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Last Child of Krypton
18- Reunion
Very few people appreciated exactly how big the "Geofront" –the Black Moon- actually was. The artificial structures built by humans occupied only about a tenth of its total mass, representing a crude chipping away at the spherical surface of the great egg. Some small part of Gendo Ikari recognized the vastness of the structure when he descended to the lower depths of NERV's headquarters, not far from the resting place of the First Angel itself, to the area that had been poetically termed the Chamber of Gauf- the birthplace of his ward, Rei Ayanami, now unfortunately lost to him.
What he needed, he found in the lower depths, a darkened room dominated by a huge semicircular tank full of LCL, in which floated dozens of vaguely defined, shadowy shapes. A normal person would have been disturbed when the identical likeness of Rei floated close enough to the outer wall of the tank to be seen, an empty smile plastered unmoving on her face. For Gendo, visiting this place was routine.
All of Rei's memories were stored here, of course. Every week she stripped, ascended into the tube in the center of the room, and had her brainwaves scanned into the MAGI system while she floated in LCL. The purpose of this was twofold. It allowed Rei to be backed up, and thus replaced if the active body was destroyed or damaged beyond her ability to heal, and it provided the basis for the Dummy System which was, unfortunately, unable to synchronize with Unit One, although it was best not to share that information with Keel just yet.
Also stored here, in a locked and monitored storage unit, was a cylindrical bundle of artificial nerve fibers and gelatinous material similar to LCL in its properties, recovered from a space craft of alien manufacture that had crashed to Earth seventeen years prior. The bundle of nerves, barely bigger than a man's finger, was part of the unfathomably complex supercomputer that was the rocket's primary payload. Once Keel learned what the rocket could actually do, it was spirited away to be worked on by SEELE's other interests, but every attempt to force it to do to another human being what it did to Yui Ikari had failed. Fortunately, the rudimentary study of the computer itself permitted the construction of the MAGI system and, ultimately, the modifications to Rei's own nervous system.
He was not here for the sample. Instead, he was here to complete the process he had initiated when he ordered Unit-00's core removed from its body and connected to the system. In a rare display of actual usefulness, Naoko Akagi- the present Akagi's mother and predecessor- had provided him with the tools he needed to replace Rei should she become unsalvageable, leaving only the empty shells floating in the tanks.
He entered the commands himself- he preferred that Ritsuko not know what he was doing; in her own limited way she was intelligent enough to put together the pieces and realize what he'd done the night her mother had taken her own life, if she knew what was in the core of Unit-00. He had helped design the machinery and observed the process enough times to perform it without her. The first step was to flush a blank clone into the tube. He deliberately avoided the empty creature's gaze as it floated above him in the tank, staring blankly at the world. It bobbed in the tank, revolving slowly, lacking the presence of mind to grasp the handles Rei used to steady herself during the process.
Anyone in the Eva cage standing near Unit-00's core may have noticed the sound as the currents began to run through it, felt the sudden surge of electricity in their skin, but would have assumed whatever was happening was merely part of the maintenance process. Ordinarily, the soul of the active clone would have returned to one of the bodies automatically- the process sounded metaphysical but involved quantum entanglement and a great deal of mathematical equations. The first time, however, it had been forced into a body from this very equipment. It had been his hope that what would arrive from Unit-01's core would be Yui's soul.
It wasn't.
The process, however, had been refined by the error, and so he could extract the entity in the core now with more finesse, and with greater ease since this one actively desired escape whereas Yui had always resisted him. The clone in the tank closed her eyes and they began to flutter. He entered the next set of commands, to upload the memories from the MAGI system- not from the Rei backup files, but from a much older source within the computer's memory.
The process would actually take hours- she wouldn't wake up for some time. Enough for him to begin injecting the hormonal cocktail that would age the clone- a sixteen year old body simply wouldn't do.
SSSSS
Asuka sat on the beach, staring out over the ocean with her eyes unfocused. She'd drawn her knees up to her chest and her arms rested on them, and the silvery bracers on her wrists felt unusually heavy. There was no sound except the gentle lapping of waves. In the distance, seabirds dipped and fluttered in the sunset, seeking after prey. Soon they would return to land and roost. A cool breeze was rolling in off the ocean.
She had imagined him flying in, just cutting through the air without any apparent means of propulsion to join her, imagined it so many times that when it actually happened it took her a moment to register. He landed on the beach in front of her gracefully, though when he did his feet slid a bit on the wet sand. He was dressed in his school uniform, and the gathering wind blew the collar of his shirt in his face, and he flinched a little.
He was there. He was real.
He started to say something but didn't finish. When she embraced him she hit so hard it knocked him off his feet and they rolled in the surf. He tried to say something, again, and she cut him off with a kiss so insistent it almost hurt. They sat there for a moment at the edge of the sea, waves parting around them, until the water had slicked her hair against her head.
"I can't breathe," he stammered out.
"Idiot, we both know you don't need to breathe," she grinned.
There was a cough. Her head snapped around. Toji stood on the beach, along with Hikari and his sister, and Pen-Pen. She stared at the penguin for a minute.
"Wark!"
"Toji! Your arm… your leg... your clothes…"
He wore a suit that looked a lot like the black test plugsuit he would have worn in Unit-03, though it was mostly green, except the boots and gloves, which were a bright white. In a white circle on his chest was inscribed a device, a stylized lantern, in green. A ring glowed on his left hand.
"Hi," Toji shrugged. "Long story."
Shinji sat up beside her. "Where is everybody?"
"This way," she said as she rose, and headed up the sandy path that led to the interior of the island.
/\.../\
Kaji sat with his hands folded between his knees, hunched over as if in prayer, but to pray would have been to betray the old man who lay unmoving before him. It seemed that his unbelievable strength had finally begun to fade now that he'd lived long enough to pass on his legacy to his student. He hardly noticed when Shinji walked into the room. Drawing on years of practice and focus, Kaji looked at him with a practiced indifference, betraying no surprise.
"I wondered when you'd show up."
Shinji froze. Literally froze, unnaturally still, like a statue. Kaji almost smirked; some part of the boy had clearly given up on pretending anymore. He no longer tried to fit in. He wasn't wearing the glasses. He just was.
"Misato said I should come alone," he said at last, barely louder than a whisper.
Kaji did show surprise when the old man said hoarsely, "come here."
Shinji walked closer to the bed, not meeting the old man's gaze, as if by merely looking at him he would break him. He stood next to Kaji and finally met Bruce eye to eye, and the old man studied him for a moment.
"So you're him."
Shinji swallowed and nodded, withering under that gaze.
"Talk to me."
Shinji's mouth worked silently for a moment, and then he began to speak. He told the old man everything. Doomed planet. Desperate scientist. Last hope. Coming to Tokyo-3, fighting the Angels, all of it. He listened patiently as Shinji told the story- dragging the Angel into the stratosphere, the flash, waking up on the Moon, the Watchtower. When it was over he studied Shinji a moment longer.
"All my life, I wished for someone like you to come along," Anger flashed in his eyes. "but wishes don't meant anything on their own. You have to make a better world."
Shinji nodded, but said nothing. The old man's gaze shifted to Kaji.
"Ryoji. Turn this thing off. I'm ready."
Kaji stood and walked away from the bed, and a moment later, the purple light bathing the bed died, fading away to nothing, twilight flooding in to replace it. Kaji joined Shinji by the side of the bed and they stood vigil. The old man closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, then another, and then his chest fell for the last time.
Shinji put a hand on Kaji's shoulder.
Kaji twisted and took Shinji by the wrist, and before he had time to react, Shinji flipped up and over the older man's head, then slammed into the marble floor. It cracked under his weight, tiny chips skittering across the smoothly polished surface. Shinji stared up at him, shocked.
"After what you've done," Kaji shook his head.
"What do you mean?"
"You want to play hero? Fine. That's your choice. You put everyone you know in danger when you confronted Gendo. Decades of work, everything he," Kaji gestured to where Wayne's form lay prone, "built thrown away so you can run around in your cape."
Shinji was on his feet so fast it did startle Kaji this time, sending him a backward a rolling step. "What was I supposed to do? Huh? Just let him keep hurting people? He almost killed Toji!"
"Toji is one person," Kaji said levelly. "The people controlling NERV caused Second Impact, Shinji, and they have worse planned."
"Everyone matters," Shinji said heatedly. "Everyone. I'm going back to Tokyo-3. I'm going to stop these people."
"Then you'll do it without my help," Kaji said angrily, turning from him. "I'm not going to watch you get people killed through your stupidity and arrogance."
He walked away in silence, leaving Shinji alone with the dead man.
Asuka found him a moment later. She glared after Kaji, but said nothing. "We can't find Rei."
SSSSS
Rei Ayanami sat alone in the sand, watching the moon over the sea, when Shinji lighted on the sand behind her and took a seat beside her, his legs crossed under him. He waited for a moment, but she said nothing. Her crimson eyes were red and he could see the tracks of tears under them. She looked away, her soft, bluish hair falling over her face.
"Go away," she whispered, without looking at him.
"What's wrong?"
"Leave me alone, Shinji. I do not wish to burden you."
He blinked in confusion and sat down next to her. "I don't understand."
"I cannot kill myself," she said flatly, staring at the sea. "If I die, I will be replaced, but I do not wish it. I have decided that isolation is the best solution."
Shinji's jaw dropped. "You're not a burden," he stammered. "Why would you say that?"
"Do you know what I am?"
He shook his head. "An… Eva pilot?"
"I am a clone of your mother."
The words hit him like a physical force. He fell back on the palms of his hands and stares at her. "That… that means…"
"I am a thing," she said, her voice oddly calm despite the tears freely flowing from her eyes, "someone grew me in a lab."
"It means you're… my…" he scrunched his eyebrows… "sister?"
She stared at him, her eyes wide. "You are not upset?"
He couldn't help himself. He hugged her. She let out a breathless cry of shock, barely audible, and sat stock still in his arms. He looked her in the eye. "Upset? Do you know what this means? I have family, Rei. I have a family!"
"I am not a person."
"Don't say that! Yes you are!"
"I am not human. My genetic makeup contains-"
"Neither am I, Rei. Does it matter?"
"It… does not concern you?"
"No," he whispered, "It doesn't."
She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them for some time. "Then it does not concern me."
He smiled, and brushed the tears from her cheek. "Good. Let's go-"
Before he could finish, her eyes rolled back in her head and she went into a spasm, her entire body jerking rigid. In a panic, he caught her and lifted her up from the sand.
"Rei? Rei?"
SSSSS
Maya was sipping her cold cup of coffee in Doctor Akagi's office when Aoba looked around and said, quietly, "I've been thinking."
The other two bridge technicians turned from where they'd been working on the repair specifications for Unit-02 and looked at him. Akagi ignored him, studiously typing away at her terminal, her one arm held out awkwardly, as her leg was fixed into a cast and forced her away from the desk a little more than usual.
"Thinking about what?"
"Well, see, the thing is," he said, his voice sinking to a harsh whisper. "We work in a secret underground base, right?"
"So?" Hyuga said.
"Our Commander wears all black. He ki-hurt Superman," he glanced at Maya, who shot him a sharp look. "There's all these goons in sunglasses everywhere. I think we're the bad guys."
Ritsuko let out a strangled sob, her hands falling away from the keyboard. "You son of a bitch," she hissed angrily, "how could you?"
"Uh," Aoba said, "I was joking…"
"It's not that, you idiot," Maya snapped, rushing to her superior's side. Her gaze fell on the terminal. "Oh my God."
SSSSSS
The process was finally complete. The clone had survived the hormone treatment, and had successfully aged into full adulthood. Her fluttering eyelids steadied, closed tightly, and pressed open. Crimson eyes stared at Gendo with a malicious mirth, and her lips twisted into a sneer. He drained the LCL and as the level lowered, she floated to the bottom and steadied herself. The tube slid apart, exposing her to the open air, and she spat out a thin stream of LCL.
"Hello dear," Naoko purred.
SSSSS
Rei lay unconscious in a bed much like the one Bruce Wayne had occupied, silken sheets drawn up around her neck. She was breathing peacefully now. When Shinji landed in front of the Great Hall, others had offered to carry her, but he insisted. The others had joined him now, pressed in around her. She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes.
"Rei?" Shinji leaned over her. "What is it? What happened?"
"He has done something he should not," she said, her eyes focused on nothing. "Something evil."
Before she could offer any more, she drifted off to sleep again, her head lolling to one side.
Diana rested a hand on his shoulder. "She is no physical danger. You need not worry, Shinji Ikari. Our medical science is far beyond that of Man's World. She will receive the finest care."
He straightened. "I'd like everyone to join me outside, please."
Without waiting for assent, he walked out of the Hall and into the courtyard beyond, and stood in the moonlight. He stared up at the pale circle of the moon in the sky as the others filtered out around him. Toji and Asuka, Hikari and Misato, Mari and even Fuyutsuki. Only Kaji was absent, and Shinji didn't look for him. He turned around and faced them.
He took in a deep breath. "When I came to Tokyo-3, I was alone. My only reason was to fulfill my father's words to me, the only words of his I will ever hear. Since I came to the city, I've gained more than I would have imagined," he looked at Asuka. "Family and friends. You mean more than anything to me."
"When the N2 mines that killed the last Angel went off, they threw me away from the Earth, and I landed on the Moon. When I was there, I met a man named J'onn," he looked at Diana, whose eyes widened in shock. "I've seen the consequences we face if we fail. Right now, my father and men like him control the most powerful things in the world, and they mean to use them to make themselves gods. I can't let that happen. J'onn showed me what happened to Mars when the Angels were there. I won't let that happen to my home."
"Tomorrow, I'm going back to Tokyo-3. I'm going home. I don't expect anyone else to go with me. If any of you decide to stay here, I will understand. I can't. The gifts I have need to be used. I have a responsibility to do everything I can."
He had barely finished speaking when Asuka said, "I'm going with you."
"Me too," said Misato.
"You know I'm in," Toji grinned.
"And my axe!" said Mari.
Toji scowled at her. "Way to ruin the moment."
Fuyutsuki walked to his side. "Your mother would be proud of you. Whatever I can do to help, I'm with you."
SSSSS
Misato found Kaji by an empty bed, staring into his folded hands. She flexed the fingers of her now freed arm. Having placed it under the Purple Ray, she could barely tell it had been injured at all- the only remaining sign of her injury was a little stiffness. He didn't look at her as she approached.
"Ryoji," she said, expecting that to catch his attention. If it did, she couldn't tell. "I'm going with them. I'm not going to let those kids do this by themselves. If you stay here, don't come back. Don't come back into my life. I ran away from you before, and I'm sorry. It was a mistake."
She stood in the silence a moment longer, waiting for him to react. He simply sat, his breathing low and steady.
"Please," she said softly, "they need you."
He said nothing. She turned, and walked away.
"Wait," he said, his voice thick. "We need a plan."
She stopped.
"Batman always has a plan," he whispered.
SSSSS
Shinji sat on the beach himself, now, staring at the waves in the darkness. There was the moonlight, of course, but there was also the play of infrared and ultraviolet off the waters, each glinting whitecap like a frothing stroke from a mad artist's brush. If he concentrated, he could see streaks of light crossing the world above- radio and microwave transmissions. Even here, there were so many reminders of what was at stake. He could see the other thing, too, although he heard it as much as saw it, the strange half-sense he'd felt in the apartment when Asuka and Mari and Rei were training to synchronize their movements. He let out a long sigh.
Asuka sat down beside him. "Are you okay?"
He looked at her. In the darkness her blue eyes were a deep purple, her red hair like autumn leaves on a dark night. The moonlight made her pale skin glow faintly, and the bracers she wore at her wrists caught the light as she twisted her arms this way and that.
"You look better without them," he said absently.
She blinked. "What?"
"The nerve clips. I like your hair better without them."
She sighed.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he said, looking out over the ocean. "You don't have to go. I don't want you to get hurt."
By way of reply, she picked up a smooth, rounded stone in her hand, and looked at it. No doubt it had been carried in by the sea, having been washed up from some place far away. It might have been part of a mountain, once in its life, or a mighty boulder. She turned it in her hands with a faint, yet fierce smile on her face, closed her fingers around it, and crushed it into a fine powder and a few chips.
He smiled.
"I can fly, too, you know."
He tilted his head. "Really?"
"Yup," she said as she leaned in. She planted a chaste kiss on his cheek and put her lips almost to his ear, and her voice thick the coquettish seduction only a teenage girl can muster, whispered "Catch me if you can."
/\../\
Maya was in something of a panic.
Doctor Akagi was weeping openly, like a little girl, and she had no idea what to do. Hyuga and Aoba were no help, either. They just sat there, staring at her like she'd grown a third head. Maya put an arm around her mentor's shoulders, and to her surprise the woman leaned into her, sobs as fierce and thick as ever.
The computer terminal in front of her beeped.
"Doctor Akagi?"
The older woman didn't reply.
"Ritsuko?"
"W-What?" she said hoarsely, clutching at her face. "What?"
"You, um, got an instant message." she squinted at the screen. "It says they're coming, whoever they are. Who the heck is '1BAT4U'?"