Interludes After the Eight Angel, Part 1
Note, the parenthesis indicate languages other than Japanese, in this case, English and German.
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).
Hot Springs Resort
1 Day after Sandalphon
07:26 A.M.
"Another unfamiliar ceiling." thought Shinji, awakening at his hotel room. Thankfully, this time he wasn't injured. Just a bit tired from the long work from the previous day. It was the longest he had spent at the controls of Unit-01, even including the time he had to wait for rescue after the first sortie against the Seventh Angel. Sadly, he hadn't had as much time as he would have wanted to talk to his mother. They had spent most of their time waiting for the moment the Eight Angel broke free of its cocoon.
He pushed the sheets aside, and went to the bathroom. After a warm shower, he put his new clothes on. The people of the resort had erred on the side of precaution, and the clothes were a size larger than his own, but as no one would be expected to do anything work related for the day, he wasn't that unconfortable. He just tightened the belt a bit more and he was ready.
A few minutes later, he arrived to the small restaurant. Misato was already there. Enjoying her first beer of the day. Unusually for her, she was nursing it. Noticing the question in Shinji's face, she shrugged with a smile. "I'm still in official capacity for the rest of the day, technically at least, so..."
"Ah, I see." Shinji smiled at her as he sat. She pushed a menu at him. "Pick whatever you want, NERV will pay for everything. And after a while, say, half an hour, go back to your room and put on your swimming suit! The pool is ours for the whole day!"
"But I didn't..."
Misato wagged her finger at him. "Ah, ah, ah! Don' worry about that, Kaji arranged for everything yesterday! I got a pretty one piece suit in my suite! I thought he would have sent me a tiny bikini, but nope, one piece. I bet the others got suits too."
Shinji nodded, and checked the menu.
A few minutes later, Lt. Yamaguchi arrived. Her brown hair in complete disarray. "Sorry, my hair is quite rebelious." She tried to smooth it with her hands, but it sprung back immediately. "I need lots of gel or hairspray to tame it."
Misato smiled at her. "Pfft! Don't worry, we're on vacation for today! Just tie it up or something."
Once their food arrived, Asuka entered the place, she looked perfect! She sat next to Shinji, enjoying his surprised face. "What? Do I have monkeys on my face?" she asked gruffly.
"N-no. It's just that... you..." Shinji gulped. "You look amazing!"
"A girl must try her best." She shot a look at Tomoyo, and the tech blushed uncomfortably. Once she had made her point, Asuka changed subject immediately. "So, Misato. Do I get my full kill mark for capturing the Angel?"
"Sure, and Shinji here insisted on adding a half kill mark. You two worked together to kill the Angel."
The young pilot beamed at her. "Congratulations, Asuka! You have the official record for most Angel kill-marks in a single mission!"
Asuka stared at him, and a cute smile spread on her lips. "Yeah. Yes! Suck on that, Boy Wonder!" She said, poking at his chest with a finger.
'(Damn! Every time he says something like that it makes more difficult to expose him as the pervert he is!)' she thought, full of pride on her performance the previous day.
A Possible XXVIth Century
Ruins of NERV-2 (Nevada)
Evangelion Unit-04 Cage
Mari came back after almost half an hour, at the wheel of a cargo platform. The machine was loaded with several boxes and bottles, although most of the platform was still bare. She waved at Kamandi and Dr. Canus from the small cabin. "(Hey, guys! Look what I found! We have enough for a little feast!)" She patted the closest box.
The vehicle held Dr. Canus' absolute attention. Kamandi, on the other hand, was more interested in the food. "(Well done! Do you know where can we lit a fire?)" He smiled at her just as Mari was taking breath. He continued, smoothly "(Or any stove or miniwave oven would be fine.)"
Mari's laugh was quite musical. "(Ah, you naughty boy! You got me there for a minute! And it's 'microwave oven', not 'miniwave'.)" She jumped down from the cabin, and clapped twice. "(Feeling better, Doc?)"
Still tied up, Canus nodded gravelly. "(The impulse seems to have passed completely.)"
"(Well, if you feel up to it, we can untie you…)"
"(I think it could be prudent not to, for at least a little while.)" Canus shuddered at the though of going berserk again.
"(Okay, Doc, you're the Doc. Yo, blondie! Let's help the Doc to get on the platform, I know where the kitchen is!)"
Once in the kitchen, Mari and Kamandi unloaded the platform, and untied Canus. The humanoid dog rubbed his wrists and ankles, encouraging his blood to resume circulation. "(What is this place? I've never seen a better conserved ruin from before the Great Disaster.)"
"(Okay, boys; welcome to NERV-2, in the Nevada Desert. It used to be a very hush hush place. But as it seems there's nobody else around, I don't think you are gonna get in trouble.)"
Kamandi busied himself preparing the food. His years of wandering had taught him how to cook a passable meal, using the most diverse ingredients. He was also used to canned food. After all, he had spent his whole childhood living in a military bunker with his gramps; and that was all they had, right up to their last days together. A shadow crossed his face for a moment. His gramps had died tryng to protect him. He shook his head, getting back to the moment.
Preparing a meal with canned food was very familiar. Actually, eating fresh food had been almost a shock for him those first days out of the bunker he had grown up into.
He brought the pot of soup to the table, and poured some in the bowls Mari had brought from a drawer.
"(How come this place is so well preserved?)" asked Canus, between mouthfuls, "(Even with the dry air of the desert, it should be in a worse state.)"
"(I don't really know, Doc.)" Mari shrugged, "(I was quite happy working at NERV-2. I was the chosen pilot for Unit-04, the big silver doll I was in; the last thing I remember clearly was that we were starting a test of the S2 Organ, there were a lot of weird lights, the evacuation alarm went off, everybody started to run away, everything went white for a second, lots of strange colors, and poof! I wake up in the plug! There wasn't anybody near.)"
She stirred the soup with her spoon. "(And I don't even know when that was, I fell asleep right after that, and awoke occasionally for a few seconds at a time. I don't know how long was that, but I think it must have been quite a while, things were coming apart around me.)"
Kamandi bit a piece of bread. "(Weird lights and strange colors? Like running through a rainbow of colors no rainbow has?)"
Mari nodded. "(What I saw was more like a storm of broken colored pieces of glass, how do you know that?)"
Kamandi stirred his own soup before answering. He knew Dr. Canus knew what he was talking about. "(I've seen that before. Time travel. I saw those lights when I came back from Captain Bat's time.)"
"(Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Time travel? I'm not in some kind of nightmare?)" Mari waived her hands wildly.
It was Canus' turn to add to her confusion. "(This world is quite real, I fear. Kamandi and I have been traveling around for a long time, we have seen many strange things, the silver statue you call Unit-04 is one of the strangest.)"
Kamandi added, "(You must have been sleeping for a while. We found the mummified corpse of a man when we came in. It was completely dry, almost no meat at all. And it hadn't been disturbed.)"
"(Oh, boy… So, what happened? This is straight out of the Twilight Zone! Any moment now Rod Serling is gonna come out for his monologue.)"
"(The what?)" Both Kamandi and Canus asked at the same time.
"(Never heard of it? I need to remedy that! But later. Right now, I need you to tell me how things have been going since I got in Unit-04.)"
"(It's gonna take a while.)" Answered Kamandi.
"(I got All the Time in the World.)" Mari adjusted her eyeglasses. "(And I don't really need to wear glasses.)" for emphasis, she tapped on the crystals with a fingernail.
Cadmus Project
June the 12th, 2001
"(Dr. Roquette? We received new orders.)" Dubbilex handed her a folder. The gray-skinned DNAlien smiled a bit at her. "(I think it might be just what you need.)"
The young platinum-blond scientist took the papers and adjusted her red rimmed glasses. Her taste in clothes was certainly eclectic, looking like she had stepped out from a 1950's movie at times, with a preference for animal prints on her clothes.
Life had been certainly less interesting since Superboy disappeared, almost a year before; although things had been hectic ever since Second Impact hit . She missed the young hero very much. For a while, she even had entertained romantic notions about him. But he had chosen somebody, someone much better suited for his life. Sadly, he had disappeared right in the middle of their first dinner date. July the 16th…
A date rapidly closing by.
'(Hard to believe it's been almost a year.)' she thought, dejectedly. She opened the folder, and examined the first document. "(Thanks, Dubbilex. Let's see what the guys in charge want this time.)"
She passed a few pages. Dubbilex was right! "(Yes! I always wanted to do something like this!)"
"(I'm glad you like it, Dr. Roquette. However, I won't be able to go with you. I must stay in the deep levels of Cadmus. I've been reassigned to the care and maintenance of the other DNAliens.)"
"(What? Have you spoken to Mikey?)"
"(Indeed I have. He and Col. Winterbourne spoke in my favor with the Washington people. They argued long and hard. In fact, I probably owe them my life, the government people were in favor of…)" He shrugged. "(Anyway, my life expectancy is not that long, so I'm somewhat content.)"
"(Idiots…)" The venom in her voice was very much in evidence.
"(I'm very aware my looks can be intimidating.)" he tapped lightly at the short, curved horns that protruded from his forehead. "(I'm grateful I have lived among such open minded people as you, and the rest of the people here at Cadmus.)" Carefully, he shook her hand. "(I wish you the best of luck in your new role as head of Project Noah.)"
"(Noah? Who thought of that?)"
"(I think it was Administrator Rodriguez. He has a way with words, doesn't he?)"
"(Yes, he does. He earned his nickname a long time ago. Funny he chose such a short word for this new project.)" Dr. Roquette put her hands on Dubbilex's shoulders. Several years working with the clone had shown her he was a very accepting person. Not a thing, not a monster. Just a person.
After a moment, she hugged him, surprising both of them. "(I'm going to miss you, Dubbilex. I'll try to visit you often.)"
"(…)" for once, words failed him. "(I'd like that very much, Dr. Roquette. Thank you.)"
Without them realizing it, they were observed from a tiny micro-camera, held by an equally tiny G-Nome. Many levels down, in the hidden entrails of Project Cadmus, a disheveled madman watched intently. He was the original Dabney Coleman, the crazy genetist that had been responsible for the creation of many and varied creatures, known as DNAliens, ranging from the benevolent Dubbilex, to monsters like Symian and Mokkari, creators and operators of the Evil Factory. Donovan rubbed his unshaven chin, thinking.
"(Now, that's interesting, Project Noah! Sounds like somebody wants to play in a bigger sandbox!)" He pushed a switch in a makeshift console. "(Stay there, my pretty! I want to know everything there´s to know about this Project Noah!)" His demented smile almost dislodged the goggles that always covered his eyes.
The G-Nome didn't answer, just nodded and prepared itself for a long stay.
September the 22st, 2002,
Gotham City, Wayne Manor
Guests Room (Blue)
Alfred Pennyworth adjusted the pillows, trying to make Thalia as comfortable as possible. The old woman was but a shadow of her former self.
"(Miss Thalia? Do you need anything?)"
"(Just what I asked for, Alfred. Thank you.)"
"(Master Richard and Mistress Barbara will be along soon. I can keep you company while they arrive, if you want.)"
"(Yes, please, Alfred.)" The old woman shifted a little on the enormous bed. Next to it, a cradle rocked softly, pushed by the butler´s hand.
"(It really makes my heart good to see Master Bruce in this little one.)", the old servant stood straight, he seemed almost ten years younger.
Thalia smiled. "(I know he will be in good hands once I'm gone. You did well for my beloved. He spoke fondly of you, in his own way.)"
Before Alfred could answer, the door opened, and Richard Grayson entered, accompanied by an older woman. "(Thalia, this is Dr. Thompkins. She will check you and Ibn. Maybe there's a way to…)"
"(I appreciate the thought, Richard, but my time has passed. And I'd like to meet my beloved in the other side, should I be allowed to find him.)"
Richard nodded.
Author Notes
A lot of references to the Twilight Zone, I know; but I think it would be almost inevitable that a person in that situation would try to get some handle to manage it. Mari is referencing one of the most famous episodes of the series, "Time Enough at Last", although she misremembered the title.
(BTW, I'm thinking of doing a Twilight Zone/Evangelion crossover, but at this point, I'm just considering what to do about it. Rod Serling would definitely appear for his introductory and closing monologues.)
Kamandi is referencing one of his team-ups with Batman, whom he still calls Captain Bat.
BTW, I´m not exactly breaking the rules about time travel for Mari and the the base (not the ones I established in previous chapters). There is a way to time travel from the Evangelion time to the future, but only in very especific circumstances, and still, it is very risky.
Dr. Leslie Thompkins used to be an important secondary character in Batman. She was one of the first persons to deal with Bruce Wayne's trauma, after the murder of his parents. She was, for a while, the unofficial doctor of the BatFamily, for those cases Alfred wasn't actually trained to deal with, or when he needed another person to make shifts during long-term treatments.
She used to run a clinic at the worst neighborhood at Gotham City (and that's saying something…).
Due to the Batman titles going more and more to the Grimdark side than I was willing to take, I dropped all titles soon after the "Bruce Wayne; Fugitive" storyline; so I missed her most infamous story, the death of the Fourth (Fifth?) Robin; the former Spoiler, Stephanie Brown. Still, I got the gist of it. For this story, Dr. Thompkins won't be even near to that characterization. She will be a gruff medic, with a rough bedside manner, but a good person in the end.
One of my favorite parts of the revamped Superman after Crisis in Infinite Earths was the relevance granted to Project Cadmus, originally created by Jack Kirby, as part of his work in Jimmy Olsen's title in the 70's. The King had an incredible imagination, and he poured it in his work at both DC and Marvel. But without him, Cadmus was rarely used until after Crisis, mostly in the Superman titles.
The most important contribution of Cadmus for DC was probably cloning a Superman/human hybrid. Superboy; right after the Death of Superman.
While it was less and less used in the Superman titles, Cadmus was a prominent part in the Superboy title for a long time. He even worked there!
BTW, I don't really believe in the Superman/Luthor origin of Superboy, so I won't use it at all. For my purposes, Conner's human genes were donated by Paul Westfield, leader of Cadmus during the Death of Superman event.
Currently, Project Cadmus has been seen in the Arrowverse; well, at the Supergirl side of the shared Multiverse. (I'm working my way through the past season, so I don't really know if they have been dealt with. Anyway, I'm working with the New Earth version.)
With this chapter, this story has officially passed the 100k words mark! Easily the longest I have wrote about any single thing.