By the time I was ten there were a lot of changes taking place at Groom Lake. I mentioned earlier that I usually referred to Groom Lake as Second Branch, as in the second branch of NERV. However before I was ten NERV wasn't actually called NERV back then. Instead we were just officially known as the "U.N. Groom Lake Engineering Activity," although nearly everyone here then just called it Groom Lake. You weren't actually supposed to use the term "Area 51" but some people still called it that.
Once NERV officially took over Second Branch grew much larger, and all of a sudden there were many more buildings and a lot more people working here. For me however, my circumstances were still pretty much the same: I was the only kid I knew who lived here. My life was still pretty much the same as it was before with days of schooling by computer or by tutors, followed by training in the afternoons and evenings. I still was taking gymnastics at least four or five days a week and I had to admit I was getting pretty good at it, but my coaches were my only audience as I was still never entered into any competitions. Besides that there were all of my other lessons and added to that my father had started to introduce me to computer coding through lessons that he himself created. Quite often he'd have them as part of my daily lesson plan and I'd spend an hour or more each day learning the basics of what a computer language was and what it did. I worked hard to get pretty good at that too, figuring that maybe it could be a way that I could spend more time with him.
Spending more time with dad proved to be difficult, especially as he now had a new toy to play with. That year came the MAGI, a set of supercomputers that Dad helped engineer along with some other scientists here and in Japan. The original MAGI system was in Tokyo-3, but my dad got the second one and it quickly became his best friend and virtual mistress. He would spend hours and hours in front of his own terminal either in his office or at our apartment. Between EVA and MAGI he didn't have a whole lot of time for anything else, including me.
Given that I couldn't be allowed to be a normal kid, I figured maybe I could just be a small adult instead. I lost interest in toys and simple things and spent more time reading when I wasn't in classes or training. Also, bored with much of my solitary life inside our penthouse and now interested in all of the changes that were taking place at Second Branch I began exploring the base on my own.
The way that started was one day when, bored as I was of being stuck at home on days when lessons were canceled, I bugged dad about taking me to his work. Initially reluctant he finally agreed and then, to make sure I could get into the building in the first place, even asked the security staff to cut me my own ID badge. Now I was officially NERV staff, with my own photo ID access card, which I thought was pretty cool.
After I got the badge dad took me to his office and I saw the MAGI system for the first time. He had a pretty large office, actually, bigger than our townhouse, with one room for his desk and one room for just the MAGI's terminals. Underneath that there were three giant steel chambers that he explained each had a part of the computer in it. Printed on the cylinders were the nicknames of each of the MAGI units: Larry, Moe, and Curly. When I asked Dad who were those people he named the computers after, he just chuckled and said I was too young to remember.
I got a grand tour of his office than ended in me being given a book with instructions to keep to myself in another one of the rooms while Dad sat in front of the MAGI's main terminal and worked like crazy. I really tried not to interrupt him when he got intense like that, and I was never quite sure what he was doing but whatever it was it took a lot of concentration for him. Occasionally he'd bark orders over the phone to someone else to adjust or fix something and that went on for hours.
Bored out of my mind and not wanting to read some kid's book about dinosaurs for the sixth time I decided to do some exploring. Much to my delight my ID badge was able to get me into other parts of the larger building where we were and then I started to simply walk down each corridor to see what everyone else was doing.
That's how it started. On that particular day I must have spied on a dozen or so different laboratories, most of them filled with people wearing white-coats doing stuff that had something to do with making the EVA units. I was generally cautious to not get in anyone's way, although if something did look remotely interesting I'd stick around for a bit and spy on it. And most everyone who worked there didn't seem to mind me being around just as long as I kept out of the way.
On that particular week my gymnastics coach was gone on leave, so I had afternoons much to myself. The following day I just showed up again with Dad after swim or whatever other lesson I still had, and then he'd go work in his room while I'd go lurking around. Pretty soon I got a pretty good feel for how the buildings were laid out, and I even discovered that there were tunnels between buildings so that you didn't have to go outside in the hot, dry weather and then in the front door of the next building if you needed to go from one place to another. Everything in the Engineering, Research, and Fabrication areas was interconnected through these underground tunnels, which made getting around pretty easy once you know the layout.
On the third day I passed by one office again and one of the scientists there, a woman, recognized me from the first time I was there. I just waived "hi" to her again but she stopped me.
"Erin, isn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am. Erin Forrestal."
She carefully took a closer look at my ID badge. "What's the matter, don't you have school?" It was about two o'clock in the afternoon.
"I don't have regular school, ma'am. But I took all of my lessons earlier today already." The lady scientist smiled at me. "Well, would you like something to do instead of wondering around the laboratories?"
My eyebrows shot up at the prospect of actual, important work. "Sure!" She then took a sealed envelope from her desk and handed it to me. "I need you to give this to Doctor Wang in Fabrication 1B. That's in the next building. Do you know how to get there?" I nodded enthusiastically, knowing exactly where that was. "Yes!"
"Okay, then. Please try to get it there in the next fifteen minutes, it's important that he gets this but unfortunately I can't break off from what I'm doing just now."
Eager to please and thankful that at least someone talked to me like a regular person, I replied "Okay, I've got this!" and then before she could say thanks I was running out the door and down the hallway.
It took me about ten minutes of running to reach the next building, and to be sure I used the staircase downwards towards the intra-building tunnels and then through and underground to the next building. Then, panting from sprinting because I was really trying to rush I got into the elevator. Inside were a bunch of security officers and for a minute I thought dad had caught up with me getting out of hand. But they paid me no mind, one even smiled and winked at me, and then once at the first floor I darted out of the opening doors and ran to Dr. Wang's office.
Once at the Fabrication Lab I found Dr. Wang, an elderly Asian scientist in a white coat, balding hair and trifocals. Somewhat surprised to see me, he took the envelope and checked the contents inside as I waited and caught my breath. Satisfied, he gave me a small smile and then took a wrapped mint candy from his desk and gave it to me. "Thank you, Miss. This was a big help!" He told me, then went back to his laboratory work.
So that was the start of my first job. It paid in candy and whatever else I managed to get for rewards from those who needed me to walk or run documents and other packages from one place to another within Second Branch's labs. But for me not only was it a relief for my boredom but also a way to finally meet people and I met them by the dozens: scientists, technicians, engineers, secretaries, security guards, bus drivers, and anyone else who worked in or near the laboratories. Some were annoyed with having a kid around, but most were at least friendly and a few I got to know in the process. It made me feel like a part of this place too, and not just the boss' daughter.
Strangely, my father didn't really object. Maybe he saw it as a way to keep me occupied and out of his hair, or maybe also it was a way to check up on everyone else who worked for or with him. Certainly if I wasn't well treated I'd speak up about it to him, and given my dad's temper no one wanted that.
By the time my gymnastics coach came back we re-arranged my schedule so that some days I'd do my messenger "business" in the labs and then do gym at night, which suited me just fine. But after another week of running around to exhaustion I was starting to have second thoughts about my job, not to mention a realization of just how spread out Second Branch really was. I wondered if there was any way to get around the tunnels faster: at home I had a bicycle but I barely rode it, it was too big for the elevators and I couldn't take it down stairs. Then I had an idea: after ordering what I needed on-line (something I was allowed to do with Dad's permission) I got a new pair of tennis shoes, but ones that had wheels implanted into the soles. All I had to do was click my soles and out the wheels came and I could go skating down the hallways and tunnels at top speed.
Within a month I had become an institution at Second Branch and everyone knew who I was, and I now had hundreds of other people at NERV who I could talk to, so it was definitely an improvement but I was about to find out it wasn't without its pitfalls.
On that day one of my dad's drivers had taken me from home to the labs after lunch, and I was to hang around there until about early evening when I'd get a quick bite and then go off to gym. For my courier duties I had my own "uniform" which usually consisted of one of my gym leos and a pair of shorts, plus my skater/runners, knee pads and skater gloves (the kind without finger tips) and in case I needed to go outside a white floppy sun hat and sunglasses (Daring me, I didn't like wearing a helmet). I also had a messenger bag with some cartoon mouse decorated on it that I'd use to carry stuff so that I wouldn't drop it. Often I'd stop by Cranial Development Engineering first where Dr. Belknap was, she was the scientist who first started using me as a messenger.
When I got there that day Dr. Belknap was all ready for me. "Good afternoon, Miss Erin."
"Good Afternoon," I said in a cheerful tone. She prepared a set of envelopes but then paused to look at my ID badge. "Have you ever been to the AE Lab before?" I shook my head, as I didn't even know where that was.
"I'm not surprised," she replied as she noted the color of my badge. "You have a black-level clearance?"
"Um, I guess so. I never really noticed."
"Everyone has a color level, that's their security level. Black is the same level as your father's. It pretty much means you can go anywhere on the base."
That got me excited, as there were still so many areas left for me to explore. "Anywhere?!"
"Well, I wouldn't go into the nuclear plant if I were you, but pretty much your badge should get you anywhere you needed to go." To me that seemed logical, as I'd need to stick to Dad wherever he went, and he went everywhere when he wasn't working in his lab. "I guess you can probably get into AE Lab." She then handed me a pair of envelopes. "Take these and then go to the elevator. Instead of just pressing the floor button, insert your ID card first and then press B4 and B5 together at the same time." It seemed like a complicated instruction but I followed along. "When you get there, there's only one office. Just give it to the man that's there and you're done."
"That's it?"
"That's it. It might be a little spooky down there, but I think you'll be alright. If you can't make it down there just come back and return these to me." I nodded, took my payment from her desk (which in Dr. Belknap's case consisted of little wrapped chocolate bars), and then jogged off and out the door.
The elevator she was referring to was down the end of the building, so I jutted out my wheels and started skating, careful to avoid running into anyone in the hallway. I fancied myself a pretty good skater: despite my knee pads and gloves I rarely fell, because I've got that gymnast balance and all. So after another minute I reached the elevator and stepped inside, careful to retract my wheels before I walked in.
Once the doors closed I did as Dr. Belknap instructed, unsure of what would happen. Once I put in my ID card and pressed B4 and B5 the floor display light above showed "B9" and then we went plunging downward.
When the doors opened the area just outside was nearly pitch black except for small LED lights on the floor. It was quite dark there, and for a long moment I wondered if I could pull this off or would I just get more scared and then go running back upstairs. I really didn't want to run back, and despite the place giving me the absolute creeps I sort of wanted to know where this was. So I walked out. The doors closed behind me and it was dark, and eerily quiet.
There was a single hallway that led forward. I remember the place being really cold, enough to make me want to bring a jacket the next time I came here. I hugged my arms for warmth and then proceeded down the hallway. Lit up on one sign as I walked forward was something that read "ARTIFICAL EVOLUTION LABORATORY."
"Hello?" I called out as I walked cautiously, "Is anyone here?" There wasn't any reply and I became scared enough of this place to want to just bug out and run back to the elevators until I saw a single doorway to one side. It was open, and some faint light came out of it.
I walked through and saw something that unlike the well-organized and clean laboratories upstairs looked like Doctor Frankenstein's summer home, or maybe it was his winter home as it was so cold. All around was all sorts of equipment like chemical tubes and beakers and so on, plus other big computers and things I didn't know the name for all over. There was a bubbling sound that I figured must have been coming from some strange experiment whoever was here was running. Maybe this is where they kept the aliens that crashed in Area 51, I figured.
"Hello?" I called out again as I very carefully walked through, looking for anything that appeared to be a regular desk with an in box that I could just drop my packages in and skate out. Looking around a bit more I found one large glass enclosure that had a human hand inside, not connected to anything else. Curious despite my fear, I put my small hands to the glass and looked at the hand. Then in an instant the hand started twitching all by itself.
I screamed at the top of my lungs and turned around, ready to bolt out of there messenger job or not. It was then that I bumped into the man who ran the place. Standing just behind me was a large, heavy set older man with a balding head and wide moustache, and circular glasses that covered his eyes like mirrors, and he was dressed in a white lab coat. Suddenly surprised by the guy in front of me, I screamed again.
The man just calmly looked at me. "Bon jour," he said in accented English. "Welcome to our little chateau."
"W…w…who are you?" I asked him, trembling and leaning up against the glass chamber.
The older man introduced himself. "Mademoiselle, I am Doctor Foch. Don't be alarmed." I didn't say anything quite yet, forgetting the reasons why I was down there in the first place. He looked at me quizzically. "And what brings you here?"
I stalled for a bit as I tried to think, still afraid of the mad scientist who had popped out of nowhere. "Um..umumum…Oh, yeah!" I reached into my messenger bag and pulled out the two envelopes Dr. Belknap gave me. "These are for you!" I thrust the envelopes towards the old professor but he didn't take them, instead he hobbled over to one side of the room and opened up a cabinet. "It's not often I get visitors down here," he spoke to me as he took several things out of the cabinet. "I know something of how to treat young ladies, so do please mind my mess and have a seat." I looked around for anything there was to even sit on and found a small circular table with a mess of papers, beakers, flash drives, and old drinking cups. I then cautiously sat down on a nearby chair and in a minute the old doctor brought with him two clean cups and a box. He set down the cups, one in front of me and one in front of him and then set the tin box down. He turned his back for a moment and walked to the other side of the office, and as he did so I examined the tin box, which looked very artistic in its decoration with lots of French writing.
Dr. Foch reappeared with a teapot in his hand, and promptly poured tea in my cup and then in his. He then sat down and found another, smaller box on the table. Opening it up he offered it to me. "Sugar?" he asked. I nodded and promptly took two cubes and dropped them in my tea. Admittedly I wasn't a big fan of tea but I felt the need to play along and hey, he was offering me sugar. He took five cubes himself and dumped them in and then started stirring them in, motioning to the tin box from France. "Servez-vous s'il vous plait," he said to me in French and then in English "Please help yourself." Not sure what I was being offered, I took the tin and opened it and found a set of wafer-thin circular cookies inside. Still a bit cautious, I took one and then gently took a bite out of it. It was hands-down the best cookie I had ever tasted, with a rich buttery flavor and a nice crunchy texture that just melted in my mouth. I finished the first cookie right away and then took another one.
I have to admit I felt a lot more comfortable after that cookie. Dr. Foch just leaned back in the chair and took small sips from his teacup, looking on as I enjoyed my reward for this document drop. Now more relaxed, I let my curiosity take the lead again. "Um, sir?"
"It's Doctor Foch, Madamoiselle Forrestal," he replied to me, "Or just Bernard, if you like."
"Well, doctor, what was that hand in the glass jar for? Was that a real hand?" Foch shrugged. "I made that hand."
"You made it?"
"It's synthetic, created by stitching together human tissue combined with ways to grow cells any way you want."
"You mean like stem cells?" I asked. His eyebrows raised just a bit. "Very good, you know about those. Yes, a bit like that."
"Why are you making that hand? Is it for someone to have a new one?"
"It's a bit of an experiment, but eventually we will be making a larger one. For your Evangelion when it's nearly ready."
Now that got my attention. "That's for the EVA?"
"Yes. The human hand is never really appreciated for the complex mechanism that it is. In the case of the Evangelion, not only do we have to reproduce the hand but we have to make it to scale, yet it still needs to be as complex and as nimble as your own hands."
"So you're making stuff for the EVA down here?"
"Oh, yes. This place is one of your father's best kept secrets. When he's not hacking into other people's computers he keeps me busy with all of these components that he wishes to be made for his grand project."
"Wow. I had no idea."
"As such I unfortunately don't get many visitors, so I do try to be hospitable to anyone that manages to find their way down here."
Speaking with my mouth full, I replied "If I had known you had such…mppgh…good cookies down here I would have come sooner." Doctor Foch just smiled and took another sip from his tea.
"When will they finish building it?" I asked him. Foch was thoughtful. "Perhaps in another three to four years it will be ready for you to pilot."
I gulped down hard on my tea after hearing that. That I was to the be the pilot of the EVA was not known to anyone else other than Dad or I. Memories of what happened before with the other girl were still fresh in mind. I didn't reply to him but the doctor narrowed his glance at me. "You do know this is all for you, don't you mademoiselle?"
"I'm not supposed to talk about it," I said to him with a more quiet voice.
"Well, I won't tell anyone else so your secret's safe. I'm not allowed to interact with much of anyone around here anyway." After hearing that I couldn't help but think of myself, as I wasn't much different than this guy was when it came to being locked up.
After giving him the documents I brought and having another cookie Dr. Foch bid me adieu and I went walking back to the elevator, having learned a few new things about Dad and the EVA in the last half an hour. I made a mental note to come here if I had more time on my hands later, as old Bernard was interesting and those butter cookies were killer.
I had gymnastics that evening and by all accounts had a pretty good night, finally making it back to the penthouse around nine-thirty. Even though I had an early dinner before gym Dad would sometimes have one of the other staff lay out cake or something in the kitchen for him and me to eat later at night, and when I got home I found a nice sponge cake sitting on the table. I promptly sat down and cut myself a slice, as Dad walked back from his computer desk to the table to see me and get himself a piece.
"Good evening, dear," he greeted me.
"Hi, Dad," I said as I stuffed cake in my face.
"How was your lesson today?"
I had a broad smile on my face as he asked. "The coach gave me a Nine-Point-Oh on my floor exercise today! That's the best I've ever done on floor."
Dad nodded approvingly. "Very good."
Feeling in a good mood, I decided to push my luck. "Do you think I could, maybe, go into a competition? I think I could do really well." He didn't answer right away, I'm sure even then his brain was already running through all of the possible drawbacks of me going out of Second Branch and having actual contact, no matter how indirect, with actual other people that were not his employees. "We'll see about it, and that's not a no." I smiled at him and gulped down the rest of the cake, happy that he was at least giving me that much hope. "Thanks!"
After eating the cake I needed to wash it down, so I promptly went to the refrigerator and got myself some milk out of a carton. "Dad, what's AE Laboratory?"
I turned around and saw dad's face, which had suddenly seemed drained. "How do you know about that?"
"I was there today," I chatted away, not quite yet picking up on Dad's changed mood. "Dr. Belknap needed me to run some documents down there. There's this really cool lab down there with this old French guy who's growing an actual hand in this tank! He seemed to really know a lot about the EVA. Anyway he had these really good cookies and…"
Dad's fist came swinging down hard on the table, enough to bounce the sponge cake right off its stand and all over the place. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU BEFORE ABOUT TALKING ABOUT EVA?!"
Frightened by Dad's outburst, I dropped the cup of milk in my hands onto the floor. "But Dad, he already knew! He knew about me being a pilot already! It's not a secret if…" My dad took several steps towards me and I was fearful that he might actually hit me, something that he had never done before. "Erin, you are never, never, NEVER to go down there again! Do you understand?!"
"But, Daddy, I wasn't trying to…" He got within arms' reach and yelled right at me. "NEVER GO DOWN THERE AGAIN!" By this point I had burst into tears, and trembling all over my body I turned around and ran straight to my room. Dad had a temper but before now he never had an outburst this bad towards me. This time his voice was so loud it seemed to shake everything around us. My face flush red and my little body shaking hard, I ran straight for my bed and crashed into it, burying my face in my pillow and crying out my eyes. I hadn't truly understood what had made him so angry and it wasn't my idea to go down to the dungeon anyway. My heart was broken however, as what had seemed like a great day had again turned into a disaster. I didn't even bother to go take a bath that night, I just kept crying into my pillow until I fell asleep.
I awoke the next day, finding myself on my bed still dressed in my gym clothes. With memories about what happened the night before still burning hot in my brain I quietly slipped to my bathroom to take off my clothes and shower myself off. At that age I usually didn't shower unless I somehow didn't have time, but that morning I did it. I went about the rest of my morning hygiene and then went to go change into something else. I kept quiet, not sure if dad was still in the apartment and if I was going to get screamed at again when I got out my bedroom door. It was Sunday and I didn't have any lessons that day, so I picked out a cotton playsuit that was grey with green stripes and then took a deep breath after I dressed.
Gingerly stepping out into the living room I took a look around and didn't see my dad in the apartment. Figuring the coast was clear and feeling hungry, I went to the kitchen and got myself some breakfast: cold cereal, muffins, and orange juice. By this age I was able to pretty much feed myself breakfast without help, so I got everything I needed including some strawberries to mix with the cereal and headed to the dining room.
When I entered I saw Dad standing by the dining room table, dressed sharply in a white suit with tie. Dad often made a big effort with his appearance, and it was unusual not to see him dressed nice but today he looked particuarly clean and neat. Despite that I really didn't want to see him just now. "G'morning, Dad," I muttered as I put my stuff on the table. "Good morning," he said in a kinder tone that the night before. He then sat down.
I tried to keep myself busy by putting together my cereal but Dad then started talking. "Erin, about last night…"
"I'm sorry, Dad," I replied, trying to cut off any upcoming criticism headed my way.
"I'm sorry too," he told me. "I think maybe I've just been too busy with work and all." Not really wanting to argue with that I nodded and started on my cereal. "Erin, dear," he continued, "how about we celebrate your birthday today."
My eyebrows shot up. "Dad, my birthday's not until September."
"Well, I have a trip planned that week unfortunately but I decided as today I have more time off than usual, maybe we can make today…special."
Not really sure what to expect, I shrugged. "Okay."
"Finish your breakfast, and we'll go out as soon as you're ready."
Within about ten minutes I had finished everything, so Dad took me downstairs and got into his own car. Dad often didn't drive himself, as he had people who could do that for him while he worked in the car, but he did have a big black Mercedes Benz in the garage beneath our apartment building and today we drove in it, which was definitely telling me today would be different whatever happened. Both of us were quiet as he drove into the R&R section of Second Branch, which was about fifteen minutes away.
R&R is usually where people would go when they wanted to blow off stress after working and it resembled a shopping mall. I mostly knew R&R from the arcades, and they had a pretty good sized one there, but also for the restaurants of which there were a dozen with everything from pizza to steak and Mexican food. There was also a move theatre and several shops that sold anything you might personally need such as aspirin, toothbrushes, or stationary. Some clothing stores were there too, although I never really went into any of those as they were all for grown-ups.
Dad parked in front of the R&R building and we both went inside. From the front he led me by the hand up the escalator and to a second-story storefront that I had never seen before. On its windows printed the store name "DaySpa." I was about to be very surprised.
Waiting for us in the front lobby were two ladies with powder pink-colored uniforms and name badges. "Hello, Doctor Forrestal," the two ladies spoke in unison as we entered. My dad was cordial and polite as he often was with strangers. "Good morning. As promised I have brought you Erin here," he looked at me as he spoke. "You have everything all arranged?"
The older of the two ladies spoke. "Yes, sir. We're all ready. Just leave her to us." At that point my dad told me this would take a few hours and he'd pick me up when we were done and go get something to eat. Not sure of what else to expect I just nodded and kept quiet and waited for the two ladies.
With my dad now out of the way the older one kneeled down to my level as the other girl went and got something out of a back locker. "Hello, Erin. It's good to meet you." She offered me a hand and I shook it. I was still pretty nervous, not sure what was going to happen next. "What are you going to do?" I asked.
"Why, transform you, of course!" she said. "Everyone here at this place has their jobs and we have ours, and our is to take little girls and make princesses out of them." She had a friendly manner that made me feel more at ease, although I was still a little nervous about this. I wasn't completely inexperienced with getting something like this done, I did have my hair cut about once a month at the same place my dad did, but that guy was an old barber and it was nothing like this.
The other girl produced a bathrobe and a set of slippers and handed them to me. "The robe is a little big for you and so are the shoes, but this should be okay for the back. Now if you'll come with me."
I was still a little scared. "This isn't going to hurt, is it?" She just smiled back at me "Not at all."
They took me to the back rooms and explained a bit about what I'd be doing that day, which seemed like a lot of different steps. The first step however was to get very clean. I was given a locker and told to undress, and then they'd prepare a bath for me in the back.
Admittedly I wasn't really crazy about having two complete strangers giving me a bath, but they were friendly and apparently my dad had rented out the entire spa for the day, so there weren't any other customers just a few of the ladies on staff and me in my birthday suit. The bath itself was warm and bubbly and I spent a lot time just soaking in it, feeling relaxed enough to nearly fall asleep.
After I dried off and had my oversized robe tied on, I went to another station where a third lady was waiting. She carefully washed my hair and then proceeded to cut and style it while the younger staff person started to work on my feet, working on any calluses and gently filing down and trimming my nails. They did the same for my hands and let me choose a nail polish color, me going with a bright red. They even did a little nail art on the hands and toes, putting on a tiny American flag in a couple of places. To my face the girls added a bit of makeup too, just some lipstick, mascara, and eye shadow, but it was enough to make me seem more like a small adult than a little kid, and I was okay with that.
I looked at myself in the mirror and saw how they did the haircut, it was now trimmed short like I usually wore it but they now styled my hair with bangs in the front. It looked a lot better than it ever did before, so that made me happy. Happy enough to be daring.
"So, Erin," the older of the three ladies asked me. "Do you like everything so far?" I nodded emphatically. "Is there anything else you'd like us to do?" I took a breath and then went for it.
"Can I get my ears pierced?"
A half an hour later I was led from the spa section, still in my robe but now with two tiny emerald-colored studs in my earlobes. I was so happy to get them that I couldn't stop looking at myself in the mirror and touching them. The staff finally managed to coax me from my self-admiration and get me into the adjoining room. There stood another lady with two racks of clothes and another one of shoeboxes. "Hello, young lady," she said as I entered. "Now that you're cleaned up, would you like to pick out something to wear?"
On the racks she showed me several outfits, all sized appropriately for me. Some were casual but most were pretty dressy and I wasn't really sure what would look good on me. After some stalling on my part the woman picked out three outfits that she thought were suitable including a white sleeveless party dress with embroidered flower patterns that I would wear for today. I was a little more decisive about the shoes and immediately selected a pair of fancy white strappy sandals with the highest heels they had, then also selected another pair of polished white ballet flats for the rest of my outfits. A few minutes later I was changed and into my new outfit, and sat down for some final touches, the whole experience ending when they put a small silver tiara on my head as the other ladies gathered around and clapped, officially crowning me the Princess of Second Branch.
My father met me outside the DaySpa and seeing that I was very pleased with my transformation, announced that my early birthday present was that I'd get to do all of that again once every three months. I was elated and hugged my dad right there. As always he seemed uncomfortable with that much affection but somehow he still managed and I was glad that he did. He then took me by the hand again and we went walking further down R&R to the other side where the restaurants were.
A new Chinese restaurant had recently opened up at the far end, and we were welcomed inside by an older Asian man with a tuxedo. Dad had already made arrangements and we were led to the back. I had never been in a Chinese restaurant before, and some of the décor was just a bit strange, not to mention the giant live crabs I saw crawling around inside of fish tanks that were mounted inside of the walls.
We were both seated in a small round table in a back room that was just for ourselves, and after being sat down the old man asked me to pick up the pair of chopsticks were on the table. I did so and followed his impromptu lesson for the next few minutes on how to eat properly, finally managing to get the hang of it after a few failing tries to pick up rice out of a bowl of rice he had set out in front. I was still given a fork at the end just in case I got too hungry and couldn't manage the chopsticks.
The waiters proceeded to come and gave us a succession of several dishes, starting with soup and working its way through vegetables, chicken, beef, and finally seafood. While it didn't even taste like American food I didn't mind it at all, having learned not to be too picky of an eater by this point in my life. Through the meal my dad and I engaged in small talk, and for the first time in a while we were both relaxed enough to really talk to each other and even laugh together about crazy things in his office.
The final dish was fried shrimp with walnut cream sauce, something that once I tasted it I had no idea how I had lived so long without eating this. They were very delicious, and I proceeded to stuff myself with as many as I could eat until I was nearly bursting out of my new dress.
Now filled to the gills with all of this delicious food, the waiters gave us dessert which consisted of this egg custard that was sweet and with a wobbly jelly texture, that one I also loved. My dad even took to the desert, and he never got enthusiastic about anything, so I figured that just this once that invisible force field around him was starting to come down.
"Did you enjoy all of this, dear?" he asked me. I nodded approvingly, feeling the whole day had been wonderful especially considering how I felt when it started. "Can we go back here again?"
"Yes, I think we can, and they do take out too so we can take it back to house."
"Yay!"
My father just smiled, and then told me wistfully "your mother always liked Chinese food."
Perhaps feeling in a very relaxed mood, or that dad was actually more talkative than he usually was, I let my curiosity get the better of me again. "How did you meet mom, anyway?"
"Oh, well, we were students together in university. It was MIT, actually."
"MIT?"
"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It's no longer there, now we call that place First Branch."
My interest was definitely peaked. "You mean like NERV First Branch?"
"Exactly. The story is very simple really. Some of my then-friends at college prompted me to try and crack the computer in her dormitory room. I found that she actually had very good security for just a student, but I was able to get inside of her hard drive just the same, my skills were good even then. Then she found me out."
"She found you out?"
"She found me as I was intruding on her own computer, remotely. Back then they didn't have a real Internet like today. Anyway, she said that I had found out her secret."
"Wow," I said. "And then what?"
"Then she said that I needed to keep it a secret no matter what I did." My dad shrugged. "Frankly I found her amazing, she was smart and beautiful, and I had difficulty finding girls I liked anyway, so I agreed to on the condition that she would date me."
"Did she?"
"Not at first. That still took some persuading, and her family was not very fond of me. But eventually things worked out."
I had never really thought about my parents before they were my parents until today. "Oh," I said. "What did mom do? I mean, did she have a job?"
"Your mother was a scientist, and a very brilliant one. She was a major in Theoretical Mathematics, and MIT was one of the few places one could study such an esoteric field. I was more practical, in computer science. But we matched well and I never looked at anyone else after her."
"How did she die?" The words came right out of my mouth before I could think about it, and I instantly regretted it. I feared my dad would immediately blow his hot temper but to my surprise he didn't. Instead he was just quiet for a minute, then he spoke in a softer voice.
"She died in the laboratory, dear. It was an accident."
I had seen dad's work before, and honestly I couldn't see how anything they did at Second Branch's labs be all that dangerous. Unless it was like what old Bernard worked on, with growing hands inside of vats of chemicals and all. "Was it anything to do with EVA?"
"It was, I'm afraid. We were researching at the early stages of the EVA's construction, before there was even a skeleton. Your mother had a theory of how EVA was built and we relied on information from another of the laboratories who worked on EVA, one in Japan. It wasn't until much later when I found out the information we were given was false, meant to distract us from what we sought. Unfortunately, by then it was too late."
"Why doesn't mom have a grave that we can visit," I asked, always wondering why this was so.
"The body was gone after everything we did," my dad said in a flat tone. "I didn't feel like a memorial like that would be appropriate. Better to consider her just…missing."
"Like she'd maybe come back one day."
"Like that, perhaps. Or perhaps we'd go to her." My dad looked more tired than usual after he said that, and then he smiled at me a little. "I'm sure you've wanted to know that for a long time, my dear. Didn't you?"
"Kind of."
"Do you miss your mother?"
"I do. It seems like she's been gone so long now."
"It's not something you can get used to," he told me with a great sense of sadness in his voice. It was clear to me that Dad missed Mom too, a lot. For a minute he just looked at the wall behind me, where the Chinese restaurant kept all of their live fish and crabs, and then he just said at something more than a whisper.
"The world doesn't deserve to live on."
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but I was too afraid to. Dad had become morose because I had brought up Mom. I would never bring her up again between us.
After getting home I went to my room and grabbed a camera, then proceeded to take photos of myself in the mirror with my new outfit. These were just for me, as I just wanted to keep the memory of today. While I did that I heard dad on the phone outside my bedroom and then went to him as soon as he got off.
"Erin, dear, I'm sorry but I need to go to the office."
"Now?!" I protested.
"This won't hold, I'm afraid. I am sorry." He gathered up his briefcase and his own tablet and then started for the door. "We still have leftover Chinese food so please help yourself to that if you're hungry, I may be back very late tonight."
"Okay," I said softly. He then turned and went out the door, and thus ended the best day of my childhood.
Admittedly I was a little upset about being left there on my own but really just sad, as I thought that maybe things between Dad and I could change as I got older, and I had felt like today I had taken my first real steps into being a grown-up. I didn't doubt that he loved me, but I just wished he'd sort of do that more closely and not from a distance like he always seemed to. Not seeing anything else I could do about it, I shuffled over to the balcony of our town house and watched as his staff car, the one that he had a driver for, left the building garage on its way to the laboratories and his office at the center of Second Branch. I stayed on the balcony and watched as the sun went down over the western ridge of the desert where we lived.
They had crowned me the Princess of Second Branch and for a moment I felt like it, richly appointed and gazing over my domain like royalty from a high castle tower. But in reality I was loneliest little girl in the whole world.
Admittedly while writing this chapter I had purchased and devoured most of a tin of rather good butter cookies from France, so I suppose real life leaked in at some point. Bernard Foch is of course a familiar face for those who have read the other Blue Rose stories, but we don't give away much here I think.
The sequence in the spa is kind of lengthy but I thought it was important to Erin's development to see how she tries to adapt to her circumstances and growing up "early" is one of her strategies. Dealing with her father is certainly a challenge for Erin and by now you see a pattern in Harrison Forrestal's personality. While there may be similarities between them he's not like Gendo Ikari. In some ways he's much worse.
If you've eaten Chinese food and never had Walnut Cream Shrimp I do suggest ordering it at least once, and not just at Panda Express.
This is the last of the childhood flashbacks, I actually split this chapter with the prior one to get the size manageable. Hope you enjoyed this, and please stay tuned we have a lot more to go.