Pressure, Part 2
Note, the parenthesis indicate languages other than Japanese, in this case, English.
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Central Dogma
Monday, Early Morning
Things had been pretty quiet lately, giving NERV's staff time to get up to date with various pending tasks.
Captain Katsuragi finally had gotten rid of the last complaint in the Mountain of Bureaucratic Demands. She sighed, she enjoyed her job most days, but dealing with the bean-counters annoyed her out of her mind. If it wasn't against regulations, she would just set fire to the papers; on a Thursday, of course, ¨Burnable Garbage¨, indeed! Smiling, she took her coffee mug, a gift from Shinji, and walked to the coffee machine.
She smiled again, reading the text in the mug. "NERV's Best Operations Chief." It was part of a set Shinji had commissioned for the Central Dogma crew. Ritsuko had received one that read "NERV's Best Doctor", while the lieutenants received a matching set of "NERV's Best Tech Crew". Each mug also had a caricature of the receiver. Misato at the wheel of a tiny but recognizable version of her beloved Renault Alpine, Ritsuko armed with a giant syringe, Lt. Aoba playing a guitar duel against Unit-One, Lt. Hyuga in a samurai armor for some reason, and Lt. Ibuki carrying a giant clipboard. They had all had a laugh about their mugs, and Makoto asked Shinji why the Commander and Vice-Commander hadn't received one. "I thought making caricatures of them would be irrespectful." (Actually, he just didn't want to give anything to the Commander, he wasn't too sure where Vice-Commander Fujutsuki was in the scale of Not Wanting/Wanting to Cause Third Impact was, but he decided to err on the side of caution.)
Dr. Akagi had gotten through with the analysis of the readings from the Sixth Angel Battle, and was using them to analyse the Seventh, nothing particularly unusual had happened there. Everything was very normal, easing her nerves. Shinji's manipulation of the AT Field was filed as some result of a three way synchronization, an event that surely would never happen again. Comparing the readings from Shinji and Asuka on Unit-02, against Shinji in Unit-01 and Asuka alone in Unit-02 were perfectly normal. Shinji's synch rate was still climbing, Rei's too. Asuka seemed to have reached a plateau, she was still improving, but at the rate the other two improved, it wouldn't be long before they were at Asuka's level. Ritsuko frowned, the German raised girl would not like that.
Makoto eased his boredom reading of the latest volume of his favorite magazine, and the latest installment of the currently longest published series, Bio-Armor Jade Warrior, this time, it featured the return of an old menace, the Mind-Tyrant himself, Desupero, a dangerous telepath, with a shriveled body and a grotesquely ridged head, it even had a webbed crest running from his forehead to the back of his head. The creature had once had three eyes, but only the one in the middle of his forehead was open, the other two had been closed for so long they had atrophied.
Lt. Shigeru Aoba played an air guitar, practicing a difficult chord. He and his garage band had a gig next weekend, it would be his first weekend free in the last four months, and he wanted to be ready.
Lt. Maya Ibuki was lost in the reading of a romance novel. She had changed the dust-jacket of the book for a relatively tame one. After all, she didn't want it known exactly the kind of bodice-ripping novels she enjoyed.
Captain Katsuragi filled her mug with fresh coffee, she had filled the coffee pot with a brand of coffee Shinji had suggested. Although he rarely drank coffee, the kid had good taste, and the staff had passed the hat to buy an economy size bag. It had been a great choice, certainly better than the brand NERV bought by the pallet. That slop was almost decaffeinated, as far as Misato could say.
Meanwhile, the data readings obtained at Mt. Asama were being transfered from Balthasar to Melchior. No one present had any idea of what those readings would meant once they had been analyzed.
Well... there was a soul in Central Dogma who knew, but he was invisible and inaudible, floating behind Maya's shoulder. 'Spicy reading, girl! You need to get a boyfriend, right now!'
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Indoors Pool
Monday, Mid Morning
Shinji sat by the side of the pool, while Rei swam gracefully, completing lap after lap without much apparent effort. His quasi-sister wore a white one piece suit he was almost sure was up to old Olympics standards. Of course, the last Olympic Games had been just before Second Impact hit, and there wasn't much chance of a new event, at least for the next decade or two.
Shinji sighed, he thought for a moment about putting his own swimsuit on and at least try to relax in the shallow end of the pool. Oh, well… He put a page marker in his book, and set it carefully back in his backpack. A second reading of the Flash's biography was even better than the first one, after the trip the Phantom Stranger had taken him with he looked at each event from a different angle. As he was closing the zipper of his backpack, Asuka reclined dangerously on the table, giving him a full view of her cleavage. Shinji gulped, and with a supreme effort of will, he met Asuka's eyes. "Oh… H-H-Hi… A-As-Asuka!"
Her brow furrowed, in a gesture Shinji had learned to recognize as frustration/impatience/imminent explosion in less than two minutes (having learned from the misfortune of a couple of kids at school, who had kept bugging Asuka after she had rejected their romantic overtures). But for his life, he couldn't even begin to guess the reason. He had been reading quietly all the time!
"Hey, Boy Wonder, what were you reading? It must be very interesting." Her voice was sweet. Hmm… maybe he was wrong about the imminent explosion. At least he was in more familiar territory with that question. He smiled tentatively at his partner. "Um… it's a-a biography. The second Flash's wife wrote it. Wanna read it? I was only rereading some chapters. I c-can let you borrow it, I also have the Atom's book. But I'm still in the first chapter." He began to unzip the backpack.
"Was? You are reading next to a big pool and two beautiful girls in sexy skimpy suits?" She stood up, hands on her hips, showcasing her female assets. Shinji gulped again, Asuka was definitively a very beautiful girl, and the red and white bikini she wore was certainly enhancing her attractiveness…
Shinji realized he had been silent for several seconds, to Asuka's impatience. "Enough reading, Boy Wonder! I didn't got you to carry my diving stuff all the way here for you to stay poolside reading a freaking book! Go change right now!"
She pointed at the dressing room at the other end of the chamber, while her right foot stomped against the floor in a manner that left no way to disagreement.
Shinji stood up, yelled "Yes, Sargent, Mam!", saluted and ran away before Asuka could do anything but sputter indignantly.
While Shinji returned, Asuka sat by the side of the pool, splashing the water with her feet. She smirked. Finally she had gotten somewhere! For the moment, she crossed 'gay' and 'not interested', from her mental checklist. Now she only had to see if the little baka was either 'oblivious' or 'has an iron will'.
Meanwhile, Rei had finished her set of laps, and come out the pool. She was drying her hair with a small blue towel. "Hey, Wonder Girl! Where are you going? We have all day long!"
"I've finished my routine. There is no need for me to stay."
"What? No, girl! Misato arranged for us to use the pool during three whole days. Let's enjoy them!"
Rei hesitated. Asuka had been very patient with her. She actually took time to explain her why she did some of the things she had taught Rei to do. "I'm assuming there is an important reason for me to stay."
"Of course, Rei. I want to see Shinji's brain exploding!"
Rei gasped. A couple of seconds later, she blinked twice and asked, "Metaphor?"
Asuka facepalmed. "Ye-eeees. I just want to see him stutter and try to speak while his brain resets."
"Why?"
"For fun! Look, I'll explain later. Just try to follow my lead, okay?" Rei nodded.
Shinji came back, now wearing swimming trunks that looked too big on him. By then, Asuka had put her diving equipment on, and was waiting for him, sitting on a raised ledge by the side of the pool. Rei was floating lazily near her.
"Okay, Boy Wonder, it's time we correct a serious deficiency on your education."
"What?"
Asuka poked his chest twice. "You. Can't. Swim. In this day an age, a non-swimming EVA pilot is a disgrace, and I won't have you dragging my reputation down should that little embarrasing fact be revealed. So, magnanimously, I have decided to teach you, with Rei's help, of course." At these last words, Asuka thumbed her own chest. Immediately, Shinji realized the zipper on her bikini top was lower than before!
"Uh... Guh..."
Inner Asuka smirked like a predator. 'Ah... So... no Iron Will!' She smiled dazzingly. Pity Shinji's eyes were glued to her cleavage. "Eyes up here, Mister!" She snapped her fingers in his face, breaking the trance. "And me thinking you were a gentleman!"
"Anyway. It is time you get your feet wet. Stand here." She pointed at the floor. Red as a tomato, Shinji obeyed, not trusting himself to say anything.
"OK, first things first. Rei and I are consummate swimmers. Rei will teach you to float first, I'll be down there, watching your technique, and also ready in case you need a rescue. Is that clear? You have nothing to fear. We will take care of you."
Shinji nodded. Asuka sat on the ledge.
"Good, now, go to the shallow end. But first, watch this. Back roll entry." She adjusted the goggles and put the mouth piece on. She leaned back until she fell on the water. Rei spoke, getting Shinji's attention. "Come here, Shinji. This time, you may use the ladder." The young pilot followed her instructions, and descended into the pool. The water wasn't as cold as he expected. Rei stood up, and to Shinji's discomfort, he saw her swimsuit was a bit more open than he thought. Desperately, he tried to look anywhere but her partially exposed chest. 'She's my sister, she's my sister!' he thought desperately.
Rei tilted her head. "Something wrong?"
"N-n-n-no!" he squatted, submerging his head to hide his blush. Rei took his hand, and walked towards the deep end. Shinji emerged, and gulped some air.
Sometime later, Shinji's first swimming lesson was underway. Rei held him by the upper back, guiding him to float. He relaxed. After the initial discomfort, he really was enjoying the lesson. He thought he could stay there all day long. Rei released him. He floated without any effort on his part. The only sounds he could hear were his own breathing, and the bubbles from Asuka's tanks. Eventually, he felt a tickling under his back, like bubbles. He turned his head around, looking for Rei. He saw the mop of blue hair at the other end of the pool.
At the other end of the pool?
He tried to stand, finding nothing under his feet. He was beginning to panic, when he felt a pair of hands under his arms. Asuka pushed him upwards, keeping his head above water.
After the initial trashing, and being able to breathe, he calmed down. Asuka guided his hand to the edge of the pool, Shinji grabbed it like a lifeline.
"Oh, and you were doing so well, Boy Wonder." She flicked her finger at his nose. "Ready for the next lesson, or would you like to float around a little while, uh?"
Tokyo-3
GeoFront, Central Dogma
At the Same Time
At Mt. Asama, Captain Katsuragi directed the operation of a high-tech, high-pressure, high-temperature, and of course high-cost, probe. She and Lt. Hyuga had taked command of the seismological research team at the site. The probe had been designed to endure the volcanic environment it was being lowered into. However, Misato ordered it down below it's maximum especifications. The probe was crushed like a beer can at a trash compactor. Still, it had worked long enough to send the data Misato had both wanted and feared.
Inside the magma chamber of Mt. Asama was an Angel. And to top it off, it was in a larval stage.
It was the chance to go in the offensive.
Once Makoto confirmed the blue pattern, Misato ordered the lab sealed, without any unauthorized communication with the exterior. Only NERV's lines would be functioning, and only with her approval.
The Research staff groaned. It would mean they would be isolated from the exterior for who knew how long.
Tokyo-3
GeoFront,Holographic Chamber
An Hour later.
SEELE had convened immediately at Commander Ikari's petition. They discussed briefly the wisdom of calling a preventive attack on the larval angel. The pictures obtained by Captain Katsuragi were irrefutable proof. A giant pod rested somewhere inside the volcano. The sensors showed an skeletal form, somewhat reminiscent of the Third Angel, with a fetus-like body, but at a gargantuan scale. It had a tail, long limbs, and a big head, but nothing in the Dead Sea Scrolls said its final form would be anything like that.
The five SEELE members present didn't waste time to remind Ikari and Fujutsuki of the risks involved. Up to a premature Third Impact. Still, they agreed to allow the operation to take place once the preparations were concluded.
Tokyo-3
GeoFront,Holographic Chamber
Spiritual Plane
'(Hey, Stranger, are you sure you have this under control?)' Deadman sat on the holographic desk the leader of SEELE, Lorenz Kiehl, occupied.
"(Yes. I found the pod as it was being delivered, and put a time delay on its hatching. As long as NERV can get it out of the volcano on time, it will not hatch inside it. Miss Soryu will have her chance.)"
"(Okay,)" Deadman nodded. "(Still, I think it would be best if I go down with her.)"
"(Can you operate the Evangelion?)" The Phantom Stranger turned towards his ghostly companion.
Deadman shrugged. "(I think so, I've been watching the kids work on the simulator for a good while.)"
"(Very well, but only if Miss Soryu is incapacitated. We still don't know if your soul can synch with an Evangelion. In any case, we don't want to either tip our hand or let the pilots come to harm. It's a delicate balance to keep.)"
Deadman nodded, somberly. "(I got it. I'm the last resort.)"
Author Notes
I'm leaving some things behind the scenes, more for reasons of pacing than any other. For example, it wouldn't have been really interesting to see Shinji presenting the mugs to the crew. I think it's better to show the effects when apropiate.
I'm very aware that it might look like Asuka is swinging between two extremes, but that's Asuka. She swings between extremes all the time. Living with Rei and being willing to explain things to her actually moderates Asuka's behavior, and helps her to put things in a better perspective. In a way, Rei is Asuka's conscience, but Asuka also has influence over Rei.