Darkness, 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).
Tokyo-3
Geo-Front, Analysis Room
Three Days After Sandalphon. 11:25 A.M.
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi leaned back on her chair. The analysis of the recordings made during the volcano mission and later fight in the way to the Matsuhiro secondary NERV base was well under way. Both EVAs had performed well within their usual parameters. And both pilots had come out of the mission in one piece and good spirits; the day spent at the Hot Springs Resort had done wonders for the team moral. The fact that she herself had been invited was an unexpected bonus.
By Commander Ikari´s orders, she had started with the analysis and evaluation of Unit-01, followed by the same for the pilot, Shinji Ikari, while Lt. Maya Ibuki worked with the same analysis for Unit-02 and its pilot. The boy had really grown into the job, defying all the projections made before his arrival. True, the kid was eager to please, and lacked confrontational impulses, but instead of the meek and docile doormat he was when he arrived to Tokyo-03; he had started to rely in diplomacy and redirection to achieve his objectives.
Hell in a handbasket! The kid seemed to actually have objectives of his own, instead of folding to whatever was asked of him. At least, that was the impression she had. Her few, short talks with him mostly stayed into the realm of his performance with the EVA and his health.
To the dyed blond amusement, Shinji had made some inroads into Asuka´s hard shell of insecurities. The red headed pilot tolerated his presence to an unexpected degree, even seemed to look him out occasionally. Especially considering her fury after their battle against Gaghiel. Even more amusing, he was defrosting Rei Ayanami. Interestingly, Asuka herself was cooperating with that endeavor. The expected bad blood between the two female pilots just didn´t occur.
Still, at the moment, the Commander was unwilling to disrupt the dynamic between the pilots, all three had much better synch rates. And, in any case, he had ways to crush their spirits when he deemed it necessary; so for the moment, the pilots had a shot at a fleeting happiness. Robbing them of it at the right moment would set them for their role in the Human Instrumentality as had been foretold by the SEELE think tank.
Dr. Akagi shook the ash from her cigarette, and crushed its butt into the overflowing ashtray, where it joined a couple of packs worth of cancer sticks. She exhaled the last lungful of smoke, enjoying the warmth in her lungs.
In the next station, Lt. Maya Ibuki raised her eyes from the reading she was analyzing. "Dr. Akagi? I found something strange." She printed a set of readings, and ripped the long sheet of paper from the machine.
"These are Asuka´s encephalographic patterns from the last synch test." She said as she put the print in a long table. "And these were taken during the fight at the valley."
Dr. Akagi examined the wavy lines. "Time stamp?"
"The fight started here." Maya pointed at the beginning of the sheet. "The readings are normal for Asuka in a stress situation, similar to the ones we have from previous battles."
Dr. Akagi nodded, she was familiar with the brainwave patterns of the three pilots in base, she even had a passing familiarity with the records of the Fourth Child, from the USA; who, by all accounts, seemed to be a bit in the crazy side; but then again, all pilots had some kind of psychological problem; it was actually a prerequisite to be an EVA pilot…
"So far, normal for her, yes. I take it there´s something?"
Maya nodded twice, and pointed at another section. "This drop here is when she was knocked out by the Angel´s energy beam." Brain activity dropped down for a short while. "This spike is the mild electric shock we used to wake her up. Look at the brain activity after that."
A short silence followed while Dr. Akagi examined the jagged lines in the printout. "They don´t match." She straightened up, and fished for another cigarette. She lit it up with the lighter she had received when she graduated from college. A gift from Misato. "Was there any interference? The energy beam could have messed up the A-10 connectors."
"Might be." Maya sounded doubtful. "But Asuka´s brainwaves dropped again, after 9 seconds of activity. Like she was unconscious again. That was just after her synch dropped under the activation threshold. "
Dr. Akagi held the smoke for a couple of second, before exhaling. "And 13 seconds later, her readings go back to normal."
"Yes. The abnormal reading lasts for just those 9 seconds. After that, she goes back to normal for the rest of the battle." Maya scrolled right to the end of the printout.
"Really strange. Schedule Asuka for a medical exam. The most complete we can do. She might have some kind of brain damage we hadn´t detected before."
Maya nodded again, her normally happy features somber. "What about Shinji and Rei? If this was caused by the EVA, they might present similar symptoms later. Asuka might be the first because she´s the one with the most hours in the interface. First in Germany and then here in Tokyo-3."
"Good thinking, Maya. Schedule them all, we start with Shinji, tomorrow. Notify Captain Katsuragi he will stay here the whole day." She made a mental note to ask NERV-2 for the same tests performed on the Makinami girl.
And she also had to keep those results from Maya, the Lieutenant didn´t know about the Fourth Child; and she wouldn´t for a while yet. Her very existance was to be kept secret for a while, until the Marduk Institute ´found´ her, officially.
"But… but Shinji didn´t present any strange readings, Dr. Akagi. Shouldn´t we start with Asuka?" It was unusual that Maya argued against her orders, but sometimes she felt she had the duty to do so. It was one of the reasons she was Dr. Akagi´s personal assistant. She never argued unless she had very good reasons.
Thinking fast, Dr. Akagi answered "We will use him as a control to make sure the equipment is in good working order. Asuka will follow, and Rei will be the confirmation subject."
Maya smiled. "Oh, right. Of course, Dr. Akagi. I will call Captain Katsuragi immediately."
Dr. Akagi nodded, and went back to her own station. ´I would like to start with Asuka, Maya,´ she tought, ´but the Commander wants to prioritize Unit-01; and after it, the Third Child.´
She shook the ash from the cigarette in the ashtray, and went back to her own analysis of Unit-01 and Shinji´s performance. She hesistated, it might be a good idea to go to bed early, she was sure tomorrow would be a very long day...
Undisclosed Location
Unregistered Island Near the Coast of Madagascar
Underground Building 12
Assembly Cell; 11:30 AM (Tokyo-3 Time)
When his turn to speak came, a thin man in a black uniform with yellow highlights pushed an envelope along the table, until it was in easy reach of his commanding officer "My agent in NERV reports an interesting finding, M´am. I thought you should be informed at once."
The woman reached for the envelope, and with a curt nod, extracted the documents inside. She skimmed the content, while a predatory smile spread over her lips. "You did well to bring this to my attention. We have been looking to recover this for years. Those SEELE bastards covered their tracks well enough at the time, but they got overconfident! This tech must be back in our hands soon. I want you to assemble a team at once, you have full choice of both members and equipment. As you brought this to me, it´s only fair you get to oversee the operation."
"Thank you, my Queen. The tech will be recovered."
"Cover your own tracks better than they did. I don´t want the recovery to be tracked back to us. We have been succesful all this time because we have been discreete. Remember Kobra, the League of Assasins, Intergang, Les Mille Yeux, the 1000? They all got overconfident. And they are no more than mere footnotes to history now."
"I already have some ideas for the extraction, my Queen. I was preparing a dossier for you."
"Bring it to me tomorrow for my final aproval. I may have some changes to yor team."
"It will be in your hands first hour tomorrow morning."
"Perform well, and you´ll earn a promotion. Dismissed."
"Thanks you, my Queen. I will not fail you."
Hiding his excitement, the man went out the room. Once outside, he leaned back against the wall, his right hand rubbed his left shoulder, imagining the golden hexagonal patch he would get once he returned to the nest with the recovered bounty.
Now, he would need to procure, or better yet, set up, the right kind of transport for the main objective. Sure, the Queen would reward him nicely for recovering the data, but recovering the final product would be infinitely better!
Six coffins and their occupants. He should take extra measures to not to awake them, as they would be quite... reluctant to cooperate.
And all it would need to happen... was to pull a few fuses in the right places.
And the right man to pull them..
Tokyo-3
Katsuragi-Ikari Apartment
Three Days After Sandalphon. 5:18 P.M.
"I see. Okay, Rits, I´ll tell him." Captain Katsuragi put the phone back in its cradle. "(Shinji! Rits needs you at HQ tomorrow. She says you have to stay all day long, So prepare a change of clothes and something to entertain yourself.)"
Shinji finished serving dinner for the four of them. "(Ah... sure.)" he furrowed his brow. "(I thought my next synch test would be this Friday.)"
"(It is, but Rits says she needs to calibrate some of her gizmos.)"
"(So. The vaunted Third Child is now the standard we are being measured against?)" Asuka smirked. "(What do you say, Wonder Girl?)" she nudged her fellow pilot with an elbow.
Before answering, Rei served herself a generous portion of the salad Shinji had prepared, "(Of the three of us he seems to be the most average. I agree.)"
Asuka´s jaw dropped. "(Was that a joke, Wonder Girl? Please tell me that was a joke!)"
A tiny smile on Rei´s lips set Asuka´s laughter off. Shinji smiled at them. He knew his quasi-sister was freeing herself from the Commander´s conditioning, but hearing her joke, although in a very subdued way, was very good.
Once dinner was done, Asuka excused herself, and went back to the apartment she shared with Rei.
"(Where does she go in such a hurry, Rei? She always disappears at this hour.)" Misato pointed her chopsticks at the door.
"(I am not privy to that information. She takes a box with her and goes to the roof. I asked her about it, and she said it was a private matter, and she would tell us when she is ready to share.)"
Misato looked at the door with a curious expression. "(I wonder what she does in the roof... There´s nothing there but a lounge and the water tanks.)"
Shinji gathered the dishes, and while he took them to the kitchen, he said, "(Leave it, Misato. She´s not breaking any rules, does she?)"
"(Well... I guess not. But aren´t you curious? She might be writing you love letters or something.)"
Shinji blushed immediately. Rei rescued him. "(Asuka has her own room and installed a lock the day after she moved in. She has all the privacy she could need to write.)"
"(Riiiight... Way to kill the mistery, Rei.)" Misato seemed to deflate a little. Still, it had been worth the effort just to see Shinji blushing.
Yekaterinburg, Russia
Central Stadium
Temporary site for the C.C. Haly and Norton Bros. Circus
Same Day; 5:28 P.M. (Tokyo-3, Local Time)
"(C´mon, people! We need to set the tents up! The main show is inside, but the money comes from the outside stalls! You´d like to eat well tomorrow? Set them up!)" The Ringmaster shouted to the men under his orders.
"(Have some heart, boss!)" the foreman whined. "(We´re freezing our...)" he interrupted himself, just in time. He had seen that Mraia girl get angry over some idiot´s language. The rest of the crew had needed half an hour to free him from the tangle of steel bars the girl had wrapped him in, interestingly, the man had been both completely immobilized and perfectly safe inside the ball of metal bars. "(... our ears off.)" he finished up.
"(And I am in a tropical resort, Chester?)" the Ringmaster answered acidly. "(The faster the tents and stalls are up, the faster we can all get inside and polish some big, nice, and hot chocolate mugs!)"
"(Yeah, yeah, I see your point, boss. Okay, you mugs! You hear the boss! He´s inviting all of us for some hot chocolate when we done with this!)"
The crew members smirked at each other, they knew perfectly well that the chocolate would have a generous portion of whiskey, added discreetly. "(On it, chief!)" they yelled back and went back to work.
The tall thin girl walked to the Ringmaster. "(Hi, Mr. Norton. Can I help? Shilo and Oberon went to get cement and gravel for the big finale, and I finished setting the platform in the Stadium.)"
"(Sure, kid.)" He turned around, "(Madame´s tent´s over there, ready for her to put her things in.)" He pointed at a place near the end of the parking lot.
"(Thanks!)" she chirped with a smile. She passed next to the big men who were busy setting up tents and stalls. They all hurried up to greet the girl. Very respectfully. She was stronger than any four of them put together! Back when the escape artists started to work at the circus, a few years before, some of the roughest crewmen had been quite discourteous to the girl. One had been sent to the hospital for his troubles. The guy had tried to hit the girl over some imagined offense.
Nope, the guys who thought themselves to be tough guys didn´t last long in the Haly Circus. Especially if they tried to get fresh with Mraia. But treat the girl with respect, and she would go to the end of the world to help you out.
"(Madame? Are you in?)" Mraia knocked delicately on the wagon door. The door opened, and a slender woman, uncongruously dressed with a flowing, purple dress came out. Her shoulders were bare, and her long black hair flowed at her back. There were a few gray strands at her temples, but they just added character to her beauty.
Her green eyes sparkled, and her full red lips parted in a welcoming smile. "(Mraia, hello. Is my tent ready?)"
"(Yep, Mr. Norton sent me to help you set your stuff up.)"
"(I see. Come in, help me with the chest. I´ll carry the sign.)"
The dark haired woman grabbed the wooden sign to be placed outside her tent, while Mraia lifted the big chest containing the decorations. Mraia could carry everything by herself, including the table and chairs; but Madame always insisted on doing her part.
"(Do you have time for a reading later, Mraia? I think it might be interesting. And I need the practice.)"
The lass laughed for a moment. "(Sure! But please keep your special deck in its box!)"
"(Oh, you know I only use that one when it´s needed.)" the card reader smiled.
"(Good, I don´t want to see people I know in the cards ever again. I don´t wanna get nightmares...)"
They arrived to the tent, and while Mraia put the chest inside, the woman set the sign on an easel.
Under her full professional name, an invitation had been written in cyrillic letters. It read:
"(Madame Xanadu.
Fortune Reader.
Enter Freely of Your Own Will.)"
Author Notes
To Mac. I fear I just can´t connect with the fear of paternity angle (plus his irrationally absolute faith that Yui could fix anything, including his relationship with Shinji), I´ve read a few fics that manage to handle it nicely, but I myself just can´t get into that state of mind. I can understand jealously much better. Still, you gave me some things to think about, and I´ll probably incorporate some of those ideas later. (No Skeletor with beard, though it is a funny idea! Maybe in another fic, if I manage to get some idea of what to do with it.)
Yui will get some more time onscreen later, so I can show things from her POV.
That anomaly in Asuka´s brainwaves will come up again later.
The Haly Circus will take some time to get to Tokyo-3, of course. But it will get there right on time.