Chapter 28 – Ghost In The Machine Part II: Kernel Panic
It was late in the evening and Misato stood outside the psychiatric evaluation room that Shinji was undergoing his final examination before he could be discharged. According to the medical staff that she'd spoken to as long as he showed no signs of mental contamination from the Eva's neural link he would be free to leave after this final series of tests. She'd been preoccupied with paperwork after seeing him safely to recuperation after he'd been pulled from the field of battle, who wouldn't be after half of a city sank into another dimension under their watch, so she hadn't yet seen him awake. According to the reports he was doing rather well but her anxiety regarding her ward would not abate until she actually could see him. So she paced back and forth outside the door, waiting.
It seemed to take forever until the door to that damned room he was in opened. When it finally did she instantly halted her back and forth pacing and snapped her head around to face it. Out stepped Shinji wearing a sheepish expression. "Hey, Misato-san..." he said with a nervous smile. "The staff said you were worried about me..."
Misato glared at him. He wasn't about to weasel his way out of her reprimanding him, not after she'd been so worried... "Shinji, I'm very disappointed in you," she scolded.
Shinji flinched at her words. "I'm sorry..." he murmured, shifting on his feet and looking away from her.
Misato's hard expression wavered for a moment. She didn't like when he'd get nervous around her, she felt guilty for putting him on blast, but she had to express her opinions as his commanding officer. She needed to express her feelings as his guardian. "You acted without thinking, throwing caution to the wind, and endangered yourself, your combat team, and the lives of everyone in Tokyo 3," she fumed. "I can't just let that slide without saying anything."
Shinji frowned and looked down at his feet. "I know..." he replied. "I wasn't thinking clearly and I paid the price for it. It won't happen again."
Seeing him so genuinely apologetic caused her to break from her hardened expression. Her eyebrows knit up as she remembered just how worried she'd been when she'd had to ponder the idea of him never coming back... "It had better not," she returned softly. "You worried the hell out of Rei and Asuka. You worried the hell out of me."
Shinji glanced up at her sheepishly. "Yeah..." he murmured. "Rei let me know when she visited me earlier today."
Misato's curiosity was perked. "Did she now?" she inquired.
Shinji nodded. "She did," he replied. "She said I was an idiot for doing what I did."
Misato chortled as a lopsided grin formed on her face. She couldn't stay mad at him when he was talking like this. The kid just had such a good heart deep down... "Well she's definitely right about that," she returned, her tone growing warmer.
Shinji nodded, a small smile emerging on his lips. "Yeah, she definitely is..." he murmured.
Misato stepped closer and smiled down at him. He looked back up at her with a somewhat perplexed expression for a moment. She couldn't stop herself. She was just so glad to have him back, that he wasn't dead. She wrapped her arms around him and crushed him to her chest. "All that aside, I'm glad you're alive and well, Shinji," she cooed gently, resting her chin on top of his head. "Welcome back, and don't ever worry me like that again..."
Shinji started squirming. "Misato! I can't breathe!" he exclaimed, his voice coming out in muffled gasps.
Misato let him go and his face was red as a tomato. It was then realized exactly where his head had been, causing her grin to take on a decidedly cat like edge. "Well excuse me for giving my little Shinji-kun a hug!" she teased, fighting back laughter. "I didn't mean to make you so uncomfortable..."
"I- I don't m- mind the hug!" Shinji sputtered. "B- but just, y- you're taller than me! Maybe l- lean d- down more next time!"
Misato snickered. "Oh?" she teased. "So you want me to bend over for you? Such a naughty boy!"
His face only got redder and she could swear his eyes were about to pop out of his head. "No!" he shouted indignantly, stamping his foot. "That's not what I'm saying!"
Misato couldn't fight the onrushing torrent of guffaws and longer and held her sides in laughter. "You're just too easy to mess with!" she choked out. "Come on, Shinji, you know I'm just teasing you!"
Shinji took a moment to compose himself and crossed his arms, looking away from her with a frustrated scowl. "I really wish you wouldn't..." he huffed.
She smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair. "Well sometimes I can't help myself," she replied warmly. "Forgive me."
Shinji sighed. "Fine, you win..." he grumbled.
She giggled at his comment. "I always do," she stated. "It's my job as combat operation's director after all."
"What? To tease me?" he retorted. Even though he still sounded flustered she could see the smallest hint of a grin on his lips.
Her smile turned once more into a smirk. "No, to always win," she countered.
She'd been at it for a number of hours, skimming through the memory files that she'd finally been able to open but there seemed to be no problem yet. At first she'd thought about going through every single memory she had access to day by day to try and discover what had caused the initial errors but quickly came to realize that wasn't practical. Instead, she would seek out the days that were only relevant to combat sorties and and then go through the events that were being cataloged at future dates for whatever reason. The results of this had been... interesting so far.
Considering Rei had been out of action from the time of her activation accident until the appearance of the Fifth Angel, she'd decided to start skimming through things around those approximate dates. Though she found it amusing seeing through Rei eyes the embarrassing incident that occurred when Shinji had delivered her ID card, that was not what perked her interest when skimming through the events during the course of and after the Fifth Angel's attack. What caught her attention and filled her with a bit of worry surrounded the conversations she herself had had with Rei. According to the memory files, those conversations had never occurred...
Why? Why were those conversations not logged? She could remember those conversations, why were Rei's memory of the events of that day different? She also clearly remembered seeing her and Shinji holding hands at the forward command base but this was not the case with the extracted files... what did it mean? Clearly the files were readable but... was this the corruption that caused so many issues?
Ritsuko shook her head. No, that couldn't be the cause of it. There had to be something far more serious lurking in these files for her to have been banging her head against a wall for over a month. But what was it?
She heard the door to her office open and she turned around. There stood Maya in the doorway holding a thick manila folder. "Senpai, do you have a minute?" she asked.
Ritsuko nodded. "Sure," she replied. "What is it, Maya?"
Maya stepped into the office and held up the file folder as she walked up to her. "Shinji-kun's been discharged and here's his evaluation papers in case you want to look them over," she said.
She heaved a sigh. It would seem that there were always something to distract her from the much needed work to finalize the Dummy System. In this case though, it was very understandable. "I'll take a look at it," she replied, extending her hand to take the folder. "Thanks Maya."
Maya gave her a concerned look. "You look tired," she said. "You can't keep overworking yourself, Senpai..."
Ritsuko snorted and reached for her pack of cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it. "You and I both know that's not within my control, not while Commander Ikari needs me," she replied with a wry laugh, the cigarette bouncing between her lips. "Have you read the report at all?"
Maya nodded, her expression becoming a tad nervous. "I glanced through it after picking it up for you," she replied. "Was I not supposed to?"
Ritusko smiled playfully as she opened the report, setting her smoldering cigarette in her ash tray. "I guess that doesn't matter since you've already looked at it," she replied. "Since you looked it over a bit, maybe you can give me the condensed version and save me a bit of time."
Maya seemed to loosen up at her comment. "Well... all of his vitals and brain wave readings were fine," she stated. "But he described some kind of strange hallucinations when he was trapped in the Dirac Sea."
Ritsuko found that interesting. "Hallucinations?" she asked.
"Yes, Senpai," Maya replied.
Ritsuko pondered that statement. "Has Major Katsuragi seen the report yet?" she asked.
Maya nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "I made sure to give her a copy before she went home with Shinji."
Ritsuko stared down at the file in her hand, and reached to grab her cigarette, bringing it back to her lips and taking a relaxing puff. "Very well," she replied. "I'll look it over."
Gendo sat in his office desk as the evening turned to night. He'd just finished over the initial after action report that Major Katsuragi had submitted regarding the demise of the Twelfth Angel, not that he'd needed to, and was currently reading through the medical report on his son. He'd found the description of the hallucinations his son had experienced interesting. It was clear that Shinji did not understand the significance of the mother-like figure that he'd described in his interview. He was glad for that, if he were to know about Yui's presence within Unit 01 it could easily lead to future problems that might effect his scenario... however the report raised other issued notwithstanding.
The door to his office opened and he set the file down on his desk, looking up and regarding whomever had dared to disturb his solitude. It was Fuyutsuki, who strode into the room at an even gait. Gendo said nothing and returned to reading the report as the older man's footsteps grew closer and closer until they stopped beside his desk...
"I've spoken with the committee," Fuyutuski stated, breaking the silence. "They desire to speak with the pilot of Unit 01 regarding what he witnessed during the incident. They've even issued a subpoena."
Gendo scowled. It was certainly an attempt from the old men to puff their chests like the egotistical bastards they were. "I see," he grumbled. "Word certainly travels fast..."
"Indeed it does," Fuyutsuki replied. "What will you do?"
He thought on that inquiry for a moment. Despite having personal reasons for detesting this development he also had professional reasoning for holding his son back from the committee's questioning. If SEELE were to become concerned due to something his son might say that could put a crimp in his plans...
None of that mattered he decided. The main point of the subpoena he concluded was to show him that they were really the ones in charge. That said, he was not above shoving back within reason... "Have you read the report?" he asked.
Fuyutuski nodded. "Yes," he replied. "It shows that your son experienced strange visions within the Dirac Sea. Do you think that it means anything?"
"It means something to the committee," he replied. "Otherwise they would not be attempting to interrogate the pilot."
"It also seems to be an attempt to put you in your place," Fuyutuski added.
"Indeed," Gendo replied. "Therefore sending a proxy before them is most prudent. I'll inform Katsuragi of the situation. She'll volunteer herself in an instant."
Fuyutsuki chortled. "I see you've read the board well. I agree. It is surely the most pragmatic approach," he replied. "You get to reassert your control and they get to ask what they need to ask."
Gendo grunted in agreement. "Yes," he returned softly.
"And you get to shelter your son from the deeper conspiracies surrounding NERV," Fuyutuski added. "Does that also figure into your scenario, Ikari?"
Gendo's scowl deepened...
Asuka got up from where she'd been sitting watching television and headed for the kitchen the moment she heard the entrance door to the apartment whirring open, signaling Misato and Shinji had arrived home. Misato had called and let her know that Shinji was being discharged earlier in the day and she'd been rehearsing in her mind what she would say when he arrived but now that he was back she found herself drawing a blank. That irked her. It irked her almost as much as pondering what happened when she'd let Rei visit him alone did. Even though she'd been trying to do a nice thing, stepping aside so Rei could have a moment with him, she felt jealousy... which had only intensified throughout the day. "We're home!" Misato called out.
Asuka leaned against the refrigerator and crossed her arms, waiting for the two of them to round the corner from the hallway. "Welcome back," she called back lazily.
Misato and Shinji entered the kitchen. Misato was carrying a folder of some kind and Shinji just seemed tired. "Sorry we're getting back so late," Misato stated with a smile. "Shinji's evaluation took a while."
"It really did," Shinji added with a sigh. "It seemed like they were never going to discharge me."
Asuka snickered wryly. "Well you were trapped in another dimension from what I heard," she replied. "I can imagine they'd want to ask you a bunch of questions about that."
Shinji frowned. "Yeah... they definitely asked a lot of questions."
Before Asuka could respond Misato spoke again. "Have you had anything for dinner yet?" she asked.
Asuka shook her head. "No," she replied. "I was waiting for you guys to show up." That had been half due to her trying to be polite and half because she wasn't one for cooking...
Misato moved toward the living room. "Well since it's late you guys should order something since poor Shinji-kun wasn't around to make dinner," she replied, holding up the folder in her hand with a lopsided grin. "I have to read over these reports so I'll leave you to it."
Asuka snickered. "NERV never lets you have a moment of rest, do they?" she teased.
"It's just a part of being an adult, Asuka," Misato replied as she exited the kitchen for the living room. "You'll get it one day."
"Like you sneaking off to see Kaji anytime you do get some free time?" Asuka retorted with a sneer.
Misato poked her head back into the kitchen for a moment just to shoot her an indignant glare before continuing on her way. This left Asuka alone with Shinji in the kitchen...
Him actually being home after how stressful the previous day's events had been stirred a whole range of emotions within her. She wanted to smack him for being so damned dumb and rushing in the way he did but that was too mean. She wanted to hug him and tell him he was worried about him but that would just be awkward after what happened a few days ago. So instead she stepped up to him and bopped him on the shoulder, putting on a lopsided grin. "You gave us all a huge scare, you know that right?" she said.
Shinji rubbed the shoulder she'd just thumped him on and grinned back with a similar awkward smile. "I know..." he murmured sheepishly. "Sorry about that..."
For once his apologies were justified. Her grin softened. "It's good to have you back," she replied bluntly and earnestly. She then turned away from him and threw up her hands, her tone sliding into one decidedly dismissive and sarcastic. "If you'd died out there I'm not sure Misato and Rei would have been able to handle it. Then I would have had to try and console them and we both know I'm not good at that kind of shit so it would have been a whole ordeal. You definitely saved me a whole lot of headache."
Shinji laughed softly and Asuka turned around to regard him. He actually had kind of a charming laugh and a really cute smile... It pissed her off. She wanted for things to go back to normal between the two of them so she could forget her stupid crush but seeing him like this was making that difficult. The fact that he picked up on what she was putting down in her previous statement made it even harder. Part of her had hoped he'd just apologize like he usually did and then she could just berate him further. That would have made her feelings easier to squash... "It's good to know you were worried about me too, Asuka," he returned warmly.
Asuka found herself smiling back even though she really didn't really want to. She hated how he could have this effect on her. She wished that she could just... wish away how she felt about him. It would be so much easier if she could. She hated the sting of rejection. First Kaji and now Shinji... Misato and Wonder-girl were just so lucky... "Yeah..." she admitted. "I guess I was."
They stood there as a somewhat awkward silence came between them. After a moment of him just looking at her with that stupid charming grin of his she had to look away. Why was he just so... ugh! She hated it... Rei was so lucky she didn't want to ruin their friendship. For that matter, Shinji was lucky that she had her pride to uphold and wouldn't try something again... "So... what are you thinking we should order for food?" she asked.
Shinji shrugged. "Honestly I could go for anything," he replied. "You decide."
Asuka grinned. That was more like it. Time to assert her dominance and push all those annoying overly emotional thoughts out of her mind... "Meat lovers pizza it is then!" she returned.
Shinji awoke in his bedroom at Misato's apartment just as he did any normal day. Upon waking, he started his morning routine of getting dressed, making breakfast and coffee, and preparing lunches for himself Asuka and Rei. He was glad to have been discharged from the medical wing and be back to what normal he could enjoy in Tokyo 3 as an Eva pilot. Even so, the questions he'd been asked before leaving lingered in his mind. The questions he'd been asked provoked questions of his own which he doubted he'd ever really know the answers to.
The debriefing while he was still in the medical ward had been more intense than usual with a more invasive line of questioning compared to past battles. The medical staff seemed to be quite interested in what he'd experienced while trapped inside the Dirac Sea or whatever it was they were calling it that himself and Unit 01 had fallen into. He'd told them about the hallucinations and everything else in as much detail as he could remember, all the time he was worried about being detained for psychiatric screening, until the medical staff had finally let him leave. He couldn't help but wonder why they'd been so curious about it. More importantly, he really wished he understood how his Eva could have been temporarily transported to another dimension and then somehow come back. It made him wonder just what the Evas and the Angels really were...
Then of course had came Misato's lecture about how foolish he'd been in combat, which admittedly, he'd deserved. That had culminated in her throwing her arms around him and nearly crushing him in an embrace. It had been a kind gesture, he'd appreciated it, but considering their height difference it placed his face in a rather... awkward place. Thankfully she'd let him go before he'd suffocated. Then she'd asked him why he was so red in the face afterward and of course he'd had to explain himself... and she'd found it funny and teased him about it. The way that some adults acted was truly beyond him...
And of course the incident had put the idea in the back of his mind of what it would be like to do that with Rei, which made him want to punch himself for thinking such impolite and impure thoughts. Then again, it was Misato herself and her teasing that had put that filthy thought there, so he shouldn't blame himself for it... but it still felt dirty! Just because he realized that deep down he'd like to have more than friendship with her didn't make thinking about her like that okay... She was his best friend... and someone he'd developed romantic feelings for. The whole thing made him feel so confused. Yes she was attractive but... if he thought about her like that wouldn't that just make him a pervert? How did adults handle romantic affections?
Well... if Misato and her relationship with Kaji was an example to go off of, the answer was not well...
The toaster popped, ejecting the toast he'd been making and bringing him out of his momentary daze. There was no point in dwelling on such things. It would probably just make his situation as a pilot that much more difficult. He'd rather focus on the good things, like how nice it was to be around the people who cared about him and how his father seemed to be showing him genuine attention and concern. Heck, it still felt surreal that he'd apologized for their spat at the cemetery. Shinji smiled. Yeah... things were looking up.
"Morning," Asuka's voice caught his attention. "Feeling alright today?"
He regarded her with a nervous smile as she entered the kitchen and grabbed a slice of toast from the toaster. "Yeah," he replied. "I'm feeling alright." Things were still a little awkward between the two of them after she'd come on to him while they were drunk a few days ago, but they were starting to get back to normal. She seemed reluctant to mention the incident still and he was happy to keep it that way. "Thanks for asking."
Asuka set about buttering the slice of toast. "That's good to hear," she replied before taking a bite. "Ready to be back in school?"
He nodded and took a sip of his morning coffee, sitting down at the kitchen table. "I am," he returned. "It'll be nice to get back to some kind of normalcy."
Asuka chuckled wryly. "I'll bet," she replied. "Not many people can say they got trapped in another dimension."
He laughed nervously. "I doubt anyone can..." he muttered, taking a sip of his coffee.
Asuka nodded. "I'm surprised that Misato isn't out here having her morning beer," she replied. "Has she been up yet?"
Shinji chuckled. "You're the one that's usually the early riser, you tell me?" he jousted. After all, she usually was up before he was.
Asuka shrugged and put up her hands dismissively. "Forgive me for sleeping in today then," she riposted. "So you haven't seen her?"
Shinji shook his head. "No, I haven't," he replied. "You think she's left for work already?"
Asuka sighed. "Well if she's not out here having breakfast and getting her morning buzz on then that'd be pretty good assumption," she shot back sassy tone of voice.
Shinji wanted to make a snappy retort but he didn't have the chance as the doorbell rang right at that moment, signaling that Rei had arrived. Shinji stood up and headed to the door, opening it with a grin. Rei stood there before him with a demure smile. "Good morning," she greeted as she usually did.
Shinji grinned back, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of that smile of hers. "Morning, Rei," he replied. "How are you? Come in."
"I am well," she replied as she entered the apartment. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay," Shinji replied, unable to wipe the smile off his face. "Glad that things are getting back to normal for sure."
Rei nodded, never losing that subtle smile of hers. "I am as well," she returned gently.
"Morning Rei!" Asuka called from the kitchen.
"Good morning Asuka," Rei replied just loud enough for her voice to carry. "Are you ready to head to school?"
Asuka emerged from the kitchen into the hallway, still munching her buttered toast. "Yeah," she returned between bites. "Want me to grab you the last piece of toast before we go?"
"I would appreciate that, yes," Rei replied.
Shinji's brow furrowed. "That was supposed to be my toast..." he muttered. "Can we hold back on heading out until I make another for myself?"
Asuka snickered and looked at him with a playful smirk. "Should have thought of that before Rei got here, don't you think?" she teased.
"Shinji has a point," Rei stated. "We usually linger here for a short while before heading to school. Are you in a rush this morning, Asuka?" Shinji was quite thankful that Rei had said something, for it seemed like his hunger might have a chance to be sated...
Asuka shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, I was hoping to run into Hikari before school but I guess we can hang out here a bit longer," she replied. "I'll just talk to her during lunch."
"Thank you," Shinji said, breathing a sigh of relief.
The three of them filed into the kitchen after Rei kicked off her shoes. Asuka sat back down at the kitchen table and Shinji procured Rei the final bit of toast that was still in the toaster. He couldn't help but feel like Asuka had another reason to want to take off immediately but he felt it would be rude to call her on it. Then again, it probably wasn't easy seeing him and Rei near one another after what he'd said a few nights ago... If that were the case, he definitely understood. He set about making himself a slice of toast and grinned to himself, leaning against the counter and staring off into space. It might have been sort of a callus thought but... that was her problem. After how well things had gone with his father the previous day, and having actually made up his mind to maybe, possibly, one day far off in the future, maybe confess to Rei, he wasn't going to let anything get him down...
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Asuka asked, once again breaking him from his daze.
"What do you mean?" be replied, blinking rapidly.
Asuk shot him a lopsided grin and raised an eyebrow. "You're standing there grinning to yourself," she replied. "What's up? And by the way, it's kinda weird seeing you do that..."
Things were definitely getting back to normal... she was hitting him with sarcastic barbs again... "Well... my father came to visit me before I was discharged," he replied. "It actually went well too. He apologized for what he said the other day, kind of. I don't know, maybe things can actually get better with us."
Asuka snorted. "So quick to forgive him after what happened at your mom's grave," she shot back. "Who cares if it went well, you shouldn't let it go just yet!"
Shinji frowned. "I... don't really forgive him, at least not for sending me away..." he replied. "But, it would be nice if the two of us could move past those things one day. I... still have hope."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "And yet you're hopeless in so many ways..." she grumbled.
Rei stepped closer to him and spoke as soon as she swallowed the bite of toast she was munching on. "I think it is a step in the right direction," she said. "As I mentioned yesterday."
Asuka sighed. "Yeah, I guess it is, but I still wouldn't let my guard down too much if I were in your shoes," she stated. "Apologies don't mean shit, actions do."
Shinji chuckled wryly. "You have a point," he agreed.
"Even so, it is a poignant step, Shinji," Rei pointed out. "I have not known Commander Ikari to extend an apology for anything in the entire time I've been at NERV."
Somehow, Shinji found that a bit surprising even though he knew he shouldn't have. "Really?" he asked.
Rei nodded. "I wouldn't lie about such things," she replied.
Asuka chuckled. "Sounds about right," she scoffed. "I've never even had a conversation with him, so I'm only going off of what the two of you have told me, but he seems like the type that is too proud to make amends often."
"I would assess that as accurate," Rei stated in agreement. "Therefore the fact that he attempted to do so with Shinji says something."
Shinji couldn't help but smile. Something about the way Rei always had such... kind and hopeful things to say never failed to lift his spirits. "I guess you're right..." he muttered aloud, more to himself than to Rei or Asuka.
Asuka sighed and stood up from the kitchen table. "Well, if we spend any more time sitting here talking about Shinji's dad then we're really going to be late for school," she huffed. "Shall we?"
"Yes," Rei replied.
Shinji nodded. "Yeah, let's go," he added in agreement.
Everyone finished what they were eating or drinking, Shinji gathered up the three bento boxes he'd prepared for everyone, and soon enough the three of them were out the door and on their way to school. He fell in step beside Rei and Asuka and smiled softly to himself. Rei was right. Things were definitely starting to actually get... better.
Misato entered the dimly lit meeting room that Commander Ikari had summoned her to. She would admit that she was a tad nervous and indeed rather suspicious considering who it was she would be speaking with...
The previous night she'd read through the file that detailed Shinji's medical assessment and his account of being trapped within the Angel's pocket dimension. Though the passages that outlined the life support system slowly failing had been terrifying but that wasn't the most gripping part of the file. The descriptions within the report detailing strange hallucinations had been what her mind had focused on. The medical personnel that had evaluated Shinji had concluded that he had experienced these because of prolonged sensory deprivation within his plug but... something about how vivid Shinji had described his visions seemed off. She could assume that the board of directors at the United Nations backing NERV also felt the same considering they'd issued a subpoena to Shinji. She'd protested when Commander Ikari had told her that and impulsively volunteered to appear in his stead. He was just a kid after all. There was no need to run him through the ringer of NERV's politics and bureaucracy. Being a pilot was hard enough on him...
A bright spotlight clicked on above her, causing the rest of the room to be cast in even darker shadows. She flinched involuntarily. Was this some kind of intimidation tactic? For that matter, who ever were the mysterious backers she'd volunteered to speak in front of?
"Major Katsuragi, do you refuse to let us question the only person who was directly involved in this incident, the pilot of Unit 01?" a voice called out over some kind of speaker system.
She steeled herself to her task and drew a deep breath. She found it a bit unnerving that the committee refused to appear in person. Why? What did they have to hide? "Yes sir," she replied. "It is my belief that he could be unstable emotionally. Bringing him here could be very unwise at the current time."
"Then, as his proxy, let us ask you the following questions..." another voice spoke.
"Did the Angel attempt communication with a human being?" the first voice asked.
So... that was what they wanted to ask her about. Though she couldn't be certain, the best course of action to protect Shinji was to deny it. After all... things at NERV and the powers surrounding it she'd learned were not what they appeared all thanks to Kaji... "After looking through the reports, I found no concrete evidence to validate that theory," she replied. "In all likelihood, the visions he experienced were merely due to sensory deprivation."
"How can we know that they weren't induced via other means?" the second voice asked.
"There is no evidence to suspect otherwise," Misato replied flatly. Now that they mentioned it, it was certainly possible that the Angel had been the source of Shinji's visions, but if so... what reason would an Angel have to try and understand a human? They were trying to destroy humanity... right?
"The Eva's data recorder was not functioning," yet another voice stated. "There is no way to confirm or deny the hypothesis."
"Could the Angel have been interested in the human mind?" another voice inquired.
Even though it was a gamble, Misato decided it was best to continue trying to shield Shinji. If she were to allow this committee, whoever they were, to have a meter she had a feeling they would take a kilometer... "I am unable to answer that question," she replied. "Whether the Angels possess sapience and from that have a concept of the human mind, let alone understand what that might be is completely unknown."
"Nevertheless, a new factor has been revealed in this instance in that the Angel attempted to take an Eva into itself," one of the voices rebutted. "Is there any possibility that this aspect might be linked to the predicted future Angel and any thereafter?"
So the Angels were predicted? What did this committee know that she didn't? "There would appear to be no systematic organization among the Angels as far as we can tell," she replied.
"This is correct," yet another voice spoke from the shadows. "They have worked independently thus far."
The way that that committee member said that irked her. The way the entire meeting had gone so far sparked so many questions that she desired the answers to... "What do you mean, sir?" she asked.
"You may not ask questions," another voice, one that hadn't spoken previous, returned firmly.
"Understood..." she replied instinctively.
"That will be all," that final voice commanded. "Dismissed."
With that the light in the room switched off, plunging her into complete darkness but for the light at the end of the room from which she'd come. Misato beat a swift exit from the darkened room. She made a note to herself that she definitely needed to consult with Kaji the recent happenings at NERV. Why was the committee she'd just met with so interested in the Angels and the potential for them to have sapience? Did it have something to do with this mysterious Human Instrumentality Project she'd heard whispers about? What did it all mean?
One way or another, she was going to find out...
Gendo had been sitting in the shadows of the meeting room, listening to Major Katsuragi's testimony on the incident regarding the Twelfth Angel intently. It seemed that his gamble regarding Katsuragi had payed off and the committee had been placated though Chairman Keel seemed a bit displeased considering the tone he'd used with her. Then again, when was that crotchety, old geezer not displeased with something?
"Well, what do you think, Ikari?" one of the committee members asked.
He'd read the report and so had they. It was clear that whether the Angel had attempted to commune with his son or not, they were certainly becoming more of a threat. The sophistication of the attack was evidence of that. "The Angels appear to be getting more intelligent," he replied. "There's not much time left."
"For us, you mean," Chairman Keel replied. "Yes?"
He would do nothing to address their growing suspicion of him, his motives, and his plans. "Yes," he replied flatly.
Ritsuko sat down at her desk and immediately slammed the power button on her computer's tower. After what she'd seen the previous day, it had been a difficult task to go home, feed her cats, and get some sleep. Many things in the memory files she'd skimmed through seemed not to line up...
She'd found it puzzling that there seemed to be no recollection of her conversations with Rei during the time of the Fifth Angel's attack but it was concerning when she'd looked a bit further forward and found not even a single instance of the incident regarding Jet Alone. Even more concerning was the fact that, according to these files, her first memory of Asuka was within the halls of NERV.
None of this made any sense! She knew for a fact that Rei had accompanied Misato to the aircraft carrier Over The Rainbow and had engaged the Sixth Angel, even helping pilot Unit 02 with Asuka to defeat it! It didn't make any sense!
She puffed away on a cigarette, tapping her fingers on the desk as her computer booted up. By now her curiosity had shifted from needing to know why the files had been barred to her so long to what other memory anomalies existed in the data she'd extracted from Rei's brain. Of course, searching for corrupted data was still there but that was something she could write a skimming program for. She wanted to know what else was divergent from what she remembered occurring.
Soon enough the computer had finished booting and she set about picking up where she'd left off. She homed in on the approximate dates where the Seventh Angel should have appeared and one gain began combing through the events thereof as shown through Rei's eyes. If there had been anomalies so far then those anomalies were sure to continue...
Sure enough there was yet another anomaly. From what she remembered the training that Misato had Asuka and Shinji undergo regarding their synchronized attack on the angel had occurred at her apartment but Rei's memory it had occurred at NERV.
Ritsuko leaned back in her chair and ran a hand through her hair. How was any of this possible? What did it mean? Why were this anomalies occurring? Sure, the memory was not one hundred percent reliable but she would imagine someone as intelligent and astute as Rei wouldn't have things like locations scrambled... there must be a reason for these things.
She took a deep breath to focus her mind and continued sifting through the files. Despite that steadying action, her confusion and worry continued to grow...
It was lunchtime and Rei was sitting quietly beside Shinji in the back of the classroom, eating the food that he'd so kindly prepared for her. Suzuhara and Aida were also present but Asuka had taken off with Hikari because apparently there was something she wanted to speak with her in private about. Even though it was just a normal lunch break during a normal school day Rei was very content. After how stressful and emotional the last few days had been she'd needed a respite such as the one she currently was enjoying. It was the little moments like these, away from NERV and the Evas in the company of friends that made her struggles worth it. It was moments like this where she could forget about her origins, the weights she carried, and the threat of future doom hanging above her head. It was moments like these that she would never cease to cherish...
"That last Angel caused a whole lot of damage, didn't it?" Aida spoke up. "Midtown looks like it melted and I heard that the army was deployed around the city while everyone was in their shelters. What exactly happened, Shinji? It's not classified or whatever, is it?"
That question shook her from her content and happy mood, the content grin she wore slipping into a contemplative frown. She didn't want to relive the events of the the engagement, especially so soon afterward and especially considering how painful it was to think about the hours Shinji had been trapped within the Dirac Sea...
"No, it's not classified I don't think but it's kind of hard to explain what happened..." Shinji replied before turning to her with a sheepish grin. "Rei can probably explain what happened better than I can."
Rei understood that look Shinji gave her, it said so much without a word being said. She could tell that he was just as uncomfortable as she was. No... he was definitely more uncomfortable talking about the situation that she was. He was the one that had almost died after all... and as such, suddenly she didn't mind explaining things to their friends for him. It was the least she could do for him... "The Angel possessed properties that should have only been possible in the realms to theoretical mathematics," she stated, turning back to face Suzuhara and Aida. "This lead to a... difficult combat operation."
Suzuhara raised an eyebrow. "Theoretical mathematics?" he questioned, bewildered. "What do you mean?"
"Yeah, what do you mean, Ayanami?" Aida added, his attention fixed on her with a curious look.
Rei looked down at the bento box in her lap and fiddled with her chopsticks. "The Angel absorbed Unit 01 into itself, transporting it to some kind of pocket dimension," she replied. "The military was deployed to quarantine it and NERV was planning to have them... drop high yield explosives to destroy it. It was only defeated via Unit 01 going into a berserk state, ripping itself out of the Angel."
Aida and Suzuhara both looked shocked. Aida turned to Shinji. "Is this for real, Shinji?" he asked. "Unit 01 went crazy?"
Shinji nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "But I don't really remember it. I was unconscious for most of what happened."
"Sounds like what happened when the first Angel showed up and attacked the city..." Suzuhara muttered, a far away look washing over him. "When my sister got hurt..."
Shinji flinched. "I remember that..." he murmured. "How is she doing? Any improvement recently?"
Suzuhara sighed. "She's been doing a bit better but she's still not anywhere near ready to be released," he replied. "I'm going to see her today after school."
Rei felt a pang of sympathy for the athletic boy's situation. If she remembered correctly, one of the reasons he'd agreed to become the Fourth Child in the original timeline was to get his sister better treatment. She hoped that fateful decision would be one he wouldn't have to make in this timeline and that that Angel would not appear. Considering how different things had been so far, it didn't seem to unrealistic to hope for that... "I'm very sorry that she hasn't recovered yet," Rei stated. "It must be difficult seeing her in pain..."
Suzuhara nodded. "It is," he replied. "But it is what it is. There's nothing I can do except be there for her."
Shinji bowed his head. "I still feel guilty that she got hurt..." he muttered. "I'm sorry, Touji-kun."
Suzuhara chuckled. "Shin-man, we've been over this, it ain't your fault," he replied. "Both of you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"I know," Shinji said with a sigh. "But I can't help how I feel."
Suzuhara smirked and brandished his fist in Shinji's face. "Shinji, if you start wallowing in self pity, I'm gonna hit you like when we first met, you hear?" he responded.
Rei knew enough about... male friendships from observing the friendship between Shinji, Aida and Suzuhara to know that Suzuhara was playing around. Shinji put his hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, I get it," he replied. "Just... say hello to her for me or something."
Suzuhara smiled. "No worries" he replied.
"What the hell is going on?" Ritsuko murmured aloud in disbelief.
She'd skipped forward until the approximate time and date where of the Eighth Angel had been found inside of Mt. Asama but according to the files that incident had never even occurred! From that she knew that there was something really, really wrong. Instead of anything related to that deployment it was just routine school and NERV related things! This was truly insane! She remembered that deployment vividly and she remembered that Rei had been visibly stressed during the whole ordeal. Hell, the azure haired girl had stood right beside her in the observation research facility NERV had commandeered to serve as a command center during most of the action!
She lit up probably her fifth cigarette in the last two hours and glared at the images playing back in front of at eight times actual speed and shook her head. It was safe to say that whatever was causing these issues was far beyond some kind of technical anomaly. This was looking like there was some kind of active interference... but who could be behind it? As far as she knew, none of the world's intelligence agencies had the technological capability to tamper with memories on this level. Heck, the science of extracting memories as video image files was a technology that she herself had invented for the damned Dummy Plug! There was no way that this could be from some kind of outside interference... but what could be causing it? There was no way that Rei's memory was this faulty... so what could it be?
She took a pull off her cancer stick and sucked it up through her nose, French inhaling in frustration as she skipped ahead in the memory files. It seemed that much of the anomalies focused around events regarding the Angels so it was a good assumption to assume that the next major anomaly would be around the time of the blackout at NERV and the Ninth Angel's attack...
Sure enough, there was another discrepancy. There was no blackout but... there was an Angel attack. Rei's memories showed the attack of the Tenth Angel but... that had occurred later. And the battle had gone slightly different. According to the memory, Shinji was the one that arrested the Angel's fall. That didn't line up... none of it lined up! Ritsuko forwarded ahead farther still to where the Tenth Angel should have appeared. The blackout was there but there was no Angel attack, further adding to the confusion. She fast forwarded again until the date and time of where the Eleventh Angel invaded NERV and once again there was nothing...
She took another long drag off her cigarette and rubbed her fingers against her temples. There had have been some kind of scrambling caused by her extraction program. That had to be it. That was the most logical conclusion...
But it didn't account for the fact that she was nearly at the present time... and there was still what looked like months of data left to be looked at. Then again, considering the time of when she extracted these files the second time... there shouldn't even be memories past the time of the Eleventh Angel...
"Well... I guess that explains why you ditched your date with Taniguchi..." Hikari stated.
Asuka flopped backwards and stared up at the sky from where she lay on the roof of the school, having just finished telling Hikari everything about her drunken night with Shinji. She'd stayed up most of the previous night debating on whether or not to tell her about it and ultimately decided she would. After everything that had occurred when that idiot had been absorbed into the Angel she'd had to tell someone about her stupid crush to try and get some perspective on it. It had sucked having to put it off until lunch, but she'd finally said her piece. Instead of helping though, it had just made her feel more pathetic... "Yeah..." she huffed. "That's about it..."
Hikari sat down next to her. "I definitely think it was totally irresponsible that you were drinking but I definitely get how you feel," she replied. "Rejection... hurts."
Asuka sat up and dug her hands into her hair. "I know!" she spat, the truth pouring out. Well... she'd already said a lot, might as well just let it all out... "It's just... dammit! It's so annoying being around him and Rei when I know he likes her! Like, Rei's still my friend but it makes me so jealous..."
"I get it," Hikari replied, placing a hand on shoulder. "It's hard being around someone when they don't feel the way you do, or don't notice it..."
Asuka snickered wryly. She hadn't explained what had happened for her friend to pity her. She'd hoped Hikari might offer advice on what to do about it, to help her get rid of or bury her stupid feelings, not pity her. So, instead of just wallowing in that uncomfortable feeling, she'd take this moment to turn the tables and change the subject. Hikari couldn't even blame her for it either, she'd brought it on herself. "Like how that moron Touji can't seem to figure out you like him, huh?" she retorted.
Hikari's eyes went wide and her cheeks turned crimson. "Wh- what do you mean?" she stammered.
Asuka rolled her eyes. "Come on, I've seen how you look at that dumbass," she replied. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Hikari turned away in embarrassment but Asuka could tell from her tone of voice when she spoke again that she was smiling "Yeah..." she muttered. "I guess you're right that I like him..."
Well, this wasn't going the way she wanted it to go either. It would have been nice to have been able to tease her for a bit longer instead of her just admitting to liking that jerk. "What do you even see in him anyway?" Asuka asked. "He's so boorish."
Hikari smiled. "He is, but he's also kind..." she replied softly with a far away smile.
Asuka wanted to vomit, seeing her friend speak nicely about that lummox. Even so, it was better than continuing to talk about her own problems if Hikari was just going to pity her. "Whatever you say," she replied. "So why don't you make a move?"
Hikari sighed. "I don't know if I should..." she murmured. "I don't know if he'd feel the same way about me."
Asuka sighed. "Hey... if I learned anything from what happened with Shinji, it's better to at least get it out there and try to move on if it doesn't work out," she grumbled.
Hikari looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Is it though?" she countered.
That question seriously struck a chord. Considering how conflicted she felt and was still feeling about the whole Shinji situation it was a very pointed question. Asuka scowled. "What do you mean?" she replied.
"I mean, you seem pretty upset about the whole Shinji thing, right?" Hikari continued.
Asuka stood up, bristling with anger. "That's totally different!" she spat. "As far as you know, that moron isn't interested in anyone else and I know for a fact that stupid Shinji has the hots for Rei! Now I have to be around the both of them all the time and all I can think about is that shit! Just suck it up and tell him how you feel, dammit!"
Hikari looked at her with wide eyes. "I guess... maybe I could try," she returned softly.
Asuka sat back down next to her. It was so stupid and pathetic. She'd come to Hikari to try and deal with her own issues and was ending up trying to help her out with hers... how pathetic. "Yeah," she grumbled. "You should..."
There was a pause before Hikari spoke again. "Asuka... are you angry at Rei?" she asked.
Asuka tensed. "What do you mean?" she replied. It was an obvious attempt to deflect but she didn't care. "Why would I be angry at her?"
"I mean, you just said you were jealous of her," Hikari levied.
Asuka's scowl deepened. "I'm not mad at her," she replied, looking away from her friend. Shit, the truth was really spilling out now... "I'm more angry at myself. Like... I feel guilty."
"Guilty? Why would you feel guilty?" Hikari inquired.
Asuka snarled and completely turned her body around. "Like... it's obvious that Rei likes him," she replied softly after trying to collect herself. "And yet I still made a move on him... it's kinda shitty of me, isn't it?"
There was a long pause before Hikari responded. "I guess... but like you said, you don't know until you put yourself out there, right?"
Somehow that comment didn't make her feel any better, not in the slightest... "So what do you think I should do?" she asked.
Hikari shrugged. "You still want to be friends with both of them right?" she asked.
Asuka sighed. "Yeah, that's why this is pissing me off so much..." she grumbled.
"Then... I guess try to go on like nothing's changed," Hikari replied. "It'll probably be really hard but... it's probably the best thing you can do it you care about the both of them."
Asuka grimaced and clenched her fists. She knew her friend was probably right. No, she was definitely right that it was probably the best thing to do. She was right that it was going to be very difficult. Her jealousy was not something that died easily...
Ritsuko was getting increasingly unnerved as she continued viewing the files. She'd reached the spot where the Twelfth Angel should have arrived and yet there was no memory of it. What was even more disturbing was that there were more memories yet to be viewed, many, many more...
Her intrigue was slipping from perverse fascination into dread as she continued viewing through Rei's memories. So far in purported time after the Twelfth Angel there had been some more tests of the Dummy Plug... but that hadn't happened. She hadn't summoned Rei for any additional experimentation so these things shouldn't be there! It was beyond worrisome and bordering on the edge of terrifying...
And then... and then she saw it...
Watching what was happening play out even at a rate much faster than it had actually happened was still horrific. There was an... Eva... an Eva that was also an Angel! It nearly killed Rei according to the memories. Ritsuko sat for... she didn't even register or care how long she sat there watching the events play out. It seemed like... Unit 01 violently destroyed the Eva that was somehow also an Angel. Shortly afterward from that event it seemed like Shinji had decided to leave NERV and soon after this event yet another Angel had attacked which nearly resulted in Unit 00's destruction.
But that wasn't the worst of it, far from it. That Angel seemed to invade NERV headquarters using brute force to do it. Then Unit 01 attacked it and ran out of power. Subsequently, Unit 01 went berserk and destroyed it, causing Shinji to dissolve into LCL and... eating the Angel's core in the process.
None of this had happened. None of this had happened! Yet... it was there! Ritsuko couldn't look away. The burning desire to... see what happened next in these... images. No. They were visions. They couldn't be memories. These things hadn't happened! They couldn't be memories...
No matter what these... visions were, Ritsuko was determined to keep viewing them...
Rei walked beside Asuka and Shinji as they left the school. Though she'd relished the fact that things were going back to a sense of normalcy she was glad the days lessons were over. Now they were on the way back to Misato's apartment under the sweltering afternoon sun.
"Man, it's good to finally be done for the day," Asuka declared, stretching her arms high above her head. "I swear that old buzzard of a teacher puts me to sleep."
"That's not very nice, Asuka..." Shinji replied. "But, it is true. He is kinda boring to listen to."
Rei nodded in agreement. He was boring to listen to. Then again, having already lived nearly a year doing almost the same lessons, anything related to school other than spending time with her friends was incredibly tedious. "His lessons are indeed rather lackluster," she stated. "I also find myself rather fatigued mentally."
Asuka chuckled. "I think Hikari is probably the only person there that isn't bored to tears by that old man," she mused.
"Well, she is the class representative," Shinji pointed out. "She has to keep up appearances, even if she doesn't want to."
Asuka snorted and scowled. "Don't we all..." she muttered.
Rei resonated with that statement. Ever since she'd received Yui Ikari's gift she had been wearing a mask in one way or another, concealing the truth of herself and her origins. It was a mask she could never take off. The fear of the consequences of what should happen if she did was one she still struggled with even now... "Indeed," she replied softly.
Asuka sighed. "Well this talk got rather dark..." she huffed. "Anyone got anything, I don't know, happier to talk about?"
Shinji chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess that did get a little dark," he replied. "Um... do either of you remember when the next sync and harmonics test is?"
Asuka rolled her eyes. "I'm sure Dr. Akagi will remind us whenever that happens," she stated flatly.
Rei nodded in agreement. "Asuka is correct," she added.
Shinji sighed. "Look, I'm just trying to lighten the mood," he replied, defeated. "Sorry, I'm not really good at that..."
"Why don't you ask us what we want for dinner or whatever?" Asuka posited.
Rei mouth started watering involuntarily. That was a subject she could certainly find enjoyment in, especially if it meant that she was invited to dinner. It had been too long since she'd had Shinji's cooking... "I second this sentiment," she stated, perhaps sounding a bit more eager than she wanted to.
Shinji chuckled and a small smile worked its way onto his lips. "Okay, what do you guys want for dinner tonight?" he asked.
"I could go for some kind of pork dish," Asuka stated. "But if Wonder-girl is staying for dinner I know that's not an option. So, I guess anything you think of is fine. I am feeling something spicy though. What do you think, Rei?"
Rei thought on the matter for a moment before responding, taking Asuka's preferences into account. "Curry tofu would be rather pleasant," she replied.
"Curry tofu it is then," Shinji declared.
A few minutes later the three of them reached Misato's apartment. Rei followed Asuka and Shinji inside. The three of them kicked off their shoes and made their way into the kitchen. It was just like so many afternoons before. She knew that it really hadn't been that long since she'd stayed for dinner but to Rei it felt like forever ago. Any chance she got to spend with Shinji and Asuka after school instead of going back to her dreary apartment was a blessing. She would never cease to cherish these small moments where she could feel normal, that she belonged.
Shinji began looking through the cabinets in the kitchen. After a moment he closed them and turned to face her and Asuka with a nervous expression. "I don't think I have everything to make what we decided on..." he spoke timidly with a nervous grin.
There were very few ingredients in curry tofu from what Rei understood. "What ingredients are you missing?" she inquired.
Shinji laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "The curry paste..." he murmured with an apologetic grin.
Asuka laughed. "Seriously?" she exclaimed, her lips twisting into a playful grin. "You offered to make a curry dish and you don't have any curry left? That's false advertising, Shinji!"
"Hey, I thought I had it!" Shinji replied defensively before heaving a sigh. "I'll go to the convenience store and get some so we can still have it, alright?"
The fiery redhead snorted. "You do that," she replied. "But I'm not going with you. Nope, I've been looking forward to relaxing in front of the TV since lunch."
Shinji shrugged, his demeanor becoming a bit subdued. "I don't mind going alone," he returned. "It's fine..."
Rei frowned. Why didn't he ask her to come with him? "Why would you assume you had to go alone?" she asked. "I wouldn't mind accompanying you."
Shinji looked at her with a lopsided grin and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I figured you'd rather hang out with Asuka and watch TV," he replied awkwardly. "Sorry for assuming."
Rei nodded and grinned softly. "It's alright," she replied. "I am not offended."
Shinji blinked and she could have sworn his cheeks were getting a little red. "So you'll come with me?" he asked.
She nodded once again. "I would enjoy that," she replied.
His smiled back warmly and Rei couldn't help but note to herself just how much she liked his smile... "Alright," he replied.
Asuka let out a groan. "Well get on with it then," she huffed. "It would be nice to eat dinner at a reasonable time."
"Alright, alright, we're going..." Shinji responded, his grin faltering. "No need to get grouchy about it..."
Asuka snickered and sneered back at him. "Hunger is a very good reason to be grouchy," she replied. "And as I said, I'd prefer to eat at a reasonable time."
Shinji sighed. "Okay," he replied in a deflated tone of voice. "We're going..."
Shinji moved back towards the front hallway and Rei followed him to the door. They put their shoes back on and headed back out into the afternoon heat. Soon the two of them were walking down the street toward the nearby convenience store with Shinji leading the way. However, the way that they'd left the apartment and Asuka's behavior... bothered her. Rei understood full well how hunger could correlate to a bad mood but... she couldn't help but feel offended by Asuka's attitude. "Asuka was being a bit rude, don't you think?" she asked.
Shinji shrugged. "It's not a bother," he replied. "She gets like that sometimes, it's just Asuka being Asuka..."
Rei's brow furrowed at his statement. "Still... I don't like seeing her treat you derisively," she returned.
Shinji laughed nervously. "You're making it a bigger deal than it is," he stated. "I'm just glad things are going back to normal."
Rei resonated with the second part of his response very much. "It is pleasant that things are getting there," she replied.
There was a pause that came between them, one of those comfortable silences that they often enjoyed. "Thanks for coming with me," he said. "Going alone would have been kinda boring."
Rei felt that familiar warmth in her chest thrum softly, spreading to her cheeks. "I'm happy to accompany you," she replied with a smile.
Ritsuko had to force herself to remember to blink. Her heart was pounding as she continued to watch the images that were cycling on her screen. The images in Rei's memory files were things she would never have believed if she wasn't seeing them. They shouldn't be there. They shouldn't exist... and yet the images were crystal clear.
The events after Shinji was apparently... absorbed into Unit 01, some sort of procedure was done to extract him. It had been successful but only just. Seeing it through Rei's eyes, how she'd collapsed on the catwalk above the Eva cages at the conclusion of the procedure, Ritsuko could tell she had been very worried about the poor boy. Still... none of this had happened. What did it mean? And then... there was what played out soon after those... images, memories, whatever they were.
Not long afterwards... not long afterwards the images on her screen showed... herself, strangling Rei with a tourniquet used for drawing blood. It seemed that this had been done after a routine checkup after Rei mentioned something about Commander Ikari. The vision... horrified her. She'd disliked Rei in the past, yes, but she would never do something like that, like what her mother had done...
Then, past that, was another Angel attack. This Angel was shaped like... it was almost like a bird or a pair of crystal wings and it was detected high in orbit around the earth. Instead of diving in and attacking, it appeared to be doing some sort of... psychological attack on Unit 02 and its pilot. This nearly broke Asuka's mind but she was rescued when Rei descended into Terminal Dogma, retrieved the lance embedded within Lilith, and hurled it into orbit, destroying the Angel. But what came afterwards was truly impossible.
There was yet another Angel, that appeared as a ring made of light. It... broke into a rope and began infecting Unit 00. Unit 02 was piloted by some... unknown person, purportedly the Fifth Child. Units 00 and 02 failed to defeat the Angel and were somehow being invaded by it, infected like a virus. Unit 01 and Shinji came to their aid but it was no use...
Rei activated the self destruct feature on Unit 00 and was... killed in action.
She hit the space bar on her computer and paused the feed. Ritsuko held her head in her hands and stared at the screen with wide eyes. She had to be imagining all of this. None of this was possible. None of this had happened! Why was it on the screen! She dug her fingertips into her scalp hard enough that it was painful to assure herself that she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating these images from Rei's memory extraction. No... it was there. It was there, though it was impossible, it was there. What did it mean? Why were these images there? How was it possible? What was the explanation?
Ritsuko pulled out the third to last cigarette in her pack with a shaky hand, lit it, and resumed her viewing... Once she'd seen everything, she would have to have a talk with Rei, that was certain...
Touji passed by the check in desk of the hospital ward his sister was staying in while being treated for her injuries, not even bothering to sign the visitor forms. He'd visited so often since she'd been admitted that the security personnel didn't have his sign in or out anymore. Though that was a nice consideration being made for him he knew what it really meant. His sister had been in the recovery ward long enough for the staff to just know him. That certainly said a lot...
He turned a corner in the hallway and his sister's room was right there in front of him. He forced himself to put on a happy grin before entering. It wasn't easy to do after so many months waiting for improvement but he had to do it for his sister's sake. "Hey there, Sakura," he greeted as cheerfully as he could. "How do you feel today?"
There was his little sister Sakura, laying back in the hospital bed with all sorts of wires and tubes stuck in her, the instruments around her beeping rhythmically. The complex blunt force trauma that she'd suffered to both her head and internal organs from the incident had required her to be put into a medically induced coma for the first few months. Only recently was she beginning to make any progress, having awoken from it a few weeks prior. She turned her head to him and smiled weakly. "Hey, big bro," she rasped.
It was so hard to force himself to smile. "How are you feeling today?" Touji asked, stepping closer to her, and sitting down on the side of her bed.
"It's still hard to move my legs," she rasped. "The doctors say it will get better though."
Touji nodded. He knew about the pinched nerve cause by a fracture in her lower back. That was one of the more serious injuries she'd sustained. "That's good," he replied with a smile, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "Maybe soon they'll let you go home, huh?"
"I hope so," Sakura murmured, her expression taking on a deep sadness that was heartbreaking to see from someone as young as she was. "I miss my friends... I miss going to school..."
Touji squeezed her hand as his smile began to waver. It was just so saddening, seeing her like this. "You'll be out of here soon enough," he tried to reassure her.
"I hope so..." Sakura replied, wincing as she shifted in the bed. "But it's been so long. I don't like it here."
Touji fought to retain his grin. He couldn't let his sister see just how horrible he felt seeing her laying there in pain. He wished there was something he could do for her. "You'll be out of here soon," he tried to reassure her. "I promise."
Sakura looked at him with a sad expression. "How do you know?"
"I just know, okay?" he replied. "Your big bro knows things, you know?"
Sakura smiled. "I believe you, big bro," she replied.
Touji nodded. If only he could believe what he was telling her... "You should," he returned warmly. "I would never lie to you."
Sakura's smile widened. "You're the best, brig bro," she told him.
Touji drew a deep breath and squeezed her hand again. "I try to be," he replied.
By now it was late in the evening, and Ritsuko sat wide eyes in shock as the visions on the screen continued to play out. Her general sense of it had by now completely shifted from fascination to abject horror.
The strange white haired boy who had piloted Unit 02 had revealed himself to be the final Angel and attempted to merge with Lilith, controlling Unit 02 with some kind of psychic connection in the process. Shinji had then descended into Terminal Dogma and... killed the boy with his Eva's bare hands. Then, shortly afterwards, the JSSDF had laid siege to the geofront and massacred NERV personnel while Rei had descended to Lilith beside Gendo. He was going to use her to start Third Impact, apparently the reasoning for the Human Instrumentality Project all along. But what was worse was... when she saw herself.
She saw herself pointing a gun at Gendo and she threatened to kill him by blowing up NERV with the Magi's self destruct mechanism. Then... Gendo told the vision of herself on the screen he'd loved her right before he... shot her. She watched herself fall dead in a pool of her own blood beside the lake of LCL through Rei's eyes.
Ritsuko had to pause the feed for a moment after seeing that. This was insane. Why? Why was it there? Why would Gendo... kill her? Why was any of this happening on the screen!? She steadied her breathing and pressed play once more...
Moments after that, Gendo placed his hand, which seemed to contain some sort of embryonic form... inside Rei's stomach, penetrating her flesh with ease. The vision sickened her. She wanted to vomit... but she couldn't look away. Rei then ascended, ripping Gendo's hand off in the process, and merged with Lilith, initiating the Third Impact.
What followed next was a whirl of visions in a psychedelic setting. Rei spoke with Shinji in some kind of void. Apparently... Rei had given control over the Third Impact over to him? It was very confusing... the only thing she understood was that Rei somehow met with Yui Ikari afterwards and then...
She seemed to wake up, in the hospital wing of NERV, shortly after the accident with Unit 00 that had caused her grievous injury.
Ritsuko continued watching in fascination as more memories played out. There was Shinji arriving in Tokyo 3, again. There was the moment she visited Rei in the hospital and Rei had showed her gratitude, the moment she'd started to look at her differently... There was the attack of the Fourth Angel and it's aftermath, there was the attack of the Fifth Angel, this time as she remembered it playing out...
She couldn't watch anymore. It was too crazy. It didn't make sense! She stood up and began to pace back and forth through her office, trying to make sense of what she'd just seen on her computer monitor. She didn't know how long she paced, pondering the reasoning, trying her best to put a scientific reason to what she'd just witnessed... The most logical explanation was some kind of... dimensional shift, but... that was impossible! There was no way that something like that was possible! But... she knew what she'd just watched.
She took a deep breath and drew the final cigarette out of her pack, lighting it with a shaky hand. She had to get Rei to NERV tomorrow morning. She had to get her into her office and speak to her, alone. After what she'd seen with Gendo... shooting her, she couldn't trust him with this yet. She had to speak to Rei alone...
Ritsuko pulled her cell phone out of her lab coat's pocket and dialed Rei's cell with a shaky hand. The phone rang twice and the blue haired girl picked up. "Hello?" she answered.
"Hello, Rei," she spoke, trying her best to sound composed. "How are you?"
"I am well, Dr. Akagi," Rei replied. "It is rather late. Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing is the matter," she lied. "I just need you for some tests tomorrow morning. Is that alright?"
There was a pause. "I do not mind," Rei replied.
Ritsuko steadied her breathing. "Alright," she stated. "Be at my office at 8:00 AM sharp."
"Yes Doctor," Rei replied after another pause.
Ritsuko hung up the phone. There was no use continuing to watch what was in the files even though there was a great deal more left according to the play time. Tomorrow she would speak with Rei and hopefully get to the bottom of... whatever the hell it was she'd just watched. She finished her cigarette and left her office, heading home for the day even though she knew she wouldn't get much sleep. The anticipation of tomorrow's conversation combined with the visions she'd borne witness to would make any meaningful rest difficult...
Rei made her way through the halls of NERV on her way to Dr. Akagi's office. She was a bit saddened by the fact that she had to miss school. It was always a highlight of her day, walking to school with Asuka and Shinji. It was unfortunate but she couldn't protest it without drawing unnecessary attention or suspicion. Duty to NERV would always come first. Dr. Akagi and Commander Ikari wouldn't have it any other way.
Other than having to miss school, Rei was in a relatively good mood. She'd very much enjoyed being able to have dinner with Shinji and Asuka. She'd even managed to help Shinji prepare the meal, doing so without much instruction too, which she was rather proud of. At least there wasn't another Angel attack. Everything was getting back to normal. Whatever test that Dr. Akagi had summoned her for was probably some sort of normal checkup. There was nothing to worry about...
She finally reached Dr. Akagi's office, knocked on the door, and waited. The faux blonde doctor opened the door after a few moments. "Hello, Rei," she greeted, ushering her inside with a blank expression. "Come in."
Something felt... off. Something about the way that Dr. Akagi said those words felt off but she couldn't place what it was. Her tone just seemed... cold, distant even. Inside the office were two chairs in the middle of the room facing each other. This was quite odd... what did Dr. Akagi want with her?
"Have a seat," Dr. Akagi commanded.
Rei did as instructed and sat down in one of the folding chairs in the middle of the room. She watched as Dr. Akagi walked to her desk and lit a cigarette, it's noxious smell permeating the room. She was beginning to feel anxious. Dr. Akagi seemed tense and she didn't like it. The way she was standing, facing away from her with tensed shoulders, made her feel very, very nervous... "Is something wrong, Dr. Akagi?" she asked. "Did I... do something wrong?"
Dr. Akagi inhaled her cigarette and blew a plume of smoke, still not turning to face her. "You know, Rei, we've known each other for a long time, for nearly your entire life..." she replied cryptically.
Something in her tone set the hairs on the back of her neck on end. "This is correct..." she replied, unsure of what to say.
Dr. Akagi took another large inhale off of her cigarette and blew it out, still not looking her way. Rei wanted to cough from the smell. "And yet... I feel like I don't really know you," she said, her tone darkening with every word.
Rei's heart was beginning to race. Why had she been called here? What was going on? "What do you mean?" she asked.
Dr. Akagi turned to face her, a hard expression on her face. "Do you remember the two times I called you to be processed for the Dummy Plug?" she asked.
Rei's stomach churned. What was she getting at? "I do," she replied, trying her best to sound composed.
"And how part of that process was integrating your memories for combat experience purposes?" Dr. Akagi added, still looking at her with a rather stoic, blank expression.
Rei's heart felt like it was exploding. No. This couldn't be happening. She remembered that there had been errors displayed both times Dr. Akagi had tried to extract her memories. Could she really... could she really had seen them? "I do..." she replied, her composure starting to falter.
Dr. Akagi sat down across from her, and the doctor's eyes bored into hers. "I've seen anomalies that I can't explain," she stated. "There were visions, visions of events that haven't happened, that couldn't have possibly happened. The things in your memory files defy modern science..."
Rei entire body locked up in fear and her eyes went wide. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and every bone in her body wanted to just... bolt out of the office and yet she was frozen where she sat. This couldn't be happening. This had to be a nightmare that she would soon wake up from... "Wh- what?" she stammered.
Dr. Akagi glared at her. "I called you here today to understand what the hell it was I saw in those files," she replied firmly. "Now you are going to sit here and tell me everything you know..."
Rei stared back at Dr. Akagi with wide eyes, unable to speak...
Author's Notes
-Edit, did a slight tweak Ritsuko's final binge watch scene. In the manga, as I've now remembered, she does not fall into the lake of LCL. Also fixed some typos that were kindly pointed out. (Thank you, Tri-Edge)
This one has been a long time coming. To be honest, this confrontation between Rei and Ritsuko was one of the first plot points that I concieved when I conceptulized this entire epic of a narative. The events that will occur post this turning point will no doubt have a lasting impact on the story as it transitions into the later half of Eva...
This all said, it's kinda nice that Touji finally has a POV scene after so many chapters being relegated to nearly a background character. To be honest, I feel like Touji never gets enough love in the Eva fandom. The poor guy cares about the people close to him and he's a genuiniely good dude, if a little boorish at times. Also, I hope that you enjoyed the process of Ritsuko uncovering the things she was never meant to see throughout the chapter. I sincerely hope that it built the anticipation I intended.
Oh, and though it might not be a focus... I'm quite proud of Gendo's small role in this one.
Please read and review! If you think that the story is getting dark and crazy... just wait until you see what I have in store.
Regards,
A.F.