Disclaimer: I do not own NGE and all related characters; Studio Gainax and Hideaki Anno own it, so please don't sue me, I'm a shmuck with no cash who's still trying to pay off student loans.
Author's Notes: The first half of this chapter takes place several days after the events of chapter one, then we move to a month afterward.
Lorenz Keel has never been known to daydream or even to let his mind wander, but he found he could do nothing but, as he slowly began to regain consciousness. He initially thought that the bright light he was seeing was heaven where he was sure he would be facing the Almighty, or at least some kind of metaphysical doorway into forever, but as his muddled mind began to rev back up to speed, and his thoughts became clearer, he realized a doctor was shining a pen light into his eyes. He realized there was a female nurse just past the doctor's shoulder, taking down notes. 'Just what the hell is she taking notes of? How annoyed I'm getting from that damned-able pen light?' Keel mentally sneered. He squinted against the light and also did something he had never done in his very long life, no matter who aggravated he felt; he almost playfully bopped the doctor on the forehead.
The doctor looked somewhat surprised, and even a bit annoyed, but decided to keep things professional. The doctor turned the pen light off and replaced the light pen to his pocket. He said, "Well, Chairman Keel, you seem to be in good health", to which Keel snidely replied, "Gee, what incredible powers of deduction you have there. I never would have guessed". The doctor looked rather nonplussed and simply got up and walked out the door, his assistant walking quickly behind him; she was almost to door when she turned around and actually blew Keel a kiss. Keel did a double take at that.
'She must REALLY like older men!' Keel mentally joked, since any woman in her right mind would never want to flirt with some shriveled old junker like him. As he laid there in bed, he realized something profound. He shoot up in bed, his back going ramrod straight as he came to the stunning realization that his entire physical being felt very different. Keel looked at his hands and realized that instead of advanced prosthesis, he had flesh and blood hands, with firm, smooth skin that also looked very young, like it belonged to someone in his twenties, late twenties possibly, and rather pale as well, almost completely absent of pigments. He began to examine his new hands and arms, loving the fact that they were not a remarkable hallucination, but in actuality the real thing. In his many years of living, Keel had never felt so alive as he did right this very second. As he began inspecting himself, he not only realized he had the body of a young man along with two complete living arms, he also had two working flesh-and-blood legs.
He through the blanket off, and swung his new legs over the edge of the bed, realizing, that not only did he have brand new legs, that when placed his new feet on the floor and dared to stand up, that they worked brilliantly! Keel could balance himself pretty well, though he was somewhat unsteady, but he wasn't falling over tipsy that he thought he was going to be when trying to stand up. He started taking baby steps to take his legs for a test drive. As he took small, ginger steps, he focused on his new feet and quickly realized that he was indeed all there. Keel grinned from ear to ear, also glad that he was finally free of that accursed visor as well. Keel began taking longer steps as he walked around the infirmary room had been resting in. Keel started to chuckle lowly, but it soon escalated into nigh-maniacal giggling and laughing. It simply wasn't possible! He was whole and young again!
As He began to take stock of his new situation, Keel also noticed that he had room-mates. They were staring at him and smiling. While they, like him, were young in appearance, he was startled to realize that he knew these young men.
'NO, not YOUNG men', Keel thought, 'OLD men that LOOKED young!'
Aloud he said, "Gannon? Carmine? Is that you?"
One of the two young men, with luminescent green eyes, sterling silver-white hair and a boyish complexion , wearing hospital issue pajamas and a night coat, that had been staring at him smirked and waved Keel over. Keel felt steadier by the moment with each step he took, and was soon at the bed-side of the fellow he was absolutely certain was a much younger, and physically fit Doctor Emil Gannon. The young man smiled and sing-song-ed, "You can bet your bottom dollar!" The youthful Gannon had his legs-both now flesh and blood- crossed on top of the sheets and was reclining with a book in hand. Keel whipped around, and the other young man -he was sure that was Doctor Carmine- with rust colored hair and a goatee who was relishing a tray of disgusting looking hospital food like it was cuisine from a five star restaurant.
Keel was certain that watching one more minute of that was going to make his new stomach heave. He turned back to the rejuvenated Gannon who was marking his place in his book. Gannon put the book down on the night stand beside his bed, turned around and sat lotus position. He looked right into Keel's eyes and smiled.
"Enjoyin' the new body, boss?" He quipped. Keel grinned in return and checked himself one more time before saying, "You have no idea. You and Carmine are looking very well, despite that bizarre accident. By the way, just what in the hell exactly happened in there? I thought that we were good and dead after that...whatever that was". Keel noticed a stool beside Gannon's bed and pulled it close and sat down, waiting for answer. Gannon's smile was more subdued, but still present as he leaned back slightly, and closed his eyes as he collected his thoughts. He opened his eyes and addressed Chairman Keel directly.
"What happened, sir? This is what happened: That sour Barbie, Doctor Amanda Krane sabotaged my experiment. She added not only the combat enhancer that Dr. Carmine over there was developing", He gestured to Carmine, who had paused mid-chomp, and was staring at the two of them like a kid who'd been caught with his hand in the candy jar.
"Wha?"
Carmine managed to mumble something unintelligible, his cheeks stuffed with something Keel initially guessed was corn bread. Keel arched a brow at Carmine while Gannon cleared his throat.
"As I was saying, sir, Dr. Carmine's combat enhancer was thrown into the mix, along with what the computers described as a sample of tissue from a previously unknown Second Angel, very similar to the being code-named Adam, but also very different at the same time. That alone knocked my socks off, but get this: The combat enhancer had begun to alter this Second Angel's DNA, along with that of the First Angel, simultaneously. You, yourself said to me sir, that angel DNA and human DNA have over 90% genetic markers in common, which by the way disturbs me even to this day, so the combat enhancer had a place to start, a reference point if you will. The enhancer itself was basically a saline solution, some non-toxic suspension fluid, and the main component of the enhancer, the key to it all, a colony of bleeding-edge nano-machines".
Keel straightened up at that bit of information and turned to Carmine. Carmine finished his bite, swallowed some bottled water and cleared his throat before jumping in, "Yes, sir. The liquid components are just for giving the nanites something to be suspended in until they're given directives and injected into a subject.
"The enhancer works like this; you have several components, the nanites which directly perform whatever task or tasks they are assigned, 'Queens' which build the worker nanites, and what I call 'The Queen Mother', a nano-machine command and control module about 200 nanometers in size. The Queen Mother is a molecular manufacturing system as well as C-and-C module. Its job is to mass produce the Queens which are about 17nm is size, which in turn act as productive nanosystems, capable of building both the workers and other Queens. Each Queen can build up to thirty worker nanites, or five new Queens simultaneously by altering any molecules that they collect so that a process called molecular recognition takes place; basically, after the Queens do some molecular tweaking, the materials self-assemble into fully functional nanites ready for programming. The Queen Mother carries schematics for the Queens and worker nanites, as well as a new genetic template for the host subject, plus the operating system. After the number of Queens and worker nanites reaches a critical mass, they spread to every tissue and organ of the host subject, with the Queens acting like foremen on a construction site, with the Queen Mother playing the role of the chief foreman. The workers enter the host subjects cells and replace the original DNA with the new template, but this only happens after the Queens finish analyzing the host DNA, figuring out what each and every gene sequence codes for, whether its eye color, potential height, organ structure and placement, everything and anything.
"The Human Genome Project, despite Second Impact, finished mapping and cataloging the human genome, but figuring out what all those genes code for was a whole different ball game, but a private research firm in China actually cracked it just last year. They decided, against certain 'recommendations' by the Ruling Party, to up load their collectives works to the world wide web. A deep cover CIA operative managed to get us a full and unedited copy of all their work before the Chinese government cracked down on them. It is this data that allowed us to completely rewrite human DNA, creating the enhancile template for the nano-machines to put in place of the original host DNA.
"The nanites create a molecular electronic matrix that they weave right into the repair center of the human brain, and pretty much hack it, dump the original template, and impose the new one. The brain is now telling the body, for lack of a better word that it is blatantly WRONG. The body tears itself apart trying to get itself 'right'.The enhancer as a whole gives the body the ability to adopt the combat template as its 'new' original schematic, and the machines do the rest. The only thing you need to do for the subject is to put them on life support, following a very strict regime of protocols, until after, oh, forty-eight hours, the conversion is complete. The old is either broken down and recycled or modified extensively".
Gannon and Keel both were bug-eyed and slack-jawed. Carmine looked from one stunned face to another and incredulously shot, "well, you didn't pay me to make no tinker toy, now did ya...sir?"
Gannon scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture, and Keel smiled with an equal mix of shame and awe and said, "NO, no, I don't suppose I did, did I?" It was rather refreshing to meet a scientist who could equally impress and stand up to him. A thought popped into his head as he went over what Carmine said about the nano-machines being able to analyze DNA and something struck him.
"Dr. Carmine, I have a question if I may?", Keel began. Carmine nodded to him to continue, "You said that the nano-machines decode a hosts DNA before beginning the enhancement process, correct"
Carmine nodded in answer.
"Then how in the world did they do that with Angel DNA?"
Carmine and Gannon both were surprised by that train of thought. They hadn't really focused on how the change had happened, only that it had. Carmine rested his chin on his closed fist and thought for a moment, but it was Gannon who answered then as his eyes lit up with realization. He snickered a little at his own block-head brain, because the answer to it all had been staring them right in the face the whole time, it had only need some more information to put all the pieces together.
"Chairman Keel, you yourself answered that question, or at least in part. You told us that Angel DNA had over 90% matching base pair sequences with human DNA. The nanites, for the most part, didn't have to decipher what the similar gene sequences were; only the dissimilar gene sequences were analyzed. The DNA of Adam and this second Angel were also very much alike, but also very different at the same time. The nanites in the enhancer examined the similar gene sequences in both DNA samples, compared it basic human DNA structure, found not much challenge there when it came to the recombination process, but it was the unique gene sequences that would have given the enhancer nano-machines trouble if not for the fact they had since last night to examine it".
Carmine reached under his pillow and pulled out a high-end PDA and started running through the program list until he came across what he was looking for, namely a secure link to his labs computer. He showed the link to Chairman Keel and Dr. Gannon, and then showed them that his computers and Gannon's were connected via the bases extensive wireless network. In fact, all the computers were linked together on this wireless network.
"You see, when Dr. Carmine and I began exchanging ideas, even sharing our research, which of course Krane was adamantly against, we used wireless modems to connect to other computers on-base", Dr. Gannon began to explain, as he took out his own PDA, "Thankfully, sir, you over-ruled Dr. Krane on that, and even encouraged the different teams to exchange research data because various data could be used to further another teams work, and in many cases it has. All that human genome data that Joe's enhancer needed was stored in his computer, but the enhancer nano-machines were able to access the data using the wireless connection in my lab.
Keel was now listening very intently, putting the pieces into place within his own mind.
"They can transmit a surprisingly powerful signal on their own, but the power boost provided by the energy stimulant plus the unique energy the two samples gave off when they combined made sure the signal was picked up by the modems . Mind you, the power boost also speed up the processing speed of every single electronic device within range, or that were connected, say, by a wireless signal, but said boost only happened when the two samples were accidentally combined; although, the energy provided by the energized Lilith sample seemed to prove quite sufficient by itself. The nanosystems connected with the computers in Joe's lab, accessed the genome data, and had finished decoding the genetic material that humans and Angels have in common in a matter of hours. The genes that were unique to the Angels were studied and analyzed, but you see, Krane had put the second Angel's tissue sample and the enhancer in the same container. She had left them there, in one container since last night. I checked the security logs; she used her administrator access to get into my lab and Dr. Carmine's lab and do the damage. She put the enhancer and the Angel tissue sample in a bio-degradable vial which she slipped into the container of energy stimulant I was going to be using for my experiment that morning. What she didn't realize was that the stimulant had caused the vial to break down hours ahead of schedule. The enhancer could get to the tissue sample, and both were hyper-stimulated by my stimulant pharmaceutical. When the two hyper stimulated materials met Adam's cell samples, all bets were off".
Gannon stopped for a moment, sighing as he tried to find the right words to finish his explanation. He had a strangely calm expression on his face as he said, "The enhancer, after detecting the cellular flux that was occurring, used the energy produced to give itself new found processing power and began to stabilize the genetic material of both samples simultaneously, changing and mutating both genetic codes, compiling and imprinting enhancile templates, but yet without discarding the original, but simply making what may seem to be minor changes, and these minor changes allowed the two genomes to combine into a singular and unique genome. The cells that were created having characteristics of both progenitors, but also completely stand-alone characteristics".
As they all began to let the realization set in that they had inadvertently created cells to a brand new Angel, Keel blurted, "What happened to the sample, by the way?" All three looked at each other with shock as they completely glossed over the actual fate of the new Angel cells. They all leaped to their feet and made for the door, Keel grabbing an extra pair of pajama pants on the way out, quite literally flipping into them. As Gannon and Carmine stared at him dumbfounded, he snidely replied, "I just thought about it and I did it, alright?"
Gannon shrugged his shoulders and Carmine laughed nervously as Keel ran ahead of them. Keel discovered that he was not simply running, he was practically flying down the hallway! Gannon came up on his left, Carmine up on the right. They both had looks of the purest joy and exuberance on their faces at their new-found vitality and ability. Keel grinned from ear to ear as the three continued to accelerate toward their destination. It took them only ten minutes running at full tilt, crossing from the medical wing on the surface to the labs deep below the earth to get back to Gannon's lab, discussing the implications of the sample surviving the experiment and what it meant for mankind as a whole.
They soon arrived at the laboratory section, and found it cordoned off with plastic isolation barriers, the bio-hazard symbol visible in several places, and two armed security guards in fatigues and haz-mat gear. They both stiffened when they saw the three newcomers and aimed their weapons at them and barked, "Hold it right there!" The two guards slowly stepped forward, one covering the other. One guard steeped ahead of the other and this time barked, "Identify yourselves!" Keel gestured for Gannon and Carmine to stay back and walked forward to address the guards. He noticed one of them had a portable hand scanner. Keel knew they'd never believe who they said they were, but if they had some actual evidence – no matter how circumstantial – the two guards would believe them, or at least enough to actually check the results.
"Of course, My good fellow!" Keel chortled, and walked up to the man with the scanner. He held out his hand, palm down, and nodded at the man. The security guard with the scanner got the idea, but moved slowly, wary of any kind of trick this odd man may try. He unclasped the scanner from his belt and turned it on. The scanning surface was turned upward, and Keel very slowly placed his hand on it. As the scanner began to image Keel's palm, it checked finger print records, compared and contrasted results, took a sample of skin to verify DNA, and after several seconds, the scanner made a single beeping noise that signaled it was finished. The guard checked the results on his PDA and balked.
"What the Hell? This says your Chairman Lorenz Keel of the Instrumentality Committee!"
The other guard snorted and replied, "Bullshit! Keel's a shriveled old codger with tin-can body parts! This guy looks like one of those idiot male models. Plus, he's all there, if you know what I mean!"
'A shriveled old codger, am I?' Keel Mentally shrieked. He felt his face flush, and was about to say something out loud when he noticed the first security guard was talking into a walkies-talkie. Keel was able to make out something about technical malfunctions, but soon got a clearer answer as the guard squawked, "WHAT? This guy really is Chairman Keel?" The guard looked from Keel to his partner and stuttered into the walkies-talkie, "B-but...how is that...? Say what now? Oh, come off it! That shit only happens in...wait, that crazy light show last night? Fuck me, he is? Ooh shit!"
The other guard spoke up, "Forbes, what the hell is wrong? What's control saying?"
The man now identified as Forbes looked at his fellow soldier with evident shock and fear in his eyes which were visible through the transparent face plate of the environment mask. He barely whispered the answer. "This man really is Chairman Lorenz Keel. Control just confirmed it. Jackson, this really is him".
The man now identified as Jackson made a choking sound and whipped back to Keel, who had an acidic smile plastered on his face. Keel had his head tilted to one side in an almost playful manner as he whispered, "Somebodies gonna get it!" Jackson made several sounds that were either attempts at clearing his throat or gagging noises that preempting him choking to death. Jackson backed up several steps and straightened his back. He crisply saluted and said, "Mister Chairman, My sincere apologies! I had no idea it was you! It's just that you look so...", unable to find the right word to finish.
"Young?" Keel finished for him. Jackson nodded quickly. Keel walked right up to Jackson and sneered in the man's masked face. "Let me make myself very clear, young man. I am no longer some 'shriveled old codger'. However that happened, I have yet to truly decipher, but when I do, you'll be the first to know. Of course, that is if your still breathing, mind you". Jackson visibly paled behind his mask, which made Keel smile all the more broadly. He tilted his head back and briskly shoved Jackson out of the way. Gannon and Carmine quickly followed behind him, Carmine grumbling, "Idiot" in Jackson's direction. As the two guards tried to get a handle on what they just went through, the three rejuvenated men swept through the quarantine barriers and finally entered the laboratory.
The huge testing chamber had become fused and warped beyond recognition and now had been mostly stripped down to the testing equipment Gannon himself had used in his botched energy dampener experiment. Technicians in radiation suits were canvassing the lab with diagnostic equipment, attempting to piece together exactly what had happened here. Gannon laid hands on hips and grumbled under his breath, Keel placing a hand on his shoulder. Gannon looked over his shoulder at Keel and said softly, "You know, Sir, when I woke up yesterday morning, I certainly wasn't picturing the lab you gave me slagged and ruined. I have no idea what to say".
Keel patted the Scottish scientist's shoulder reassuringly, unsure of what to say himself. He had pretty much figured out who was genuinely responsible for the lab accident, and would bring swift justice down on her. For right now, though, recriminations and explanations would have to wait. Keel wanted to know what had happen to the extraordinary DNA sample they had unintentionally created. Such a substance would have enormous value in future endeavors, and considering what effects it had already produced, in Keel's mind, it was quite simply priceless and in need of preservation and protection. If its effects were only temporary, then Keel would require the DNA again to retain his newly restored vigor. The idea of becoming some kind of drug addict did not appeal to Keel one single bit, and so hoped to study the unintentional creation to plumb its secrets.
Secrets that had the potential to change everything, from a single persons life to the entire Scenario itself.
Keel realized that there were those on the Seele council that would be open-minded, or even welcoming of this new power, but sadly there were those who so completely put their faith in the prophecies laid out in the Dead Sea scrolls that they simply would never budge from their current path, and would even seek the containment and destruction of the Adam/Lilith Hybrid DNA. Keel silently vowed that would be happening over his dead and thoroughly decomposed corpse! This glorious substance had given him and his two associates back not only their youth and vitality, but Keel could also feel what he could only describe as power welling up inside him, slowly churning and simmering in his guts, crackling just underneath his skin, making his bones vibrate. If the other Council members had issues with this game-changer, they could take it up with him!
One of the technicians that was inspecting the ruined equipment turned around to see the three men after hearing two of them speak, his co-workers turning their heads to see what he was looking at. Several of them dropped their equipment, squawking in fright or doing double takes, instantly realizing who it was that entered the lab. A young women of Chinese and Indian descent walked up to the three men with a smile on her pretty face, completely without a radiation suit. She wore low-heeled shoe that tapped lightly on the floor, a knee-length blue skirt and a bright orange blouse. Her name tag listed her as a senior technician in one of the life sciences departments, though Keel could never make out the chicken scratch that passed for writing on those silly tags. Her name was Dr. Jasmine Tao, director of the radiology department. She also had expertise with high energy physics, so her skills were required to seek a solution to the accident that had almost killed the three men who had been in fact given a second chance at life.
"Chairman Keel, Dr. Gannon, Dr. Carmine, what a surprise! A pleasant one, mind you, seeing that the three of you aren't any worse for wear despite the accident. What, may I ask, brings you down to ground zero...in your pajamas?" Dr. Tao arched an elegant brow as she finished asking her question, wondering if the three men weren't all there up stairs. Before Keel could say a word, Dr. Gannon stepped forward, a bashful smile spreading a cross his face with a matching blush.
"Well, you see, lass, we began to wonder about the root of the problems that happened here, and when we came to realize what exactly we had on hand, we just rushed out of the med-wing like bats out of hell, not even thinking about us still being in our skimmies". Dr. Carmine's smile could light up a small room, along with his prominent blush. Keel quirked a brow at this, while Dr. Carmine face-palmed himself, shaking his head at his friends inability to keep from acting like a schoolboy around a pretty lady.
Whereas Keel was taken aback slightly and Dr. carmine was annoyed, Dr. Tao snorted with laughter, just barely able to restrain herself from laughing out loud. A small tear slid down her cheek, which was quickly wiped away. As she composed herself, Dr. Tao chuckled, " Oh, you just made my day!" Gannon himself seemed more composed and far less nervous, and decided to go a step further with the conversation.
"Thank you, Doctor. Mother always said I had a sense of humor. To be serious for a moment though, the whole reason my colleague and the good Chairman came down here in such a rush is that we were intensely curious about the biological material created during the mishap that caused all this mess in the first place". Dr. Gannon didn't mind having a conversation with an attractive lady, but right now they had a serious mystery to confront, and a host of possibilities for the future to delve into, and right now, the only way these things were going to happen was if the newly created bio-sample was still intact and viable.
He needn't have worried, because Dr. Tao looked past his shoulder, gestured to someone behind him. That someone was pushing a trolly with several large metal canisters on it. The transparent panels on the sides allowed a kaleidoscope glow to escape. Dr. Gannon whipped back around to Dr. Tao, who had a mischievous smile on her face. Dr. Gannon couldn't resist the impulse, placed both his hands on either side of her face and kissed her full on the lips. Keel and Carmine both looked shocked at the good Doctors behavior, while Doctor's Tao and Gannon was rather enjoying themselves.
Several of the technicians whistled or cat-called at the unexpected show, but quickly shut up and tried to busy themselves when Keel glared at them. As the two scientists parted, Gannon had a charming grin that stretched from ear to ear while Tao had a furious blush and a cheeky smile. They both turned around when Keel cleared his throat. Keel had a bemused smirk on his handsome face, snickering under his breath.
"When you to decide to start a family, I'd like it if you named your first-born after me. Now, If you don't mind, let's focus on the reason behind our little trip?" Keel chuckled as he continued to watch the two scientists act like teenagers caught in the act by their parents. Keel was simply enjoying this new vitality, and even enjoying all else that came with it.
Both of the embarrassed scientists cleared their throats at Keel's response to their childish antics, with Dr. Tao picking up the slack.
"Ahem, my apologies, sir, I kinda got carried away. Now, onto the bio-sample that you all were so adamant about examining", she gestured toward the large containers giving off the multicolored glow, "We've only just begun analysis of the bio-matter that was created during the accident; we've noted some remarkable properties. An immediately practical one is that it gives off a unique electromagnetic charge that causes a slight molecular realignment in practically every kind of conductive material, particularly materials used in electronics. While the molecular realignment doesn't damage the material, or causes it to become unstable, what it does do is increase conductive potential to- at room temperature, no less- super conductive levels. By the way, this molecular change is for all intents and purposes, permanent".
"Say what?" That outburst came from Dr. Carmine who had been idly walking around the lab, looking around at nothing in particular, until that is He heard what Dr. Tao had just said. He poked his head out from behind a ruined computer cabinet. He practically skipped over and got almost right in Tao's face.
"Darlin', let me see if I got this right: every single conductive material within range of effect of the energy blast that was fired off by the accident has now become super conductive at room temperature? That's nuts! Mind you, that also sounds really cool; computers will have more processing power, way more RAM, much greater memory capacity, all without having to do any serious upgrades! Communication systems will be much more efficient, anything and everything that's computer controlled will operate and react faster! Wonder how fast I'll be able to download some songs?"
Carmine looked rather excited about either possibility, the important ones or the personal ones no one was really sure. The changes to the technology on the base he mentioned were only the tip of the proverbial ice berg, if Tao's conclusions were accurate. Sensitive diagnostic equipment would not only operate at much faster speeds, it would in fact become more sensitive, while at the same time become more robust, resistant to EM interference or damage beyond the norm; analysis tools would yield more accurate results in less time, surveillance tools would gain greater power and produce much clearer visuals and audio. The possibilities for this new power when focused solely on technology were staggering in implication, but then Keel asked the next obvious question: "So what about biological systems? How is it that they react so dramatically to this energy? What does it do, exactly, to living cellular matter?"
Keel's question surprised everyone, save for Dr. Gannon, who had a confident smile on his face. He already had a theory about it.
"The energy, Mr. Chairman, radiates in waves, on a very unique frequency. The creatures the two separate bio-samples came from are composed of a form of organic matter that has properties of both particles and waves. The bio-matter that was created was constantly generating energy in a wave-form pattern. That same energy, in a sense, had a programmed behavior; to exist as this variable particle-wave form, but because the energy was unstable, it stayed as not only a wave-form, but pure energy. Except, in the case of living matter already present in its vicinity. The energy is benign to ordinary cellular matter, and in fact is transmitted through living nervous tissue like a normal neural-electrical impulse. When it arrives at synapse or nerve ending, it spreads out, and already finding stable, coherent living cells, it regains the ability to take on a physical existence. As the energy become this variable matter form, it integrates itself right into whatever organic systems it encounters, and even begins to make modifications, alterations, adapting itself along with the host to maximize compatibility".
All the technicians in the room had stopped their work and were listening very intently to what the Doctors had to say. Strangely enough, each and every person in the room had been developing theories about what had happened, and those same theories lined up with Dr. Gannon's almost perfectly, save for very miniscule factors. He spoke again, but in a sombre tone, yet everyone could feel a sense of sheer awe about the man when when uttered these next words:
"For all intents and purposes, Lads and Lassies, each and every person transformed by this energy has become what the Bible describes as Nephilum. We are half Angel".
Several technicians began removing the hoods of their suits, revealing very young people with very fair skin, almost white, underneath. The oldest looked no more than twenty one, the youngest looked barely into their mid-teens. Keel almost fell over sideways, while all three doctors had varying expressions. Dr. Tao had a knowing grin, while Doctors carmine and Gannon were both shocked and amazed in equal parts. Keel only now realized that most everybody he had seen today so far had the same albino-like complexions, even Dr. Tao, who despite being an attractive mix of Indian and Chinese, had a far lighter complexion than she had ought to.
That terrific thrill that was causing Keel to shiver as though freezing had one more dash of flavor to it. As he looked at everyone, he noticed their eyes. Their eyes all his sprinklings of red on the iris. He became even more excited when he wondered what his own eyes now looked like.
He walked over to the sample canisters that held the other worldly bio-matter that had granted to Lorenz Keel the immortality he had so long sought and placed his hands upon the chamber. He whispered excitedly, yet reverently, loudly enough for everyone to hear him. All eyes turned to Keel. He said, "Mine Dame and Mine Herr...We have much work to do!"
One Month Later...
Emil Gannon was resting comfortably in his seat in Keel's personal hyper-sonic jet. He had an easy smile on his face as he rested while on his way to Japan. He was going to be taking care of a very important young man, as well as preparing him for the coming Angel War.. To think that the bio-mechanical super weapons that were being developed required children to be their pilots! It made Emil sick to his stomach, but thankfully being a genius with a five-digit IQ, working with a great many folks with matching IQ's, they'd have this problem sussed out in no time. His current assignment was going to be a bit tricky, but if handled right, it would turn into a joy.
His assignment starting off was to meet a young boy named Shinji Ikari, the young son of one Gendo Ikari, the man who soon to become the man in charge of the newly forming NERV organization. Emil's task was simple: the boy had been abandoned by his father after his mother's passing and dumped on relatives, but instead of trying to embrace the boy, his relatives had simply tolerated him while he lived with them. He had no genuine friends, and had become a rather profound introvert. He was afraid of opening up to others because he feared those he opened up to would hurt him. Gannon had watched the footage from Evangelion Unit-01's first test activation, with the poor boy's mother Yui Ikari, who had been the first test pilot, being absorbed when Unit-01 had fully began to activate. That alone had made Gannon want to wretch, but he after the video ended, Chairman Keel had handed him the personal journal of the woman who had been absorbed. He had been told to read it from cover to cover. He swore after reading it that if that hateful woman had lived, Emil would have put a bullet in her eye. She had KNOWN she would be absorbed by Unit-01, and had made sure her husband and young son had watched it happen. She had ruined the two of them, all for some insane plan to supposedly create a second chance for the human race!
'May you roast in Hell, ye damned witch!' Emil angrily thought to himself, his easy smile replaced with a savage snarl. A gasp beside him made him jump in his seat, and he turned to see the stewardess right beside him, a look of pure fright on her pretty face. Hew doe-like eyes were fearful, and Gannon had a good idea why. He was just about to apologize for scaring her and offer an explanation, but Chairman Keel had come up from an aft office where he had been teleconferencing with the UN security council, adjusting a pair of sunglasses he had hastily put on..
"Jessica, My dear, could you get us a couple of bottled waters? That damn meeting went on far longer than I had hoped it would", Keel said as he made a show of loosening the collar of his designer dress shirt and tie. The stewardess silently nodded to Chairman Keel's request and hurriedly moved past him and went toward her station in the aft section, looking back at Dr. Gannon with a decidedly fearful look. Keel also gave Gannon a look, but this one was of annoyance. He shook his head from side to side, and sighed quite loudly.
"You know, Emil, that temper of yours is going to end up causing more problems than we seek to correct. We have to be sure that we don't 'over-exert' ourselves, or we're going to be forced to answer questions that we simply are unable to", Keel admonished. He sat down next to Emil and stretched his arms above his head, as though he were stiff from the long trip from Berlin to Japan. Dr. Gannon had been at the Berlin labs making some final adjustments to several new pieces of equipment that the Evangelions units were going to be fielding. Most of the equipment was internal implant upgrades and even several hardware additions. The only external upgrade was going to be a single piece combat augmentation exo-shell. The greater details of the internal upgrades He'd leave until they were actually going to deploy the Eva's. He knew that Nerv's new commander was going to try everything in his power to interfere with the equipment upgrades, but he'd soon learn that complete obedience would be his only option.
If Ikari tried any kind of subversion, Unit-01 would be systematically disassembled and destroyed. He would be forced to watch the procedure from start to finish, and then watch as a superior replacement for the Evangelion was constructed, also right before his eyes. Keel and Gannon were going to directly take over raising the commander's son, who it seems was destined to pilot the Test-type Evangelion. The boy, because of his massive introversion, would only be able to connect with his mother's spirit within the Evangelion, which both empowered the construct, and would give him a high level of synchronization with the bio-mechanical construct. By raising the boy in an environment where he would be actively cared for, and not simply sustained, the idea was to bring him out of his melancholy state, and make him into a genuinely open young man. What made this plan so important is that Emil had found away to empower an Evangelion without the empowering human spirit; when Emil had learned what it took to completely activate an Evangelion, he had almost walked out the door and not looked back. The only thing stopping him was Chairman Keel giving him a blank cheque to develop a means to empower an Evangelion.
He actually pulled it off. He and his long time friend and colleague Dr. Carmine had actually, truly done it. Quite literally, it was a quantum computer that was capable of giving rise to a unique and original soul, powerful enough to empower an Evangelion. It was all made possible by the hybrid angel DNA that had been accidentally created. This massively powerful substance could not only generate a form of energy that could regenerate life, but it could also create it, induce genuine evolutionary mutations in living beings, resulting in heightened mental faculties in higher order animals. This very energy would be transmitted throughout the Eva's nervous system via integrated neural circuitry that would mesh directly with the living nerve tissue. The hybrid DNA would be used as the basis for the bio-neural matrix of the computer's core. The one, but also biggest concern was that the casing would be damaged during combat and the hybrid material would be inadvertently introduced to the Evangelion's system. There was absolutely no idea what would happen if that happened, but Emil would make sure that didn't happen. While he would advocate the hybrid DNA being used in a bio-computer, he wasn't about to make an Evangelion out of the stuff.
His mind continued to roll through this idea among others when Chairman Keel tapped him on the shoulder. Keel said, "We're getting ready to land, My friend. Time to get our game faces on and meet our young soon-to-be ward".
Gannon smiled at finally reaching Japan. Soon they would touch down, disembark and get into the private car that Keel had arranged. They would head toward Hakodate, Hokaido, where Shinji was staying with his relatives. They would introduce themselves and explain the reasons for their visit to all concerned. They would immediately address the concerns from all concerned parties, and then they would help Shinji pack, but not before treating them all to a relaxed meal in a local restaurant. Gannon found it hard not to be anxious as the plane began its swift descent. He felt his stomach rise into his chest a bit as the plane dipped downward. Before he hated to fly for that very reason, because he always got stomach sick afterward. Now he relished the sensation, and was looking forward to meeting the young man upon which so much was apparently dependent.
He whispered to himself, "Here we go".
After three-and-a-half hours of driving after getting off the plane, they arrived in Hakodate, Hokaido, and were now heading directly for the home of Alicia and Tomoe Ikari, Yui Ikari's Brother and sister-in-law. Gannon saw the house appear in the driver-side window, and all but hopped out the door the moment the car came to a stop. Keel called after him, but Gannon never paid him any heed as he swept up the cobble-stone walk-way toward the house's front porch. He cleared the steps in a single bound and straightened out his expensive dress coat as he rang the door bell. The pleasant chime could be heard from outside, and sounded like several notes from Handel's 'Messiah'. He waited for someone to come to the door, so jumped a bit when the door seemed to open by itself. He should not have worried, when a small Japanese boy, no more than six years old came out from behind the door. Gannon smiled at the adorable little guy when he realized that this was the boy he was going to be looking after. Thank God he learned Japanese. Having an exponential learning curve helped a fair bit.
"Can I help you sir?" the small boy asked in Japanese. Gannon smiled so broadly, the corners of his mouth threatened to touch his ears. Cute as a button and polite to boot! Gannon got down on one knee and smiled at the boys as he replied in Japanese, "Yes, my lad, you most certainly can". He wrapped his arms around Shinji in a genuinely warm hug, but not so hard that he would scare the boy. He felt the boy tense up at the embrace, but after a few seconds, returned the hug, although awkwardly.
Keel heard Shinji ask, "Why are you hugging me?" Gannon quickly replied, "Because, laddie, you looked like you needed one".
Keel had come up behind the two and shook his head, concerned the Scotsman was going to get himself in trouble on of these days for being so forward. He noticed Shinji's Aunt emerged from the kitchen down the hall, a tall woman in her late thirties, and surprisingly dark red hair who was quick to give Gannon a piece of her mind for trying to molest her Nephew, who herself got a piece of Gannon's mind for simply taking in Shinji just because she was strong-armed into it.
"How dare you just grab my Nephew like that, you creep! Just who do you think you are?"
"How dare I? How dare you, you lousy twit! You only took the boy in because your man-skank brother-in-law bullied you into it, and gave you a big cash payoff to boot, you cheap tie-dyed bimbo!"
"Why, I never!..."
"Well, now you have!"
"ENOUGH!"
That powerful bellow came from Keel who had come up right beside the quarreling adults, though he doubted they were as nearly as mature that each would claim they were. Thankfully, Shinji's uncle was nowhere to be found, thanks to the fact that he currently at work, or this would have escalated even further into absurdity. Both the adults jumped at the boom of Keel's powerful voice, and poor Shinji looked like a pale deer-in-the-headlights.
Keel glared at both the adults and said with smooth menace, "How about we go into the house and discuss the state of affairs like reasonable adults?" , emphasizing the last two words with a snarl. Both the adults looked rather ashamed at themselves for acting so immaturely. They both mumbled out apologies, walking slowly toward the house, but still giving each other dirty looks. Shinji had no idea what was going on, but since he was asked to join the conversation, he guessed he would figure things out soon enough.
Alicia looked at the two young men and wondered just who they were, and what gave the guy with the odd accent the nerve to go grabbing her nephew like he did. The two men removed their sunglasses, revealing eyes that most certainly did not belong in a human beings head. Both men had eyes where the whites were in fact oily black and glossy, while the iris' where large and icy blue with pin-point pupil's.
As they pocket their sunglasses, the taller of the two extended his hand toward her, a beaming smile that could light up a room and spoke with a distinctly German accent, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Ikari. My name is Lorenz Keel, and the vocal fellow behind me is Dr. Emil Gannon. We need to talk to you about what you know, and don't know, about your dearly departed Sister-in-law. When your husband comes home, we can then discuss young Shinji here".
As those piercing eyes locked with hers, she thought to herself, 'Oh, Sis. What in the world did you get yourself involved with?'
Author's Notes: Well, folks, it's been a while since I've updated last, and I hope you enjoy this newest chapter. The next chapter sees Shinji start off on his adventures, but with Dr. Gannon in tow, and Gendo gets a verbal bitch-slapping from Keel! So don't miss out on chapter three: "Smacked Your Mom Up!".