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Chapter 34

Haze

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The apartment's balcony was just recessed enough and just sheltered enough that, if one sat with their back against the back wall, they could remain relatively undisturbed even if the weather was stormy.

The gales currently blowing across Tokyo-3 were not the strongest storms the city had ever endured. But they were enough to keep Asuka huddled against the wall, her knees drawn up on the thin mats that offered protection from the hard concrete of the balcony floor.

She'd been out on the balcony for less than an hour, but weather reports asserted that wind speeds had been high for more than a day and a half. In part, the storm could be attributed to the recent, massive atmospheric disturbance; this was likely why it had continued so long, but high winds and rain also just weren't unusual weather in Tokyo-3's winters.

A hand touched her shoulder, and Asuka flinched in shock. She hadn't heard the door open.

"Did I startle you?"

"Yeah." Asuka looked away. "Don't really hear too well on that side, these days."

"I am sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault."

Rei nodded, then sat down on the mat Asuka had laid out along the base of the wall. She scooted herself over to sit beside Asuka.

"Happy birthday."

"Wh- what?! It isn't -" Asuka fumbled for her phone. "Fourth of - it is my birthday."

"Did I say it wrong?" Rei looked ready to shy away, and Asuka's heart ached.

"No - not at all. I'm just, well, kind of shocked I forgot." Asuka looked back out over the grey, rainy cityscape. "They usually mean a lot more to me, but I guess this year I… wasn't paying attention."

"I do not think any of us were, either," Rei offered. "There has been little time for anything but war."

"Ain't that the truth," Asuka said, scowling. "Another threat every five minutes. No time for anything in between. Push it all back 'till later, later, never now."

Rei nodded, scooting a few inches closer. Asuka couldn't help but be aware of how close she was. Even sheltered by the balcony from the wind and rain, the ambient temperature was quite chilly, and Asuka knew exactly how warm Rei's embrace could be.

"Is it later now?"

Asuka took a deep breath, pushing past the nerves. "I guess it is."

Grabbing Rei's hand, she resisted the urge to grip it too tightly; as it was, the soft noise of surprise Rei made sent another ache through her chest.

"Rei, you - I - I really like you," she managed. "And… I want to be with you. Whenever - however I can." She bit down on the tip of her tongue.

Rei didn't reply immediately, but she kept her eyes on Asuka's face, not even blinking.

"I like you very much, too," Rei said eventually. "I… do not know affection well. I was not built for it, nor was I ever shown much. Despite… despite that, I want to be with you too. However I can."

Asuka ducked her head, but she knew Rei had seen her smile.

"That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."

"I am sorry for causing you unnecessary stress."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault." Asuka leaned a little closer, until their shoulders were almost touching. "Rei, I… may I kiss you?"

"Yes. Any time."

"Really? Any time?"

"I trust your judgment."

Asuka couldn't help but smile again, as she leaned in for the kiss.

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While at rest, it was standard for evangelion units to have their arms and shoulders locked within gargantuan steel clamps, with similar restrictions immobilizing their feet. Between modern metagenetics and sophisticated internal infrastructure, it was rare for an in-service Eva to override its control systems and unleash a blind rampage of destruction, but it had happened enough times in the past to warrant permanent precautions. Such was the advent of the term cages to refer to their storage berths.

The special containment cage, however, made the regular cages look fragile in comparison.

"Beginning L4 power test, tenth run. Clear the catwalks."

Only the most senior technicians and engineers were allowed to work in the special containment cage. They were typically the most skilled and most loyal among the NERV staff. Even so, Ritsuko's control booth was isolated from the floor of the main control room, specifically so she could record results in secret if need be.

The power meters on her screen ticked up, reaching minimal activation over the course of perhaps three minutes. On the adjacent checklist, green ticks began to appear, indicating the relevant sensors detected no problems.

And yet, the AT sensors placed around the inner cage stubbornly refused to pick up anything but blue signals.

She's intact. Suspiciously intact. Magic arms gone, damage healed up, systems in the green. Yet still apparently an angel. Ritsuko reached for a cigarette, remembered that she hadn't brought any with her, and started to chew irritably on her tablet stylus. It's not the Bardiel pattern. It's not any angel pattern. There's no harmonic waves at all, just the pure AT carrier. Just like an Eva with no pilot should look like… except for the blue.

From the control booths and catwalks of the 'outer cage', one might be fooled into believing there wasn't any Evangelion held within. The inner cage was, truly, better called a coffin.

All that could be seen of its exterior were two towering monoliths of steel, placed together to form a cube close to a hundred and fifty meters to a side. The blocks were fastened together by two hundred colossal bolts of high-tensile alloy, each at least as wide as Ritsuko was tall, and long enough to run through-and-through the whole block.

And SEELE bemoaned 'wasting funds' back in the day. Said we'd never need such an expensive special containment facility. Well, shows what they know. I knew it'd come in handy.

"Tenth run powering down. Please wait for the safety buzzer before re-entering catwalks."

Ritsuko jotted a series of notes down on her tablet, her eyes still narrow.

Three partial successes and seven complete ones. Despite everything, Unit Three seems ready for her L3 power tests. The only question is, now, how to talk the commander into it…

Switching to her email app, she opened a new document.

"Regarding newly revealed data and its potential importance to the stalled Project Elohim…"

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At long last, Kōzō found the commander on the rear catwalks of Cage 01. The docking clamps were a poor fit on her skeletonized frame, and the cage was only half-full of coolant. Dozens of workers in fall harnesses and ropes crawled over the titan's torso.

He shouldn't have been surprised, really, he realised upon reflection. Yui was the only other creature Gendo had ever even pretended to love.

"That's a lot of damage," the lieutenant commander said, moving to stand beside Gendo. "What's the outlook?"

"The worst of it is that her angel core is split." Gendo kept staring straight down at the wrecked spine of the evangelion. "Unit 01 may reject repairs at this stage. Reconstruction attempts are in progress, but implant system replacements will do no good without bone grafts to mount them on."

"So…"

"I expect to give the disassembly order later this week."

His voice was as even as ever, and Kōzō was surprised to realize the evenness was infuriating. Gendo's whole scheme of playing along with SEELE after the first link circuit accidents had been for Yui's sake, once - or so the man had said. Was that simply irrelevant now?

"Do we - truly need the parts?" Kōzō managed. "I thought the North American facility was ready to build. That brings us up to three production sites…"

"As you know, recycled core fragments can greatly accelerate a Hadean Forge's production of new cores. I see no reason to allow any delay in bringing us back up to force."

Kōzō took a deep breath, then released it slowly.

"And the third child?"

"Will be tested for base synchronicity with the new units. If none pass, his commission warrant will be terminated."

This time, Kōzō wasn't at all shocked; this much was perfectly in character. It would be a cold day in hell before Gendo spoke kindly of his son.

"As you say, Commander."

"Mhm."

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"Geez… how can you expect me to walk that fast?" Misato leaned on the wall, breathing heavily. "I'm too old to be playing hide and seek with secret agents."

"You're only thirty. You don't even smoke like I do. Has the officer commission softened you that much, Major? It wasn't so long ago that you were running circles around the boys in boot camp."

"Shut it. Times change." Misato pushed herself upright, her expression souring. "And don't be so sure I don't smoke. I bet I'll need a cigarette after whatever this big secret is."

"If you need a cigarette after every stressor, I'm going to stop feeding them to you. This is my lung cancer. You can buy your own."

"Whatever. Let's get this over with."

Ritsuko nodded, swiping her keycard over the sensor. The door hissed open, and the two women stepped inside.

Usually, the apartment was silent. Today, however, there was the soft noise of a TV talk show filtering into the hallway from the main room.

A heartbeat later, Kyū's eyes peeked around the corner. Then they narrowed in suspicion.

Of course. She'd probably recognize insignia if Misato was wearing it, but she doesn't know Misato by sight.

"Uh, hi, Rei," Misato said, bewildered. "What are you doing here?"

"This isn't Rei." Ritsuko turned back to Kyū. "Don't worry, she's my - she's a friend. You can come out, she won't hurt you."

Rather than stepping out, though, Kyū backed away, disappearing into the main room.

"Bullshit. She isn't Rei? You know a lot of blue-haired, red-eyed kids?"

Ritsuko took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. "No. Just two so far. Rei and Kyū."

"Nine isn't a name."

"No, but it's her serial number and I'm… not a creative woman. She's a clone, you see."

"Her serial number- " Misato winced, rubbing her temples. "Hang on. Give me a minute to suspend disbelief, and start again from the top."

Ritsuko tilted her head. "How many of my leaked documents have you actually read?"

"The ones marked 'top priority.' I figured if I needed to know more than that, you'd probably be there to explain it to me."

"Well… I guess it worked out to your advantage this time." Ritsuko sighed. "Okay. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"In the depths of terminal dogma, Gendo has a tank full of test tube babies. Clones of Yui Ikari, grown from angel stem cells instead of human ova. Rei is one of them. So is Kyū. Following?"

"Much as I wish I wasn't, yes."

"The comatose, undeveloped ones are Gendo's backups. If Rei dies, he can replant the soul of Lilith and most of Rei's memories into a new body."

"I'll… take your word that's how souls work, I guess…"

"Yeah, I'm a real soul-expert." Ritsuko flashed a fake grin. "If I survive to retire from NERV, I'm going to take a part time job as the world's most depressing priest."

A troubled look flickered across Misato's face. "Continue."

"Kyū was issued to me as essentially no more than equipment -"

"Equipment?!"

"Yes, a component in the dummy plug system. It wasn't easy to convince the commander to release a backup for that purpose."

"That's a human being you're talking about!"

"Half human. And she wasn't much more than a forty-eighth trimester fetus at first, just like most of her sisters."

Misato growled softly, narrowing her eyes.

"… Anyway. The dummy link wasn't supposed to affect her, but somehow it did. She started growing, or rather, developing." Ritsuko's hand reflexively crept towards her pack of cigarettes, but she caught herself. "First just looking around and twitching, but by the time I sabotaged the dummy system and flushed her out, she was able to crawl and make noise."

"You sabotaged the dummy system. It didn't just break."

"Correct."

"Even though it could have saved the other pilots a lot of suffering?"

"And given Gendo the power to command the Evangelions without the consent of their pilots, sure," Ritsuko deflected. "Besides, channeling the dummy circuit hurt Kyū. I saw it."

Misato just looked away, her expression still dark.

"Well. I told the commander that she'd died, so I had to hide her somewhere. This was the best I could do on short notice."

Misato huffed. "I'm almost surprised you didn't put her down yourself."

"Yes, well…" Ritsuko reached for a cigarette again, and again stopped herself. "It's one thing to prescribe slow poisons to an unaware child. It's quite another to point a gun at a visibly terrified child and pull the trigger. I managed the former long enough; I couldn't make myself follow through the latter."

Misato drew a deep breath, but before she could respond, something caught her eye. "Ah, I see she's back. Curious little thing, isn't she?"

Ritsuko turned to see Kyū peeking around the corner again, still looking suspicious.

"… Hang on." Ritsuko stepped away from Misato, walking over to Kyū's 'hiding' place. The girl's narrow eyes widened as she looked up at her guardian, apparently trying to convey distress.

"I know you don't know her, but I promise she won't hurt you."

Kyū huffed softly, shifting to stand so that Ritsuko was directly between her and Misato.

"Look, kid," Misato called. "I won't even touch you if you don't come to me first, okay? Promise. Does that make you feel better?"

Kyū leaned to the side, fixing Misato with a wary frown, but then nodded.

Oh, she really is getting better at parsing words. It might not be long before she starts speaking for herself, then… I just hope I can give her more learning material than TV broadcasts.

"Alright then." Misato smiled indulgently. "Why don't we sit down while we talk, instead of standing around in the hallway?"

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