Interludes After the Eleventh Angel, Part 6
Note, the parenthesis indicates languages other than Japanese, in this case, English, German, Interlac.
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).
Undisclosed Location
Somewhere in the Nevada Desert
USA
NERV 2nd Branch
Pilot's Study Room
"(Are we clear on your part on the procedures, Makinami?)" Commander Hazzard paced to and fro in the small classroom.
"(Oh, yes, Sir!)" Mari Illustrious Makinami, the Fourth Child, tilted her head cutely, smiling like a cat. Hazzard managed to not roll his eyes. The girl was no soldier, that was for sure.
"(Very well, walk me through the procedure, Makinami.)"
"(First, I'm to achieve operational synch rate. Then, increase the energy expenditure rate, but without moving the EVA Unit. I just have to rev it up as if on a race car, waiting for the checkered flag to release the brakes. But I must keep tight control of the energy output. At the first signal of overheating, or if ordered by the Bridge Crew, I'm to abort the operation and vent heat into the special valves fitted into the umbilical cable.)" she ticked her fingers one by one, checking each point in the abridged procedure.
"(Straight and simple, right?)"
"(Right, Sir.)"
"(Very well. As a summary, it's not bad. Now, lets go over it, step by step. I want you to list every step, if you have to adjust your collar as part of the procedure, I want you to tell me.)"
"(Really? Because I feel like there's a tag at the back of the collar, and it is really annoying. Can we get the collar adjustment into the procedure?)"
Commander Hazzard sighed discreetly. "(Talk to Burns before Miss Tekka leaves. Now, about the approved procedure…)"
"(Yes, Sir. First, I wait for the plug to be extruded, and stop at the end of the channel. Once it opens, I enter it. Once on the seat, I wait for the plug to be lifted, aligned with the port, and inserted. This part is under the ground crew control, All I have to do in the meanwhile is stay on my seat, keep still to not rock the plug and ruin the insertion. Once the crew gives the green light, I begin the check-up list with the…)"
Listing every single step in the activation procedure would take them two long hours, as Hazzard interrupted occasionally to make sure the Fourth Child had memorized and understood every single step in the complex sequence needed to activate an Evangelion Unit in the best way. Several reports about the EVA Units in Japan, and their tendency to go rogue had reached him, and he was determined to not have a similar problem in his base. Personally, he was sure it was due to a shortened, or even absent, training of the pilots, at least, the Third Child.
Tokyo-3
GeoFront
NERV HQ
Planning Room
"Was this somehow related to the earlier berserk incident, when Rei was the pilot?" Major Katsuragi asked.
"I cannot be sure yet. I only know we must reconfigure Unit-00 for Wonder Girl's personal data again. And run a new synch test with her, as soon as possible. I don't think Robin can pilot Unit-00, except In Extremis." Dr. Akagi answered, at the other side of the embedded screen that occupied most of the floor in the planning room.
"The Godzilla Threshold. (1)" Misato ventured.
"In Extremis, as I said."
"As Director of Strategic Ops, I ask you, officially, to do so as soon as possible, before it creates more problems."
"We are in complete agreement, Major Katsuragi. As soon as the raw data we obtained have been analyzed, a new synch test will be scheduled. With each pilot back in their assigned Evangelion."
Major Katsuragi nodded gravely, and walked out the room without any more words, leaving her friend to her thoughts.
'Strange. This time, Unit-00 acted with much less violence. I thought it would try to lash out, maybe kill me, but it was as if it was trying to reach for Rei.' She felt tempted to lit a cigarette, but the planning room was a No Smoking area. Still, her fingers caressed the pack she carried in her lab coat pocket. 'Could that be due to Shinji? As far as I know, it could be. His psych analysis shows a tendency to depression. Then, is Rei harboring so much anger? The last incident was a berserk rage, this time it looked like a nervous breakdown. Was the pilot the deciding factor? If so, the Second Child must never get into Unit-00's plug, she is much more volatile than the other two Children combined. And, if I'm right, Unit-00 is the most sensitive to its pilot's repressed feelings.' She shook her head before walking out. She was not looking forward to analyzing the mountain of data the failed test had yielded.
Of course, she had no idea the data contained her elusive nemesis.
Tokyo-3
GeoFront
NERV Hospital
Room 136
Shinji opened his eyes. Judging from the light coming in through the large window, it was almost sundown. He tuned out the inane radio show blaring from hidden speakers. Something about a talking dog. If only it was about Rex, the Wonder Dog (2), it wouldn't be so annoying, but the host only asked leading questions that would be answered with a woof or a bark.
Quickly, he mentally checked his own health. 'Nothing seems to be broken. I'm just very, very tired.' He sat up, looking around. He was alone in the room. 'Good. If there is no nurse or doctor in the room, things are not really grave. Just stay the night for observation, at the worst.'
The door opened with a soft hiss, Dr. Akagi entered, pushing a secretary chair, "How are you feeling, Shinji?" Quickly and efficiently, she began the battery of tests every pilot had to go through after a sortie.
Shinji resigned himself to his fate. 'Time to play dumb,' he thought. 'No mention of little Rei, specially.'
Tokyo-3
GeoFront
Central Dogma
Lt. Hyuga hung down the phone, and relayed his report, "Shinji is conscious, Major Katsuragi. Doctor Akagi has just finished examining him. No signs of mental contamination or other harmful effects. He doesn't even remember anything after synching with Unit-00."
Misato exhaled a breath she had been holding in almost without realizing it. "I see."
Tokyo-3
Ayanami-Soryu Apartment.
Asuka sat on the big comfy chair in the living room, brooding while Rei worked in the kitchen. '(Could it have been my fault? Did I distract him into losing control? What the Hell happened? No one told me anything after getting out of the plug.)'
Rei put the plates on the table. "Eat," she said, "debriefing was very lengthy this time."
Asuka stood up, and after sitting at the table, she decided to ask, "Rei, what happened at the cage? I heard a lot of noise, and Shinji was not released. You know anything?"
Rei took her own chopsticks, and before taking the first piece of mushrooms, she thought for a moment. "I am not sure what happened. It was similar to the incident with Unit-00 that put me in the hospital before Shinji arrived to Tokyo-3, but it was very different too."
"What do you mean?"
"Both Shinji and I lost control of Unit-00. However, in the earlier incident, Unit-00 acted like a furious animal, bent on destroying anything in reach. This time, it berserked for a very short time, then folded into itself, as if… I don't have the right words to describe it. It made these movements." She mimed the giant's actions, under Asuka's vigilant eyes.
"I have seen that. It's like being crushed by grief. Looks like our fellow pilot has some undiagnosed trauma or something."
"PSTD?"
"Might be. But I am not a psychologist or something like that."
"Dr. Akagi has the necessary qualifications to diagnose."
Asuka nodded. "I see." Without enthusiasm, she began to eat. This time, she didn't want to take her box and spend an hour or two at the roof.
Tokyo-3
GeoFront
Commander's Office.
Next Day
A Shogi piece clacked against the board, vice-Commander Kozo Fujutsuki and Commander Gendo Ikari share the habit of making the pieces snap on the board. "About the Angel invasion that deviated from the plan, the Committee got word of it, and is applying pressure over the incident. I don't think they believed you. They're are just riff-raff who can't do anything useful. All they can do is complain." Once he made his play, Fujutsuki went back to his imported word search magazine.
"We hold all the tiles. There is nothing they can do." Almost completely immobile, Commander Ikari planned his next move, both on the shogi board, and on the infinitely more complex real-life game he had been playing for over a decade.
"But we don't want to irritate them. Let's not provoke SEELE without good reason."
"Everything has been carried out as the scenario requires. There is no problem."
"Really? What about the new incident with Unit-00? Was that in your scenario too?"
"It was a useful way to gather information. Unit-00's reaction to the temporary pilot has revealed much about the Third Child's true nature. He acts bravely, but he tends towards depression and introversion. It is clear now that Rei has a lot of repressed anger, but it's under control. I am sure Dr. Akagi will confirm my theory. When the moment comes, the Scenario will proceed as planned. After reconfiguring the core for her, Rei resynched with Unit-00, and her synch rate even raised several points. The incident seemed to have a cathartic effect on it."
Fujutsuki looked sideways at his former pupil, 'Ikari is not too concerned about protecting Rei.', he thought, keeping his face neutral with some effort, "What's the status of the Adam Project?"
"Proceeding. It's less than two percent behind schedule. The symbiosis preparatives advance satisfactorily."
"And the Lance of Longinus?"
"Is going according to plan. Rei is handling the operation."
For once in several months, there was no sarcastic commentary from the Spiritual Plane.
That didn't meant they were not watched closely, but their usual invisible watcher was not there at the moment, leaving the business of watching the two conspirators to his partner.
At that very same moment, Deadman was busy with more important matters.
In Route to Terminal Dogma
Rei Ayanami directed Unit-00 along an impossible spacious tunnel. Unit-00 walked purposely, carrying the Lance of Longinus as a soldier would carry his rifle during a parade. Red lights at the side of the tunnel illuminated the place a few dozens of yards in front and behind the mechanoid. It was a monotonous trek, and Rei simply willed the biomechanoid to put a foot in front of the other. There was no hurry.
Unit-00's Core
(Spiritual Plane)
"Boom, boom, crash."
"Boom, boom, crash."
"Boom, boom, crash."
"Boom, boom, crash."
"Boom, boom, crash." A child's voice mimicked the noises, just as she had been told to.
"(Buddy you're a boy, make a big noise!)" A deeper voice joined the child's, singing more or less in tune; what it lacked in ability, it compensated for with enthusiasm.
"Boom, boom, crash."
"(Playing in the streets,)" The red clad ghost clapped his hands in rhythm with the child. He was very glad he had managed to help the girl to will a dress on her. It made him a bit sad it was the same she had been wearing when she was murdered, but that was the way these things went.
"Boom, boom, crash."
"(Gonna be a big man someday.)"
"Boom, boom, crash."
"You got it, Rei! Keep like that!"
"I like the song, Boston-san! Boom, boom, crash. But I don't understand the words! Boom, boom, crash."
"I'll tell you what they mean later, kid. I loved this song back in the day. Now, keep going!"
"Boom, boom, crash." (2)
By the time Unit-00 came back to its cage, the original Rei would be a very devote fan of rock in general, Queen in particular, and "We Will Rock You" in specific.
For some reason she couldn't fathom, Rei Ayanami found herself humming a song for the rest of the day.
Tokyo-3
A Helicopter over Lakes Ashino-2 and Ashino-3
Next Day
"Adam is going well. Soon he will be ready for the next phase. Meanwhile, work on the dummy plugs for the EVA project proceeds at good pace. There is no reason for the Council to complain. What is their game?" Commander Ikari mumbled, at just the right volume to be heard by his companion, but low enough to be almost unintelligible by any spies. It was the reason why both had removed and turned off he radio sets for internal comms.
"They are worried about their own scenario. Still, we can work with them for a while."
Kyoto
Outskirts of the City
Shannon Bio (Abandoned) Building.
Ryoji Kaji looked around, the building was clearly empty, and had been so for a very long time. His talk with the Puppy Lady as she feed some stray cats had been very clearly a last step in the wrong direction. The Marduk Institute had been nothing but a trail of false corporations and empty buildings. On paper, everything checked, but on the ground, 107 of the companies affiliated to the Marduk Institute didn't exist, only one was left to investigate. His contact had a very interesting list, hidden in a magazine, she held it open so he could see the corporate registration of Shannon Bio.
Several familiar names appeared on that list. Gendo Ikari, Kozo Fujutsuki, Lorenz Kiehl, Takahashi Shouchi, and Chiba Kimio were the charter members, with no one else but Kozo Fujutsuki as President. Kiehl and Kimio were out of his reach, Shouchi had disappeared five years ago. He was also in the directive board of another shell corporation, number 74 in the list, if he remembered it right.
Ikari and Fujutsuki, on the other hand, both were right there, on Tokyo-3, planning something.
Officially, the Marduk Institute had the purpose of selecting candidates for the EVA Project. Pilots, specifically. Searching for candidates all over the world, looking for the elusive qualities that allowed a teenager to synchronize with the Evangelion Units. But if there was not a real network of companies and personnel doing the job, then that meant the candidates already had been selected. The question was, "How?"
The answer was clear.
Of the three pilots Kaji knew of, all of them were at the moment, all in the same place. It was time to take a closer look at the rest of the class.
Vega System
High Orbit over the Psion Homeworld
Truthful Justice; Almeracian Battle Ship, Krypton Class
Meeting Room.
"(I am very disappointed on you three.)" Lor Kal Max-El walked around the room. Three very subdued teenagers squirmed on their chairs.
"(Dad, I…)" Jor Max-El began, only to stop when his father raised a finger.
"(No, no Dad.)" The red cloak flared behind him with each movement. "(I am not acting as your Father now. But as general of the Almeracian Coalition. You, Ensign Max-El, broke the chain of command, and you, Ensign Aleea Strange, aided him in doing so. I have the responsibility, not only as your superior officer, but as royal consort, of enforcing discipline in the army. This outing already has cost us valuable time and resources in rescuing you three from an exploding base.)"
"(But…)" Aleea tried to interject, only to be glared at.
"(You are in serious trouble too. You decided to go along. Your father is a very good friend of mine, and I have only accepted you two in this force because your mothers,)" at this, he included Mar'i in his glare, "(have agreed you need the experience. I would rather have you with the Teen Titans, but they are back on Earth, and by Rao, I hope they are still around. Last I heard, things were going really bad on Earth. Tangling with the Female Furies in an Apokolips occupied planet doesn't fit my idea of a good start for three teenagers.)"
He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "(I'll have to think of a suitable punishment for this. Right now, I want you to tell me everything you found out before we rescue the hostages.)"
Mar'i began to babble, "(There are no hostages, it was just a trap for me. Don't be too harsh on them, they are my friends and any punishment they get, I insist on getting it too, because…)"
Superman raised his hands, stopping the flow of words. "(No hostages?)"
"(Well… there were at some point, but they killed them long before starting the rumor. All of this was just to capture me and experiment on a Tamaranian/Human hybrid. I am glad Jor and Allea got to me in time, the Psions were right about to start injecting me with X'Hal knows what foul stuff DeSaad cooked.)"
"Rao." Superman said.
Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School
Class 2-A
After Class Cleaning
Asuka's strident screams brought Hikari out of the classroom. Something about a pervert? She had a broom in her hands, ready to whack somebody in the head with it.
"What's going on?" she asked her friend, seeing there was nobody near the read-haired pilot.
"Well, I want to go out tomorrow, and Kaji had been out of town for several days."
"You mean you're not going to the circus with us?"
"A circus outing is kinda childish, don't you think?"
Hikari blushed for a moment. "Well… in that case, my big sister, Kodama has been asking me to introduce you to his friend, you know."
Asuka hesitated. "Ah, you see…"
"I beg you." Hikari insisted.
Divergence (4).
Without her, or anybody else knowing, the fate of the whole universe rested on Asuka Langley Soryu's decision.
In one universe, she accepted to date Kodama's friend.
In another, she declined, opting to accept Shinji's invitation to the circus.
Who could have thought such a small thing could have so far-reaching consequences? (5)
Author Notes
(1) According to TV tropes, the Godzilla Threshold is the moment when truly desperate measures are to be taken, as in Nothing We Can Do Will Make the Situation Worse.
(2) Rex, the Wonder Dog was one of the curious titles DC has published in its long history. At first, Rex was only a regular dog, though extremely intelligent, after being injected with a kind of super-soldier serum (not similar to the one Captain America was injected with, at a very different universe), he was enhanced to about human intelligence. Many years later, he and Bobo the Detective Chimp, drank from the Fountain of Youth, obtaining renewed youth and prolonged life (DC Comics Presents issue 35, Jul 1981). Thanks to his vocal apparatus being closer to human, Detective Chimp also gained the ability to speak any human language and communicate with any living creature. Neither Rex nor Detective Chimp are related in any way to the Enhanced Animals from Mureau Project. Rex debuted in Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog Issue 1 (Jan,1952).
(3) Well, what else could they do to pass the time inside the core? We Will Rock You is probably not the best song to teach to a child, but Deadman has very little experience with children. Brian May wrote the song for Queen, and was part of their 1977 album, News of the World.
(4) I just realized Divergence is a better header, as a reference to the Convergence event from 2015.
(5) From now on, Ill be including small occasional snippets of the Bad Ending timeline.