Sokila sat glumly at the kitchen table, tiny legs hanging limply from the chair.
"..."
The man in blue with slick silver hair — Theodore, if he recalled...? — sat in a chair beside her.
"You are rather leaky, little one. From my experience, that means your heart is troubled."
"...I dunno why it suddenly started hurting..."
"Hmm...I believe I know. It's painful, not being able to help those you care for."
Sokila looked up at him. "Huh...?"
"We Attendants have always had a complicated relationship with our Guests...and fate only compounds the difficulties. I know what it's like, to watch from afar...unable to help like you want to."
"Theo-senpai...how d'you deal with it...?"
"I...focus on the good times. On good memories. On what made me happy, so that I may have hope."
"...so what can I do now...?"
"Well...you certainly seem to have fun drawing. And now with this kitchen, there's so much more to color."
This suggestion seemed to brighten the little girl's day. "Yeah! But only if you help me!"
The tall man smiled. "I would be delighted, little one."
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Tuesday: July 21, 2015/
/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorms, Hakone Academy/
As one, the four boys seemed to awaken. "...the first day of summer finals," grumbled Toji Suzuhara.
"Just grin and bear with it," moaned Kensuke Aida.
"Do you have any advice for me, Kensuke-kun?" asked Kaworu Nagisa.
"Yeah: stop being so insufferably smug."
"Well that's awfully rude." The boy sounded genuinely hurt.
Naturally, that tone made Kensuke's head sag. "...you're impossible to stay mad at, you know?" he admitted out of defeat.
Shinji Ikari focused down at his phone, looking to see if he had gotten any messages over the night. One in particular caught his eye.
R. Ayanami: There was a sudden influx of Ghost activity in certain regions throughout Japan.
R. Ayanami: I will be facing them while you take care of exams.
R. Ayanami: Then we will swap so that I may recuperate.
S. Ikari: we're doing this for the west of exams...?
Ugh. Typos. It was too early to text!
R. Ayanami: *Rest.
R. Ayanami: And yes.
R. Ayanami: There is a certain order to scheduled events that provides stability to the cognitive world.
R. Ayanami: Endure, but be ready for action regardless.
...I guess there's no way around it.
After grabbing a quick breakfast, the four boys made their way to the Academy.
xxxx
/Class 2-A, Junior High Branch, Hakone Academy/
It was the first day of exams.
Shinji looked down at the forms with a grim expression. Most of them were familiar from the classes he had attended, though a few seemed to elude him...fortunately, they didn't stump him too much.
Determined, he pushed on through.
xxxx
As everyone let out for exams at the end of the day, Rei Ayanami walked into Class 2-A, a small bento box in her hand. "Ayanami-san...?"
"Ah, excellent timing," said Fuyutsuki-sensei, holding up a packet of papers. "Once the other students have cleared out, I'll have you start."
Ayanami nodded before turning towards him. Her red eyes betrayed no hint of exhaustion. "You should review the Mission Board application. I've done a great deal, but the influx is starting to increase." She spoke diplomatically, not going into specifics for the sake of the students which were still around. "I will finish my exams and then rest. I will then relieve you so that you may get some sleep."
...oh, so it's going to be like this. (Even if he still enjoyed the sense of normalcy that academic life brought him, there were times like now where he questioned the efficacy of it.) "...will you be okay?"
"I will endure."
"That's not what I asked."
"...so long as you do well, I will be fine." She gazed at him solemnly, even as her expression became...slightly less neutral than usual. Not enough to smile, but enough to not seem apathetic. "Take care of yourself, Ikari-kun."
"...I will," he added with a gulp. As he walked away, he couldn't help but glance over his shoulder; Fuyutsuki-sensei pulled a can of green tea out from his desk, pulling up a chair to lean back in. (Well, it wasn't like their teacher had to worry about Ayanami cheating when there was no other student around.) With a single audible cue, the blunette sat down and began going through her exams with...impressive speed. She had already answered three questions by the time he left the classroom entirely. (It was almost as though she knew them instinctively.)
Finding the nearest restroom, he secluded himself into a stall, glancing down at his phone and reviewing the nearest missions. Koumi...about a hundred kilometers away...I'll start there. His stomach rumbled. Once...I grab a quick snack. Focusing inwardly, he warped to an out-of-sight alleyway adjacent to the closest convenience store. With foodstuffs and water in hand, he then phased through dimensions towards the town of Koumi.
By the time Ayanami reinforced him, not only had midnight rolled around, but he had done enough missions to meet his quota for July.
xxxx
END OF 7/21/2015
xxxx
As Sokila doodled in the kitchen, Theodore was on the stage.
"I know what I sensed, Master."
The attendant's tone was...concerned. Whatever Igor said in response, he could not hear.
"...there is something different, this time. It's always been one of two things: either my observance was unhindered, or I was unable to detect her at all."
The man sighed, running a hand through his slick head of silvery locks.
"Yes. Now, even though I am able to observe from afar, there are times where she seems to...disappear, from all sight."
Igor tilted his head, still smiling as ever. Theodore seemed perturbed.
"I am unsure...my Guest is quite the troublesome minx. But the fact I've been unable to approach her, to attain her aid for this most important of tasks...I feel like a failure."
Before he could continue, Sokila bounded up onto the stage, waving a piece of paper over her head. "Look, Theo-senpai! I drew your Guest like you described her!"
Her paper showed an auburn-haired girl with piercing red eyes (...why did that seem like the wrong eye color to him?), clad in a black school uniform. The pictured girl was riding atop Theo's shoulders.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the childish scribbling, it touched the silver-haired man's heart.
"Thank you, little one...I think I will cherish this."
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Wednesday: July 22, 2015/
/Courtyards, Hakone Academy/
Shinji Ikari quietly drank from his canned coffee, letting the ambient chatter of other students wash over him.
"-what did you pick for yesterday on this one-?"
"Not gonna tell you. You're only gonna panic."
"Lame."
"Can't wait until the Olympics begin on Friday...it's going to be a great distraction!"
"What do you think we'll be taking the gold in?"
"Well-"
Shinji continued on towards the Junior High Branch.
xxxx
/Class 2-A, Junior High Branch, Hakone Academy/
Shinji Ikari quietly went through the various history questions, before pausing at one: The transition from the Sengoku period to the Edo period is largely credited to the Three Unifiers of Japan. Who are they?
A. Nobunaga Oda, Mitsunari Ishida, Masamune Date
B. Mitsuhide Akechi, Ieyasu Tokugawa, Hideyoshi Toyotomi
C. Nobunaga Oda, Ieyasu Tokugawa, Hideyoshi Toyotomi
D. Nobunaga Oda, Masamune Date, Ieyasu Tokugawa
That class from many weeks ago came to mind. Not falling for it this time. He confidently selected 'C' and continued on.
xxxx
Later on, as the sun was setting, Shinji Ikari was briefly resting atop Mt. Fuji. Having concluded his fifth mission, he was on the phone with...someone unexpected. (He had tried for Misato and Dr. Akagi, but the two were apparently occupied.) "It's just...I haven't heard much from the A.T. Task Force as of late, Akechi-san."
"In all fairness, the Task Force has been dealing with irate government officials the world over...not to mention preparing for a follow-up to the devastation from the 16th."
"But I can't help what I hear; there was really no activity until yesterday?"
"Precisely. After the new moon ended, there were no observations of Acolyte or Ghost activity until yesterday. Such a long gap was...unnerving, to a lot of people. Personally, I'm glad it gave us time to focus on pacification measures."
"I guess..."
"You'd be surprised. Why do you think there hasn't been more worldwide chaos despite the deaths of millions of people not even a week ago?"
"...pacification measures go that far? I thought it was only meant to keep Shadows from interacting with each other."
"Partially, yes. However, those measures also extend to the manual reallocation of Archetypes, to...influence the cognitive world. Depending on the concentration, you can have areas in reality that tend to elicit certain emotional and mental responses...that's why certain companies went through the expense of cognitively engineering their workplaces so that their workers feel more serene and focused the moment they enter the premises. Granted, this runs counter to the human condition, and so people's natural responses will eventually bleed through if not...actively managed. Still, the principle is the same."
"...isn't that brainwashing?"
"It depends on how far you would take the concept. Memories are not altered, and personalities aren't tampered with; one would even argue that it's the cognitive equivalent of placing air fresheners around so that you're put into a better mood because of the scent. Think of it as making people more suggestible. Some would say it's worth it, given the tangible results."
"Do you think it is?"
"What I think is irrelevant...now, instead of chatting with me, perhaps you should do your duty?"
"I'll get back to it then," he muttered, slowly rising to his feet. "...what about this 'Strega' group? Have we heard anything more about them?"
"Beyond the sudden proliferation on the Internet about how horrid, wretched, and evil Evangelion-users are? Not much. They're apparently focused on poisoning public opinion against you and the other two Children, despite your proven effectiveness."
...darn it. "...I see."
"The way I see it, the opinions of people you don't care about shouldn't account for much...even if it's a hard road to walk, at times."
"...I'll...keep that in mind," said Shinji. "Thank you, Akechi-san. Goodbye." Hanging up, he took one last gaze at the horizon in all directions — seeing cities and towns which were still living, and which ones were clearly destitute and dead, Tokyo-1 most of all — before looking down at his phone. "...guess my next stop is Tochigi Prefecture."
Without another word, he phased away from sight.
xxxx
END OF 7/22/2015
xxxx
Sokila slapped another paper onto the refrigerator; the drawn picture featured Shinji Ikari amidst a bunch of blue phantoms.
"...so many ghosts..."
The cherubic tone of Elizabeth drew her eyes toward the kitchen table.
"Ah ah ah, little one! It's Ghosts. The capital 'G' is important."
Sokila blinked. "...eh?"
"Just look at the word! It's quite simple."
"I...don't...get it...? What word?"
"Well, you first have to look at the fourth wall. It has to specifically be the fourth one, for reasons that escape me at the moment. After all, there are so many walls throughout all of history; who decided what the very first wall was, much less the second or third?"
Sokila stared with undeniable confusion.
"At any rate, now it's my turn to make a picture." She promptly pulverized a red crayon in her glove so forcefully that it became a liquid; with lackadaisical motions, she began painting with liquified wax. "Hmm. Crayons are so messy. How do you avoid making such a mess with all of the crayons you use?"
"...how'd ya do that?" asked Sokila, staring agog at Elizabeth's hand.
"Do what?" answered Elizabeth; she was painting a photographic recreation of a Persona called Orpheus.
"...the thing with the crayon!"
"Drawing of course. Well, painting...staining...washing...laundry day? Something to that effect."
Sokila blinked.
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Thursday: July 23, 2015/
/Class 2-A, Junior High Branch, Hakone Academy/
As lunch proceeded, classmates were busy comparing answers on prior tests, or trying to cram just a little. Bit. More.
Shinji was looking rather listlessly at his phone.
M. Katsuragi: ugh
M. Katsuragi: now we're finally getting Pattern Blue readings
M. Katsuragi: (ノ°益°)ノ
M. Katsuragi: not enough to be crazy
M. Katsuragi: but I'm just giving you a heads-up
M. Katsuragi: hope exams are going well
M. Katsuragi: glad I'm not you! (~ω^)
"You're staring at your phone an awful lot."
Kensuke's idle comment elicited a startled yelp from Shinji. "Eh?"
"I'm just saying, you're starting to zone out."
Blink. Blink. "...I am?"
"My point exactly."
Shinji sighed. "These past couple of days have been...busy, is all."
"Do you seriously think NERV wouldn't be able to make some allowance for exams to be conducted on a separate time for you?"
"...probably..."
"Then why stick with the hellish schedule?"
Shinji idly glanced towards another set of messages that he had not expected to receive that morning.
G. Ikari: There will be no favors or allowances granted. One must accept the consequences of their actions.
G. Ikari: I learned this lesson long ago.
G. Ikari: It is one that you will learn as well.
"...because I can," he muttered, finding difficulty in tamping down his spite.
"Eh, your funeral," said Kensuke with a shrug as he took another bite of his rice.
xxxx
The third day of exams continued on.
Shinji stared at the algebraic equations as though they were hieroglyphs before re-reading the question: Select the correct factorization of the algebraic expression 3x^2 - 5x - 2.
A. (3x - 2)(x + 1)
B. (3x + 1)(x - 2)
C. (3x + 2)(x - 1)
D. (3x - 1)(x + 2)
I bet there are are people who know this sort of stuff by heart. With a determined sigh, he reverse-engineered the answer by multiplying the answers and writing out the resulting equation. Once he realized that 'B' was the correct answer, he selected it and moved on.
Fortunately, he just barely finished in time.
xxxx
Later that evening, within the Metaverse in Gifu Prefecture, Shinji was facing down an Acolyte's Shadow.
Fortunately, he wasn't alone.
"Time for an elbow bomb!" roared Mister P as he smashed the hulking beast into the ground. "Now, lad!"
With a determined roar, Shinji willed Hamlet to leap forward. "Finishing blow: Giant Slice!" yelled his Persona.
Weakened by the thrashing it had already taken, the Acolyte's Shadow was bisected by Hamlet's blade.
(Simultaneously, in the real world: an Acolyte dropped dead on the forest floor, no longer chasing the frightened denizens of the mountain village of Meihōogawa.)
"Capital effort, my boy!"
"...thank you for the help, Mister P," he said, looking towards the enigmatic bird-man. "How'd you know where I'd be?"
"Why, it's because I know EVERYTHING."
"..."
"But in all seriousness, you and Ayanami have been hopping all over the place. I figured it's only the gentlemanly thing to do to lend a hand!"
"...thank you." And he meant it.
"See you at the next spot of trouble!" Without another word, the buff bird-man hopped atop Gryphon and flew away.
Sighing, Shinji quickly phased back into the real world — making sure that no Ghosts had emerged — before moving on to his next mission.
Somehow, he had a feeling that he'd be getting closer with Mister P soon...
xxxx
END OF 7/23/2015
xxxx
Sokila sat with a grin at the kitchen table. Why was she grinning?
Probably because Margaret and Lavenza, sitting across from her, were staring towards the stove with...expressions he couldn't quite pin down.
Unabashed terror. Undeniable confusion. Unprecedented intrigue.
Elizabeth and Theodore were seemingly content with staying on the other side of the auditorium, hiding behind the various folding chairs.
What filled them with such dread?
Surely it couldn't be Igor, standing at the stove and making breakfast.
"It is quite a boon; rare it is for the Velvet Room to have anything approaching a place to prepare food, much less a kitchen."
For some reason, he could tell that the refrigerator now held more than just leftovers, and that the pantries were full. Who had gone shopping?
Sokila asked, "does this mean we'll get hungry now?"
"That would seem to be the case," answered Igor, whisking together a mix of what looked like Black Oozes(?) and Ara Mitamas(?) into a spicy sauce.
"Cool!"
Lavenza was much less enthused than her kouhai. "This is a very unusual form of Fusion..." she said, getting the wrong impression entirely.
Igor slathered the sauce onto an Onmoraki(?) and placed the corpse-bird into the oven. "For such a change to have this sort of effect on not only the Velvet Room, but us...your guest is truly a remarkable individual."
"Yeah! He's the best!" exclaimed Sokila.
After a poignant ding from the oven, Igor withdrew the baked bird, which had somehow assumed the appearance of a roasted turkey, succulent and golden brown. "Enjoy, my dear assistants."
"What...is this feeling...of unease...?" murmured Margaret.
Sokila apparently shared none of the trepidation of her seniors, since she grabbed a turkey leg and immediately began chewing. "Mmm! So good~ "
"...is she about to explode?!" called out Elizabeth from across the room.
"I'm not sure!" answered Lavenza.
"Shall I dive in and rescue her from her fate?!" inquired Theodore.
Margaret sighed, finally asserting herself. "I'm certain our Master would not endanger our newest companion so cavalierly." Still, it took three minutes before she seemingly worked up the courage to take a bite of skin. That was all it took for her to finally request a plate.
Before ten minutes were out, the five Velvet Room attendants were all eating their fill (with Elizabeth joining Sokila in eschewing utensils).
And all the while, Igor stared with his ever-present grin. "Indeed, a very curious development..."
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Friday: July 24, 2015/
/Kernel's Fried Chicken, Outskirts of Hakone Academy/
"So...why exactly did you want to come here this morning?" asked Toji Suzuhara.
"I'm not sure," answered Shinji Ikari, chewing at a fried chicken drumstick. "I just...had a craving for chicken this morning, for some reason."
"The fact that you decided to order a dozen pieces speaks volumes," said Kensuke Aida.
"Well, you all said you'd help," muttered Shinji with an embarrassed shrug. (That, and he didn't want to admit that the pace he had been through the past few days had taken its toll; he had woken up feeling famished.)
Kaworu Nagisa's response was a satisfied hum as he chewed into the white meat of his chicken. "I must say, I just love breasts."
The three boys stared quietly at him. Finally, Toji spoke for them. "Nah...that's too easy. And it's too early in the morning."
They let Kaworu's unintentional innuendo slide by as they filled their bellies with fried poultry.
xxxx
/Class 2-A, Junior High Branch, Hakone Academy/
It was the fourth day of exams.
The characters of kanji not only included those that Shinji had memorized since coming to Tokyo-3, but also those he had been able to learn prior to transferring from Nishiawakura Junior High School.
Still, he was practically flying through the kanji. 蚊 is mosquito...雅 is gracious...掛 is hang...
He managed to finish with enough time left over to take a brief nap.
(He was too tired to care about how rude it made him seem.)
xxxx
As the evening rolled on and he alternated between stopping Ghosts and defeating Acolytes, he had managed to partner up with Mister P once more (who had also been kind enough to help him acquire a few new Archetypes as Personas). His missions had taken him to the more rural parts of Japan, surprisingly enough. Then again, the motivations of the Angels were something he didn't often ponder.
With only a little bit of downtime between missions (and with literally no one but himself to talk to, since he didn't much feel like using his phone for...well, talking), he broached some of the thoughts on his mind.
"Strega...a very pitiable group," murmured the hulking bird-man as he worked the kinks out of his shoulders.
As Shinji slowly finished 'making room' in his mind for Koppa Tengu (all the while saying — inwardly, subconsciously — 'goodbye for now' to Mokoi), he asked, "how so...?"
"They are pawns in a game with incredibly high stakes. And pawns don't act without sanction of a player."
He thought of Jin Shirato's warning to the world, and the anathemas he had lobbed against Evangelion; he thought of that focused man who had successfully destroyed the MAGI in Atlanta (not too long before the city itself had been rendered into a new Dead Zone), and couldn't quite envision him as someone without agency. "...do you really believe that?"
"Indeed! I wouldn't say it if I didn't, because it's a very unpleasant thing to think about." Mister P straightened his tie before adding, "after all, there are too many examples of people who cast aside their free will to become willing pawns...for reasons that are quite varied."
"...well, you certainly don't strike me as a pawn."
The bird-man squawked with amusement, startling Gryphon because of the noise. (Nearby Archetypes instinctively fled.) "I'm very flattered! And if I have anything to say about it, you won't be a pawn either. You've got far too much power at your fingertips to be reduced to something like that."
"But can't pawns capture pieces just as well as any other?"
"True, they certainly can...but they also have no choice but to advance forward, regardless of the danger. Running away is impossible."
Shinji frowned, gazing down at his feet. (At the grass born of humanity's thoughts; it seemed so much more wild and untamed than it was in reality.) "...but that's a good thing-"
BOP.
"OW!" yelped Shinji, rubbing his head from where Mister P had lightly thwacked him with his gloved palm. "W-w-what the heck was that for?!"
"For being foolish. Haven't you heard of the concept of a tactical retreat, my little chickadee?" He sighed theatrically, striking a pose in the process. "In the end, I won't tell you whether advancing or retreating is the right call in a given scenario...nor can I tell you that running away is inherently good or inherently bad. Life's too complicated for that. Only you can determine whether you'll be able to live with the consequences of your actions."
For some reason, hearing those words from Mister P seemed to come across so much better than those from his own father. (The substance was the same; was it all down to nothing more than the delivery?) "...I'll remember that."
"If that's the only thing you ever learn from me, then it's worth it," he answered with a cheeky grin.
Feeling somewhat mollified and mentally refreshed by the exchange, Shinji slowly gazed at the repetitive red and black waves of the cognitive sky. "Well...I guess I should end my break now."
"Ah yes, no rest for the wicked, my good chum!"
"...but I'm not wicked. Am I...?"
"Notwithstanding that I could be referring to either Ghosts or Acolytes — which is admittedly unfair, since they probably didn't ask for it — it's just a figure of speech."
"Ah." Maybe I should a rent a book to memorize more idioms...
And so he continued on.
xxxx
END OF 7/24/2015
xxxx
Sokila quietly twiddled her toes, which were bare. Her sandals were held quietly in her arms.
"...why are you so busy...?"
She glanced over at the kitchen, where her fellow attendants were...experimenting.
(For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to call it 'cooking'.)
"It seems...silly. All that paper, all that writing...what for?"
She pouted, even as monstrous roars erupted from the kitchen. "Ah, so this what it means to create Mystery Food X!" exclaimed Elizabeth.
As fiery tentacles lashed about from the kitchen, Lavenza simply said, "I've heard many stories about this 'Mystery Food X'...perhaps we should instead call this Mystery Food Z?"
Theodore settled for screaming incoherently while Margaret explosively sighed.
Sokila wisely backed away. "Maybe...you can teach them how to cook...?"
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Saturday: July 25, 2015/
/Courtyards, Hakone Academy/
"Man, I can actually see the bags under your eyes," muttered Kensuke.
Hikari Horaki looked with concern at Shinji's face. "Is this...normal?"
"...it's just one more day," murmured Shinji, sipping from his canned coffee.
"I'd be more concerned if Ayanami didn't seem so perky whenever she shows up in the afternoon." Kensuke paused, thinking about what he had just said. "Okay, maybe perky's the wrong word, but she seems remarkably unaffected by this pace you two have been pulling."
Toji shook his head. "Eh, just chalk it up to Evangelion-stuff. Maybe Ikari will get this invulnerable the longer he goes at it?" Silence answered him. "So...the Olympics' opening ceremony was pretty neat."
"Eh, not my cup of tea," said Kensuke. "And even if I were, the common rooms were way too packed to make it worth watching."
"It was the same at the Izanami Dorms," commented Hikari. "Did you know that the Olympics used to be held in even-numbered years?"
"Really?" asked Toji.
"They got delayed because of Second Impact, apparently."
That bit of trivia elicited a snort from Toji. "Man, Second Impact sucked."
At that, Shinji couldn't help but agree.
xxxx
/Class 2-A, Junior High Branch, Hakone Academy/
It was the last day of exams.
Shinji knew the material. He honestly did. But his stamina was flagging. How fortunate, that Saturday was only half a day!
He had just enough vigor to psyche himself up...and just enough determination to power on through to the end.
He answered the last question with about ten seconds to spare.
xxxx
As classes finally let out for the day, there was a sense of elation and dread. Elation, because the summer finals were over, which meant summer vacation was just around the corner! Dread, because a bad performance would be academically disastrous, and almost all of the Junior High students were not yet seasoned test-takers.
As such, it was no surprise that Shinji Ikari napped. Hard.
"He looks beat," said Kensuke, nudging at Ikari's heel as he rested against a tree in the Academy's courtyards. (Already, most students were celebrating the fact that the first term was essentially over; aside from one final day next Tuesday to hand out summer assignments and deliver grades, they were basically free. It was a feeling that Kensuke thought he should be...well, feeling more of.) "Sometimes, I wonder why he doesn't do what other young A.T. Agents have and just drop out; it's not like it's without precedent."
Toji shrugged, staring up at the sky. The excitable chatter of other students — who all seemed to keep their distance away from the tree that the trio were resting under — served as a pleasant sort of white noise. "Eh, Ikari's kind of a weird bird. Maybe he likes school or something."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say like...but it could be a matter of what it represents to him?"
"Eh, so long as he's able to do what he's gotta do, does it really matter?"
"It matters when he runs himself into the proverbial ground."
"That just means we'll have to pick up the slack for him!"
Kensuke huffed. "Sure. Be sure to let me know when you pull an Evangelion out of your hat."
"Don't got a hat; they mess with my hair."
"You know what I mean! Don't pull a Nagisa on me."
Toji snorted. "Ain't nowhere near dirty enough of an innuendo to be mistaken for him."
"Point conceded."
"So...doing anything for Marine Day?"
Ah, that was this upcoming Monday, wasn't it? "Haven't thought of anything yet. Can I unwind from exams for at least five hours before making vacation plans?"
"Good luck escaping from your internship with NERV," joked Toji.
Kensuke grumped ineffectually at his more athletic friend. "Yeah, well..."
xxxx
Speaking of NERV: seven hours behind the island nation of Japan, Asuka Langley-Sohryu was yawning widely within a cafe inside NERV-03. "So...the recent spate of attacks is slowing down?" she asked, idly poking at her breakfast.
"It would seem so, Miss Sohryu," answered Sister Mary Makinami, reading the local paper delivered from Darmstadt.
"Kinda wish the other two Children could have been spared for a shift or two over here in Europe." The past week had been positively brutal; had it not been for the nun's pull in getting reinforcements from the Catholic Church, she would have been run ragged trying to deal with not only the Acolytes but also all of the verdammt Ghosts that had popped up.
"Well, notwithstanding the fact Japan's mission load was much higher than Germany's — oh stop gawking with food in your mouth, it's rude — there's also the fact that they were taking their final exams before summer vacation...or so I was told."
Asuka hummed thoughtfully (right, those two actually still went to school. Igitt!) before screeching to a mental halt. "...final exams?"
"Yes."
"...they're actually splitting their Evangelion-users' attention between dealing with Ghosts and Acolytes...and doing tests?"
"That is correct."
"...Japanese have some damn weird priorities."
"That counts as self-deprecating, given your own heritage," pointed out Sister Mary.
"So? If it's stupid, it's stupid!"
xxxx
"...at least I have an internship!" retorted Kensuke.
Toji gave "...that's a stupid retort. Now that I'm apprenticed to Sakamoto-sensei, you can keep your internship."
"...eh, fair enough."
The banter continued on in a rather haphazard way...not that Shinji was able to participate, being asleep and all.
His Other nodded.
"Rest. Regain your fortitude for the days to come."
All told, he was far from the only student eager to put this week behind themselves: one of them, unbeknownst to the trio, was Rei Ayanami.
Standing within her empty room on the second floor of the Izanami Dorms, Rei was...pleased, with the fact that they had pulled through with relative aplomb. It had not escaped her notice that the incidents had all occurred within Germany or Japan: coincidentally, the two nations that the world's only Evangelion-users could reasonably call 'home'. There would doubtless be fallout from that in short order (because other humans were not blind or deaf to Strega's warning; they would draw connections and doubtless make the wrong conclusions, but they would make conclusions regardless)...but she couldn't find it in herself to care, for the moment.
Perhaps it was time...to check on something rather important, while her slate was relatively open. Opening her phone, she opened a private messenger application that no one (save perhaps for Gendo Ikari; even if she had never spoken to him of it, he had a way of 'knowing' about unusual events and incidents within Tokyo-3) knew she possessed.
(Little did she know that Shinji Ikari had this same application as well, and had been using it to communicate with PILATE.)
R. Ayanami: Thirty minutes.
Almost immediately, a trio of responses returned.
HEROD: TIMER SET.
PILATE: DO KEEP US INFORMED ABOUT THEIR...STATUS.
SOPHIA: Be careful, okay sweetie?
For not the first time, Rei wondered why the Motherly Aspect of Naoko Akagi had broken with the theme established not only by the MAGI units' physical forms, but also with the code names chosen by the Scientific Aspect (Herod) and the Womanly Aspect (Pilate). It was still a mystery as to why Naoko Akagi's Motherly Aspect had opted to go with 'Sophia' instead of something more narratively appropriate like 'Mary' or 'Martha' or ''Magdalene' or 'Veronica' or even 'Anna' (though, given the presence of Phanuel this time around, that name might have seemed...unseemly). Still, it was a minor mystery that didn't much concern her in the grand scheme of things; let the mind of a pitiable woman do as she pleased.
Thus did Rei Ayanami lie upon her bed, pulling under the covers to take what amounted to a small nap...in the eyes of anyone else.
Rei Ayanami closed her eyes...
Her Other quietly held her hand.
"Let go...but not too much."
The Beast winced, standing astride a great and terrible gulf.
"May the agony keep you sane."
There was the subtle sensation of all things falling down an infinite cylinder, a Gabriel's Horn that narrowed down towards a point that it could never quite reach.
She looked through the looking glass...and then the looking glass looked through HER-
...and opened them once more. She was on the floor of a dark and desolate place. There was...a greater accumulation of mold and mildew, since the last time she had been here. At least they provided a splash of color amidst the dried blood that encrusted literally every square inch of this place; that it still retained even a scintilla of structural soundness even now was honestly...amazing.
Still, that wasn't why she was here. She calmly compared the mental map in her had with her current location, and frowned. I manifested in one of the upper levels. A pity. Not close enough to the lower reaches to perform a closer inspection (a white lie; you know you want to see our work in person), but close enough to the main level to at least get a status update.
So Rei Ayanami arose, dusting off her school uniform (that's a useless gesture; it's not real) and treading down the dilapidated corridors. She tread lightly, trying not to put anymore stress than she had to; she winced at places where rotten flesh and tissue had fallen through the ceiling (another inaccessible tunnel; there weren't many left), and grimaced at areas where not-quite-water had begun to leak through (don't touch it, screamed a primal part of herself) from outside.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, she entered a cavernous chamber, filled with ruined equipment and computers that no longer functioned. It was only near the bottom of the chamber where she came across a particular hatch, still waterproof and airtight. With a grunt, she pulled out the latches and flipped open the panel, revealing a keyboard and monitor built into the floor. (The concept of Redundancy was truly a blessing.) With a few keystrokes, the monitor flickered to life, weak and anemic. The message displayed was...concerning.
POWER RESERVES AT 19%
Frowning, Rei typed a terse response.
You should have informed me that you were this low on energy.
There was an immediate answer.
YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN INFORMED BEFORE IT REACHED CRITICAL LEVELS.
YOU WERE BUSY.
That was a fair enough point, she mused as she typed once more.
Their status?
INTEGRATION NOW STANDS AT 21%.
MAKE THAT 22%.
...all told, that wasn't terrible. Less than she had hoped for, but more than she had feared.
Are there any anomalies?
WHEN AREN'T THERE?
Anything that could be fatal?
IT IS DIFFICULT TO SAY. WE CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH.
Rei frowned, but left it at that. With a delicate motion, she raised her finger; it proceeded to glow with an ethereal light, briefly illuminating the dark and dingy chamber. It was a relatively simple thing, to convert the metaphysical energy of her soul to electrical energy that these systems relied upon to function...yet it was no less exhausting.
POWER RESERVES NOW AT 97%.
WILL YOU BE DIRECTLY INSPECTING THEM?
Not this time. I've already been away for too long.
VERY WELL. WE WILL CONTINUE ON.
Nodding quietly, Rei Ayanami closed the panel, hiding the computer once more. Reapplying the latches and seals, she leaned back onto the floor, uncaring for the dried stickiness of what would seem to almost everyone an utter slaughterhouse. We must continue on...we must...we must. That was the mantra she chanted to herself as she closed her eyes...
It was painful, dividing her perceptions from one form to another. Yet, there was a sense of undeniable clarity in the action.
After a time, she could see that Beast, bleeding from her chest.
"Will we be forced to empty ourselves completely...?"
Her Other held out a hand across the seemingly infinite void.
"Endure. That is all we can ask of ourselves."
She reached out — there was a strange sensation of rattling — and took hold-
...and blinked at the sensation of her phone buzzing on the nightstand in her dorm room. It had been thirty minutes exactly. She quickly grabbed it and typed a response to the MAGI.
R. Ayanami: More than a fifth, not yet a quarter.
HEROD: STILL WITHIN ACCEPTABLE LIMITS, GIVEN OUR SCENARIOS.
PILATE: A SHAME THAT OUR INFLUENCE IS SO LIMITED.
SOPHIA: Are you okay?
The last one would've elicited a bitter chuckle from someone who was more lively. As it stood, Rei could only settle for sighing.
R. Ayanami: I am never okay.
She put the phone away, gazing at the afternoon sky outside her window. It was a beautiful day, all things considered. Perhaps a walk would do her good (or so she tried to say to herself, knowing it was a lie). Motion was preferable, because it grounded her, reminded her that action was necessary to keep moving forward.
(If she fell back asleep now, it felt like she might never wake up again.)
(Unacceptable.)
And so she rose to her feet, to see and be seen, to witness and remember what this was all for.
xxxx
END OF 7/25/2015
xxxx
Author's Note: So. Quite a bit happened: the Emperor Social Link ranked up to 2, we see that Theo's still concerned about FeMC, we got past summer finals, and...saw Rei doing *something*.
The fun thing about exams in SPE (if it were actually a game) is that Knowledge is not the only necessary social stat needed to ace them; because of the Missions you're forced to participate in, mental and physical exhaustion also play a factor! As such, not only must Knowledge be at a minimum of Rank 3, but Determination **and** Vigor must be at a minimum of Rank 2 for you to complete first term exams. :V
But honestly, none of that compares to Igor actually doing something other than sitting behind his desk! IT'S THE END OF DAYS!
/if you can't tell by my chattiness
/I'm looking forward to the summer vacation part of the plot
/also
/some of you Japanophiles
/might be wondering why Marine Day
/didn't occur on the third Monday of July, i.e. 7/20 in 2015
/there's a bit of background worldbuilding that's related to that, much like the reason the Olympics now occur in odd years
/let's just say it has to with a certain solar eclipse that occurred in July of 2009
/and we'll leave it at that until we have an opportunity for a lesson from Nebukawa-sensei