Changes In Tempo
CHAPTER 2: New Arrivals
April 23rd, 2015 - Ruins outside Tokyo-III - 2:48 PM
Sachiel had awakened, seeking to head towards the pleas of help from Lillith. He began swimming through ancient ruins. Meanwhile, NOAA hydrophones planted by the JSSDF, the Japanese government, and the U.S. Coast Guard before this to pick up earthquakes due to the fault line Japan lays on had picked up the vibrations of Sachiel.
"Well, it seems they have found my signals. Only time can tell if they can stop me once they find out." Sachiel remarked to himself
Meanwhile, sonar planes had been dispatched to the area to scan the waters nearby, finding the signal. Research teams couldn't make out the signals to be anything organic, so they figured the JSSDF could figure it out. Theorizing this may be an enemy trying to attack Tokyo-III, which was near, JSSDF ordered troops from nearby military bases to standby outside of Tokyo-III. Tanks lined up along roads, prepared for something to appear.
Tokyo-III - 2:50 PM
It was a warm sunny day in Tokyo-III. Cars honking, the chatter of people, and the large high-rise buildings with the sun reflected off the glass. After the Second Impact, the weather on Earth was heavily affected, and the only seasons that existed after the fact were Summer and Fall. But since Japan was a highly advanced nation before the Second Impact, the weather didn't affect much of the population.
Amidst all the chatter and loud noises, local radios played some of the city's favorite music.
"Toky, Toky, Toky, Toky. Tokyo-Cho Radio! Good evening Tokyo-III! I'm Hiroshi Tojo, your host over at Tokyo-Cho Radio! It's going to be a nice sunny day with a high of 30C-"
The radio abruptly cut off before a Civil Danger alert began to play on all radios. Little would anyone know, this would be the beginning of their hellish living in Tokyo-III. Evacuations began, and soon enough, the entire city, along with several cities nearby, would be empty, with only abandoned cars in the streets left behind.
Tokyo III - 3:21 PM
"Sorry, but the phone you are trying to use is currently offline due to a Civil Danger aler-"
Rei hung up the phone in anger that it wouldn't work. She looked around and saw no life.
"I can't reach her?" Rei remarked to herself, wondering if this "Misato Katsuragi" would pick her up at some point. "Maybe I shouldn't have come here, although I don't get why father requested me here."
As she looked around, the figure of a boy with brown hair, a white button-up shirt, and black pants appeared. She took notice of him.
"Who is that?" Rei questioned. He certainly looked cute, but she hadn't seen him before this, nor had she even seen him at all. He just spawned in from nowhere. Rei's thoughts were quickly cut off when several helicopters roamed the skies in a circle pattern, only seconds later to reveal a giant was near. Missiles went off left and right, making hits on the giant, only to show they had no effect. The shockwaves being so close made her long hair flutter strongly.
Suddenly a blue car parked nearby with the passenger side door opening. "Sorry, I'm late. Got a bit lost!" A woman responded. Rei was in shock, unable to speak and move. "Don't just stand there! Get in!" She said with urgency.
Rei quickly hopped in the car and closed the door.
"Well, I got you at a good time, didn't I? My name is Misato Katsuragi." Misato spoke.
"What was that thing?" Rei said with utter shock and fear, breathing frantically.
NERV HQ
"Seems as if 15 years have just come back to fight us again," Fuyutsuki says.
"And so it seems. The Angels have returned." Gendo said, devoid of any emotion.
Highway heading out of Tokyo-III - 3:42 PM
"So let me get this straight, the things we just saw outside are called 'Angels," Rei asked Misato as she stood outside, looking at the angel behind them with a pair of binoculars.
"Yep. These angels are also why your father summoned you- Hang on just a second," Misato said as she began zooming in on the angel, noticing the helicopters flying away. "Are they nuts? They are using an N2 mine! Take cover!"
Moments after Misato and Rei got down, a flash as bright as a nuclear bomb appeared. Misato pulled Rei closer.
A few minutes after the blast went off, Rei and Misato got up to find the car flipped over.
"Well, this is my luck. I just got a body repair and cleaned this dress, but I can't have anything nice, can I?" Misato cursed at the gods for her misfortunes. "Think you can help me flip the car back?" Misato then asked Rei.
NERV HQ - 3:50 PM
"No effect. DAMNIT!" One of the JSSDF generals yelled.
"I believe your services are of little use to this battle. You may transfer command when ready." Gendo said with a smirk.
"Gendo, this operation is now under your command. Do not fail us." The JSSDF generals then left the room.
"All staff prepare the Eva for its pilot. They should arrive soon." Gendo commanded.
Highway heading out of Tokyo-III - 4:02 PM
As Misato and Rei sat in the car, Rei decided to put on her cassette player and relax for the time being. Misato noticed this and commented on it.
"I guess you like to be in your world sometimes, a bit of an escape?"
Taking off her headphones to respond, she replies, "I guess… Right after my mother died, my father abandoned me while I was in the worst spot of my life. I lived with my uncle after that point. He helped me get through my mother's death and gave me a life worth living. This cassette player was a gift from my uncle as a way to relax or calm myself."
Misato could sense that it was a sensitive topic and decided it'd be best to move on. She could only say that this conversation would come back later.
A few minutes pass by. Misato then breaks the silence.
"We're here. Read this manual. You'll need it." Misato said as she gave Rei a NERV Welcome manual.
"'NERV?'" Rei questioned. Her thoughts were then put on hold as the area around them opened up to a large underground structure.
Her face filled with excitement and awe at the size of the structure.
"Welcome to the GeoFront, the best defense humanity will ever have," Misato commented.
An hour later
"I swear this is the way. How do maps not exist for this place?" Misato said in anger and confusion.
"We've passed by this hallway at least four times already," Rei commented with boredom.
Misato opened a door, only to be greeted by a tall woman with blonde hair in nothing but a swimsuit.
"Well, guess what the cat found now. How do you get lost so easily, Misato." The woman asked.
"Don't even question it," Misato said with a grit of anger.
"I take it that this is the new pilot right here?" The woman asked.
"Yes, this is Rei Ikari, the third child," Misato answered.
"I'm Ritsuko Akagi, the lead scientist here at NERV."
"I'm not gonna question your apparel, but nice to meet you," Rei responded.
As Ritsuko looked at Rei, she spotted the manual in her hands. Misato had given her the wrong documents.
"You gave her the wrong manual, Misato. You should've given her the one we had made for her." Ritsuko commented.
"Boo hoo, I couldn't find it! And if it works, it works." Misato said with anger.
Ritsuko sighed in confusion at how this woman operated on a day-to-day basis.
Holding Cage 1 - 5:16 PM
"Why is it so dark in here?" Rei commented.
A second later, the lights turned on, greeting her with a purple robot. Rei stammered back in fear.
"This is the culmination of many years of work, Evangelion Unit-01," Ritsuko added.
In Rei's head, flashbacks were beginning to form. "Unit-01… Why do I recognize this name… 'absent from the entry plug… Yui Ikari, announced dead on arrival.' No. It can't be. NO!"
Rei fell to the ground and began stuttering back even further, fear took hold, and she began to cry. Her hair draped over her head as she immediately looked down. Misato took notice of this and rushed to Rei. Ritsuko had the respect to at least come and wipe her eyes.
"Hey Rei, are you okay? Is everything good?" Misato asked with worry.
"Th- Thi- This is whe- where my mo- mo- mother died. In that Eva." Crying harder while stuttering over her words.
Misato began to comfort her, knowing that it was all coming back to her. "Hey, hey, hey, it's okay." Hugging Rei in the process and cradling her.
"So I see you remember the scene all too well. Nice meeting you again, Rei." A monotone voice came from above.
"Why do yo- you need me here?" Rei asked with anger.
"The Eva in front of you is why. We need a pilot." Gendo said.
"MOTHER DIED IN THAT THING! WHY DO YOU EXPECT I'LL PILOT IT?" Rei then shouted.
"Our other pilot is currently unavailable to use, and you were the closest match we could get for someone to pilot it," Gendo responded, devoid of emotion or empathy in his voice.
"NO! NOT IN MY LIFE! I'LL DIE JUST LIKE MOTHER!" Rei shouted once more.
Taking notice of the situation, Misato needed to get Rei to pilot. "Rei, we need a pilot. If we don't, we risk letting so many die at our hands," Misato told Rei, calming her as she still cradled Rei. While she never saw herself as a parental figure, she knew Rei needed comfort.
"Mother died in there! Piloting that thing will surely kill me!" Rei told Misato with grief.
"Rei, please, our other pilot is unable to pilot. Doing this would make me and a lot of people happy." Misato begged.
Rei was speechless. She didn't know what to do. She knew many people counted on her if she piloted, but out of fear, she may end up like her mother.
"Fuyutsuki, bring out Shinji." Gendo commanded.
"He isn't fit to pilot. Are you sure?" Fuyutsuki asked with worry.
"Yes," Gendo replied.
Minutes later
Rei was still sobbing, and Misato was still comforting her. Everyone stopped what they were doing when an emergency team with a gurney rolled out.
On the gurney was an injured boy, only wearing a special skin-tight suit. He tried to get up, but it only caused him pain. Rei could only watch with utter sadness and anger as she saw her father only sought to use him as a bargaining chip for her to pilot, but it worked well. Rei went over to help the boy.
Outside at the time
"Seems like this is the spot," Sachiel said to himself.
With the force of what felt like a nuclear bomb, he attacked the ground, successfully making a breach in the GeoFront. The power of the attack caused a building from the roof to fall onto the facilities below.
Back inside
The falling debris hit the facility hard, causing extreme tremors throughout, with everyone losing balance. Rei fell back to her feet, and Shinji fell off the gurney.
Rei quickly ran back to Shinji, but suddenly, a piece of metal began falling toward them. With no time left to escape, Rei thought that she would die.
"CLANG!" The Eva's arm broke free of its restraints and covered Rei and Shinji from the falling debris. Everyone stood in shock.
"How the fu- HOW?" Misato questioned.
"There's no entry plug inserted. How is it doing that?" Ritsuko asked.
Rei then looked down at Shinji, whimpering and clearly in pain. She held him close to comfort him. Misato could see that Rei could turn him from an emotionless zombie to something beautiful.
Rei saw the blood in her hand, contemplating whether she should pilot. In 10 seconds, she made up her mind.
"I'll pilot it," Rei responded.
"Prepare the entry plug and have the command deck be ready to begin start-up stages at a moment's notice," Ritsuko added.
Rei walked up to Misato, handing her a ring with a unique design similar to an infinity symbol. Inside was text inscribed in Latin: "Amor aeternus est."
"Please keep him and this ring safe. That's all I ask of you," Rei told her.
Misato nodded. Before leaving, Rei hugged her for a second just before heading with Ritsuko to board the entry plug.
Inside the Entry Plug
Ritsuko closed the seal to the entry plug behind Rei. As soon as Rei was in, the command deck was ready to begin.
"Now giving shutdown plug extraction signal." One of the operators gave out.
A few seconds passed. Several plugs outside providing shutdown signals began to move out of place.
"Shutdown signal plug extraction complete, beginning entry plug insertion," Another operator shouted.
The entry plug began to move into the Evangelion. Once inserted, the hatch on the back is closed.
"Insertion complete, filling plug with LCL," Another operator yelled.
Rei felt the sloshing of liquids fill the inside of the entry plug, commenting on it, "Hey! What is this stuff!"
As soon as it filled the entire cabin, Rei held her breath.
"Rei, calm down. You can breathe the LCL." Misato said.
Rei took a swallow, disgusting her. "This tastes horrible."
"You'll live!" Misato said, giving the command deck a bit of a chuckle but only a smidge.
Several start-up phases went by until the connection began.
"A10 nerve connection, status green. Synchronization rate at 52.4%?" One of the operators recalled.
"52.4%? Geez, was Rei made for this thing?" Misato said in shock.
Ritsuko noted this down, knowing that she would study this later.
"Captain, are we ready to begin?" Gendo asked.
"Yes. EVA-01, LAUNCH!"
In seconds, Rei launched as fast as a rocket to the surface.
A cargo door in the ground opened up at the surface, presenting Unit-01 to Sachiel.
Rei faced the angel. She knew that there was no backing down from this point onward.
つづく
To be Continued