Chapter 23 – Cross Examination
Gendo sat down at the table he used to convene with the committee within NERV headquarters. The old men had wished to speak with him as soon as possible, ever since the previous day, and he'd been successful at delaying them until at least morning. They were not the most patient people. He couldn't help but smirk at the simple irony of that fact from behind his gloves. Men who plotted the end of the world not having any patience...
It wasn't long until the holographic images of the highest ranking committee members flickered into existence around the table. "This isn't good," one of the old men stated, opening the meeting. "It's happening too early..."
"Yes," another of the old men spoke in a serious tone of voice. "This incident did not occur in accordance with our predictions."
"To make it worse, you let the Angel invade NERV headquarters itself," yet another of the old men added.
"If that had occurred, our entire project could have come to a disastrous end," another stated.
Gendo's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. No doubt the committee had learned of what had occurred within headquarters via the spy. He seriously wondered why he kept him alive in all honesty. Then again, his eyes looking into what the Japanese government was plotting was still advantageous. As soon as he outlived his usefulness he supposed he could discard him... "The alert was dispatched in error," he replied coolly. "There is no truth to this tale that an Angel managed to infiltrate NERV."
The old men all glared at him with suspicion. "Ikari..." one of them spoke darkly. "Do you mean to inform us that the Eleventh Angel's intrusion never occurred?"
He'd imagined that it would come to this, that their suspicion would persist after his explanation, and so he'd tasked Dr. Akagi with giving him the insurance he needed before this meeting. As much as he wanted her to continue her work on the Dummy Plug System, the needed contingency in case the committee had become overly suspicious had taken priority. It would seem that orchestrating that minor data scrambling that he'd ordered to be done to the Magi had proved necessary considering how the conversation was going. "Correct," Gendo replied flatly.
"Choose your words carefully Ikari," the committee member to the right of Chairman Keel spook up. "Lying to this committee is punishable by death."
Gendo understood this fact very well, but he also knew that in this instant it was an empty threat. SEELE still needed him and had no one capable of replacing him. Besides, all good lies carry a large grain of truth... "If you require confirmation, check the Magi's data recorders," he replied calmly. "No such incident was ever recorded."
"This is absurd!" closest to him on his left exclaimed. "We all know that concealing the truth is your specialty."
Indeed, it was a specialty of his... "The time schedule is being carried out in accordance with the descriptions in the Dead Sea Scrolls," he returned.
There was a pause that hung heavy in the room before Chairman Keel spoke up. "Alright..." the visor wearing man spoke. "We won't discuss and possible guilt or punishment at this time. However... let me remind you that you will not rewrite our scenario."
Gendo resisted the urge to smirk behind his gloves He'd already rewritten their scenario, the old men just didn't know it. He held all the cards, the game was his for the taking, and he got no small amount of enjoyment from knowing that. Beating these arrogant old bastards and giving humanity a much better future than them was certainly going to be an added bonus when he finally attained his aims. "I understand," he replied. "Everything is proceeding according to SEELE's plan..."
"As it should," Keel returned. "This meeting is concluded. Tread lightly, Ikari..."
Gendo leaned back in his chair after the holograms of the old men flickered out. He made a mental note to thank Dr. Akagi for her work in helping him conceal the truth from them. Besides, he'd been meaning to check up on how the Dummy Plug system was coming along anyway. If that could be completed ahead of the original schedule then perhaps the committee might lower their suspicions and view him with less watchful eyes. After all, that system was essential for their plans as well. Perhaps he would visit the good doctor in a little bit.
He smirked. At the very least, from what he'd been informed earlier in the day, the Lance had finally made it to the geofront...
Ritsuko puffed on probably the third cigarette she'd had within the hour as she stared at her computer screen. She'd managed to go home, feed her cats, and get some much deserved sleep the previous night. She'd hoped that oh so needed rest would make the problems with Rei's data files easier to solve. She'd hoped to get back to attacking that dilemma earlier in the day but Gendo had tasked her with wiping the events of the previous evening from the Magi's hard drives, which had taken a few hours to complete. When she'd finally had the chance to get back to the Dummy Plug core dilemma, the problems continued to linger. To put it lightly, her frustration with that was at an all time high. She honestly felt just a bit burnt out, but as the head of the development department she wasn't allowed to feel burnout...
No matter how many times she tried to run the files the data from around the time of the accident with Unit 00 to when the files were extracted would not open. The only progress that she'd made was that she'd managed to get her computer to display a different error message than previously. Instead of displaying a message of an unknown error it now displayed one of a duplicate file error. She'd consulted the Magi on this and they had concluded two to three that this was accurate but... that was impossible. Clearly there must be some sort of corruption caused by the extraction process in Terminal dogma to that section of the upload. Logically then, the easiest way to solve this would be to just bring Rei in and try extracting again.
At least everything up until recent times was readable, she just hadn't had time to comb through it and isolate the usable memories related to the Eva just yet. That would come with time, hopefully after the test she had planned for tomorrow. Thinking about that test... afterwards would be a perfect time to take Rei down to Terminal Dogma to try the extraction again. She leaned back in her chair and snubbed her cigarette in the ashtray on her desk. It would certainly kill two birds with one stone.
"The meeting went well," a baritone voice rang out behind her. "I have your work on the Magi to thank for that."
It would seem that Gendo had paid her a visit. A small smile crested her face. It felt good to know that he appreciated her work. It would be nice if he could show her some... appreciation in... other ways. That would certainly take her mind off of her burnout for a while, but sadly, her hopes of that ever happening continued to diminish. She turned around in her chair and faced him. "I'm glad that I was able to assist you," she replied with a small smile.
"Indeed," Gendo returned, stepping into the office. "Have you made any progress integrating Rei's combat data into the source code?"
Instantly her grin evaporated. "I've still been experiencing roadblocks," she stated. "Some of the data seems to be unreadable."
Gendo nodded. "I see," he replied. "What is your plan to rectify this?"
"I intend to summon Rei to Terminal Dogma after tomorrow's experiment to obtain a new memory file," she said. Those words tasted sour in her mouth. The more she thought about it and less bitterness she felt toward the blue haired pilot the more she felt dirty treating her memories like a commodity...
"This poses a major setback," he returned. "How soon will you be able to iron out the details of the finished system.
Ritsuko's frown deepened. "I can't say," she stated. "But I will make sure that it is ready as soon as possible."
Gendo adjusted his glasses and turned on his heel. "Very well," he replied. "See to it that we do overrun the original schedule. I'll leave this matter in your capable hands, Dr. Akagi."
Ritsuko watched him leave before letting out a pained sigh. This Dummy Plug System was proving to be perhaps the most difficult thing she'd ever worked on. The original timetable for operational status was fast approaching and she could only hope to have it ready in time. She turned around and noted the time on the clock. It was just past noon, the children would still be in school. She supposed she could adjust the parameters for the memory extracting hardware in the meantime until their day was over. After that, she'd make sure to call Rei and let her know what she had planned for her...
Asuka strode ahead of Hikari and Rei through the Tokyo 3 mall. After the evening she'd had the previous day she definitely needed to take her mind off of all of... that. She'd tried to call Kaji when she was changing from her school shoes into her outdoor ones to see where they stood after what had happened the previous day but he hadn't picked up. That had put her in a quite a sour mood and being around Shinji was just... awkward. That all said, when Hikari had invited her to go shopping she'd jumped at the chance. Shopping was always a good distraction... Upon leaving school she'd caught Shinji and Rei walking together and immediately set about convincing the blue haired girl into joining them. Rei had eventually agreed if a little reluctantly. Asuka hated to admit it but the main reason she'd wanted her blue haired friend to come along was so she wouldn't spend time with Shinji...
"I'll say it again, it feels good to be out on the town..." Asuka grumbled. "After the day we had yesterday I definitely need it..."
"What exactly happened?" Hikari asked. "You mentioned at lunch that something went wrong at NERV, right?"
Asuka grimaced. "A bunch of nonsense," she replied. "The test we had to do ended up going completely off the rails."
"How so?" Hikari asked.
Asuka drew a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, taking a moment to think about exactly how to answer that without having to explain the finer details of of the previous day. "We ended up stranded in the geofront lake and had to swim to shore," she replied. "Then we had to walk back to headquarters looking like drowned rats."
"Indeed," Rei added. "It was... quite unpleasant."
"That sounds like a pretty crummy day," Hikari stated sympathetically.
Asuka was thankful that Rei had neglected mentioning the finer details of the previous evening... "And to top it off, Kaji ended up seeing me looking like a drowned rat," she huffed.
"Oh my..." Hikari replied. "That must have been embarrassing."
"It really was..." Asuka returned with a sigh. "So... what shops do you want to take a look at?"
"I have no preference," Rei stated flatly.
"I've been meaning to go shoe shopping," Hikari replied. "And there's some deals going on until next month at Takashimaya last I checked."
"I guess we'll head there first," Asuka returned. She wasn't in the market for new shoes herself but it was something to do at least.
"Exactly how many pairs of shoes should one consider necessary?" Rei suddenly asked, her voice sounding genuinely curious.
Asuka snickered. It never ceased to amuse her just how naive Rei could be. "Jeez, Wonder-girl, I've said it before but you really need to get out more," she said with a hint of a smirk.
"Well, to answer your question, Rei, as many as you think you need," Hikari stated with a warm smile.
Rei seemed to analyze this statement for a moment, tilting her head downward just a bit. "I see..." she murmured in reply...
Though the shopping trip did indeed have some pleasant moments once they finally reached the store Hikari had picked out. Hikari ended up purchasing a new pair of flats then explained various styles of shoes to Rei. Asuka found it kinda funny watching that because Hikari was rather confused that Rei didn't understand the purpose of heeled shoes. Watching her friend finally realize just how sheltered the blue haired girl really was certainly was amusing. Even so, by the time they left the mall, Asuka's mood was slipping back towards sour. Soon she'd have to go home to deal with being around Misato and Shinji. God, it still felt so awkward after the previous day... She could only wonder what sort of whispers were happening at NERV among anyone that saw them wearing those stupid bags...
Just as the three girls made it outside the building and onto the street Rei's cellphone rang. The blue haired girl pulled out the dinging device from her school bag and stared at it with a puzzled expression. "Dr. Akagi is calling me," she stated flatly before answering the phone.
Asuka scowled. "Why?" she grumbled. "So she can ruin our day with another stupid test?"
Rei didn't react to that inquiry but Asuka watched as the blue haired girl's eyes widened just a little bit after a few seconds with the phone to her ear. A slight frown came over Rei's features before she finally spoke. "I understand. Thank you for informing me," she said before pulling the phone away from her head and hitting the end call button. Rei then turned to face her. "There is a test scheduled tomorrow after school," she stated.
Asuka snarled. "I knew it..." she hissed. "What kind of test? Please tell me it's not like the one we had to do yesterday."
Rei shook her head. "No," she replied. "It involves cross compatibility with the Evas. We will be trying to synchronize with each other's units."
Asuka sighed. That was certainly better than what they'd done yesterday but the idea still caused a bad taste in her mouth. She didn't much like the idea of anyone else piloting her Unit 02... "I guess it could be worse," she muttered.
"Indeed," Rei agreed after a moment of pause.
Asuka sighed. What was she saying... Things could always get worse...
It was morning and Rei stood in her apartment having finished getting dressed. Presently she was staring into the mirror in her room, studying her reflection and deep in thought. She studied the curves of her own face, her blue hair, her red eyes, the face that was hers and yet wasn't... Soon she'd have to possibly confront the essence of the woman that her appearance had been patterned after and she hoped dearly that things would not go awry...
It was the second day after the arrival and defeat of the parasitic Angel that had nearly destroyed NERV headquarters and things had returned to a relative sense of normal. Herself and her fellow pilots had mutually concluded that what had happened in the lake and afterward was something they'd rather not speak on. That day afterwards they'd attended school as normal and Shinji had brought her lunch as he always did. Though there was certainly a bit of an awkward atmosphere lingering, Rei was still content to spend time in his and Asuka's company even if certain sights from the previous day intermittently flashed through her mind. Eating the bento he always packed for her never failed to elicit a warm feeling. The afternoon with Asuka and Horaki had been enjoyable as well even if Shinji had be absent from that outing. It was all a rather peaceful, normal day... and then she'd gotten the news from Dr. Akagi via a phone call just as she'd reached her apartment in the evening.
There would be a cross synchronization test between Units 00 and 01 in the evening today. This had not occurred in the timeline she remembered and it stirred some worry about what might occur during such an event. Much could go wrong... She wondered if the Dr. Ikari inside Unit 01 would pry into her mind, her memories. She wondered if the Dr. Ikari inside Unit 01 was the same one she'd met in the void of Instrumentality and if so what would become of that? Would she lend her help or would she ignore any pleas she might issue?
She closed her eyes, turned away from the mirror, and drew a deep breath. Regardless of what happened while in the pilot's seat of Shinji's Evangelion she would face it as it came. There was not much else she could other than try to rid herself of her anxieties and just... keep moving forward. Even so, she knew that the clock was ticking. There would come a time perhaps very soon where some sort of decisive action would necessary but it wasn't yet... but when? That was a question she simply did not know the answer to. Even so, the test itself was not the worst of what Dr. Akagi had informed her of, it was what was to come afterwards. She would have to go to Terminal Dogma for another memory extraction and the very idea made her sick to her stomach. At least, considering how the previous time had gone it didn't seem like her secret was able to be detected. That at least was a blessing. "There is nothing to fear..." she murmured to herself even if she didn't fully believe it.
Then another thought crossed her mind... Perhaps this was all because of Dr. Akagi's difficulty getting the Dummy System running? Perhaps it was because of the errors when she'd attempted to have her memory copied and if so... had she been able to adjust her programming and therefore be able to unravel her secrets now?
No... that was impossible. Her gift was something that defied scientific explanation or quantification, she rationalized.
She shook her head lightly and pushed her internal debates out of her mind before making her way towards the door. It was best not to think about such things. She slipped her shoes on and pushed the turmoil weighing heavy out of her mind as best she could. So began her usual routine of going to meet Shinji and Asuka at the entrance to Misato's apartment before heading to school.
Soon enough she reached the Katsuragi residence and rang the doorbell as she always did, stepping a pace back and waiting for someone to answer afterwards. It didn't take long until Shinji opened the door and greeted her. "Hey Rei," he said, sounding just a bit nervous. "So... what's going on after school today at NERV? Some new test?"
Rei nodded in reply. "Yes," she replied. "I'm assuming Asuka informed you of that?"
Asuka stepped up behind Shinji in a way that made Rei feel just a bit... tense. Something about how she was standing so close to him just... irked her. "Yeah, I told him," she replied. "And then Misato explained the details over dinner. I swear, we never catch a break..."
"It's not going to be that bad..." Shinji replied to her meekly, inching away from her just a little. "It's just a normal test, just in a different Eva."
"I guess that's true," Asuka returned. "But it's still a bore. Having to go back to headquarters so soon after what happened two days ago kinda sucks doesn't it?"
Rei nodded as all the worries she had about what would take place during and after the test returned to the forefront of her mind. "Indeed..." she returned softly.
Misato stood beside Ritsuko in the test observation station staring out at the intimidating purple face of Unit 01. She understood the reasoning behind the test, it was essential for the auto pilot that Ritsuko was developing but she was just a bit apprehensive, especially considering the volatility that Unit 00 had displayed in the past. She still remembered in quite fine detail what had happened to Rei at it's first activation and how the unit had somehow shut out communication during the reactivation once she'd recovered. Somehow the idea of letting Shinji attempt to man it was unsettling. At least Rei was going first in Unit 01. Considering how stable that unit was, barring when it went berserk during the Third Angel's attack, she wasn't too worried about the blue haired girl. Then of course there was Asuka, who was just undergoing a regular synchronization test... "Hey," Misato spoke. "After Rei and Shinji test their cross compatibility, will Unit 02 be next?"
"Yes," the faux blonde replied. "But only at a later stage. Her Eva's neural link profile is a bit different from Unit 00 and Unit 01. To let someone else pilot it might require an extensive reconfiguration of the core."
Misato thought on those words for a moment. She couldn't help but be a bit curious about her friend's final statement though, wondering what about how the core could make a difference for who was in the cockpit. Why would an Eva care about who piloted it? Oh well... it wasn't really the time to ask about it. "I see," she responded. "So that's why Asuka's just doing a regular sync test today?"
Ritsuko nodded. "Precisely," she affirmed.
Misato sighed. "Well, I'm sure she'll be relieved," she replied. "She is rather possessive of Unit 02, but then again, she might feel left out. I never know with that girl."
"It doesn't matter," Ritsuko returned. "What matters is the data we collect today."
Misato frowned. "I guess you're right..." she muttered.
Ritsuko leaned over the console and keyed the radio. "Rei, are you ready to begin the experiment?" she asked.
"Yes, Dr. Akagi..." came Rei's slightly nervous response.
"Very well," Ritsuko said, releasing the mic button and turning to Maya. "Begin primary connections."
"Roger that," Maya replied.
Misato folded her arms and stared out at the bestial face of the Eva. Even with Ritsuko's explanation for why these tests were necessary she still wondered what was so important about this autopilot system. Things were changing quickly at NERV and she wasn't sure she liked it...
Rei closed her eyes as the activation sequence of Unit 01 began. Being inside the purple Evangelion was... strange. It felt very different from the inside of her Eva. The other her in Unit 00 was distant, almost unreachable most of the time. Unit 01 was decidedly different and it filled her with no small amount of anxiety.
Instead of the distant but watchful feeling that could best be summed up as a truce she experienced when piloting Unit 00, inside Unit 01 she could almost feel a suspicion, a distrust, hanging in the very LCL she was breathing. More importantly there, she could get the sense that the soul within the Evangelion, the one that belonged to Yui Ikari, was curious about a great many things. Rei could feel the presence intruding into her mind, tickling at the dark reaches of her self and her memories. There was a feeling of contempt that radiated from the plug when she first began the activation but this was immediately replaced with... fascination. Eventually that had shifted into perhaps shock and then bewilderment. Then it all shifted into a sense of acceptance tinged with determination before it all faded into the background. This all led Rei to a conclusion that was at once relieving and unnerving all at once.
It was a relief that Unit 01 had remained placid but it was unnerving that Dr. Ikari did not seem to remember what had occurred in the void of Human Instrumentality. Rei supposed that it was logical that she would not remember but it was still a hard pill to swallow... If there was anyone in the world who could perhaps understand the position she was in it was Dr. Ikari as crazy as that sounded. The fact that she had not chosen to confront her directly was also puzzling, her own other self had chosen to confront her during the reactivation of Unit 00... Perhaps it was because she was waiting for a proper time or she simply did not feel it to be necessary. Rei had only had only ever had one conversation with Dr. Ikari but from that one occurrence she could assess the woman to be quite calculating despite the kindness she'd shown. Even though she owed her newest lease on life to her, she would still acknowledge that aspect of her...
Rei closed her eyes at drew a deep breath. Now for some strange reason there was a warm feeling in the plug, not unlike the feeling she felt when she was near Shinji but it was... different even so. It was honestly... motherly. It reminded her of a mother's embrace. She obviously had no frame of reference for what that feeling entailed but... it reminded her of the feeling she'd experience when Dr. Ikari had hugged her in the moment of her greatest despair within Instrumentality. Yes... it was a motherly acceptance she felt now. Her eyes stung and her lip quivered... Rei closed her eyes tight. She didn't deserve it and yet... she had obtained that.
"So Rei..." The voice of Dr. Akagi sounded over the radio in her plug. "How does it feel to be synchronized with Unit 01 for the first time?"
Rei opened her eyes and pushed those thoughts from her mind. She couldn't tell Dr. Akagi what she was feeling without sounding crazy. "It's... strange..." she murmured.
"How so?" Dr. Akagi asked.
Rei chose her next words carefully. "It feels... welcoming..." she replied softly. Yes... that was the best description of what she felt.
But then... there was a cold feeling that permeated her being. It was like... the Eva was welcoming her but only conditionally, as if it was saying that it's acceptance was conditional in a sense. Rei grit her teeth. She knew what it meant. Even though there was no voice in her mind to say it, the meaning was clear...
Unit 01 may be allowing her to synchronize right now, but it wouldn't allow anyone but its true pilot to take it into battle...
"Is there something wrong, Rei?" Dr. Akagi inquired. "Your harmonics are fluctuating."
Rei pushed those thoughts out of her mind even as the cold feeling in the pit of her stomach remained. She had to focus. If Dr. Ikari wanted to keep up appearances then she would have to oblige her... "No," she returned evenly. "Nothing is wrong."
"Alright," Dr. Akagi replied. "Continuing with the test. Stand by."
The radio shut off with a click and Rei closed her eyes, focusing on remaining synchronized and keeping her mind as calm as she could keep it...
"The synchronization values are nearly the same as with Unit 00," Ritsuko stated as she peered in at graph on the screen in front of Maya.
"Unit 01 and Unit 00's personal data is nearly identical..." Lt. Ibuki replied.
"That's what makes all of this possible," Ritsuko returned.
"Error margin in zero point zero three," Lt. Ibuki stated. "Harmonics are normal."
Misato watched this all unfold out of the corner of her eye with a strange curiosity. So Rei's values were nearly the same as with her own Eva? The personal data was nearly identical? If that was the case, then what was the point of doing her portion of the sync test? Why did the Eva's personal data even matter? As she had many times before, she couldn't help but feel like things were being kept from her. She didn't like that feeling...
"Very good. No detectable problems between Rei and Unit 01 in terms of compatibility," Ritsuko stated before keying the communication channel into Unit 01's plug. "Alright, the test is over now, Rei. You can exit now."
"Yes..." Rei replied softly.
"Unit 01 is powering down," Lt. Ibuki stated moments later.
"I'm guessing now we're going to move on to Shinji's test in Unit 00 now, right?" Misato asked.
Ritsuko turned to face her. "Considering the potential instability with Unit 00, I'd prefer if Shinji went last," the faux blonde replied. "Asuka will go next, then Shinji."
Misato's frown deepened. That was something she herself was worried quite a bit about. It was nice that Ritsuko at least acknowledged that risk. "I see..." she murmured. "I guess do what you think is best..."
Asuka stood beside Rei on the observation deck, staring out of the blue behemoth that was Unit 00. She wasn't in the best of moods all things considered. She'd finished her standard synchronization test which had gone swimmingly as usual but it had left a bitter taste despite that. Considering the test that Rei had undergone and the one that Shinji was about to undergo, she actually felt a bit left out as stupid as that was. She definitely didn't like the idea of someone else piloting Unit 02 but now she actually felt a bit bitter that She wasn't involved in the compatibility testing. It was another thing that Rei and Shinji had in common, something that they could share in that she couldn't... It honestly made her jealous and she hated feeling jealous... "So how come I wasn't involved in the cross compatibility test?" She asked to the room at large.
Misato turned to her with an awkward smile. "We thought you wouldn't want anyone else piloting Unit 02," she replied.
Asuka crossed her arms. "Of course I don't," she retorted. "But isn't this some kind of important thing, this auto pilot or whatever?"
"Yes," Dr. Akai stated. "But configuring the core for Rei or Shinji will require time. Perhaps in the future you'll be more involved."
Asuka didn't like that answer either and scowled out at Unit 00. She just couldn't keep it in, the words she spoke next. She glanced over at the blue haired girl next to her out of the corner of her eye. "Another thing that you and Shinji get to share..." she grumbled just loud enough for Rei to hear. "Lucky..."
Rei turned to her with a concerned and curious expression. "Why does it bother you?" she asked quietly. "It's simple procedure we are following."
Asuka's frown deepened and resumed her staring contest with the single eyes Evangelion in front of her. The words she was thinking left a bitter taste in her mouth and she was afraid if she spoke them she might gag. So she just kept her mouth shut and stewed in them...
You are really goddamn dense if you have to ask that, Wonder-girl... she thought to herself.
Dr. Akagi keyed a handheld radio receiver attached to the console Lt. Ibuki was sitting at. "Shinji, are you ready to begin the test?" she asked.
"I am..." Shinji replied, slightly apprehensive over the radio channel.
"Good," the faux blonde stated, releasing the talk button on the hand held device before turning to Lt. Ibuki. "Initiate primary connections."
"Initiating primary connections," Lt. Ibuki repeated, flipping a few switches.
The test had begun and Asuka's scowl deepened ever more. She clenched her fists at her side bit the inside of her cheek, hoping the green monster inside her would die like it deserved to...
Shinji had been told that Unit 00's plug might feel a bit different compared to Unit 01's but it was a whole other thing to experience that first hand. The first thing he'd noticed was that the seat was a bit different, but other than that it had felt very similar. Then they'd filled the plug with LCL and activated the Eva and everything... shifted.
It felt... colder somehow. There was an overwhelming unwelcome sensation that permeated the atmosphere of the plug. Inside Unit 01 there was always this comfortable, soothing sensation that he'd never been able to put his finger on but it was noticeably absent in Unit 00. Not to mention that but it smelled different. He'd never noticed any smells inside of his own Eva but it did smell different. It felt strange to think of it like this but Unit 00's plug smelled like... Rei. He felt like a pervert for even thinking about it like that but he couldn't deny the truth of the matter. The plug smelled like... at least like whatever products she used to launder her clothes and wash her hair. Yeah... better to think of that smell as that than. He shuddered in the seat. Best not think about things like that...
"Shinji, how does it feel to be synced with Unit 00?" he heard Ritsuko ask over the radio in the plug.
Shinji thought for a moment about just how to respond to that. "It's definitely different than what I'm used to," he eventually replied.
"How so?" Ritsuko pressed.
How was he supposed to put this delicately? Was there a way to say it without sounding like a weirdo? "It... smells different," he murmured nervously.
"It smells different?" Ritsuko asked, sounding puzzled.
"Yeah..." he returned, not wanting to explain himself. "And it's... colder somehow."
"Don't worry about any of that," Ritsuko stated. "Just focus on keeping your ratio up."
"Okay," he replied softly.
Shinji shut his eyes and tried his best to relax. It wasn't too difficult, though he couldn't shake the sensation that he was being watched. Consciously he knew he was being watched by everyone on the observation deck but it was a different sensation. It felt like... some sort of presence within the Eva was observing him. It was truly an insane notion when he analyzed it, that someone or something might be in the plug with him, but that was exactly how he would describe how he felt. He took a deep breath and focused his concentration on ignoring that feeling.
Then something happened that he had no words for...
There was a pressure inside his head suddenly and his eyes shot open, or at least he thought he'd opened his eyes. All the usual sounds of the plug were gone, replaced with a deafening silence. All around him was pitch dark except for something moving toward him. It was a human figure in the darkness drifting toward him that looked suspiciously like... Rei. The figure looked like Rei except younger and... malicious. He felt his blood run cold. Something about the look on this fake Rei's face stirred up an almost primal fear.
He tensed his body and recoiled as best he could as this twisted visage of his closest friend stopped inches away from him. This... fake Rei's face was inches away from his. He stared into it's eyes in fear. He must be hallucinating, there was no way this was real! It was too crazy to be real! Shinji closed his eyes and fought the urge to scream and then... the atmosphere in the plug suddenly changed. It no longer felt cold and foreboding, rather... it felt like a begrudging truce had been established. He opened his eyes again and just as suddenly as things had gotten strange everything returned to normal. His headache had dissipated, he could see the testing station out ahead of him, the usual sounds of the LCL cycling were back, and he was completely baffled by what he'd just experienced...
"Shinji? Can you hear me?" he heard Ritsuko's voice crackling over the radio in the cockpit. "You've been silent for a while now."
He took a shaky deep breath and sighed. Whatever it was that he'd just seen it must have been all in his head. There was no way that could possibly have been real, he's just dozed off or something. Hopefully he wasn't losing his marbles... "I'm fine," he lied.
"Alright then, just try to keep your focus," Ritsuko returned. "We're now moving this compatibility test to the second stage."
Shinji took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, gripping the control sicks in the plug tightly, and tried to push... whatever it was he'd seen out of his mind.
Ritsuko was unnerved by what she'd just witnessed on Maya's screen. There had been a fluctuation in Unit 00's data feeds followed by roughly seven seconds where the feed had been totally unreadable. Despite this, she elected not to alert the test team, dismissing it as a minor hiccup. It was not unlike when Rei had reactivated the Eva shortly before the arrival of the Fifth Angel. Considering that incident had been inconsequential, she assumed this minor dead spot in the Eva's response was just a quirk of it's... personality, if a giant biological war machine could have a personality. Then again, she vividly remembered when Unit 00 had gone berserk and how she may well have been it's target. Suddenly the idea of continuing the test seemed a bit more risky.
But it was worth the risk. She couldn't fall behind on the Dummy Plug's development schedule, regardless of the cost...
"How's it looking?" Misato asked.
"There was a slight error but it seems like that data feed is coming in normal now. As expected, Shinji's synchronization ratio is a bit lower than in Unit 01," Ritsuko replied.
"What sort of error?" Misato pressed.
"There was a slight garble in the data transmission but now everything appears to be coming in fine..." Maya stated.
"So, what does that mean?" Misato inquired, her concern growing. "Should we abort the test?"
"No, there's no cause to abort, just a disconnect in the data links," Ritsuko stated. "Nothing of concern."
Misato's expression softened and she nodded gently before turning back to staring at the colossal face of Unit 00 without another word.
"Senpai, are you sure you want to continue?" Maya asked in a whisper, just loud enough that Ritsuko could hear her. "That feed error-"
"Don't worry," Ritsuko cut her off. "The readings are still good so we can continue the test."
"Senpai, I'm really not sure we should proceed..." Maya stated quietly. "We both know how unstable Unit 00 can be..."
"It's necessary for the implementation Dummy Plug System," Ritsuko countered. "We can't risk falling behind on the schedule."
Maya frowned and looked down at her keyboard. "You know I respect you and your leadership, but I'm honestly worried about this whole thing. It... doesn't seem right."
"If you have too many scruples you'll always have difficulty working with others," Ritsuko rebutted, a scowl coming over her features. She certainly knew just how true those words were... "Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty."
Maya glanced at her momentarily before looking back at her station's screen. "Yes Senpai..." she muttered softly.
Ritsuko looked up and resumed her observation of the Eva in the test bay. Then she noticed Rei. Rei was looking at her strangely. Her expression was vacant for the most part but for the slightest furrowing of her eyebrows. Perhaps she was concerned about the test continuing? Ritsuko ignored it and folded her arms, looking away from the blue haired girl. Whatever concerns Rei had were unimportant, the test had to continue... "Begin third connection," she ordered.
Rei was tense. She hadn't seen the error that Lt. Ibuki had mentioned personally but the knowledge of an error existing at all was enough to trigger a nervous feeling. Dr. Akagi's look in her direction did not reassure her either. She wondered exactly what Shinji was experiencing at present. Everything from her point of view seemed normal but still she was apprehensive. What would happen if he were to come into contact with the Rei inside Unit 00 or worse, what if the Eva simply went berserk? Both were unnerving possibilities. She feared the possibility of Shinji getting hurt due to the latter. As for the former... she worried about how it would effect their friendship. If he ever found out what she was she would rather him learn from her, not the other her...
"Why do you look so worried, Wonder-girl?" Asuka grumbled with a deep scowl from where she stood beside her. "Didn't you hear them? It was just a minor error."
Rei looked over at the redhead and observed her sour expression before turning back to watching the Eva in the testing bay. Asuka had a point that it was, so far, just a minor error but for what reason did she seem so cross? Perhaps she should ask her later, for now she could only answer the question that was levied. Asking Asuka about why she seemed upset would probably exacerbate those negative emotions. "My first activation in Unit 00... didn't go smoothly," she replied.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Asuka glance at her. "How so?" she asked.
Rei frowned as she relived the memory. "Unit 00 suffered a loss of control and forcibly ejected the entry plug after which I was hospitalized," she returned.
"Oh..." came Asuka's response after a moment, her voice coming out considerably less bitter sounding. "I don't think you ever told me about that..."
Rei said nothing, there was nothing more to say anyway. She kept looking forward through the panes of armored glass, hoping that the test would conclude without any further incident...
Shinji kept his eyes closed as the test continued. Despite the bit of weirdness that had occurred a few minutes ago he was finally beginning to relax. Whatever it was that he'd... felt or whatever must have been all in his head. He listened to the technobabble spouted off by the crew in the observation deck, relaxed his shoulders, and tried to forget about the initial phase of the test. Everything was following the usual routine now...
"Alright Shinji," Ritsuko's voice came over the radio. "The test is over. You can come out now."
Shinji breathed a sigh of relief. No more risk of something going wrong now... "Okay, shutting down now," he replied as he began flipping the sequence of switches to do just that. Soon he triggered the final shutdown switch and the holographic displays within the plug went dark, leaving him in the dim orange glow of the auxiliary lights, and waited to be extracted. There was no longer a chance of something weird happening...
Until it happened.
The lights inside the plug flickered out and plunged him into complete darkness. He flinched and his breath caught in his throat. What was going wrong now? What was happening?
No sooner than those thoughts passed through his mind Rei appeared in the darkness once again, except this time it was... a younger Rei. This Rei couldn't be older than five or six at most. He sat in the dark looking at the vision's face both perplexed and perturbed. This apparition said nothing and stood just... staring back at him. Then the apparition smiled at him and disappeared and not a second later the auxiliary lights kicked back on inside the plug.
Shinji didn't have much time to think on what had just transpired as he felt the plug screwing upwards out of Unit 00. He rested his hand on his chest and drew a shaky breath as the LCL began to drain out of the plug. Whatever it was he'd seen inside of Unit 00 he didn't understand it in the slightest and he wasn't sure he wanted to understand it. Perhaps Rei or Ritsuko would know something about it? No... if he brought it up to anyone they'd probably think he was having a psychotic break or something. It was best if he just... didn't talk about it. Besides, he wasn't even sure he could explain it anyway. He just hoped he'd never have to sit in the cockpit of an Eva that wasn't his own ever again...
"So... what was it like getting synced up with each other's Evas anyway?" Asuka asked as she strode betwen Rei ad Shinji through the halls of NERV. The three of them had just finished getting changed and were heading back towards the testing center for debriefing. The walk to the changing rooms had been just about silent and Auska hated awkward silences...
Rei was the first to respond. "It was... an interesting experience," she said. "Unit 01... feels quite different compared to Unit 00."
"Yeah..." Shinji muttered. "Unit 00 is definitely... different compared to Unit 01. The way it felt to be synced up with it was definitely... something else."
Asuka raised an eyebrow at their replies. "How so?" she asked. "An Eva is an Eva after all, right?"
"I'm not so sure, not after..." Shinji trailed off in the middle of his reply, his tone rather contemplative.
"Not after what?" Asuka asked, curious to know what he was mulling over. Whatever it was it certainly looked like it was troubling him.
Shinji shook his head and tilted his head downward with a distant look in his eyes. "It's nothing," he returned softly. "Never mind."
Asuka frowned. "Come on, Shinji, what the hell is bothering you? It was just a stupid test for Dr. Akagi's autopilot or whatever. Don't you know it isn't healthy to just stew in your thoughts?" she huffed. Saying that made her feel like a hypocrite. She knew full well how hard it could be to say what was really on the mind...
Shinji turned to her with a smile she knew was fake. "It's fine," he replied. "Really, I'm fine."
"If you do wish to share what's on your mind, we'll wait until you're ready," Rei stated softly, warmly. "Take your time."
Shinji looked past her and laid his eyes on Rei. His smile shifted into something more genuine and he gave a soft nod. "Thanks Rei..." he murmured before turning to face down the hall in the direction they were heading.
Asuka finally turned her gaze away from Shinji. It actually... hurt to know that she couldn't reach him. It hurt that Rei could. She hated feeling like that. She hated all these stupid idiotic emotions she was stewing in...
The rest of the short walk to the debriefing was in silence. Soon they were standing before both Dr. Akagi and Misato as the former of the two began the rundown of the their test results.
"The test today were extremely productive," Dr. Akagi stated. "Rei, your synchronization ratio was nearly identical to your baseline readings in Unit 00. Shinji, though you were a few points lower than normal, your readings were also good. The data we collected today is a great boon for new systems development."
Misato smiled. "Good job today guys," she congratulated.
Asuka scowled. Once again, she felt left out... "Any notes for me, Dr. Akagi?" she inquired.
Dr. Akagi regarded her with a dispassionate expression. "Your sync ratio is as good as ever," she stated. "At present though, I have no plans for any cross synchronization experiments utilizing Unit 02."
Asuka fought the urge to snarl and crossed her arms. "Alright then," she replied. "Are we free to go then?"
"You and Shinji are," Dr. Akagi replied. "Rei, could you stay behind for a little bit though? I would like to speak with you in private."
"Yes Dr. Akagi..." the blue haired girl replied.
"Alright kids, let's head home then," Misato said with a grin.
Asuka didn't question that Rei was staying behind at NERV for a little while, it would get Shinji's attention off of the blue haired girl at least. Maybe she could actually get him to pay attention to her once they got home... Dammit! Why was she thinking these things!? Was it just because she'd gotten a pretty good look at him, all of him, the other day? She wasn't some dumb, horny teenage girl, she should be better than thinking about the likes of him like that...
Rei had dreaded this moment most of all of everything that was to occur this day: returning to Terminal Dogma for a memory scan. Even though logically she knew that her secret shouldn't be able to be detected she still worried. This was on top of how much she'd grown to loathe the process as a whole. She didn't like having to be so exposed in front of Dr. Akagi. Honestly, after the naked harmonics test she just didn't like being exposed... There was nothing about this process that she liked at all. At least, to her knowledge, Commander Ikari would be absent from the procedure that was about to occur. That would make things ever the worse...
Rei boarded the final elevator down to the level where her memories and personality would be qualified and quantified into lines of binary code beside Dr. Akagi. Their entire walk had been silent so far. Rei felt her hands shaking with anxiety and crossed her arms across her chest. Perhaps the reason people did that was to be some sort of self hug, for comfort...
"Nervous?" Dr. Akagi asked politely with a hint of a smile.
Rei regarded her and nodded truthfully. She had now way of knowing if the doctor's smile was genuine or not. Probably it wasn't, but it was still a kind gesture... "I am," she replied.
Dr. Akagi looked back at the reflective metal doors in front of them. "Don't be," she replied. "The commander won't be there this time."
That was indeed a relief. Why was the doctor trying to assuage her anxieties? It seemed just a tad strange that she was. "I see..." Rei murmured softly.
"The procedure won't take as long as last time," Dr. Akagi stated in a reassuring tone of voice. "I believe I've isolated the source of the errors. It will be in and out."
Unfortunately, this time her words had the opposite effect. Her eyes widened. Could she actually discover the gift that Yui Ikari had given her? What did that statement mean? "What was the cause of them?" Rei asked.
"I think there was some sort of overwrite error, one where your more recent memories were corrupted by being processed multiple times," the doctor stated. "The Magi said it was some kind of duplicate file error."
Rei felt her heart beginning to pound. "Duplicate file error?" she asked, desperately trying to sound composed.
"Yeah," Dr. Akagi replied with a slight chuckle. "But of course that's impossible. Probably just a bug in the extraction program's code. Copying a person's memories isn't exactly basic computer science."
Rei breathed a silent sigh of relief as her heartbeat began to slow. It was definitely a relief that Dr. Akagi didn't think the Magi's assessment was correct. Then again, from the doctor's perspective, it would be completely outlandish to entertain the possibility. She could only hope that whatever that had been done to the extraction program for the plug copier would let her secrets remain hidden... "I... can imagine there are difficulties," she replied softly.
When the elevator dropped them off it was about a five minute walk until she was in the Dummy Plug storage room, the place where she was created, the place where her... spare parts were kept. Even seeing that awful glass cylinder caused a slew of unpleasant emotions to swell up to the forefront of her mind. She felt sickened and every part of her wanted to resist, just just run, but... she had to face this. If she didn't comply, if she protested in any way, then it would be certain that Dr. Akagi and the commander would know something was amiss. That would not bode well for her, that much was utterly and indisputably certain...
Rei stood in place a few meters away from that horrid glass cylinder she would soon have to enter while Dr. Akagi moved into position near the control console. She watched as the doctor typed something in on the keyboard before looking up at her with a phony smile. "Alright," she said as the glass cylinder at the center of the room lifted up to allow entrance. "Let's begin then."
Rei nodded timidly and shakily shed her clothing. Once again she was naked, vulnerable, in front of someone she'd prefer not to see her in that state. Slowly, she stepped into the tube and it's walls lowered down around her. She closed her eyes as the sealed container quickly filled with LCL and waited. Every moment in that glass cage seemed like forever and Rei wished for it to end sooner rather than later...
Then the blast of a klaxon shook the room.
Rei's eyes shot open as the tell tale sound of an error alarm sounded in the room. Immediately her vision locked onto Dr. Akagi who was staring at her the console with an expression she read as frustration mixed with anger and disbelief. The doctor shook her head after a moment of pause before throwing a large switch on the console and Rei could feel the LCL surrounding her beginning to drain out the bottom of the tube she was inside of. It wasn't much longer until it was fully drained and the glass surrounding her retracted into the ceiling, leaving her wet and cold in the dimly lit room.
Dr. Akagi reached under the console and retrieved a towel before stepping over to her. "Get dried and get dressed," she snapped with a scowl. "You're free to go."
Rei took the towel and immediately did as she was told. "Is something wrong?" she asked once she finished getting dressed. She wanted reassurance that her secrets were safe but part of her was... actually concerned for the faux blonde scientist's mood.
Dr. Akagi sighed. "It doesn't matter," she replied. "But if you must know, the memory scan suffered an error once again."
At least it would seem her secrets were indeed unable to be detected. To know that made going down to this horrible place at least worth something... "I see..." Rei murmured in reply.
Dr. Akagi turned away from her and stalked back toward the console. "Seems I'll be working late again..." she grumbled. "Take care Rei, get home safe."
Rei nodded and made haste out of the room. It was funny... Dr. Akagi never wished her well like that whenever she had to see her. It almost sounded like she meant those words...
Around the time she'd reached the elevator her cellphone rang. She pulled it out and recognized the number as Commander Ikari's. "Hello..." she answered.
"Rei, how did things go with Dr. Akagi?" he asked.
Rei frowned. "Fine, sir..." she replied.
"I see," he stated. "I have further need for you tonight. Please report to the Evangelion launch bays by 22:00 and await further instructions."
Rei's eyebrows knit in confusion and apprehension. For what reason was she needed there? There was no Angel alert... unless... "Yes sir," she replied.
Commander Ikari hung up without another word.
Shinji stood in the kitchen of the apartment he shared with Asuka and Misato stirring the pot of noodles he was fixing up for dinner. He was still in a bit of a daze after what occurred earlier in the afternoon but he was doing his best to keep his mind off of it. That said, the quiet in the apartment wasn't doing much to aid in that. Both Asuka and Misato were in their rooms so the kitchen was rather silent. He couldn't help but wonder what had kept Rei at NERV all afternoon. It would have been nice if she could have come over, he knew she'd appreciate the ramen dish he was working on despite how simple it was. Maybe if she had been able to come to dinner he would have had a chance to talk to her about... whatever it was that he'd seen inside of Unit 00.
He shook his head. She would probably just think he was crazy. He'd been over this already... best to just keep whatever that was to himself.
His thoughts drifted on to other matters. He had the meeting with his father coming up. That impending appointment made him equal parts nervous and hopeful. Perhaps they might actually have a moment to connect, to mend their strained relationship just a little bit. Shinji could only hope for that. Still, spending time around his father was never easy. It never had been...
"Hey, you almost finished?" a familiar voice called out from behind him.
Shinji turned around to see Asuka poking her head into the kitchen and nodded, forcing a grin. "Yeah," he returned. "I should have it ready in a few minutes."
Asuka stepped into the kitchen and only halted when she was right up next to him. "Anything I can do to help?" she asked.
It was honestly a bit strange that she was asking to help him cook, she'd never done so until now, but it wasn't like he was opposed to such a thing... "Sure," he replied, surprise seeping into his tone just a little. "I guess I could use help cutting some of the vegetables."
Asuka grabbed a knife out of the drawer. "Sure thing," she said, moving over to the cutting board on the counter that he'd already had set up and beginning to rhythmically chop what he'd already laid out.
Shinji continued stirring the noodles as they simmered. He would admit, it was nice to have some help in the kitchen. Usually he only got help with the cooking when Rei was over. Part of him wanted to question why Asuka was volunteering to help him out of the blue like that but he would take any assistance he could get. At least he'd given her a relatively easy task to-
"Shit!"
Shinji snapped his head around at the sound of Asuka's yelp and the following clattering of the knife on the floor. He moved over to her as she held a bleeding finger to her lips and muttered obscenities in German. "Asuka, are you alright?" he asked.
"The hell do you think!?" Asuka spat. "I'm bleeding, dammit!"
The way that she could yell always made him flinch but his concern was outweighing the fear of her lashing out at him further. Besides, it was good of him to show concern... right? "Let me see it" he said, reaching out for her hand.
Asuka recoiled from him reflexively which caused him to falter. He stopped moving toward her but he didn't retract his hand. Instead he just... waited to see what she would do, prepared to duck should she decide to lash out. After a second of pause, the redhead turned to face him. "Would you mind grabbing me a bandage or something?" she asked with a pained but grateful expression on her features.
Shinji nodded and retreated into the washroom, retrieved the requested bandage, and in moments was back a few steps away from Asuka's side. "Here you go..." he spoke nervously as he held it out to her, still a bit apprehensive about closing the distance between them.
Asuka said nothing, bringing her cut finger to her mouth as she reached out toward him with her uninjured hand. She snatched the bandage from him and quickly covered her wound with it. "Thanks..." she murmured, regarding him with a frustrated look.
Shinji smiled nervously. "You're welcome..." he replied softly.
Asuka looked away with a frown and seemed to hesitate on what to do next, shuffling her feet. Then, when that pause ended, she let out an annoyed grunt and shoved past him. "This time I'll tend to the noodles," she huffed. "You cut the veggies."
It would be an understatement to say that he was a bit puzzled but... it was still nice to have some help. He said nothing and just did as he was told. Besides, he knew by now how difficult Asuka could be in an argument...
Ritsuko sat in her office with a cigarette clamped tight between her teeth, glaring in frustration at her computer screen. The data readings just didn't make sense. Though the tests with the Evas themselves had been successful the memory extraction with Rei down in Terminal Dogma had been a flop just like the one before it. Part of that frustration was born from having put the poor girl through that for nothing gained but the majority of it came from the simple fact that her intellect and prowess had once again come up short. If there was one thing that she hated it was being stymied in her work and this particular project was admittedly already an obsession...
Despite what tweaks she'd done to the programming in order to extract only the memory data from Rei's brain that took place after she was injured activating Unit 00 until the present, the same error from before had occurred, leaving her with nothing. At this rate she seriously risked falling behind on the completion of the Dummy Plug System and Gendo would not stand for that. She had to find the source behind the errors and fast.
Perhaps there was something she was missing, some sort of quirk or something that was out of place that she'd overlooked up until this point? If that was the case then perhaps it would be best to take a step back at least figuratively. She thought on what the Magi had postulated, that there was some sort of duplicate file. That had to be some sort of erroneous diagnosis of the problem, right?
...Right?
Perhaps, as outlandish as it sounded, the Magi had a point. Perhaps Rei's memory files had been extracted twice by the machine? The Magi were seldom wrong so... perhaps she should trust their judgment on this matter.
But that still left the issue of finding and deleting the duplicate memories and she couldn't even read them at this point. That just left her in the same damned predicament that she'd been dealing with for weeks: find a way to read the stupid data. She took a large puff off her cigarette and snubbed it in the ashtray near her keyboard. She felt like she was truly smashing her head against a wall...
She sighed and sat back in her chair. At least she had gotten enough from the simulation bodies and the cross synchronization tests in order to create a program that would simulate Unit 00 and Unit 01's respective pilot profiles for whenever she actually finished the most crucial part of the Dummy Plug. She needed a break from that aspect and so she'd get that finalized as soon as possible.
"Looks like I'll be spending another sleepless night at the office..." she muttered to herself. She'd been enduring far too many of those recently. At least her friend's wedding was on Sunday. That would at least give her a well deserved afternoon of rest.
Asuka lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling in a state of inner conflict. She hated feeling conflicted but it was more and more an emotion that she was constantly grappling with. That conflict had impulsively made her volunteer to help Shinji with dinner and the whole ordeal had just made that conflict grow. She hated that. She really, really hated that.
This stupid little crush she had on Shinji was pissing her off...
She grimaced and turned over in bed, covering her head with her pillow. Even admitting that she did actually have a stupid little crush on him royally pissed her off. Worst of all, she'd almost acted on it when he'd been so understanding when she cut her finger. To think that she could have done something like that. What would Kaji think of her? What would Misato think of her? What would Rei think of her?
She ground her teeth and snarled into her bed sheets. No... Why should she let their opinions matter? She was Asuka Langley Soryu, the best Eva pilot in the world! Why should she care about what anyone in her life thought of her so long as they respected her ability and prowess!? She wanted to think like that, she really did...
"Stupid Shinji..." she growled into her sheets.
"The Angel's invasion of headquarters was a deviation from our scheduled scenario," Fuyutsuki stated calmly, moving a tile on the shogi board. "The committee has found out about it and are applying pressure. They're buzzing around our heads like a swarm of hornets, looking for things to complain about..."
Gendo sat at his desk, watching and plotting his next move in the game the pair were playing. Indeed, Fuyutsuki certainly had a point, but if his meeting with the committee earlier in the day was anything to go off of there was still nothing to be concerned about. He knew how to play people and he knew how to play them. "We hold all the tiles, all the winds and dragons," he replied. "They can do nothing."
"That doesn't mean we should flaunt our hand," Fuyutsuki returned. "If SEELE decides to interfere it will not bode well."
As if he didn't know that... "Everything is going according to the scenario," Gendo replied evenly. "There are no problems."
"And what of the continual troubles regarding the Dummy System?" Fuyutsuki asked.
Gendo scowled behind his gloves. That was certainly proving to be a difficulty... "I'm sure that Dr. Akagi will be able to iron things out in time," he stated.
"And Adam?" Fuyutsuki inquired.
Ah yes, Adam... the most important piece of the puzzle, the key to bringing about all his hopes and ambitions... He was keeping that locked away, waiting for the right moment to integrate it, as soon as it had regenerated enough. "Proceeding according to plan," he replied.
"That leaves only the Lance," Fuyutsuki noted. "What of that?"
"Rei is handling that as we speak," Gendo returned flatly. "She is the one best suited for the job."
"Perhaps," Fuyutsuki stated, the hint of a smile working it's way onto the older man's lip. "She does indeed obey your commands without question."
Gendo's frown deepened. He knew that the older man knew he cared about the girl. He hated that Fuyutsuki could read him so well... "Indeed," he replied harshly, finally reaching over and making his move in the game they were playing.
"And what of the meeting with your son?" Fuyutsuki asked, his smile growing. "Have you given that any further thought?"
Gendo glared at the older man. "Fuyutuski..." he growled.
"Yes?" his confidant replied.
"Make your move," he spat.
Rei moved Unit 00 slowly down the enormous Eva sized hallway in the very deepest reaches of Terminal Dogma toward her destination. In her Eva's hand she held the object she'd stayed late at NERV to plant, the Lance of Longinus. She'd made this walk once before... The time in the past she'd given it no thought, simply executing an order. This time... it was different.
No she knew the power of being that she was going to plunge the enormous spear she wielded into. She'd tasted that being's power. She'd had ample time to reflect on how she'd been... made, formed in part from that being and how she had once been destined to return to being part of it's form. She grit her teeth as she continued her march. For now she'd have to push those thoughts aside and do the job she was asked to do...
Soon enough she crossed the threshold of the room that held the white giant, the Second Angel: Lilith. Her heart began to pound and she found herself hesitating upon seeing its pale flesh and that purple mask once again. The last time had been at the end of the world... No. She would not hesitate. This had to be done, just like in the previous timeline...
Slowly she lifted the Lance aloft and readied her Eva to thrust. With a swift motion she then drove it through the giant's chest, pinning it further to the cross on which it already hung. Hopefully she would not be called again to retrieve it to save Asuka from the Tenth Angel, or whatever number that Angel would take in this world should it even appear... Hopefully she would never have to return to this place. That was her hope. Still, having done what she just had drove home a very important point.
Despite what she'd been able to accomplish so far she was still running short of time to effect a meaningful change...
Author's Notes
edit - did a small tweak to Ritsuko's final scene.
So, the test with Unit 00 went just a bit different compared to canon... but there are other developments afoot. Soon everything will fall into place for good or ill. Next up in Shinji and Gendo's meeting at the grave and all that will come with that. And poor Ritsuko... looks like she's working herself to the brink of insanity.
I do apologize for the delay in getting this one to you all. It appears that the shift in my life's circumstances caused a bit of delays in the past week. Hopefully that will not continue. Then again, life is what happens when one's making plans. At the very least, I've been relatively sober during the composition of this chapter and the previous one, which has probably helped the grammar/sentence structure.
Please continue to read and review!
Regards,
A.F.