X-X-X
CHAPTER 3
X-X-X
New Yokosuka was built a stone's throw from the submerged ruin of old Odawara. Prior to second impact, the city would have been built on shallow, idyllic highlands - but the New Yokosuka had in fact been thrown together from refugee camps after the impact. The much higher-altitude Hakone city had survived, and had grown immensely in its rebirth as Tokyo-3 - but the original Odawara, along with the majority of the urban zones to the east, had been swallowed by the rising ocean.
Nevertheless, New Yokosuka was a city of respectable size. As the closest seafront city to the Tokyo-3 metro zone, huge quantities of cargo - a great deal of it bound for NERV - passed through its gargantuan port every day.
Today, however, the port was entirely shut down for normal business. Only a single piece of cargo would be being unloaded, and from an aircraft carrier rather than the normal container barges. This cargo merited the special treatment, though - it was worth more than the combined cost of every single shipment that had ever passed through new Yokosuka.
"Are you guys at the dock yet?" Asuka whined into her phone, excitement lending a harsh German accent to her English. "We're nearly there!"
"Jesus Christ, princess, calm your recently pubescent tits! It's still half an hour to unloading time, and no, you can't rush maneuvering a Nimitz class aircraft carrier."
From the other side of the van, Kensuke groaned. "Just how many languages does she speak?"
Toji blinked. "Wait, that wasn't German?"
"She speaks German, Japanese and English," Misato said, still blinking sleep from her eyes. "She'll tell you she speaks Russian, too, but she'll be lying."
"Heyyyy," Asuka whined, pocketing her phone. "How do you know I don't? I visited the Russian branch that time, remember?"
"It took even you months to become fluent in English, and you were living with Mari at the time," Misato yawned. "You spent a single week at NERV-R. Sorry, little miss genius, but you're not that talented."
"Says you," Asuka muttered, but she didn't press the issue.
The van was silent for a moment. Then Hikari spoke up from beside Asuka.
"Umm. What are we here for, exactly? I didn't… I mean, Asuka didn't tell me…"
Shinji, wedged between Kensuke and Toji, shrugged as well as he could in the tight space. "I'm in the dark too. I'm just here because Misato didn't want to leave me at home alone."
"You're here because it's your duty as a pilot to be here," Asuka snapped. "I'm here to see my two favorite things."
"No you're not." Misato's voice was firm. "You're here because you were supposed to be on the Over The Rainbow with her, and this is the quickest way to rectify that. You'll be accompanying her on the rail trip to NERV headquarters and walking her into her cage."
"'Her,' 'her,'" Kensuke said. "Are you talking about what I think you're talking about?"
"Hey, she's a who, not a what! And she's a prettier woman than you, Aida!" Asuka growled. "Besides, it's classified."
"Asuka, you can't say that when you brought your own civilian guest. They'll all see soon anyway." Misato rolled her eyes and addressed the group. "The UN pacific fleet is carrying special NERV cargo into New Yokosuka. This cargo -"
"The UN pacific fleet?" Kensuke seemed skeptical. "The entire UN pacific fleet?"
"Yes, as well as - due to Asuka's truancy - NERV-UK's provisional Unit Five, as extra security." Misato chuckled at Kensuke's raised eyebrows. "She merits that kind of escort. This 'cargo' is Asuka's own sweetheart - Evangelion Unit Two, callsign 'Moloch.' She's worth more on her own than every ship in the fleet combined."
Kensuke's jaw dropped, and Hikari's eyes widened. Even Toji looked suddenly more interested.
Asuka was practically glowing. "Walking her - you mean I get to sync?" She said, her voice hushed. "Before waiting for activation tests?"
"Much as I hate to cater to your sense of germanic superiority, Moloch is our most level-headed Unit to date. Her documents say you tested her at full activation only a month ago in Berlin; I think there's little risk." Misato sighed. "And I'd much prefer to have her walk onto the elevator and into her cage than be lifted. Cranes and Chinooks are a huge headache to coordinate."
Abruptly, the van stopped.
"This is it, folks!" Lt. Hyuga called cheerily, looking back over the driver's seat.
The group piled out of the van. Asuka and Kensuke were the first, scrambling like their lives depended on it; the others followed at a more sedate pace.
There was already quite a sight to be seen: just outside the largest dock, a massive semi-humanoid floated gently in the water. From its waist up it looked more or less like a peculiarly armored Evangelion Unit, although the inorganic joints in the shoulders and elbows were somewhat unusual. But splayed out across the water from its hips were four long, slender, singled-jointed legs, almost insectoid in appearance and clearly mechanical. Its 'feet' terminated in large float-booms, the back two of which were clearly motorised.
Its head was also leaned forward. Though it was mostly facing them, Asuka could see an open entry plug protruding from the back of its neck.
She's not in Baal? What else would be she doing…?
"Holy shit! That's Unit Five all right!" Kensuke squealed in delight as he dashed up to the railing, leaning over and pointing his video camera. "That's the provisional Unit from the English branch, right? I heard it was going to be scrapped before they decided to try mechanically engineering those replacement limbs!"
"Watch it, freak," Asuka hissed. "You're not supposed to know half of that."
She turned her eyes off Mari's powered-down Eva unit, focusing on who she was really here for.
Beyond the Evangelion and still out in the bay - and inching slowly, ever so slowly towards the dock - was one of the largest ships in the sea, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Over The Rainbow. On the flight deck and taking up more than a third of the flat area was something huge, half-covered by a gargantuan tarpaulin. Anything that showed underneath was a glossy scarlet.
"Is that it - is that her?" Kensuke breathed. "Unit Five was cool enough, but… damn…"
"First of the main series, best of her kind… Evangelion Unit Two. Moloch." Asuka gave a wolfish grin. "Can't beat made in Germany. Your Japanese mass production can suck it."
"Asuka." Misato had a note of warning in her voice. Fortunately for the both of them, the German pilot didn't say anything more.
Finally, Lt. Hyuga stepped out of the van, extending the antenna on a walkie-talkie as he did so.
"Rail crew. Status?"
"We have all four tracks cleared up to the Geofront junction, where the supercargo elevator is standing by. Moving the twelfth flatcar into position now."
"Noted. Over and out." Hyuga pressed a button on the device, switching channel. "Over The Rainbow, status?"
"Moving into position on schedule. Be advised the dock is too shallow for us to move in fully - we're going to have to roll the cargo from a partially docked position."
"Understood. The special ramp should be up to scratch to compensate, but I'll admit this is the first time it'll be undergoing full weight testing."
"Understood. We will be in position in twelve minutes, control. Over and out."
X-X-X
This body is 10.5 years old and its heart has beat 441,624,192 times.
Rei was sitting on the edge of the lower umbilical bridge, her toes just barely rippling the surface of the coolant as she stared up at the head of the giant creature. She was fully dressed in her bone-white plugsuit, and Unit 01's neural interface was already clipped in her hair.
All-Purpose Humanoid Biomech Evangelion: Unit One. Callsign 'Ishtar.' Test type for the 1.1 DNA model and armor form factor, now incorporated into the main line as the 1.1b variant.
Sachiel's suicidal explosion had destroyed or critically damaged every piece of Ishtar's armor, but the JSSDF and NERV's own industrial sector had come together to replace the entire set in just two days. The new armor was identical to the old, although the scratches from old tests and exercises were now notably absent.
Her armor is still violet. Blue would be more aesthetically pleasing, but violet is inoffensive. Rei's eyes wandered over the ridges and planes of the painted ADNR plates. She has two eyes; as far as I know, this is an unusual coincidence. Perhaps an artifact of the difference between 1.1 and 1.1b.
Ishtar is special to the Commander, though I do not know why. He loathes the thought of putting her at risk… I have heard him telling Fuyutsuki that she is to be deployed as infrequently as possible. Clearly, this extends to mean she is not to be piloted by his most expendable pilot.
Nevertheless I wish this were not so. I… enjoy piloting Ishtar. Rei hesitated briefly; her mental journaling did not usually stray into such patterns, but she persisted. I have been unable to pinpoint the reason, but there is a familiarity I feel with her - one I do not feel with Asherah. This fact has repeatedly allowed me to synchronize better, and Dr. Akagi believes I would be best utilized in Ishtar, but the Commander has ordered Asherah as my primary unit.
I shall trust his reasoning. He is, after all, my commander.
This body is 10.5 years old and its heart has beat-
Rei twitched abruptly as a searing pain shot through her head. She gasped, clutching the metal of the bridge and swaying.
Something has happened. Something feels different. The pain receded, but the uneasy feeling at the back of Rei's skull persisted.
Moving gingerly, Rei pushed herself to her feet. The umbilical bridge had not moved under her, and there were no ripples in the coolant but for those her own feet had caused. The few technicians working on the upper bridge didn't seem to have noticed anything unusual.
Clearly it was not a physical effect, and it struck no-one in this room but me. Is it because of my uplink augments? Or is it to do with the greater underlying anomalies with my biology?
Perhaps I should notify Dr. Akagi. Yes, she will want to know. Irregularities may signify breakdown, and if I die by breakdown it may not be viable to activate another body. I am not yet permitted to pass on permanently.
Pushing the incident from her mind, and ignoring the persistent difference she could still feel, Rei sat back down on the edge of the umbilical bridge.
This body is 10.5 years old and its heart has beat 441,624,350 times...
X-X-X
"So… this is it then, Ikari?"
Ryoji Kaji was not a man for titles or, frankly, respectful demeanor of any kind. While most would stand a ways away from Gendo's desk, closer to the entrance of the vast yet spartan office - Kaji sauntered cheerily up to the desk and deposited the hard carry-case without bothering to check if there was anything beneath.
Behind his glasses, Gendo tilted his gaze to regard the case. It was the serious kind of hard case; an all-steel shell with four clasps and a RADIATION HAZARD label in the center.
But its contents are nothing even close to as harmless and benign as gamma-emitting radioisotopes. No, this innocent carry-case is party to a far darker force…
"It's still frozen in bakelite," Kaji continued, "But it is alive, and it's regenerating despite the freeze. Slowly, but it's happening."
Gendo kept his gaze locked on the case. "Sooner than we expected," he murmured.
"But is it too soon?" Kaji wondered aloud. "After all, the old men have their special schedule. As do you. And the two are different, even if you pretend they are not."
Gendo tilted his head up slightly, fixing his gaze on Kaji.
"Jeez, it was just a question."
"Your questions will get you killed someday, Ryoji." Gendo's tone did not change an iota. "And soon, if you're not careful."
"Aye, you think I don't know that?" Kaji chuckled. "Being a spy isn't for everyone. A short lifespan comes with the job."
Not short enough for my tastes.
"Anyway, Ikari," Kaji said cheerily as he turned, "I'll leave you and Adam alone now. I imagine you want to personally inspect your… keystone, was it? Besides, I'm gonna be out of town for a while. Bye."
The office door closed, the soft sliding sound still managing to echo in the barren, cavernous space.
Behind his orange sunglasses, one of Gendo's eyes twitched.
X-X-X
Rolling Unit 02 off the aircraft carrier was possibly one of the most painstaking tasks that had ever been undertaken. Loading her on hadn't been easy either, but in that circumstance, if something failed suddenly she'd be sliding backwards instead of forwards - and it was much easier to operate safety breaks for the former.
[Princess]: where ARE you? Jeez, this act is not funny!
[Four Eyes]: It'll be pretty funny soon. Relax, princess.
[Princess]: You're such a bitch, four eyes.
[Princess]: Well, I've got an Evangelion to reunite with. You can come join me whenever you feel like it, but I'm not going to go looking for you.
[Four Eyes]: Oh, I will, princess. I will.
Asuka pocketed her phone and walked forward, ducking under the yellow safety tape that the engineers had set up around the terminus of the four rail lines they were commandeering.
"Asuka! You're not supposed to enter -" Misato yelled after her. "There's heavy machinery at work in there! It's not safe!"
Heavy machinery, hah. As if I don't handle heavier machinery every time I get into an entry plug. Asuka ignored Misato's protests, ducking around the spotters to reach the front of the flatcar convoy, where the engines had yet to be connected to the cars.
The titanic carrying platform was being inched forward over the flatcars by four of what essentially seemed to be hydraulic lift jacks mounted on caterpillar treads. They were being supplemented by two immense container cranes lifting from the middle of the rectangle, which probably contributed to the glacial pacing of the operation.
Nevertheless, after a solid two hours of the Evangelion creeping slowly down the huge steel ramp, it was - finally - entirely on flat ground.
No longer restricted to a snail's pace by the incline, the lift-jacks easily tripled their speed, shifting from feet per hour to whole meters. From there the operation went quite rapidly; the platform was already halfway over the convoy by the time it had levelled.
The foreman's voice crackled over a nearby radio. "All the links look lined up. Put her down, boys."
There was a change in the groaning of shifting steel, and the Evangelion descended the final few feet to rest on the flatcars. Despite a few worrying creaks and pings that almost suggested breakage, neither the convoy nor the rails failed under the weight.
Asuka gazed up at the tarpaulin-covered head of the Evangelion. My Evangelion, my Moloch. The unit built to carry me in her entry plug. I give her life, and she gives my life purpose.
Much further down the convoy and closer to Unit 02's hand, Misato was signing the documents that indicated a transfer of custody.
You're gonna love it here in Japan, süsser. The food sucks, but they have real angels for us to fight.
One of Asuka's eyebrows rose as she saw a strange lump under the tarpaulin, just above the crown of the helmet.
Did they install something new while I was away? No… one week isn't long enough for that. I'd have known about anything in development…
Abruptly, the lump shifted, moved forward, and slid down the Evangelion's helmet - free-falling out from under the tarpaulin.
"HEYYY THERE, PRINCESS!"
Asuka jumped backwards a solid meter, narrowly avoiding a pair of green plugsuit boots that threatened to clip her nose. "Gottverdammt, four eyes! What the hell -"
"Come here and give your big sister a hug!"
"Fuck no! You reek of LCL!" Asuka snapped back. "I don't care how much you missed me, I'm not hugging you before you've showered!"
"Oho…" Mari's face took on a sly grin. "Is that a promise to hug me?"
"No!"
"It totally is and I'm going to hold you to it!"
"Get away from me, you four-eyed inselaffe pervert!" Asuka drew back another step, raising her arms in warning - although given that the older pilot had six or seven inches of height advantage, it was hardly likely to help.
"Oh, pejoratives now? I'm hurt, Princess. I thought you were better than the other heinie huns -"
The two pilots were interrupted by the sound of someone aggressive clearing their throat.
"Congratulations, you have both achieved the status of major public embarrassment to NERV." Misato folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "If you're quite done, please get the hell out of the work zone. We need to hook up the engines and go - and we're already far enough behind schedule!"
Asuka felt an irritated retort forming in the back of her mind, and promptly bit her tongue. You're technically on duty, Asuka; you can only mouth off to your superior so many times before you start pushing it. Even a superior as lenient as Misato.
"Come on, princess," Mari said, taking Asuka's hand and pulling her away from the railways. "Let's not delay her move-in."
Asuka followed with a sour expression, although her face lifted somewhat as they left the cordoned zone and the engines began backing slowly towards the links on the front of the convoy.
She squeezed the other pilot's hand; not hard, but enough to be felt through the neoprene and axon mesh of the plugsuit. "I missed you, Mari," she said in English.
Mari smiled, but then her expression shifted, becoming quizzical. "Why so sappy all of a sudden?" She replied.
"I haven't seen you in a year! You weren't at NERV-UK when I last went in for patterns and cross-harmonics. That was a really boring two weeks!"
"Ahh, sorry," Mari said, embarrassed. "I was in Sheffield at the time. Baal was being fitted for a special power adapter."
"Hey, what are you two weirdos babbling about over there?"
Asuka spun to face the rest of their group, then looked back to Mari. "Ahh, these clowns. As you can probably tell by appearance, they are a moron, a pervert and a wimp, respectively. The girl is the only decent human being among them. Unfortunately, the wimp is also the Third Child."
"I have no idea what you just said… but I suspect it wasn't flattering." Kensuke narrowed his eyes. "So, who's the hot European chick in the catsuit? You should introduce us, Soryu."
"I can introduce myself, I think. Fifth Child, Pilot Mari Makinami Illustrious." Mari tilted her head. "Also, sorry, but I don't date little boys."
Kensuke bristled. "Hey, I'm fourteen!"
"That's still little. And perhaps I should clarify: I don't date little children or boys." Mari chuckled. "Hey, Third Child. What's your name?"
Shinji seemed to have accepted that Third Child was now part of his life's titles, because it got his attention more or less immediately. "Oh, uh… Ikari Shinji, ma'am."
"Oh, aren't you a cute one? Like a little puppy with folded ears." Mari leaned forward, abruptly invading Shinji's personal space and inhaling deeply. "Hmm… what an interesting smell. Almost like there's something special in your LCL…"
"Hey, I thought you said you weren't interested in little boys!" Kensuke accused, as Shinji leaned back with a stricken expression.
"She isn't," Asuka grumbled, roughly poking the older pilot's side. "She's just a perverted English weirdo. I swear she's the only human being on earth who likes the smell of LCL."
"LCL, huh?" Kensuke raised an eyebrow. "And just what is this strange substance of which you speak?"
"Classified," the three pilots chorused. Asuka tilted her head - she hadn't expected Shinji to say it too - but didn't comment.
"I - um - anyway," Shinji replied, apparently deciding to simply move on from Mari's odd behaviour. "Will you be staying with us in Tokyo-3, miss Illustrious?"
Mari's face fell. "I… no. I wish I was, but I'm only stopping here for the day. By tonight I'm gonna be back at sea."
"Aww, doing what?" Asuka pouted. I hate being part of a different branch. It means I never know what she's up to.
"There's a joint expedition by NERV-UK and NERV-R up north." Mari looked back at the dock, where Unit 05 could be seen behind the aircraft carrier. "I've been assigned to Bethany Base, up in the old arctic circle - there's some secret experiments going on there, real hush-hush stuff. Whatever it is, it seems it's scary enough to warrant an Evangelion standing guard. Though I'll freely admit that Baal is the weird runt of the extant units."
Asuka's eyes narrowed. "Could they really have captured an angel?" She muttered.
Mari gave her a surprised look. "You think? Seems far fetched to me."
"There's precious little reason to commandeer an Eva otherwise," Asuka said, chewing on her lower lip. "Unless you can think of why else they might be be requesting, as guard detail no less, what is essentially the heavy infantry equivalent of strategic nuclear weapons."
There was a loud creak of steel from the front of the convoy, and then an even louder hiss of steam brakes. "Oh - that's our cue," Mari said brightly.
Asuka frowned, following Mari as the other pilot began walking up to the convoy engines. "'Our'?"
"Hell yeah! I don't have to be on my way until… seven in the evening, I think; Baal is a speedy bitch in the water or out. Section Two will make sure I'm back here on time anyway." Mari's cat-mouthed expression crept across her face. "I wanna enjoy Tokyo-3 for a bit. Maybe meet the other pilot you're hiding around here."
"We're not hiding her." Mari hauled herself up into the rear compartment of the far left engine, and Asuka followed. "The First is standing by in the event of an angel attack on NERV-J headquarters. And besides, you don't want to meet her."
Mari tilted her head. "Why's that?" She asked. "Don't tell me you've managed to start a vendetta with someone in just a week, princess. I know you're… prickly, but you really need to -"
"No! Jeez, calm down. In her case, I don't think I could fuel a grudge against me if I tried." Asuka rolled her eyes. "I can say one good thing about her - during the angel attack, she had the balls to ask someone to carry her into the entry plug because she was too badly injured to crawl off the gottverdammt medical gurney. But that's where the list of positive attributes ends."
Mari raised an eyebrow. "And the negatives?"
"Practically none of those either! The girl barely even seems to have a personality!" Asuka was practically fuming. "You could replace her with a fucking robot programmed to say 'yes, sir' in an emotionless drone and nobody would know the difference!"
"Hmm." Mari seemed to have something on her mind. "Are you sure you're not being unfair? She must have something else going on."
"Maybe. I doubt it. I don't even think she goes to school."
Mari grinned like a cat. "Is she cute, princess?" She asked, her tone sly.
"Eww, fuck no!" Asuka grimaced, gesturing to her face. "She's pale as a corpse, dyes her hair blue and has these freaky vampire eyes. There's nothing even remotely attractive about her!"
"Ahh. I see," Mari replied, as if Asuka's description had been some sort of great revelation.
"Why are you even asking me? I don't even swing that way, four eyes. You'd know better than me!"
"I dunno, you really seem to have a bug up your ass about her. I don't see how she could have pissed you off so much just by being quiet - especially in under a week, unless you're seeing her every day or something."
"… only twice so far," Asuka admitted. "When the angel attacked, and during a harmonics test on Thursday."
"You had a harmonics test already? Jesus, princess. Did you ask them to or something?"
"Of course I did - I take piloting seriously, four eyes. And besides, Dr. Akagi wasn't exactly reluctant. That woman loves data more than oxygen."
"Anyway! Let's not get sidetracked." Mari swayed as the rail convoy hit a turn, but steadied herself. "What is it, exactly, that bothers you so much about the First Child?"
Asuka turned to look out the window.
"Hey, none of that. As your illustrious big sister I have the right to harass you until you tell me what's wrong." Mari poked Asuka's shoulder. "Come on, princess."
Get fucked, four eyes. Some things don't bear talking about. "That pun was never funny, Mari."
And then Asuka squeaked as a pair of neoprene-clad arms wrapped tightly around her - the bulky wrist attachments digging rather aggressively into her ribs - and her nose was assaulted with an intense smell of LCL.
"Ahh! Get the hell off me, four eyes!" Asuka squirmed, but Mari's grip was surprisingly strong. "I said, no hugs until you've showered!"
"If you won't talk to me, my honor demands I hug you. It's in the sister code. Sorry, princess, nothing I can do."
"You fucking made that up!"
"What, you want me to pull out my little booklet? I have it on me. I laminated it to be LCL-proof."
"You wrote that fucking booklet! You made up the entire concept of this 'sister code' bullshit!"
Curiously enough, Mari did not reply. The sounds of the engine slowly chugging along filled the cramped room.
Asuka squirmed again, trying to slam her head back into Mari's face, but the other pilot's height made this a losing proposition. "Are you just gonna keep hugging me until I crack?" Asuka whined. Mari merely hummed in response.
The engines chugged as they went over a join in the rails, and the floor swayed slightly. A number of small metallic noises echoed from various angles around the huge convoy.
After a few minutes Mari leaned her chin on top of Asuka's head, clearly intending to get comfortable in that position. Asuka gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
"… she's like a doll, alright?" Asuka managed. "Silent, expressionless, obedient - her skin even looks like porcelain, and the way she stares at you with those dead, scarlet eyes - I just, I - I can't fucking take it. You know my… you know I don't like dolls, Mari."
To put it extremely mildly, she mentally finished, unable to bring herself to say it. Mari would know what she meant anyway.
"Hmm." Mari tightened her hug - very slightly, but enough to be perceptible. "Tricky situation you've got there, princess."
Asuka twisted, and finally, Mari's grip loosened.
"Okay, she makes you uncomfortable. But can you…" Mari paused for a minute, considering her words carefully. "If you're under fire, can you hand her a prog-knife and then turn your back?"
Asuka's eyes narrowed.
"P… please wheel me up to… the upper bridge. A tech will lift me into the, the plug."
"You need not have worried. I can be replaced."
Asuka bit the inside of her lip. "You know," she said softly, "I think I probably can."
"Well then, you don't need to like her. If you can work with her on deployment, that's enough." Mari grinned. "You'll make a fine squad leader yet, princess."
X-X-X
This body is 10.5 years old and its heart has beat -
"All personnel be advised: the coolant pool is being completely drained in T minus 120 seconds. Land all cage boats."
What?
Rei pushed herself to her feet.
"Clear the umbilicals in Holding Cage Two. All non-essential personnel are to clear the upper access walkways."
What is going on?
A number of orange-clad technicians dashed across the umbilical bridge of Cage One, heading for the ladders to the higher catwalks. None paid any mind to the diminutive pilot as they passed.
"Supercargo elevator landing in T minus 180 seconds. Draining the coolant pool."
A deep, rumbling rushing filled the cage, and the liquid level of the coolant pool started to lower.
Rei gazed passively at the proceedings. A series of loud metallic noises sounded from beyond the wall to Unit 01's right - Holding Cage Two, a part of the holding facility that had lain defunct since its construction along with cages Three through Nine.
"Lifting umbilical equipment in Cage Two." Several warning alarms blared, and a deep, metallic booming noise filled the cage zone. "Stand by for supercargo rail activation. Track debris may cause delays."
The last of the coolant drained from the floor of the cage, but for the occasional puddles here and there. Unit 01's armor glistened where the liquid clung to the painted ADNR.
The supercargo elevator is going all the way to the cages for the first time in this facility's history, and it was designed to bring in Evangelion units from the rail depot if necessary. The cage pool has been drained. Holding Cage Two has been cleared of obstructive hardware.
Are we receiving… a new unit? Rei looked over at the far wall of the cage. If so, then shortly -
"All personnel, brace for tremors. Opening the cage assembly in ten. Nine. Eight -"
Definitely a new unit, then. Presumably for the Second Child to pilot. I expect this was why they were in New Yokosuka today.
The air split with an impossibly loud boom, reverberating through the cage walls like the hammer of a god. It was followed by a series of sharp clackings as hydraulic lock bolts along the side walls came undone.
There was a low yet massive groaning of steel, and the umbilical bridge in cage one began to shake. Rei widened her stance and continued watching.
And then, finally, the walls slid back.
The far wall of the cage receded and the forward half of each side-wall followed, lifted forwards and upwards on a huge hinged swing by the immense cage assembly jacks. From behind - the direction the deployment catapults lay in - the cage doors could open individually, but this was not the case from the front; the forward assembly of the cages was a single titanic unit that had to be lifted all in one go.
Beyond where the walls had stood, a series of floodlights flickered on - revealing the ten supercargo rail tracks, leading from the elevator landing zone back to the cages. The same tracks also extended behind the Evas, ready to carry them to the catapults at mere moments' notice.
The floor platform of Cage Two has not shifted out. How will they move the new unit in?
"Supercargo elevator arriving now."
There was a whistling and the high-pitched noise of steel brakes on steel rails - and at a rate which could only just be called a controlled speed, the massive elevator platform came into view from the distant ceiling. It decelerated to slide neatly into the landing zone, causing moderate tremors in the cage area's reinforced-concrete superstructure.
Rei didn't feel impulses often, and for her to act on one was almost unheard of - but she felt herself twitch at the sight.
That must surely be the most hideous Evangelion unit ever made.
The four-eyed titan was manned and awake, standing upright on the platform instead of lying inactive like procedure recommended. Its pose was not shaken by the rapid stop, and indeed, it seemed almost defiant.
There's so much… so much color. So much awful, awful color.
The Evangelion unit was clad, from boot to pauldron wing, in brilliant red - a full eighty meters of scarlet armor, gleaming with the lustre of new paint and polish under the stark fluorescent lighting. On the left side of its gorget, the numerals '02' sat below the callsign tag - MOLOCH - painted in a striking high-contrast green.
"Cage Two umbilicals are lifted, caging locks open and primed, supercargo rails are clear. Evangelion Unit Two, you are cleared to dock."
The Eva's external speakers crackled, and the unmistakable voice of Asuka Langley Soryu echoed through the caging area. "About time Moloch took her place here!"
If her unit is safe to activate, why wasn't it brought in through a deployment and retrieval elevator? That would have been easier than opening the entire cage assembly, surely.
The distance from the elevator to the cage was a few short steps for an Evangelion, and Unit 02 crossed it quickly - turning and backing into the cage locks in a single fluid motion, moving with a grace Rei had never expected to see from such a colossus.
Her sync rate must be very high, to move her unit like that.
"Unit Two is docked. Closing lock bolts now. Beginning re-seal of the assembly."
Another titanic groan sounded as the forward assembly began to slide back into place. The maroon coolant began to pool around the Evangelions' feet as the walls reconnected.
And finally, Holding Cage One was a single room once more. Rei remained staring at the far wall.
Unsightly though it may be, a third Evangelion is substantial addition to our forces here. And if Pilot Soryu's sync rate is as high as that performance suggests, she is a very capable pilot indeed.
Despite her distasteful personality and penchant for insubordination, if the angels increase in power as the Commander predicts, it seems her expertise will be indispensable.
Rei sat back down on the umbilical bridge and idly watched the coolant creeping back up towards her.
This body is 10.5 years old and its heart has beat 441,724,102 times…
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