybe in an attempt to prove myself…"
"You were like that?" Kenji asked, partly shocked.
"Couldn't you tell?" Asuka replied with a chuckle. "I wrecked everything in my path just because I was angry. Though if anyone had a right to be pissed of, that would have been Shinji, we were going after his father after all."
"It doesn't matter Asuka, you've changed a lot after Third Impact, we both have." Shinji said while placing his arms around her and pulling her close. Asuka rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.
"Of course, I aim to be the best after all." Asuka replied, though it lacked the old arrogant tone. 'It will be a long time until I'll be able to talk about most of what happened back then without getting worked up, except for Shinji that is…'
"Well, it was nice running into you guys, but I should get going. See ya some other time." Kenji said going on his way. 'Heh, wouldn't want to interrupt the two lovebirds and their moment.'
Shinji and Asuka remained in their embrace for a few minutes, not really noticing that Kenji had left, they wouldn't have cared if he had stayed anyway. When they eventually break their embrace they continue to walk through the park enjoying a bit of silence. Thus neither one said anything, there was no need for words at the moment, they would have only ruined the moment. For now, it didn't matter that they were going to leave in a very dangerous mission, they would worry about it later.
--
The following day the two teens said their goodbyes to Misato and Kaji and then they met up with John in Sanctuary's military complex. There he would be giving them their fake IDs and then they were meant to leave to Berlin, via Dirac sea express of course. Living in a Dirac sea apparently had another bonus, they were able to create exit points anywhere in the Universe and if the theories were correct, in other universes as well. Each Dirac sea was a sort of sub-bubble in space and time that could connect to that which was in-between Universes, non-space and non-time, about which no one knew anything at the time being.
"Ok, so you're here." John said when the two teens reached the departure area, it was basically a hangar that led to the outside of the gigantic sphere. "Here are your ID's and the related paperwork."
"So, I'm Alicia Smith, of German/American origin, child prodigy and with both parents deceased. Currently in college in a visit from America where I'm studying for further degrees. Wow, you actually got all of this paper work done, this looks real." Asuka said.
"While I'm supposed to be Kazuya Hayaki, while not a genius like Asuka, I mean Alicia." Shinji smirked a bit then continued. "I apparently have a black belt and I'm accompanying her from America, being her boyfriend and all. I was given up for adoption by my mother after my father abandoned both of us since she couldn't take care of me. A list of grades… the school I've been to… supposed friends in school… high school pictures… profile details…, this thing has everything that they might check."
"Well, that's the general idea." John said. "Your fake identities are both settled in data bases and all and you'd a have to do a very good search to figure it out that you guys are not who you're saying."
"There's only one problem, this girl has a somewhat lighter red hair color." Asuka replied. "I take it that I was supposed to dye my hair right?"
"Not exactly, you can use your powers to lighten the color of your hair in the same way you would by bleaching it. It's fairly easy and it doesn't have to completely bleach your hair, while also leaving it just as healthy." John replied. Just focus a bit and experiment with this." The man handed Asuka a clump of cut red hair from a bag he had with him. "It might not work in your first go, that's why you should try on something else than you own hair."
"Yea yea, just give me a minute…" Asuka mumbled.
"By the way, I suppose that you were thinking about my ability to influence my body when you made this picture right?" Shinji said looking over the pictures of "himself" as Kazuya. The boy in the picture was just as tall as Shinji, but seemed more muscular than Shinji and had golden blond hair with green eyes.
"Yes, I talked with Sarah, you can pull of the change, but I we get in any fights, you'll probable revert back to normal, especially if you use your ability to pull of battle related changes to your body." John said. "You know what to do better than I do."
"Ok then…" Shinji said. He looked at the picture that forced his body to change accordingly, the sight was a bit strange I you looked at it. First, Shinji's muscles became a bit bulkier and the bones widened a bit, giving him a wider frame, just like the boy in the picture. Then his eyes changed color to green while his hair retracted back to his skull leaving him bald for less than a second, his hair grew out again only that it was now golden blond. "How's that?"
"Holy shit!" Asuka said, her mouth wide open. "That was just so freaky…"
"Well, that was definitely impressive…" John said looking at Shinji, he looked like the mirror image of the boy in the picture, it was impossible to tell who he really was. "With your ability, you can look in any way you like and could impersonate anyone."
"Yea, I guess, though it feels kind of weird." Shinji said. "Kind of how Asuka feels when she keeps her wings inside her body for too long."
"Well, from what Sarah told me, it's because you ordered your body to take a shape which is different from what your genetic makeup dictates." John replied. "Now let's go, we have to set up in Berlin and get used a bit with the town, then we get down to business."
"Let's go!" Asuka said enthusiastically, despite the fact that she didn't want to go to Berlin. John simply rolled his eyes at her tone while Shinji smiled and took hold of her hand. The three got in the ship which was meant to take them out to Berlin.
These ships were made strictly with the knowledge from Old Earth. A normal rocket engine was useless in a Dirac sea, the only real way to move in one was by use of an AT field which could propel your body or objects without relying on the surrounding area. Normal laws of physics didn't work in the Dirac sea, an action didn't always result in an equal reaction and in that twisted universe you could just as well reach the opposite result depending on how it reacted to the wills and feelings and dreams of the people within it. A Dirac sea reacted to two things, will power and AT fields, or the light of the soul. Going on will alone was far to dangerous because little was known about those manifestations, so the use of an AT filed was necessary.
Thus the ship was made in such a way that it relied on the AT field of the pilot. It was powered by an S2 engine installed without an organic base that was controlled by the pilot through two crystals that pilot held in his hands. Any other functions were controlled directly through mental commands. Things like internal and external lights, defensive AT field usage as well as offensive and plus the use of certain weaponry was directly directed from the pilot's mind, fact which made the ship not only very easy t control but it also turned it into a dangerous machine that could hold its own in very tough conditions.
For now though, it only served to deliver the three passengers to Berlin and then act as a temporary hidden command post manned by three more of Sanctuary's operatives. It would also help John to remain in contact with Sanctuary throughout their mission.
--
"So this is Berlin huh?" Shinji asked as they entered town from their dropout point.
"Yup, old annoying and ugly Berlin." Asuka replied. "I hated this city, I still hate it…" Shinji didn't reply, instead he held her hand silently, understanding what she was going through.
"Ok, let's get to our hotels." John said. "Also, I hope that I won't regret leaving you two alone in your own hotel room." John eyed the two teens with a serious look. Shinji blushed at what the older man was implying while Asuka glared at him.
"We're not Kaji and Misato, John!" Asuka said.
"I know, I was just kidding!" John replied smiling a bit. "Ok, go and check, I'll be doing the same. Then maybe we should all wander around town a bit or something. Tomorrow we all meet for a short breakfast at this restaurant and we plan from there. Understood?"
"Loud and clear." Asuka said sarcastically.
"Yup." Shinji replied simply.
"Good then." John said going on his own way and leaving the two teens to head out to their own hotel. John had decided that their group should split up in two to avoid raising suspicions. He would be staying on his own while they were going to be staying together in their own hotel. SEELE was expecting a group of three people, no matter what move they made. One adult and two teens, but this way, they had nothing to go on and it made the chances of them being found out smaller.
John also decided to allow Shinji and Asuka to room together, even if they were in different hotel at quite some distance from him. The reason was rather simple though, SEELE had no idea how much the two pilots had changed or that they were involved with each other, so they wouldn't suspect a couple like them so easily. Also, it was unlikely that SEELE imagined that they were going here of all places, where they couldn't maneuver as easily or use their avatars.
Shinji and Asuka reached their hotel quickly and checked in, then they went to their assigned room to see what the conditions were and to leave their luggage. John made reservations at a rather good hotel and it was easy to notice, the hotel room was large and it had luxury conditions, including a large bed. As soon as the luggage was set down, Asuka let her wings free as they were getting uncomfortable.
"Well, this is a great room." Asuka said as she lay in the bed with her back up, she spread her wings the tips going out of the bed by far, despite the size of it. "It feels good to stretch out a bit. Shinji, could you give me a massage, my back feels sore."
"Sure thing Asuka." Shinji replied and got to his task at hand. It became a regular occurrence for him ever since Asuka grew the wings, the area where they came out from her back was somewhat sensitive and it was apparently very pleasant for her to have it massaged. Despite the fact that he felt a bit embarrassed when it came to their relationship in public, when in private he didn't have any problems, there was no real reason to be shy around her, it wasn't like she had much left to surprise him with.
"Ah, that feels so good…" Asuka sighed happily. "You're getting very good at this."
"Well, I do aim to please." Shinji said with a smirk, Asuka couldn't see him, but she imagined she could hear him grinning. "So, this is where you grew up, it looks better than the place where my father sent me."
"Yea, I'll give you that." Asuka agreed with that fact since she saw where Shinji lived with his uncle from the boy's memories. "This city still sucks. You know what's even worse? We could run into my father and unlike you, I'll either turn him into paste as soon as I see him or I'll capture him and kill him slowly by torturing him with my powers."
Surprisingly Shinji chuckled. "Well, tell me what you want and I'll get him myself. There are some really interesting things I can do with my powers as well."
Asuka smiled at that, she almost expected Shinji to disagree with her or to try to tell her that it was a bad idea. Still, she forgot how much he loved her, she should have known that he would say something like that. For her he brought the whole world back, despite the fact that he could have done anything in that time, he could have toyed with the world or changed it and even her I he wanted to, he had held that power in his hands.
"Thanks Shinji, I'll think about this, it's so damn confusing." Asuka said. "I've got half the mind to look for him… Hey wait! I CAN look for him, without even moving from this spot! It's time for some practice!" Asuka's eyes glowed red as she began to use her powers, she was extending her mind, searching for the man. It didn't matter where he was hiding or that her powers weren't at full potential yet, she was more that strong enough to find a normal human and give him a piece of her mind from right here.
Shinji sighed and stopped from what he was doing, he really pitied the man. He didn't know if she could kill him from such a distance, but she could certainly screw his head so hard that it would make her own experience look like a joke. Presuming that he was in the current rage of her powers.
--
Hans Langley Sohryu was a very proud man with a powerful personality. People that knew him were afraid to get on his bad side and not because he was involved with SEELE, but because he was quite intimidating, the only man known to be more influential than him with his attitude and mannerisms alone had been Gendo Ikari, who was thought dead by SEELE. SEELE, who he grew to despise that name in all these years, they had cost him so much and he believed that there was no redemption for his sins.
The man was currently at his home, he was sitting alone, reading a news paper on the recent events in the world. All of the NERV personnel from the Japanese branch was still missing, along with his daughter. From what he understood from SEELE, they were looking for her, but no one knew why, especially since a lot of things changed in the organization ever since Third Impact, something was going on and what ever it was it wasn't in those bastards favor, reason for which he could only smile.
He then felt a strange sensation, it started in his spine and worked it's way up to his head, that's when he realized that he couldn't move for some reason. When the strange feeling finally reached his brain, his world exploded in pain and colors, he felt as if the whole room was spinning, when he could see again, he was on his back surrounded by white nothing. He got to his feet and that was when he saw her, his daughter, standing before him dressed in some kind of armor and with her eyes slightly ablaze with some sort of red energy, from her back sprouted two incredible red wings with flame patterns. Hans couldn't believe the sight before him, it didn't make sense. Maybe SEELE decided that he was useless and had poisoned him and now he was slowly dying. It could have been worse he supposed, but that still didn't explain what he was seeing right now before him.
"Asuka?" He asked, curiosity and a certain hope clearly audible in his voice.
"Hello, papa!" The word was spat with so much venom that Hans recoiled in fear, he was expecting her to hate him, but he didn't expect her hate to have such a physical effect on him. "It's been quite a bit since we last saw one another wasn't it?"
"It has been quite some time." He agreed. "So it is you… How is this possible?"
"Hm… you really don't know… I thought you were involved enough with SEELE to know about this…" Asuka said, confused. She could tell if he was lying to her or not, she could just as well rip all of his memories from his head and get it over with, but she wanted to speak with the man, she wanted to see if he was going to try and lie to her, then she was going to decide what she would do to him. If he really did kill her mother, then she would literally rip him to small bloody pieces with her powers, he was close enough to do that. Obviously she would make him suffer greatly before that.
"Know what? All I know is that SEELE is looking for you and the Third Child, but other than that no one knows anything. I have no idea what's going on there and how come you know about them?" Hans asked.
"That's not important, what you know about what happened to me isn't why I bothered to use my powers on you." Asuka said. "I want to know if you killed my mother or not."
"I didn't! How could you believe that?!" Hans replied in a state of shock. Asuka simply frowned, surprised that he said the truth, apparently John's sources made mistakes as well. She supposed that no one was perfect in the end, fact which meant that she had to get to the whole truth on her own.
"Then what happened? I know you were ordered by SEELE to ensure that her soul got into the Eva." Asuka stated, her voice devoid of any emotion.
"So that was why they insisted that she was the test pilot and started toying with my life as they did…" Hans stated and sighed. "Well, this has a lot to do with that woman I married after you mother was killed… You know that she was a doctor, a very specialized psychiatrist as well. What you don't know is that she was also a high ranking SEELE agent as well, tasked with overseeing the development of your personality." He sighed sadly before continuing. "I received the order of assisting her in dealing with you and Kyoko. I had no idea what to do about your mother, but she did, she arranged her death and with a couple of assistants that also were also SEELE agents, she killed her and arranged the scene that you saw… I… I… I had to… ensure… that you saw it…"
Hans remained silent, he either didn't know what else to say or couldn't go on anymore. Asuka mulled all that through her head, she didn't know what surprised her more, the fact that he was telling the truth, or the fact that he didn't attempt to lie at all. Maybe he still had a shred of innocence and he knew it, or maybe it was something else, maybe he thought he was dreaming or hallucinating.
"Did you even love my mother? Did you love me at all?" She asked.
"I didn't love Kyoko in the romantic sense, but she did love me… At first, she kept trying to get my attention, but I turned her down all the time, knowing full well what kind of job I had and that my life could end at the whim of men I didn't even know. Still, when SEELE discovered her potential and usefulness in the Project E, they ordered me to allow her to get close, and we ended together, did you know that she proposed to me after I returned from a mission with a bullet ridden shoulder?" Hans chuckled a bit and Asuka viewed the specific memory as he recalled it. "I should have refused, I should have said no, but she was so sad and I had my orders, plus, I thought that maybe I
could grow to love her. Apparently I never had the chance to do that… Something changed when you were born, I was surprisingly happy and I wanted you to be happy, but SEELE had other plans, for your mother and for you as well… All that I did after you were born, even when working or SEELE was to ensure that you at least survived, hoping that one day you could get a shot at happiness."
"You… did…?" Asuka whispered.
"Yes, you see, I never intended to marry that woman and I never intended to let all those things to happen to you. SEELE threatened to kill you and use some other child if I didn't obey their orders. It was a no-win situation. If I defied them and attempted to run with you, presuming that I could have ensured our survival, we would have led a life and the run and they would have gotten some other child to do the job you were meant to do in their project. On the other hand, I could choose to obey them, let them toy with your head and use you, but you would survive and in the end you could break free and maybe find happiness somehow. No matter what I did, I was doomed. So I chose the second option, marrying that woman and allowing her to "work" with you and twist your psyche. Still, I did defy them a bit and that's why I encouraged you to work so hard with your academic studies, so that you would spend less time with that woman and thus change in your own ways."
He lapsed in silence once more, Asuka also remaining silent. All in all, she couldn't stay angry at her father anymore, he did love her and he didn't have any choice in the matter. She knew that she could have been dead if he didn't choose what he did. He might have ensured that they both survived and maybe she wouldn't have developed her initial feelings of hatred in that kind of situation, but he chose to be hated than to know that she could die pointlessly with no kind of chance to live her life. In a way she could be grateful, she would have never met Shinji if things didn't turn out like this and she wouldn't have received these powers either.
"Do you have any idea what SEELE wanted from me? Why they wanted me to act as I did?" She asked.
"Well, you had two roles for them, one was extra support and cannon fodder for the other two. In that mindset you couldn't be really effective because you wouldn't be an effective team mate. The other reason was the Third Child, you were meant to make him feel even more worthless with your attitude and make him hate the life he lived. Why? I have no idea, but that was what you were supposed to do…" Hans said, shuddering at the thought, still, seeing how his daughter acted now made him think that SEELE either didn't do the job as well as they thought they did or something happened that had an even stronger influence on the girl.
Asuka smiled at that, SEELE probably didn't plan on falling in love with Shinji as she did. They probably never expected him to see the scared girl that she tried to hide or for her to notice his incredible inner strength. Then again, SEELE underestimated a lot of people, thinking that they would work to their designs like machines. Humans aren't machines though and the fact that they always have a choice of some sort available to them made them unpredictable, no matter how good your plan was or how smart you were. So, they screwed up their grand design through the simple fact that she was a girl and he was a boy and they had lot in common. That was a bit ironic if you looked at it…
"Well, it's obvious it didn't work… I guess I have to say that… I'm a bit sorry, I didn't know things were like that and I thought that you killed momma… On the other hand, I'll be killing that damn slut that thought it was right to play with my head. I'll show her how you can REALLY screw someone's head!" Asuka said, ending it while almost yelling. She wasn't angry at her father anymore, but years of hate don't just go away, in this case they were directed to a new target that was already marked for a lot of pain. Now it just escalated to death through mind rape.
"Well, if you can contact me like this where ever you are, then I suppose that you could kill her as well." Hans said then shook his head. "Are you sure that you want to go down that path? She does deserve death, but do you really think that it's worth becoming a murderer just for the sake of revenge?"
"I'll think about it…" Asuka said. "I may not kill her, I might force her in the same situation my mother was in only that she'll really kill herself when I'm through with her. Well, I'm done here, maybe we'll meet again, maybe not, I don't care."
With that said, Asuka disappeared and Hans woke up in the same chair, only that his newspaper was on the floor, dropped because of suddenly numb fingers. He looked at the watch he had and noticed that only five minutes or so had passed since the beginning of his paralysis problem. One would normally dismiss such an event as a strange dream, but he was certain that this was not the case. If it was real, then it meant that SEELE was in for a lot of trouble. He chuckled, hoping that what ever was going on with his daughter was going to bring an end to the cursed organization.
--
Asuka meanwhile "returned" back to Shinji and was now lying in his arms thinking, she didn't say a word since she got back and Shinji didn't question her about it. She needed to think and he understood that, what ever it was she did and found out in her encounter with her father. So he just provided her comfort and waited for her to sort out what ever was going on in her head. It didn't matter to him what happened or if she killed the man or not, the only thing that mattered was that he would stand by her side no matter what.
As for Asuka, she was grateful for Shinji's understanding of the matter and was attempting to sort out her thoughts. On one hand she understood that her father had been a pawn in the whole thing, just like her, even if he was more involved with the inner workings of SEELE than she ever was at that time. On the other hand, she wanted to kill her step mother, that damn woman had screwed up her childhood intentionally and that was not something she was willing to forgive. Especially since it was obvious that SEELE had wanted her to break while fighting the 15th, just like Gendo had wanted Rei to die while fighting the 16th and they probably sent Kaworu knowing that he would break Shinji somehow.
They wanted to disable the pilots before their grand scheme took place and she was "programmed" to break from her early childhood just like Shinji was programmed to accept Instrumentality and Rei was prepared as that bastard's doll. All three of them were screwed up intentionally and she wouldn't have been surprised if she found out that Shinji's uncle had been prepared and paid by either SEELE or Gendo to ensure that Shinji was introverted and scared of human interaction. It wasn't an unlikely scenario, one which should be looked into after this whole deal with SEELE was over and done with.
"It's funny, but I ended up giving him a second chance in a way." Asuka said, finally speaking after a half an hour of silence. "He was being used by SEELE, just like all of us. It also turns up that my step mother was one of SEELE's agents meant to screw around with my head. So I still have one person on which I'll let my wrath loose. Though, I'll wait, I want to have time to enjoy it and I don't want to blow our cover here. After the mission I'll find a couple of minutes to take care of all this."
"It'll be alright." Shinji replied, holding her tighter. "How do you feel?"
"Honestly? I feel confused, maybe even a little relieved that things didn't turn out the way I was expecting them to turn." Asuka said. "As funny as it may seem, I still hoped that my father loved me, despite all that happened."
"It's not funny, I know how you feel. I felt the same way about my father. I wanted him to think about me as more than just a tool. I have no idea what he's thinking of now, but at least I know I'm not a tool for him anymore." Shinji replied. "I'm sure it will be alright…"
"I sure hope so Shinji, I sure hope so…" Asuka said. "It's incredible how far those bastards were willing to go for their plans, how many people they manipulated. I mean, this was all so elaborate and it seems to me that they had almost everything covered."
"Almost, but the two of us ruined their plans, as screwed up as we were." Shinji said while chuckling a bit. "I wonder how they would react if they ever found out why their whole plan failed. I'm sure that the real reason would leave them with their jaws hanging."
"More than likely…" Asuka smiled. "I want to get some sleep now, a lot more happened today than I expected and I'm feeling a bit tired…"
"Ok Asuka…" Shinji said while flicking the light switch with his AT field without moving from the bed.
--
The following day they met up with John at the designated restaurant. The two teens arrived there and found John already at a table, he waved to them and waited for them to set themselves. He smiled as they took their seats and gave them two menus to browse through for breakfast.
"Before you ask, I already checked, there's no one here that could bother us and everyone in here is outside hearing range. Plus, If we switch to Japanese, no one will know what we're saying anyway." John said as the two looked through their menus. "The initial plan is really simple. As I said before, what comes after it is the real problem."
"So what's the big deal?" Asuka asked as Shinji ordered breakfast for the three of them. "What do we have to do here?"
"Well, for starters, since you two came along, things will be somewhat simpler." John said with a slight smile. "You can contact the scientists we're looking for with your powers. SEELE has no way of knowing and it will ensure that our conversations can't be tracked. The Old Men won't know anything until after we've made our move because they won't have any means of knowing that they were contacted in the first place."
"Ok, there's one problem here, I can't contact anyone unless I know their names, and how they look plus a few things about what they do and stuff like that. If I don't know those things, then I'd literally have to sweep through everyone's mind and look at their thoughts to see who they are." Asuka replied.
John actually smirked at that. "You didn't think that I wasn't prepared for that did you Asuka?" As he said that he reached under the table and took out a briefcase. "This contains the files on all the people that are in that rather nasty situation because of the Old Men. Each file contains several pictures of the respective persons and as much information as we could gather. It's pretty much as you can clearly see yourself. Then again, it's rather easy to hack into computers that have organic brains when you have powers like us."
Asuka took the briefcase and placed it under the table between her and Shinji. "Ok, so I use my powers to contact them, then what?"
"You find out the whole situation and report it to me exactly. If you're able to, you should simply send the memory of the encounter in my head. That way we don't have to meet all the time and that will ensure that we won't be discovered." John said looking around a bit. "We can't take any chances with this. I'll tell you over time what to say to those guys depending on what you report. Don't try t rush this, be patient with those people and let them build their trust towards you, if you feel that they're loyal to SEELE, tell that to those that aren't and avoid revealing any sort of information to them. If you can you should even misinform them."
"What do we do in the mean time?" Shinji asked knowing that Asuka could jump through minds for only limited amounts of time because her own mind was under stress while using her powers in that manner. She was getting better at it, but for now she had some pretty strict limits.
"Well, sight see and enjoy the vacation? As I said, there's no reason to rush this." John replied. "Even if you could keep going through contacts constantly, there would be no way that those people could handle it or that they'd be willing to listen to you for long periods of time. You'll probably have to set up "meeting" times and such."
"Well, that's good I guess." Shinji said a bit uneasily. He didn't really want to drag this too long, he didn't feel safe here especially without his avatar close by. Plus there was something else, he could feel the clones deep below the city, he couldn't tell how many there were, but there were a lot of them, that was for sure. The fact that he could also sense that they lacked souls was disturbing, he could feel some sort of hunger from within them, one which he couldn't understand. Another thing that he felt was a faint web surrounding all of them, that had to be how the four bastards controlled them, still his powers were too weak and too unrefined to allow him to do anything about that web, for now at least.
"We'll have lots of fun Shinji! I know this town inside and out, it may not be the best place in the world where I want to be right now, but at least I know what we can do to pass the time." Asuka said cheerfully, getting a smile out of Shinji and a roll of the eyes from John. "You're just jealous!" Asuka said when she noticed John's reaction.
"Maybe I am, but not for the reasons you think I am." John replied. "I'm envious of what you two have together."
"Why is that?" Shinji asked, his voice was trembling slightly, feeling that they stepped in uncertain waters.
"Well, I guess you should know. You see, a long time ago I did have a wife. She died of old age long before I did. We were both human, but my powers allowed me to outlive her and even our children at the time, despite the fact that they inherited quite a few of my powers. Still, it was a long time ago and I still miss her. When people like me fall in love, we stay true to our one love and never remarry or anything like that. On the Old Earth, we believed that the bond forged through marriage was an eternal one and that the two that were married were to be together forever even after death. I hold on to that belief and I passed it on to all those in Sanctuary, especially to my children and grandchildren."
"Then, what's up with Sarah? She keeps dropping by the house and you two seem very close to one another." Asuka asked confused since she had believed that there something going on between the two. Though without using her powers on them she had no sure way of knowing.
"She's the last of my line if you will. She's a straight line descendant. If I were to die, my powers would be added to hers directly as no other intermediaries are alive today. I suspect that it would probably raise her powers to the incredible stance I once had, but that wouldn't mean much outside Sanctuary." John replied.
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked after a few moments of silence.
"Sarah is currently the one who's keeping Sanctuary together n the Dirac Sea, if she leaves, it would fall apart and no one else is trained to handle her position for now, it also takes years to be prepared for this job." John replied. "The reason for this unusual position is the fact that Sanctuary wasn't this large from the very beginning. It had to be expanded because of the new situation and though I had the knowledge to make other spheres like the initial four we had, I didn't have neither the conditions nor the tools so to speak. Plus those were created by my father at full strength with the help of many others, they're as close to indestructible as you can get."
"Enough of this though, you guys should get going and start working or enjoying the day if you don't want to work right away after breakfast." John continued as he got up from the table, paid the bill then left without saying another word.
The two teens sat in silence after all they had been told, wondering just how much they didn't know about Sanctuary and its secrets. Both of them were silently wondering if they would ever know enough to say that they actually "knew" that place…
To be continued…
A/N: Ok well, this is it with the 7th chapter, I didn't really think that i could get things done this quickly, but chapter eight was rather easy to get out due to the fact that I planned it ever since I started to write the fic. If you can't wait you'll have to see it one evamade, otherwise, you'll have to wait until the next update.
As for the thing with posting more stories at once, so far, I've learned that 6 people agree with me posting them as long as I finish the story, two people just think that I should do it anyway and two people hate the way I'm writing or have a twisted sense of humor. That and the almost inexistent feedback in the reviews says that that majority of those that know I even exist think that I should post more fics.
So, I'll have another poll in my profile, this time you can choose between the two dominating ideas in my head, the winner will get posted along side Continuum, even if it will have more random updates. You can also send PM's or emails stating why you want this idea or the other, the time for this is three weeks, which will give me time to ready the first chapter in both fics, allowing me to post the chapter as soon as the decision is final, no matter what it is.