X-X-X
Chapter 11
X-X-X
Rural areas of all nations had been hit particularly hard by second impact. Fewer people died outright, simply due to lower population density, but they were certainly not spared their share of horrors: tracts of lowlands turned to shallow seas, people struck dead or dissolved alone in remote homes, crops and machinery left rotting in fields, roads and bridges disintegrating from lack of maintenance and survivors left stranded in remote areas while relief efforts dragged their feet. Rebuilding had been slow and agonizing in urban zones; the majority of the countryside was simply left to grow wild until it could be recolonized.
"Mis-aaaaa-to…" Asuka whined childishly. "Why are we out here in the middle of nowhere, again? I had plans. It's the weekend."
Misato smiled, her expression cryptic. "You'll see."
"You said that the last three times!" Asuka snapped. "Why can't you give us a straight answer?!"
"Asuka. What have I told you about that insubordinate attitude?"
"Shut it, Four Eyes." Asuka's accent lent a harsh germanic twang to her english, a far cry from Mari's londinian lilt. "What are they gonna do to me, anyway?"
"With four active pilots on the force, it wouldn't be too hard to take you off duty for basically as long as I want," Misato murmured back.
Asuka almost gave herself whiplash with how fast her head spun to gape at Misato. "Wha- y- you can-" she sputtered, then deflated. "Scheisse. How do I always forget that?!"
"I still don't make a habit of speaking English myself," Misato replied, smirking, "as my accent is still indescribably horrible. But yes, I can still understand the majority of you and Mari's 'clandestine' discussions."
Asuka wilted. "How am I supposed to go behind your back now?" She whined. "You know every language that I do!"
Shinji, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. "I only speak japanese and I haven't had a problem yet," he commented, his voice neutral.
"Yeah, but I bet you've never so much as stepped on grass when you weren't supposed to."
The other pilot pursed his lips. "You can't prove anything," he dodged.
"Ah-HA! You totally haven't, have you!"
"I - I can neither confirm nor deny a history of grass trespass." Shinji folded his arms, doing his best to look haughty. "Besides, I can totally break rules."
Misato frowned. "That's not something to be proud of," she muttered, but no one paid attention.
"Citation needed," Asuka said, folding her arms in kind. "I don't believe it."
"Shamshel."
Asuka blinked, glared, then deflated. "Scheisse," she grumbled. "Can't argue with that."
"We have arrived."
Logic told Asuka that the voice should have been inaudible over the sound of the car. The fact remained, however, that everyone present heard it clearly. It was like a superpower - all ambient noise simply seemed to die away before the serenity of the neutral tone.
Or, perhaps Asuka was just over-analyzing. Despite being a quiet person, it was an established fact that Rei could make her voice carry.
The car stopped. "Where are we?" Mari asked, but Rei opened the door and stepped out without saying anything more.
The other pilots followed suit, with Misato being the last out of the car. Asuka blinked and craned her neck back as she took in the four towering structures that stood near the parking lot, beside a much smaller structure that was clearly a control tower.
"After establishing that AT tech is too poorly understood to reasonably simulate on a macroscopic scale, Dr. Akagi commissioned the construction of a live evangelion testing range." Misato smiled, a touch of smugness in her voice. "It's been a couple of years, but the range is finally ready. Today will be its first live test."
Mari blinked, balking at the last statement. "Wh- wait, what? Baal and Moloch aren't combat-ready yet! And I thought Maya hadn't cleared me for uplinking with this nerve-shocked arm yet -"
"This isn't a combat test, Mari. We're just powering up the AT field augments and getting some readings," Misato sighed. "And your sync rates will be manually capped below the shock threshold, so you're fine."
Asuka, meanwhile, was still gaping in wonder.
The range was nothing - a drop in the bucket of NERV's budget, or even of NERV-J's budget. The cage towers and a control tower would have been easy to set up. But to Asuka - who was used to training in simulations, and actually piloting only when on deployment - it was a dream come true.
Live training? Live fire tests? Gott im himmel, have I died and gone to heaven?
"Warrant Officer Soryu."
The german pilot reflexively snapped to attention, refocusing on the captain. "Ma'am, yes ma'am."
"Step forward, please."
A surge of anxiety gripped Asuka, but she managed to comply, dully dragging her feet forward.
Misato only uses our ranks when she's really serious. What did I do?... What didn't I do? Scheisse, I must have fucked up really bad.
Everyone else's eyes were upon her - no, that wasn't quite true. Mari, Shinji, and Misato's eyes were on her. Rei was looking vaguely in her direction, but the glassy straight-ahead state reminded her more of a robot that had been turned off with its eyes still open.
Of course she isn't paying attention. Well, maybe that's for the best. If I'm about to be ejected from project E, I don't want her of all people savoring the memory -
"In recognition of your performance, initiative, and bravery on the field of battle, it is my honor to promote you to the rank of Second Lieutenant, effective immediately."
Asuka's train of thought didn't so much grind to a halt as it jumped the tracks, derailed completely and plunged into a canyon while on fire. "Wh- what?" She stuttered. "I mean - for real?"
"Of course." Misato's expression was one of schooled neutrality. "You are also, effective immediately, the squad leader of the pilot corps."
"But…" Asuka frowned. "Wait. If that was 'initiative and courage'... why was I suspended from duty?"
"Overstepping authority. You commandeered a warmachine that costs more than small country," Misato said flatly. "I managed to reduce it to a token punishment, but you were an NCO. I couldn't let you just walk. Besides, that's how command works - sometimes doing the right thing means accepting you're going to get punished for it."
Asuka looked away, hiding the moment of glee at Misato's use of the past tense. "Then… thank you, ma'am," she managed, and for once she actually meant it. "I won't let you down."
"Alright, pilots." Misato's voice switched back to captain mode. "There are changing rooms in the control tower. Suit up and head to your respective Eva's cage tower. The control room will radio further instructions once you're all in entry plugs. Mari, report to Maya for a pre-test scan of that arm."
There was a chorus of "yes ma'am"s, and the pilots formed a column as they headed for the control tower.
"Well, that's done," Misato murmured to herself. "And I've just made either the best or worst decision of my career."
X-X-X
"Ugh."
Ritsuko leaned back, rubbing her eyes. The eternal just-slightly-too-dim fluorescent lighting of the artificial evolution laboratory was, very slightly, less uncomfortable than the light of her computer screen.
A soft beep indicated that the equipment crane in the workshop ceiling had finished its task. She glanced at the video feed, nodded tiredly, and dismissed the notification.
Stretching her neck, she looked at the analog clock she kept on her workshop wall - one of her few marks of ownership, as a sterile catacomb in the deep vaults of NERV hardly fostered any personalization.
The clock read 4:45. Ritsuko blinked. Is that PM or AM? Wait… it can't be PM, surely, that'd mean I've been down here for over twenty hours. That's not possible… right?
She leaned forward again, scanning the computer screen. To her relief, the computer clock read AM - she had only been working for nine hours, give or take.
And getting nowhere the whole time.
She opened a new document, composing a report to the Commander.
The Subject has
She deleted the words almost as fast as she had typed them. No, no, no. Fuck. He won't like that. She - no, it - it's just hardware.
The most recent iteration of the dummy plug hardware has run into secondary problems.
Safe enough.
The current system (Jacob's Ladder 1.2.0) appears incapable of accessing the bypass buffer as long as a pilot is detected. The physical presence closes the link circuit, and the primary link cannot be overridden.
The Rei backup has been moved to an obsolete system (Rapture 2.8.10) for further experimentation. Hopefully, the hard line will allow a more direct substitution of the dummy data due to a greater control over the linking circuit.
Ritsuko pushed her chair back and stood up, leaving the document open on her computer screen.
The clandestine workshop felt a little smaller now, with a scrapped entry plug against the back wall and another, freshly painted one moved into the center of the room. The new entry plug had subtly different external connectors, and a larger harness of wires connected it to NERV's central nervous system of computers. It also had the old top-entry hatch system, and Ritsuko had modified it to have clear plexiglass windows in the sides.
The centerpiece of the new design - Kyū, as Ritsuko had come to think of her - was seated serenely in the pilot seat. The auto-uplink hardware was already screwing the connective cables into her nerve taps.
Ritsuko pulled her phone - really more a compact tablet - out of her lab coat pocket, tapping a few controls on the screen. There was a soft hum, and the light in the entry plug turned on as its internal systems activated.
"Well, here goes nothing," the doctor muttered, and tapped the final sequence.
The initialization went smoothly, and the plug's activation cycles were as flawless as would be expected from an older model with a great deal of refinement in its design. Gritting her teeth, she tapped out another sequence of commands.
Backup buffer online. Preparing to spoof the Rapture mindjack. Continue? Y/N
Rolling her eyes, Ritsuko gave the command to proceed.
This was the stage where the process usually failed - a few seconds into running the spoof, it would crash out with a cryptic 'buffer upload failed at block 390-4TM4N,' and the link circuit would immediately suffer an unspecified fatal error and shut down.
Spoof running…
Ritsuko narrowed her eyes. She glanced over at the data feed screen attached to the plug itself, which currently read Synchronicity: 0.0% - pilot unconscious or incapacitated. Since it was a reflection of the actual data feed theoretically accessible to the control room, it was the most reliable picture of the plug's status.
Spoof running…
The blonde doctor gave in to anxiety, digging a cigarette out of her pocket and lighting it with a hastily produced lighter.
Spoofed data accepted! Link circuit connected to backup buffer. No anomalies detected.
Ritsuko looked over at the data panel. Sure enough, it read Synchronicity: 29.9%, about normal for Rei.
"Alright," she murmured. "Let's see if the dummy system lets us force it higher…"
She tapped out another command.
Synchronicity: 45.1%
Synchronicity: 58.2%
Synchronicity: 81.7%
A vicious grin crept across her face, and she hissed triumphantly as she exhaled a cloud of smoke. The synchronization rate rapidly eclipsed a hundred percent, levelling off at 110.0% just as she had set it.
Then, the data panel beeped sharply, whistling a hazard alarm.
WARNING - SYNCHRONICITY ABOVE 99.5% MAY CAUSE UNPREDICTABLE RESULTS. PILOT SAFETY MAY BE COMPROMISED. Ritsuko frowned, looking over at the plug's plexiglass window.
Her jaw dropped at the sight. The cigarette fell to the concrete floor, forgotten.
Kyū was convulsing violently, thrashing as much as she physically could given the nerve taps screwed tightly into her neck and spine. She looked for all the world like she was suffering a violent seizure.
Ritsuko dropped the tablet, striding over to the plug feed panel as fast as she could. The control keys under the screen were crude and limited, but Ritsuko was a firm believer in a basic principle of mad science: never build anything without a manually activated hard shutdown switch.
She punched the first button, and the link circuit collapsed instantly. The light in the dummy plug switched from orange - that is, white filtered through orange - to a soft red.
Finally, she let herself look into the plexiglass window. An icy stab of trepidation ran through her at the sight.
Kyū had slumped against the seat, breathing heavily. That wasn't out of the ordinary - Kyū did breathe, albeit usually a little slower than a human due to her eternally oxygen-rich environment.
But her eyes were open.
Ritsuko bit her lip. As if sensing her gaze, Kyū shifted slightly, and her eyes slowly tracked downwards and to the side until they met Ritsuko's
Kyū's mouth opened slightly, as if she was trying to speak, although she still bore no more than a dazed expression. Her slack hand twitched, its knuckles just barely bumping against the bottom of the window -
Then her eyes slid shut, and she was a limp body floating in LCL once more.
Ritsuko blinked a few times, then finally pulled out another cigarette. She retrieved her tablet from where it had fallen, and uploaded its spoofing data - but not the raw results data from the dummy plug itself - to her computer. Her fingers typed on reflex as she walked back to her computer workstation.
By the time she sat down, she had a data set from the entry plug that would have looked extremely authentic to anyone who hadn't been told what to look for. She uploaded that too, then switched to the open report.
Preliminary testing of the Rapture 2.8.10 Dummy Plug shows promise; spoofing the circuit from the backup buffer seems to work much better when tapping a hardware line. More testing will be necessary to refine this process, as the spoof is not equivalent to an automated input capable of real-time piloting control.
The preliminary test forced synchronicity to 110.0%, demonstrating the fine link control available to the system.
She paused, her hands hovering over the keyboard.
No, she concluded at length. No. At best he'd tell me to ignore her pain, at worst he'd execute her. I can't. I won't be that vile a monster.
She typed out the final line.
No irregularities were detected.
- Dr. Akagi Ritsuko
X-X-X
Asuka constantly had to check herself - it wouldn't do for an officer to be caught grinning like an idiot on squad comm with video feed online. Still, it was hard for her to contain her glee.
She caught herself looking down again, and forced her eyes forward. It's still there, Asuka, it's still there. You've only checked like thirty times.
Even without looking at it, her imagination filled in the image of the gold bar on the upper arm of her plugsuit. She knew it was really no more than an accessory, but she couldn't stop herself imagining the weight of rank it bore.
Second Lieutenant Langley-Soryu.
It certainly had its own sort of gravitas to it…
"Alright, pilots, the sensor arrays are almost ready." It was Maya's voice - Dr. Akagi was tied up with some clandestine project back at NERV and hadn't been able to personally oversee the test. "Prepare to project your AT fields."
Asuka allowed herself a smile as she switched to output level one. The cable heat meter ticked upward, but stayed below the safe limit.
Man, it sure is nice being on cables. Too bad that's not practical for most actual deployments… I wonder, just how much does NERV spend on enriched uranium fuel? That scheisse can't be cheap.
"Alright, we'll start with simple flat plane shields at fifty percent augmentation. Mark."
Projecting an AT field was perhaps the strangest thing about being synchronized with an Evangelion. Even if for some strange reason the pilot preferred to use the analog controls to maneuver and operate internal systems instead of the mental uplink, there was no analog control for the AT field. It felt worlds different from the other aspects of the link circuit; it was purely autonomic and the AT field would fail to manifest if you thought about it too hard. Asuka had never been able to describe how it felt - it was a quintessential case of describing a sunset to someone blind from birth.
An orange shimmer split the air before her, and Asuka couldn't hold back the grin.
The power of gods!
The hundreds of antennas on the ground lit up in patterns around each Eva's AT shield. Asuka looked to her left - the sensors around Unit 01's seemed particularly bright.
"Alright, I'm getting a good reading from all of you." The sensors shut off, and four small rings of light activated in the middle of the array. "I want you each to step into the highlighted zones for more subtle examinations and stress-tests."
Asuka felt the slight weakness in the bone graft in her left leg, but at a mere walk it was nothing serious. She stepped forward confidently.
I wonder if I can access Maya's data feed from in here, now that I'm officially the squad leader. Asuka frowned to herself, then shook her head. Better not try right now. If that's not something I'm supposed to do, I hardly want to kick off this command with a breach of trust.
She maneuvered Unit 02 into place between Units 00 and 01, wondering briefly why they weren't arranged in numeric order. I suppose none of our Evas quite match - there's a prototype, a test model, a production model and a refurbished salvage piece. Maybe they wanted to set up the range to accommodate our units' differences.
"Please project AT skin shields. Fifty percent augmentation, as before."
Asuka folded the energy around herself, feeling the field shape into a barrier hundreds of times stronger than the evangelions' hyperdiamond armor. Even with her high synchronicity, she could feel the feedback strain; a humanoid form was a complex shape for the unearthly forces to maintain.
"Asherah, I'm getting some instability in your AT field morphology… is everything alright?"
Asuka's attention was immediately on the comms. It was a tricky mental challenge to listen closely while also sustaining a complex AT field, but she managed.
"Yes."
Well maybe if your sync was over forty percent, it'd be easier, Asuka thought sourly. Ugh, focus. Breaking down teammates isn't what a good leader does.
"Alright, pilots, please increase your AT output to seventy-five percent."
Asuka strained her focus, pushing Unit 02's output harder. The shield around her hardened, and the shimmer intensified to a full-on glow.
A new comm window blipped into existence on her HUD. It read CONTROL ROOM - private channel. Asuka frowned, silencing her open squad comm.
"Pilot Ayanami is flagging. I know she can do better - her AT output and control were fine in the battle with Shamshel." Maya wore a concerned frown. "Her sync is down a bit too, but not enough to warrant this - and you're all capped at fifty percent anyway. Is she okay?"
Asuka bristled before she could stop herself. "What makes you think I'm in charge of her well-being?"
"… the fact that you are in charge of her well-being, squad leader."
The german pilot winced. "Yeah, that was… sorry." She shook her head. "I shouldn't have."
"No, you shouldn't have. But hey, at least you recognize when you fuck up now, so that's something." Asuka briefly wondered if Maya had been spending time with Mari, since she seemed to be just as good at the patronizing older sister act. "Now, back to my original question. Have you noticed anything unusual with her recently?"
Asuka tilted her head. "Yeah, actually," she replied. "She seemed pretty badly distracted yesterday in school. Almost like she wasn't all there. No idea what it means, though."
Actually, I could guess. Her condition didn't seem too dissimilar to what someone acts like when they're near-terminally sedated. And I know she takes antipsychotics and sedatives, so it isn't a stretch to assume her dose was increased… but I still can't figure out why she's medicated at all, and I doubt Maya is in the know.
"Right… well, keep an eye on her. The poor thing's always in the commander's eye; it won't go well for her if she suddenly flags." Maya hesitated, then decided to continue. "You might need to help her through some of these tests."
Asuka struggled to maintain a straight face as she gritted her teeth. "I'll do my best," she said curtly. "Her low sync score will still limit her performance."
"I'll settle for getting her back to where she was." The private comm clicked off, and then Maya appeared on the squad comm channel. "Alright, pilots. Proceed one kilometer westward. You'll find armaments and a target range - we're going to test the AT penetration technique from the battle with the fifth angel."
That particular move was one Asuka was eager to study - it had been something of a shot from the hip, borne of idle speculation on how to effectively engage with the pallet rifles against a shielded foe. Apparently both Shinji and Rei had independently experienced the same inspiration, and such an effective battlefield test definitely warranted further investigation.
"Yo, princess. What's she talking about? I never heard of that."
Blinking away memories of the battlefield, Asuka focused back on the squad comm. "We… during the battle with Shamshel, we improvised AT-piercing flechettes by… um, tracing them as we fired through our own AT fields," she replied, stumbling slightly over the vague terminology. "I think it worked by stretching a narrow spike just ahead of the flechette. I don't know. It's one of the really fuzzy 'feel-don't-think' moves."
"Huh, neat!" Mari grinned. "I guess that's why they made you squad leader and not me."
Asuka blushed slightly, looking away from the comm camera. "Shinji and Rei came up with the same thing," she grumbled. "That was creativity from survival, not leadership."
"Doesn't mean it wasn't clever." Mari shrugged. "But I ended up wrestling number four in a clusterfuck of underground tunnels with a goddamn lance, so maybe circumstance does play into it a bit."
Shinji's optimistic expression popped up on the screen. "Well at least you'll get to learn now, miss Illustrious!"
"I sure will, puppy. I sure will."
There were four immense pallet rifles mounted on scaffolds on the first ridge. The firing range appeared to consist of a wide, shallow valley; on the far ridge, four vaguely humanoid target figures had been welded and bolted together out of what looked like scrap girders.
"You have sensors on the far ridge?" Shinji wondered, as the pilots undocked and prepared their rifles.
"And in the dummies, yeah. Half this entire training range does. We want as much data as can possibly be had on AT field use."
"But won't the sensors get destroyed, if they're actually inside the dummies?"
"Ahh, but you underestimate the size of NERV's budget." Maya looked unusually smug. "Especially when it comes to AT research. We can wreck almost anything we want."
"Now that's the kind of thing I like to hear," Asuka murmured, half to herself. "Let's do this."
The Evangelion APFSDS Gauss 'Pallet' Rifle had been updated since the battle with Shamshel. Its grip was sleeker - better designed to mold with an Eva's hand - and the barrel and stock were shaped a little differently. It was heavier, too.
More high strength steel, less polymer. They probably felt a need to toughen them after the workout we put them through against the seraphs.
"Alright, pilots. Take aim, please. I'm powering up the sensor grid now."
Asuka lifted the rifle to her shoulder, iron-sighting with her lower right eye. Though its profile was slightly different, the weapon was familiar; she'd used the same in innumerable training simulations since a young age, and more recently in a real life or death battle.
Her teeth clenched. She blinked, and for a second, she was no longer on the training range - the pallet rifle was the older model, the cable heat meter was replaced by the blinking reactor fuel data, and instead of a target dummy in her ironsights there was a writhing alien monstrosity.
Breathe, Asuka.
She was on the training range again. It was just a test, and she was safe.
Battles will come, but today, it is just a test.
"Fire when ready, pilots."
Asuka squeezed the trigger. The rifle barked and jumped in her hands, but her grip held firm; it spat a five-round burst of flechettes and every one of them managed to strike her target. Sparks flew from the steel beams as the massive projectiles tore them like paper.
"Alright, that's a good control sample. Now, I want you to try the AT penetration threading with your augments at twenty-five percent."
Asuka fired up her AT field again, and a second later, felt the faint sensation of her field intersecting with those of the other pilots. She closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling.
It was a strange thing, but the AT fields actually provided some degree of physical feedback - a pilot could, albeit dimly, feel out surfaces and shapes purely by projecting their focus. Asuka let the energy wrap around her hands and weapon, flowing like an invisible current down the barrel to cover the muzzle.
"Fire when ready."
Another cacophony of earsplitting booms ripped through the air as four Gauss guns launched a volley of hypersonic projectiles at their targets. Shimmering orange tracer rays hovered in the air for a second or two before dissipating.
"Rei? I'm getting a very weak reading from your target. Are Asherah's augments intact?"
Asuka frowned at the question. Maya had more data before her than Asuka did, and Asuka could have told her that Unit 00 was in perfect condition - any pilot could asses the general damage level to any other pilot's Eva, if they were on the same deployment.
"Asherah is not damaged, Lieutenant Ibuki." Rei's voice was as flat as ever.
Maya seemed to have decided to go for the direct approach this time. "What's interfering with your AT field use, then?"
There was a brief pause. Then - "I do not know."
That smells like bullshit. Rei's got her secrets - her weird relationship with the commander, her weird hair and eyes, the weird tattoo on her back - she may act the part of the perfect little soldier, but she sure as scheisse knows how lie.
Thinking quickly, Asuka opened a private channel. "First. What's the holdup?"
The screen initially read Sound Only, but a second later, it flashed to Officer Credentials Accepted - Overriding.
Asuka blinked in surprise as the screen resolved into a feed from Rei's entry plug - the first look inside that she'd ever gotten. Really, most of it wasn't too shocking; the interior and control array were more or less identical. The seat, however, looked like something out of a nightmare.
Several large cables ran from behind the seat into attachment points on Rei's plugsuit - attachment points that lined up perfectly with the nerve grafts that Asuka knew lay beneath the neoprene. A multitude of smaller cables plugged into the remaining plethora of A10 nodes that dotted the outdated white plugsuit. Rei herself seemed to hang limply from the apparatus, as if about to fall from her seat. Her eyes were half-lidded and almost vacant.
"Firs- Dammit. Rei?"
Rei blinked, then lifted her head. "Yes, lieutenant?" She answered, her voice clipped as ever.
She still looks like a wreck, though. Does she even know I can see her now?
"What's screwing with your fields? And don't lie to me. I know something's been off with you."
Rei stared back at the feed, her expression as cold and corpse-like as it had been in school. "I have… found it hard to think, recently," she replied.
Half truth. I guess I'll take it - I doubt she'll give me more. "Are you so fucked up that you can't feel AT feedback?"
A pause, although perhaps not the one Asuka had hoped for - she'd expected the thinly veiled insult to elicit some reaction, however small, but Rei's mask did not flicker. She seemed to be genuinely considering the question.
"I am not."
One corner of Asuka's mouth curled upwards. "Then, do you think you can follow a basic lead for this maneuver?"
Rei's brow twitched almost imperceptibly, and Asuka had to suppress a gleeful grin. She is still in there! Yes!
"Only if I could feel the feedback from another Evangelion," Rei managed, haltingly, her tone tinged with the smallest trace of confusion.
"Yeah, well, I've got an idea about that. And no time like the present! We're on a testing range to test things out, aren't we?"
Rei stared blankly back.
"… Don't answer that. Anyway, all I need from you is to set your augments to a specific field frequency. Can you do that?"
"Yes."
"Alright, cool. I'm sending you the frequency set now."
Asuka powered up her AT field, feeding the control data into the comm channel as she did so. Ripples of orange light split the air before her, and the barrier slowly expanded until it also stood between Unit 00 and the targets.
"Tune your field to the same frequency as mine and prepare to trace the rounds. Can you do that?"
"I am unsure." Rei paused. "I think so."
"I'll trace them too. Just let me do it once, then follow my lead - you should be able to feel out what to do." Asuka shifted, poising herself. "Fire on my mark."
Unit 00 lifted the rifle.
"Mark."
Rei fired, and the flechettes struck further sparks from the target structure. Several girders began listing from the frame.
Maya's face popped back up on the squad comm. "Why did I just pick up Moloch's AT field striking Asherah's target?" She asked, her voice sharp.
"I'm walking her through the round tracing," Asuka said quickly. "Gotta make sure she can keep up."
"Ah, gotcha. Should I stand by for a second volley?"
"Yes." Asuka clicked back over to the private comm. "Okay, First. Think you can follow this time?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Again. On my mark."
Once more, Unit 00 lifted the pallet rifle and iron-sighted it. This time, Asuka could feel the other Eva's AT field powering back up and resonating with her own. The orange shimmer in the air was rippling far more rapidly than before.
"Mark."
And then the world blinked.
Asuka reeled and staggered as her vision vanished into blinding orange-tinted light, and a thunderclap drowned out all other sound. For a moment, it was as if she were back on the road in Misato's car, the very first day she'd set foot in Tokyo-3 - the blast drew back a recollection of the blood-chilling terror of being just a stone's throw from a nuclear airstrike.
The visual feed readjusted quickly, however - Evangelion eyes were made of stronger stuff than human ones. Asuka forced herself to straighten her back, and banished the fear unearthed by the memory. It wouldn't do to display cowardice on squad comm.
"Anyone want to tell me what the fuck just happened?" It was Misato's voice.
Asuka winced. "I… was trying to help Rei with the AT penetration technique," she managed. "And it didn't, uh, work out exactly as intended."
Unit 00 was the worst hit, and had nearly fallen to her knees, while Unit 02 had also staggered; Units 01 and 05, being further from the blast, had fared somewhat better. Their pilots were shaken, but not struck.
The target dummy, however, was gone. Not a trace of the original structure remained. A deep, wide groove of scorched earth had been cleft into the ridge where the structure had stood - beside it, Unit 02's target was on the verge of collapse from the force of the blast.
"Hang on…" Maya didn't even sound shaken. "I'm checking out the peripheral observation camera footage. It's orange, not blue, but that looks eerily similar to Sachiel's energy weapon."
"What? Really?" Misato furrowed her brow. "Son of a bitch, it does… is that how they do that, then?"
"If a powerful AT field can do that to a training dummy? Yeah, I'd say that's probably it."
At the end of the line, Unit 05 hefted her pallet rifle, lifting it and resting it on her shoulder.
"So, like, are there other AT tests you want us to get to today? Or does this inexplicable angel energy blast take priority?"
On the comm screen, Maya could be seen looking over her sensors with a bewildered expression. "With data like this?" Maya shook her head. "I wish I could say we can carry on the test, but building new target dummies will take quite a while. And if AT fields can do things like that… well, I think we need to redesign the assessment regimen anyway."
"Alright. You heard her, pilots." Misato have a jerk of her head. "Come on back for retrieval."
X-X-X
The door of the range's tiny infirmary opened, and Mari blinked, focusing her previously scattered attention.
"… and remember, try to keep pushing. I know walking will be a little awkward, but ultimately the nerve regeneration relies on exercising those nerves."
"Yeah, yeah," Asuka huffed, limping out of the room. Just as it had been immediately after she was retrieved from the battle with Gaghiel, and as it was most mornings, her left leg was wrapped from the ankle to just under the knee in bandages. The gauze was soaked in a greasy, clear fluid, one Mari was uncomfortably familiar with.
"She's in a mood. Watch yourself." Asuka's accented english was difficult to understand in the hushed whisper with which it was delivered, but Mari got the gist of it. "She might stick you with needles!"
"Pilot Illustrious?" Maya's clipped tone called. Mari stood up, bracing herself as she entered the infirmary.
"Time to put the goop back on?" The british pilot deadpanned as she sat down on the bed.
"If by 'goop' you mean transdermal nerve steroid gel, then yes," Maya deadpanned back. "Roll up your sleeve, please."
Mari did so, peeling the white cloth back from her less functional arm. "Sure you wouldn't prefer me to take my shirt off?"
"You're insufferable enough without any encouragement," Maya replied, still maintaining a flat tone.
Mari huffed. "Can't blame a girl for trying," she mumbled softly, holding the sleeve back. Maya seemed not to hear, and simply took hold of Mari's arm.
"Huh?" The english woman blinked. "You aren't putting the goop on?"
"The nerve steroids are still very experimental," Maya explained. "You're overdue for a response test."
"What do you mean a - eep."
Maya had grabbed Mari's bicep in a firm grip, and was busy probing the pilot's skin with her free hand. Mari blinked, too off-balance to do anything but gape wordlessly for a moment.
"Can you feel that?"
Mari blinked back to reality. Keep it together, you dysfunctionally gay brit. This is just a medical procedure.
"Umm." Mari searched for appropriate words, knowing that Maya didn't speak english. "It's… I can feel your, er, grip. The rest though, more like… touches? I'm not getting much pressure."
"Hmm." Mercifully, Maya didn't look up, instead drawing her hand down to the crook of Mari's elbow. "How about now?"
"Y-yes. Err, I can feel that." The pilot took a deep breath. "It tickles. Your fingers are warm."
"That's good. Temperature sensation is a good sign." The lieutenant dug her thumbs into the soft tissue of Mari's wrist. "Now?"
"Uh. About the same."
Finally, Maya drew her thumb in a circle around Mari's palm. "Same? Better? Worse?"
Mari didn't respond immediately, and Maya looked up with a concerned expression - to see the pilot blushing intensely and biting the back of her wrist.
"Pilot Illustrious? Are you… is something wrong?"
"No!" Mari squeaked. "Er - I mean - no, ma'am!"
The lieutenant frowned, then narrowed her eyes. "You don't look fine. And you aren't usually this cooperative."
"It's nothing! I'm just -" Mari floundered for a moment, before finally reasserting her usual smooth self. "I never expected a woman as pretty as you to get so… handsy before the first date."
Wow, Mari, that might not have been your smartest move.
Maya dug both of her thumbs into the center of Mari's palm as hard as she could, and the hapless brit shrieked at the the sudden spike of pain.
"Well! Looks like sensation recovery is coming along nicely, hmm?" Maya was still smiling, but her look could only be described as pure evil. "Now, time for the… 'goop,' is that what you called it?"
Mari nodded dumbly as Maya got up and walked over to one of the cabinets. Well, looks like I've incited her wrath. Prepare to get screwed, Mari, and not in the good way.
"Hmm, actually, there's an experimental nerve-shock treatment that just recently got cleared as safe for human testing. In fact, Senpai's been hounding me for data on it." Maya turned back to Mari, her expression hard. "Feel up to trying it?"
Mari blinked. "Wait, you're giving me a choice? After that?"
"I'm a medical professional, pilot Illustrious." Maya's tone was dead serious. "I'm not going to force treatment on you against your will."
Taken off-guard yet again, Mari could only stare for a moment. Morally upstanding too? Along with cute, clever, tomboyish, educated as all hell, and cuts a fine fucking figure in that uniform?
… shit, I think I'm in love.
"The therapy requires deep injections near major nerves, which may be painful." Maya retrieved a frighteningly large syringe and a small bottle of orange liquid. "Still up for it?"
Mari forced down the nervousness from before, replacing it with easy bravado. "I'm a professional alien monster wrangler," she replied, grinning. "No matter how bad the injections hurt, I doubt it'll compare to what gave me that nerve shock in the first place."
"If you say so." Maya filled the syringe. "Hold out your arm, please."
Mari did so, and the lieutenant shifted the limb slightly before pricking the outside of her shoulder near what she would guess was the axillary nerve. Mari grimaced at the sensation of pressure and the lingering ache, but didn't make a sound.
"Just one more near the elbow," Maya murmured. "Hang on…"
The orange bottle on the counter drew Mari's attention, and she welcomed the distraction from the uncomfortable injection. The label was at an angle, but a significant portion was readable; after adjusting her glasses with her free hand, she could see it clearly enough.
'Link circuit liqu-' wait, LCL? This experimental treatment involves LCL injections? Her brow furrowed. 'Lilithian', whatever that means. I wish I could see the other third of the label…
"Alright, that's that." Maya taped a cotton ball and band-aid over the injection site. "Since, unlike your… um, 'sister', you actually accepted the experimental treatment, I won't put the steroid gel on. I need controlled data, after all. Thank you, pilot Illustrious."
"No problem!" Mari flashed her best winning grin. "Happy to help."
She made for the door and stepped out - and paused, surprised.
Rei was standing outside the door, staring blankly straight ahead. As soon as Mari let go of the doorknob, the younger pilot stepped around her and entered the infirmary.
The door clicked shut behind her. Mari narrowed her eyes, intrigued.
Something odd seemed to be up with Rei… but everything about her is odd, anyway.
It might be a breach of privacy, but I gotta take any chance I'm given to check out Gendo's pet.
She did a quick visual sweep of the corridor, noting a lack of security cameras. There had been one in the infirmary room itself, and that was apparently enough security for medical equipment. Satisfied, she knelt and pressed her ear to the door.
"... were seriously under par in the tests until pilot Soryu stepped in to help. Is everything alright?"
Rei said something in reply, and Mari cursed silently. The blue-haired pilot was so soft-spoken that, through the door, her voice was no more than an indistinct blur of sound.
"Are you taking your medication regularly? Dr. Akagi briefed me on your condition. Neglecting to take them regularly might cause severe -"
Maya was cut off by Rei saying something again.
"I know you have… unusual healthcare needs, but at least let me check you over. You were in a medically induced coma only a few weeks ago!"
Another quiet murmur.
"Alright, fine. If you insist, I won't force you. Can I at least take a blood sample to send to Senpai - I mean, Dr. Akagi?"
Rei replied with something that was probably 'yes', and there was the sound of someone sitting down on the medical table.
So she's cagey even with close-in NERV staff. Curiouser and curiouser… I wonder if there's anyone who really knows what makes her tick, other than Gendo himself. Dr. Akagi probably does, I guess. Perhaps I should snoop her out for more information. All I can say for now is that Rei is suspiciously important to the commander, and the commander alone… and that her medical needs are kept secret. The same medical needs that apparently require a daily cocktail of powerful psychotropics, according to what Asuka told Kaji. I wonder, is she even human?
Guessing that she'd already heard everything useful that was going to be said, Mari pulled away from the door, straightening and hurrying away. She may not have been under as much suspicion as Kaji, but it still wouldn't do for her to be caught spying.
Her head was still full of thoughts as she pushed open the facility doors and stepped into the parking lot, but the loud-mouthed red presence waiting there provided an instant and ample distraction. "Finally!" Asuka groused. "I'm more than ready to go home. Went for the needle rather than the goop, huh?"
Mari grinned, snickering slightly. "Of course. What, were you afraid of a little prick, Princess?"
"Hey! It's not the needle I'm afraid of, it's what's in it. NERV can keep their mad science away from my body, thank you very much. Evangelions are one thing, but I draw the line at being subjected to medical tests - they can make someone else into a Frankenstein's monster."
A brief image of Rei played back in Mari's mind. "Yeah, they sure can," she replied absently.
"Exactly. Anyway, Misato's waiting, and wonder girl won't be long - when she isn't spacing out, she moves quick. Let's get going."
X-X-X