Chapter 10: Hard Contact
I'm getting used to the silence again. The feeling of being alone.
It's been a long, long time since I've been used to that. Not since a while after Second Impact. It's almost… comfortable, in a sense. At least, it was before Shinji returned.
Now, it's a struggle to keep my distance. But if I don't… I'll lose him again. He's a willful enough boy to end the world to try and save someone.
I can't lose anyone again. Otherwise, I crumble. Become the next best thing to useless. I have to think of the world before myself.
- From the personal journal of Captain Misato Katsuragi
AAA Wunder, March 1st, 2028
Daniel entered the bunk room that the Children had made theirs, smiling slightly as they all looked over at them, sitting up or standing as the door closed. Specifically, he looked at Shinji, who took out his headphones and looked back at him with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Good morning, kids," he said, his smile widening slightly. "How is everyone doing?"
Mari smiled back. "Doing my best to not drive the princess and her puppy insane, but on the whole, tip-top on this fine day."
Asuka sighed quietly. "I mean, it could be a lot worse, honestly. I'll give Specs some credit here, she's somewhat less annoying now that idiot Shinji's here."
Daniel nodded to Shinji. "And how are you?"
Shinji sighed somewhat wearily. "I'm… okay, I guess," he said with a shrug.
"Okay," Daniel said quietly. "Anything I can do to help with that?"
Shinji shrugged again. "Well… I don't really know."
Daniel nodded. "Okay. Let me know if you find out, and I'd be happy to help."
Shinji nodded in turn, and it was silent again for a moment.
"So," Asuka said as she leaned back on the wall of her bunk, "what brings you here this early in the morning?"
"Well…" Daniel sighed quietly as his smile disappeared. "I've done a little bit of digging on Rei and her origins, and… I figured you would want to know what I've found, Shinji. There's… a lot."
He looked over at Asuka, who arched her eyebrow. "Did you tell him anything yet?"
Asuka shook her head. "It's not my place to tell. I may be the best Evangelion pilot in the world, but I didn't get there without some measure of discretion."
She narrowed her eye slightly at him. "Is it your place to tell, though, watchdog?"
Daniel's brow quirked slightly at the nickname before he nodded. "Seeing as I asked her and she agreed, yes. It is."
Asuka shrugged. "Well, whatever. Tell away, I guess."
Daniel walked over to Shinji's bunk. "Can I get a seat?"
Shinji nodded, scooting over as Daniel sat next to him. It was silent for a moment, all eyes turning to look at the pair before Daniel began.
"Rei Ayanami's history, it would seem, starts in the aftermath of what is now known as the Contact Experiments, back in the early 2000s. From what I've found, what would become NERV was trying to figure out what the properties of the material that would become the cores of the Evangelions were. As the Evangelion project came into being, and it became clear what they needed for the Evangelion to function, the people working on the project saw the need to find a suitable means to make the Eva work. And…"
Daniel hesitated for a moment. "One of those scientists working on the project, the one who would volunteer to be the subject for contact with what would become Unit-01's core… was your mother. Yui Ikari."
Shinji's eyes went wide, and a quiet gasp was the only thing that pierced the silence. Daniel knew he had everyone's attention now as he continued. "But, before she was your father's wife, her name was very familiar. She was Yui Ayanami."
"Ayanami… wait.." Shinji said quietly, feeling as if there was something familiar about what Daniel had said about the experiments, just out of reach. "Like…"
"Yes," Daniel said quietly. "In fact… Rei is a clone of your mother, mixed with a few other genetic donors. You…"
He sighed quietly. "You basically have a sister, kiddo."
Shinji looked away, staring at the ground. "A… a sister…" he said, voice barely above a whisper.
Daniel put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Take a moment. I know it's a lot to process under the best of circumstances."
Shinji shook his head slightly after minutes of silence, his brow furrowed in thought. "So, wait… if my mother is the core of Unit-01, and it needs me to sync up with my mother to make it work… what about Ayanami's? Who was in Unit-00?"
Daniel shrugged. "I'm still not sure, honestly. I know a fair amount of how the Evas function, and which souls were — and still are — in which cores, are not a part of that knowledge. I don't know who is in Unit-02 and Unit-08, for example. And it took a lot of looking around to even find who was in Unit-01's."
Shinji nodded. "I see." he was silent again for a moment before he looked up at Daniel. "What would it take to get them out of the cores, do you think?"
Daniel looked at the wall. "An immense amount of power would be needed to drag someone out of the core who isn't going to willingly come out. An amount of energy that would… end the world."
Shinji's eyes went wide again. "Like an Impact…"
"You did get Rei out of the 10th Angel with that last one." Mari chimed in. "Granted, you pulled her and yourself into Unit-01's, but we did manage to get you two out. You two must have been ready to get back to being, y'know, corporeal and such."
"And," Daniel interjected with a slight smile as he stood, "speaking of getting people out…"
He walked over to the door, opened it, and peeked out. "Come on in," he said with a smile.
Daniel stepped aside, and Shinji's eyes, and a smile, widened as he stood, looking at Rei as she passed the threshold of the room. "Ayanami!" he said as Mari and Asuka joined his side.
"Hello, Shinji. Hello, Asuka and Mari." Rei said with a slight smile. "It is good to see you all. I look forward to living with you all."
"I certainly hope so!" Mari said as she puffed out her chest. "This little pilot's league wouldn't be complete without you. And, from what I've heard of your previous life and living situation from our dear old Puppy, your life could use some spicing up."
Asuka sighed wearily. "You could always tone it down a little. There is such a thing as too much spice, y'know. I'm surprised idiot Shinji here hasn't passed out from the 'spice' yet."
Mari looked over at Asuka with no small amount of shock. "Why, princess, if there's a point where there's too much, then we haven't reached it yet. After all, we're Eva pilots! Tossed into the heat of battle in giant mechs, living aboard a battleship in the sky! We're nigh on inured to such mundane 'spice' as we experience on a daily basis."
"Speaking of spice," Daniel interjected, a fact that Asuka appeared visibly grateful for, "what kind of ingredients are we planning to pick up for the dinner, Shinji?"
Shinji blinked, somewhat surprised at the attention. "What are we making?"
"Well, Shinji," Daniel continued, "seeing as you are the cook of the group, I turn such matters over to your expertise. I have a few recipes, stews and such, that I've learned over the years, but I believe you should tell us what we should be making. We'll help you out."
Shinji nodded slowly. They… were looking to him. To help them accomplish something only he could do with any skill. It reminded him of the Eva in no small part. Such responsibility… terrified him still. That even this many people depended on him…
Shinji took a deep breath. "I'll need to consider what we're going to make first, see if I can find some recipes. We're not going where I'll have what I usually use on hand, but I'll see what I can do."
"If nothing else, idiot Shinji," Asuka said, drawing his attention to her, "we can at least know that you'll put more skill into your cooking than you did your piloting. There are worse hands to be in."
Shinji smiled slightly, even with the barbs that were thrown at him. "I'll not disappoint you there, at least."
Then, in a move that surprised Asuka to no small degree, his expression became quite serious. "However much cooking you did 14 years ago though, Asuka, this is going to be my kitchen. I'll need you all to follow my instructions exactly. Can I trust you to do that?"
Asuka's look of near shock remained for a moment, then settled into something that could almost be called… being impressed. "Yeah. I'm great at following orders, after all."
Daniel watched on as Shinji, in a refreshing turn of events, began to take charge of something he was passionate about. 'Sorry to steal your thunder, Fuyutsuki.' he thought with a small, knowing smile. 'But I can't leave him in the dark. Not anymore.'
. . .
1 Day Later
Ymris looked at the gathered acolytes, sequestered away in one of the currently unused mess halls, a grim look on her face. "Acolytes," she said calmly, "I've spoken to Tavis recently. With Daniel onboard, he believes that we cannot risk his interference in whatever plans we, and the rest of the revival, make. Thus, he's authorized the activation and use of Palimpsest."
As the acolytes all looked at each other, somewhat shocked expressions accompanying mutters, she still wondered what kind of weapon, exactly, Palimpsest was. Takeshi, who had placed herself in front of the acolytes, hadn't told her when she'd asked about what it was. All she had right now was a knowing look on her face.
"When do we strike, then?" one of the acolytes in the back asked.
"As soon as possible, obviously," Takeshi said, standing as Ymris suppressed a quiet sigh. "After all, if he stands in the way of the Great Cause, and he is as powerful as I've been told, then he must be dealt with. If stabbing him in the back when he least expects it is how we must deal with him, then-"
"Now, hold on," Ymris said, stepping forward as she reached out a staying hand. "We can't just consider him by himself. His wife is here, too. And she is not to be trifled with either. More than likely, neither are the four others that they arrived with. We cannot leave them to exact vengeance should we kill him and him alone."
"So when do we strike then?" Takeshi asked, a challenging tone to her voice as she turned to look at her. "We cannot leave it for long, or the heretic will have more time to undo whatever we may try. And we cannot do it immediately, for risk of 'not being thorough enough'. So when?"
Ymris considered Takeshi at length before she opened her mouth to reply, but before she could speak, an alarm blared to life, the lighting in the room becoming bright red.
As the acolytes looked around themselves in startled shock, Ymris took control of the situation with an almost practiced ease as she strode toward the door, opening it as she began. "We'll do it after we get off battle stations. Anyone who isn't in engineering, get to your duty stations and prepare for damage control and triage efforts! Ship's engineers, get to the engine room and ensure Unit-01 is secure. Protecting it is this ship's top priority. Eva engineers, to your assigned Evas. Those of you with me on Unit-02, we're going to run one last check on the Arm Bar, and make sure our new muscle strands are ready to go. Move!"
The room was a flurry of action as several dozen bodies rushed toward and out the door in a stream. As the flow reached its end and Ymris stepped out, Takeshi swept up in it as she made her way to Unit-08, Ymris' phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to look at the text message that Daniel had sent her from his position as the man on the bridge station rotation this week. 'Mark.04As. At least 20 are immediately approaching, with more incoming. I hope the Evas are ready, cause the kids are on their way.'
She typed out a quick reply as she walked, those other crew members who were heading to other parts of the ship getting out of the way. 'They will be. We were all waiting for something like this.'
She made her way towards Unit-02, beginning to put the phone back in her pocket before her hand paused. What was she doing?
She felt the conflict in the center of her chest, an almost physical force seeming to build behind her sternum that threatened to tear her down the middle. Would she leave him to the fate that awaited him, whatever it may be? He was certainly capable enough to fend for himself. As was his wife. But the four that came with him…
She had her suspicions about who they could really be. But if she were wrong, and they really were just sympathetic souls that he'd picked up here… she couldn't take the chance.
She sighed quietly, bringing her phone back up out of the pocket it had started slipping into to type out one last message. 'They know. They're coming. Get ready.'
She slid her phone back into her pocket and ran through the door to the gantry of Unit-02. To try and say any more than that would be to give more than she had.
'I hope you can work with that much, Daniel.' she thought silently as she watched Asuka's Entry Plug slide into place, the Evangelion activating with a quick, pulsing thrum as she made her way up towards the mechanical arm.
As she put on a headset and made her way up the gantry, she sighed quietly as she heard Asuka's voice, clearly irate. "What's the holdup here? I've got things to kill! I can't let Specs have all the fun."
"We'd prefer if you don't have problems with your arm when we send you out, Asuka." she keyed in and replied. "This is going to be as quick as we can make it."
Every second still felt like minutes as she began to feel the rumbling and shuddering of impacts slightly shaking her and the others atop Unit-02 as they ran their test, and hear the thunder of the guns up and away from the gantry as the fleet engaged the incoming Marks.
Finally, the requisite checks were completed to satisfaction, and Ymris, along with the rest of the crew doing the checks, scrambled off the gantry as it began to slowly move towards the left wing-side lift.
. . .
Asuka Shikinami-Langley felt excitement nearly bubbling in her veins, her annoyance only a small obstacle, as the gantry released her Unit-02, allowing her to come to a kneeling position on the platform, taking the Pallet Rifle that lay next to her and checking to make sure that the magazine was filled with Anti-AT Field rounds.
Finally, finally, they had a fight on their hands. She was whole again, right where she was meant to be. She'd have to play it safe this time around, make sure not to waste any of her shots that she would be making with ammo that was usually reserved for the main cannons, but such considerations did not manage to restrain the energy that had her nearly vibrating in her seat.
A comm panel appeared to her right as she began to hear the wailing screams, an audio-only one that only read 'Bridge'.
"We've extended the ship's AT Field over the other ships of the fleet as well as the rest of the ship for now, but that means they can't provide covering fire alongside the Wunder itself." Captain Katsuragi began. "Until you can get them all focused on you, you won't have much in the way of supporting fire."
The ship rumbled underneath her feet again, and she heard the distant blare of several somethings impacting an AT Field near her. "I hope we have spare rifles, Captain," she said as a door opened up, allowing sunlight to burst into the room, the light flaring from time to time with explosions. "Otherwise, we're going to have to try at being airborne ourselves."
"You'll have spares delivered up to you as necessary," Katsuragi replied. "In the meantime, make your shots count."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Asuka muttered as the lift slid to a stop, and Unit-02 stood and scanned the area.
It wasn't hard for her to find a target and begin shooting at the Marks as they zipped past, unfurling her AT Field to smother what she could manage to get a bead on as she squeezed the trigger, short bursts of fire trailing the screaming Mark that she had her eye on for a moment before a burst slammed into its body, an explosion blooming in the Mark's place pushing a spike of raw satisfaction into her heart as she picked up another Mark.
Thus it was for long, glorious minutes, Marks cooking off on all sides of the ship as Mari and the main guns of the Wunder chipped in as well.
Asuka stepped back from the edge of the wing, dodging from side to side as the Marks seemed to finally get the idea that there were Evas to target, several howling past her before she dodged to the side yet again, grabbing at the long, blade-like limb that nearly zipped by, dragging the unlucky Mark in an arc to release it into the face of one of its compatriots, throwing up her AT Field as the duo exploded, catching a few others in the blast.
Asuka shouted triumphantly as she continued to fire around her, several Marks slamming into her AT Field and trying to tear it apart. Now, however, she simply aimed and fired into the gaps that they made, many of them exploding before they could even fire.
But even as the tide that ran towards her began to slacken, they kept coming, Asuka looking out over the horizon as several other flights began to enter the battle, lines of brilliant purple lancing out from the Wunder's main guns to meet them. 'They just don't stop coming, do they?'
"Asuka!" she heard Katsuragi say, an urgent tone to her voice. "There are several Marks slipping under the guns of the ship. We've raised an AT Field around the engineering bay, but they're going to need to be dealt with. Intercept them and protect the bay and Unit-01."
Asuka's jaw clenched as she disengaged as best she could, making her way over to the edge of the wing once again, and she saw three of the Marks blazing past the command gondola, several more beginning to follow after.
"How am I going to get to that level?" Asuka wondered as she walked over to the other side of the wing. Unit-02 had slipped in there before, but that was underwater. However, with the spiraling body of the ship widening as it went back…
Asuka shook her head as she considered what she would have to do, and the slowly heightening drop she would face if she failed. 'This is more Mari's gig… but an order's an order.'
With that, she took several steps back, stowing away her rifle as she did, then got a running start before leaping off the wing, Unit-02 sailing through the air for brief, terrifying seconds as the Eva reached out towards one of the massive, bone-like spiraled ribs that seemed to be one of the widest parts of the structure before it began to taper off.
It grew closer and closer at a breathtaking rate, and for the barest of instances, Asuka felt a tingling in her fingers as she hoped that she'd gotten the jump right. Then, Unit-02's hands, both fleshy and mechanical, slammed into the bottom of one of the ribs, Unit-02's body swinging for a moment as Asuka maintained a death grip on the structure and began to pull herself up, unfolding her AT Field into a platform which she could fall on should the need arise.
As she balanced on two of the ribs, turning and making her way towards the engineering bay, Asuka glanced back and saw three Mark.04As slipping through the cracks, slowly, almost delicately, then turning to face her. "Well, then," she said to no one in particular as she turned and retrieved her rifle, "you're a little defter than I thought."
She spoke with the rifle next, scathing rounds thundering towards the Marks that screamed towards her, one succumbing to the withering barrage and exploding, the other two racing past their comrade and slamming into a raised AT Field at the same time.
Asuka leaned Unit-02 back, unwilling to take a step that could plunge her into the sea as she saw the Marks pressing on, their Anti-AT Field blades slowly slicing through as they rotated. Soon, their Needle Cannons would try their best to punch holes in her. She leveled her rifle at the first one to open far enough, firing a burst of rounds at the barrels before they could fire in return, the Mark exploding in short order as its companion fired, the shots spraying across the left side of the Eva's chest and the mechanical arm's shoulder.
Asuka growled as the prosthetic became hard to control, wrestling the rifle into position to fire on the offending Mark. She shook her head as she stowed the rifle, taking the Progressive Knife from her one remaining pylon as the blasts cleared to reveal three more Marks in front of her.
"Heads up, Asuka!" she heard Daniel say into a now open comm panel. "You've got two behind you."
Asuka nodded as she maneuvered to keep the Marks on her sides, the other two coming into view. "Got it."
"Specs," she said as she pulled up Mari's comms, a Mark slamming into her AT Field interrupting her, "I'd appreciate a little help down here!"
"No can do for the moment, princess," Mari replied as another Mark collided with her AT Field. "They've got me pinned in up here."
Asuka sighed heavily as the other two joined their companions in short order, and she found herself boxed in as well. 'I don't suppose Unit-01 would be interested in providing some help now that idiot Shinji's out of it, either.'
. . .
In the depths of the ship, sequestered in their bunk room, Shinji couldn't help but still feel like there was something he could have been doing.
But all it seemed he was able to do was huddle in the corner of the bunk room, Rei sitting patiently by his side. Rei, his… sister.
He was still trying to process that. How? How could his father do that? All to get his mother back? If she was a clone, how many versions of her were there? And, remembering the squalid apartment that she'd stayed in, why put her away like that?
Another thundering boom shook him from his reverie and reminded him that, right now, he was just a boy huddling in the corner of a near-empty room once again. Just like when the 10th Angel attacked.
He was… useless.
"Is something wrong, Shinji?"
Shinji looked over at Rei, who looked back intently at him. He still wasn't sure how she had come to be able to read him so easily.
"Well… yeah. I want to get into Unit-01. I want to go and help Asuka and Mari. But…"
He reached up to the Choker that he now wore. The sort of collar that Rei had gotten before she was released, much to Daniel's protesting dismay. "If I do… I could die."
Rei looked at the floor as she nodded. "I see. And you can not be replaced as I could."
Shinji looked over at her with wide eyes. "Have you been… replaced before?"
Rei nodded once. "Only once before. But I do not think I can be replaced now."
"Of course not!" Shinji said as he shifted onto his knees. "You're Rei Ayanami. You're… you. No one else could be you."
Rei opened her mouth, then closed it silently after a moment. Then, after long moments, her brow furrowed slightly. "Do you… feel that?"
Shinji blinked at the non sequitur. "What do you mean?"
"The…" she shook her head as the ship rumbled again. "Something. In the back of your mind."
Shinji tilted his head for a moment, then focused. There was nothing. Wait… there, like a buzzing feeling in the very back of his skull.
His brow furrowed as he deepened his focus, only somewhat aware that Rei was doing the same. It felt… familiar. Like…
In a single moment, they felt… massive, now. A buzzing chatter erupted in their head, and they clutched their heads as something, someone, many someones, peered into them… and reacted.
Then, darkness, as consciousness vanished from the pair.
. . .
In the engineering bay, Eleanor worked in the shadow of Unit-01, tirelessly sending out damage control teams as she, and many others anxiously watched the feeds from the outside cameras. At least, those that weren't destroyed yet. Unit-08 was tied down trying to swat at several Mark.04As that were weaving in and out like mad flies, an unexpected strike taking her in the back and sides before she turned and picked the offender off.
And, very near them, almost right below them, Unit-02 was fenced in by five of the Marks, Asuka stabbing a now seemingly small Progressive Knife at one of the Marks that made a sufficiently large breach.
'Come on…' Eleanor said, hoping against hope that Asuka was wily enough to extract herself from this without some rather attention-grabbing help.
Then, her blood chilled as she, and everyone else, heard a growl coming from above them all that seemed to vibrate their very bones. And as she looked up, her eyes went wide as she saw Unit-01's eyes flash, and she waited for the bay to go up in a plume of bright purple fury.
She found herself surprised when… it didn't. Then, she turned back to the screen.
. . .
Asuka felt a fleeting moment of triumph as her blade wrecked the Needle Cannon of one of the Marks, the Knife squealing as she twisted it and pulled it back out. That moment fled in the instant that she realized the others would be firing soon.
'Maybe if I layer my AT Field over my body, I can-'
The thought was washed away by an eerily familiar whirring sound, like a drill spinning near the speed of light, as twin beams of brilliant purple light lanced out from the sides, slicing through the Marks with contemptuous ease.
The combined blasts of the exploding Marks jostled Unit-02, Asuka swaying in her seat as she fought to keep balance. However, as she felt her stomach leap into her throat, it was a fight she lost as she felt the Eva's foot slip, the rest of its body tumbling into the open air.
After a tumbling, twisting fall that lasted for wild seconds, the Progressive Knife slipping out of her hand, she managed to turn the unwieldy Unit on its back, facing up at the sky, at the rapidly receding fleet and the battle that surrounded it. "Specs!" she shouted into her comm panel. "I'm going in the drink! I'll try and draw some of them off of you guys before I enter the water!"
"No need, princess!" Mari replied, a glimmer in her eyes giving way to a massive grin. "I'll get you!"
"What?" Asuka said incredulously. "How are you…"
She trailed off as she saw something she somehow both never expected to see and knew was going to happen, as she watched Unit-08 sail off the right wing, angling towards her like a bolt of pink lightning. "You've got to be kidding me." Asuka said in slack-jawed awe.
"Don't you worry, princess!" Mari said as she grew closer and closer, the Marks up above seemingly caught off guard as they left them alone for the moment. "You just don't move, and I'll get us back to the ship in no time."
"Don't move?" Asuka said incredulously. "Maybe try not to collide with me, and I can manage that!"
She saw Mari's smug grin and rolled her eye. "Well, when the situation's like this, I can't make any promises, you know that," Mari replied.
Asuka growled out a sigh as she watched Unit-08 go spread-eagle, still angled to get just that little bit more momentum to reach her, then her eyes widened as she saw several of the now rapidly dwindling Marks dive towards them, their piercing screams becoming more and more clear once again.
Asuka wasted no time as she drew her rifle from her back, aiming it as best she could. "You'd better hurry, Specs! We've got company!" she said, firing over Unit-08's shoulder as best she could.
"Almost there…" Mari said, her face now set in concentration as the two Units drew closer and closer, Unit-08 stretching out its arms. Almost there… almost there…
Then, Unit-08 wrapped Unit-02 in a bearhug as best it could, and Asuka caught the sight of wings composed of Unit-08's AT Field springing to life as she felt the Gs of their descent slowing as quickly as Mari could manage it. Now, though, with Unit-08's shoulder to fire from, she at least had a decently stable platform.
She squeezed off one burst of rounds, then another, one of their pursuers finally going up in a ball of flame, then the world tilted to the side somewhat, and Asuka saw the ridiculously close surface of the ocean, and the spray that Mari's wingtip threw up, before they began to climb again. Right back up into the waiting Marks.
"Uh, Specs…" she said as she tried to aim up, then settled on looking up and waiting for something to try and stop them. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"Of course I do, princess!" Mari chirped as Asuka felt an arm let go of her, noting the glint of a Pallet Magnum from the corner of her eye. "Right through the middle of these screamers, as perfect a shooting gallery you could ask for! You ready?"
Asuka sighed as she sighted in the rifle, layering her AT Field over the two of them, excepting Unit-08's outstretched arm and her own rifle. "I guess I'll have to be. Don't do anything too fancy, or you'll screw up my aim."
"Oh, fine," Mari said dramatically, falling uncharacteristically silent as they drew closer and closer to the Marks.
Then, they were in amongst them, 10 or so of the things beginning to swirl around them to try and get a good angle on them as the pair began to slowly rotate in their ascent. Asuka fired in small, precise bursts, one, then another Mark going up in a ball of flames, the bark of the Pallet Magnum behind her head interrupted only by another duo of explosions.
She risked a glance up, and saw the fleet growing rapidly closer. She didn't risk a glance down. The vertigo would throw off her aim too much.
She drew a bead on another Mark… then hesitated as she saw it peel away, several others rushing past her shoulders and from underneath them. Were they…
"Good job, pilots," Katsuragi said. "It looks like this attack has been driven off. Go ahead and make your way back to the ship and prepare to be debriefed."
If there was any sort of wonder or amazement that Katsuragi had at Mari's frankly wondrous feat, Asuka thought as Unit-02's feet touched the top of the wing again, she didn't show it.
'Damn though, I've got to give it to her.' Asuka mused as she made her way back to the lift. 'That's the most novel use of an AT Field I think I've ever seen.'
She made a point to file it away for later. And perhaps do some experimenting of her own.
. . .
Daniel leaned back in his seat as the Hirnstamm module began to open up again, revealing the bridge to the crew once again. He pondered silently for a moment the rather spectacular battle that he'd witnessed, and the daring maneuver that had capped off the event, as Koji's handling of damage control washed over him, noting only for a moment a severely damaged radar dish and several gashes in the armor that touched a few crew compartments. None close to either him or the Pilots.
'My, but I'm sure my pilots will be taking notes for maneuvers they can do.' he thought as he smiled slightly. 'With the drastic power difference between a Frame Titan and a regular Evangelion…'
But these weren't regular Evangelions, he had to remind himself. At least, not regular Evangelions as he'd known them. Unit-02 could become a beast seemingly on command, while Unit-08 had perhaps pushed its potential limits alongside its pilot in escaping with the Wunder. And Unit-01…
'Mrs. Ikari must be up to something.' Daniel thought as his smile dimmed slightly. 'The Unit's far more willful in the Master's position than I could have ever expected. Then again, we didn't really see that much in the films.'
New surprises around every corner, as should have been expected. 'And speaking of surprises…'
He pulled out his phone, opening it to look at the text he'd received from Ymris. 'They know. They're coming. Get ready.'
But for what? He shook his head slightly. Whatever happened, he'd be on high alert. As too would the others. For the moment, though, he simply typed out a reply. 'Duly noted. Looks like we're going to have our hands full on the Arm Bar, aren't we?'
It was still for a moment, then Ymris replied. 'Yeah. We certainly are. And we won't have any shortage of things to talk about while we're working, either.'
The corner of Daniel's lips twitched as he replied. 'And don't I know it.'
. . .
Shinji slowly came to, the terribly familiar sound of an EKG monitor's constant beeping picking into his skull as he began to slowly open his eyes.
Darkness became hazy white light, broken up by splotches of darkness, and he groaned as he put a hand to his head. "Where…"
He felt a firm hand on his shoulder. "Whoa, Shinji." he heard Daniel say, his face coming into focus as he found himself, unsurprisingly, in what was likely the medical bay of the ship. "Take it easy. You've been out for a solid day."
Shinji looked around himself, at Mrs. Theisman and Doctor Anderson and Sakura, then blinked and looked back at Daniel as what he said fully registered. "Wait. A day?"
Mrs. Theisman nodded, a concerned look on her face. "Asuka found you and Rei in your bunk room out cold after the battle. We don't have the slightest idea of what happened to you. Did you… hit your heads or something?"
Shinji opened his mouth to respond, then noticed a particular absence. "Where's Misato? Or… even just Doctor Akagi?"
Dr. Aanderson shook her head quietly. "Likely still busy running the ship." she paused for a moment. "Would you like me to let them know that you're awake?"
Shinji considered it for a moment, then remembered the cold eyes that had stared at him since he'd woken up. "No," he said quietly. "Don't worry about it, then."
"So the question still stands though, Shinji," Sakura interjected. "What happened?"
Shinji thought back to the moments before he slipped out of consciousness. "Rei and I were talking, and she noticed… something. We both focused on it, then…"
He shook his head. "I woke up here. I can't really remember what happened."
"When did this happen?" Aanderson asked.
"During the battle."
It was silent as the adults considered the words he'd said. Then, Mrs. Theisman looked around at the others. "Care to step away? I have some thoughts."
The other adults nodded, and moved towards a far corner of the room, allowing Shinji to see Rei on the gurney next to him, a thoughtful look on her face.
. . .
As they reached the corner, Daniel regarded Eleanor intently as she began. "So, Shinji and Rei both focus on something during the fight, something that exerts them to unconsciousness, and around the same time, Unit-01 does some rather magical nonsense to protect Asuka once again? If that's a coincidence, then it's a hell of a coincidence."
"Correlation doesn't always equal causation, dear," he replied. "We're still unsure of the duties of the Master of the vessel we're standing in. It could have been an automated defense system for protecting itself, with how close the fighting got to the engineering bay."
"That still doesn't fully explain why Shinji and Ms. Ayanami fainted, though," Sakura interjected. "They could still be… connected to the Eva somehow."
She was silent for a moment as she considered something. "Do you think we should tell Doctor Akagi or the Captain about this?"
Daniel, Eleanor, and Katara all looked at each other silently for a moment, then they looked back at Sakura. "I think, for now, we note the incident, Sakura," Katara said. "If it needs to be brought to the attention of the Captain or the XO, we'll let them know. But right now…"
She paused and shook her head slightly. "We simply don't know enough about how their time within Unit-01 affected them."
Sakura nodded slowly, clearly uncertain. "Alright then. If you feel it's the right choice."
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Sakura," Daniel said with a gentle smile. "They're tough kids. They'll be up and about like nothing ever happened in no time, I'm sure."
And yet, he still couldn't help but wonder at whether he should take a look at whether there was still some connection between the kids and the Evangelion that kept them aloft. Perhaps a visit to the rather mysterious purple titan was in order in the future.
'If whatever the Scions here send at us doesn't interrupt that.' he mused darkly.