Void, Part 5
Note, the parenthesis indicates languages other than Japanese, in this case, German, and Kryptonian.
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).
Buffer Zone
Unit-02's Plug.
Over the Rainbow Simulation, Mess Hall
(Mental Plane Interface)
Asuka looked around, searching for the owners of the voices. She found a child, a girl.
She was the very image of herself at… four, maybe five years old. The child was dressed with a simple sundress, and looked at her with expectant eyes.
"(Do you know who you are?)" the child asked, with that seriousness only a child can show.
"Was?" Asuka recoiled slightly at the sight of what could be her past self.
"(Do you even know who you are?)" The child repeated her question.
"(Of course I know who I am!)"
"(Are you the hero?)" The child asked, "(The friend? The enemy? Adversary? Subordinate?)"
"(What the hell do you mean?)"
"(Have you accepted that you are, and you are not? You are the you that watches herself, but also the you that others see.)"
"(Explain yourself. You make absolutely no sense!)"
"(There is the Asuka that Rei Ayanami sees. The Asuka that Sinji Ikari sees. The Asuka that Misato Katsurai sees. Should I go on? Every person you meet sees a different Asuka. And then, there is the Asuka that Asuka Langley Soryu sees. And that Asuka may be the less understood of all. You cannot understand yourself. You are a mass of contradictions, a tangle of paradoxes.)"
"(I know who I am!)"
"(Let's see.)" the child whispered ominously.
The next thing Asuka knew, she was back at the cemetery. A cemetery half a world away, but that she remembered in every damnable detail. She stood there, next to her… father… looking ahead, angry at the world, angry at her Mama, angry at everybody. Her heart had broken a few days before, int a million jagged pieces that cut her even more. She had promised herself she wouldn't show any weakness. She wouldn't spill a single tear.
She hid her pain, her grief… in her anger.
While she focused every iota of her will in holding back her tears, her father and some other man spoke freely, as if she wasn't even there.
"(How ironic,)" said the man, "(That the experiment's advocate became its victim.)"
"(So, you believe the Contact Experiment was the direct cause?)" her father answered, barely holding Asuka's hand.
"(Her mental breakdown was a result of the contact.)"
Back then, their words barely meant anything to Asuka. She lacked the necessary knowledge to place them in their proper context.
The man continued, "(Even so, this is so cruel. A suicide, and leaving behind such a young child.)"
"(Perhaps, but I believe there may been additional causes.)" Asuka almost jumped at hearing this. 'Aditional causes? What additional causes could there have been?'
A discontinuity, and she found herself even further back, to when her Mama still lived, but wasn't her Mama anymore.
"(Asuka, darling, )" Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu crooned to a ragdoll, as if it was a living being. "(Mama cooked your favorite, just for you.)"
Asuka looked at her through the viewing glass. Asking herself how could Mama mistake her with the doll, and wishing to be in her arms.
"(Oh, no; you have to eat this, or that girl will laugh at you.)"
'(Laugh? How could I laugh, Mama? How?)' Asuka felt tears welling in her eyes, containing them by sheer effort of will.
That same scene repeated itself every time Asuka visited her Mama at the Hospital, vainly hoping to see Mama again, instead of that stranger with her face and voice. In her last visit, she overhear her Father and Mama's Doctor talking in the next room. "(She sits there, talking to that doll as if it were her real daughter.)" the woman said. Asuka remembered the weird discussion about dolls, a Mother Doll and a Daughter Doll; about God and people. She decided then that she would never, ever, have another doll.
"(I don't want to see more.)" Asuka whispered. "(Why are you showing me this? WHY?)"
A new voice interrupted the strange conversation. It was a masculine voice, soft but determined. "(The reason is simple. The Angel is trying to collect information from you, and analyse you at the same time. it is trying to establish an interface.)"
"(Who..? Who the Hell are you?)" Asuka turned around to face the intruder.
"(Men call me the Phantom Stranger.)" The man tipped his blue fedora towards Asuka. "(And I claim no allegiance to Hell. Rather, to its opposite)"
"(Oh, great, I'm hallucinating even worse. The life support system gave up already.)"
"(Miss Soryu.)" the Stranger extended a hand to her. "(I am here to guide you.)"
"(Out of my hallucination? As if!)"
"(No. This illusion is simply taken from your own memories. So the Angel can connect to your mind.)"
"(Then where to?)"
"(To where you are most needed. And where you'll find what you need most.)" the man stood proudly on the Hospital hall, an incongruous sight, with his black suit, blue cloak and hat, immaculate white gloves and the golden medallion hanging from his neck. The man was elegantly dressed. However, there was something weird in him. It took Asuka a few seconds of staring to realize that the deep shadow that hid his eyes was too deep for the lights in the Hospital.
"(Who are you? Really?)"
"(I have had many names, Miss Soryu. None that you would recognize. I have walked the Earth for a very long time. Not even I remember for how long. But what actually matters, Miss Soryu, is that I am one of the world protectors.)"
"(Oh, really?)" she scoffed, "(Like Shinji's metas? Then you didn't do that good a job, did you?)"
The Stranger nodded. "(I have walked at their side, superheroes they were called, or mystery men, years before. And yes, we failed then. Second Impact took us by surprise.)"
That simple admission shook Asuka. She hesitated, and from the edge of her eye, looked at her counterpart. The child was unnaturally still. "(What's with her?)" she thumbed at her with a measure of disdain.
"(I have, for lack of a better word, 'paused' her functions. So I could speak to you without interference.)"
"(Hey!)" she exclaimed, "(You look like… like the card Madame Xanadu showed me!)"
"(We are old acquaintances.)" he admitted. "(From the time Camelot was more than a legend.)"
"(Yeah, sure, fairy tales!)"
"(The world is so much bigger and deeper than you imagine. Shinji Ikari has been an eager learner. Applying what he has learned from the metahumans he studies. I have been guiding him, as due to the same circumstances that made me fail in my duty, I cannot act directly against the Angels, or the ones that manipulate them for their own purposes)"
"(Wait a freaking moment! Since when are you guiding the Boy Wonder?)"
"(Since after the Fourth Angel.)"
"(Oh, of course! And why did you contact him first? That was months ago! Months!)"
"(He needed a lot of work. His natural character is ill suited for war.)"
"(So he needed a lot more work than I?)"
"(Indeed.)"
Asuka thought about it for several minutes. She nodded decisively. "(And now you have magnanimously decided it is time to mentor me too?)"
"(No.)" the Stranger said, "(You don't need a mentor.)"
"(Then what are you here for?)"
"(A great injustice has been done to you and your family. It is time to correct it.)"
Tokyo-3
Japan
GeoFront
NERV HQ
Terminal Dogma
Secret Hospital Wing (Automated)
A phone rang in the silent room. A man extended his left hand and pushed the speaker button. "Ikari." He said.
"Commander. Its Dr. Akagi." Her voice rang clear in the darkened room. "We have a situation here."
"I am aware of the Angel. Report."
"Unit-02 was absorbed by the Angel, I am sending the recordings to your terminal for your review."
"Good. Your summary."
"The pilots have proposed a course of action I think has a minuscule chance if working. I doubt it would be enough to actually recover Unit-02 or its pilot, but I suggest implementing it."
"Explain both the plan and your reasoning."
"The children propose trying to force the Angel to reinvert its AT Field. Turning it inside out, forcing it to release its contents. Said attempt would need a massive discharge of energy. The only way to release such amount of energy in a single moment would be by detonating all N2 Mines available inside the Angel. Simultaneously."
"I see. Probability to recover Unit-02 in a reasonably intact condition? And probability of pilot's survival?"
"Less than 0.004% and 0.0003% respectively; according to the MAGI."
"Proceed."
"Yes, Sir." The speaker clicked, signalling the end of the call.
Commander Gendo Ikari raised his right hand, now wrapped in bandages. He examined it carefully, the nerves tingled up to his elbow, but it was a good feeling. After a long preparation time, finally he had received the tool which granted him the means for his long-awaited triumph.
The door opened, and Vice-Commander Kozo Fujutsuki entered the room, pushing a cart. "You know, I am quite sure bringing you food is not part of my duties, Ikari."
"Maybe not, but there is no one else I would trust. I am sure SEELE has quite a few moles in NERV Japan, just waiting for the chance to report my condition."
"True. But leaving NERV without the top commanding personnel is risky too."
"In this case, I am sure Katsuragi won't be able to pull one of her miracles. If everything goes according to Akagi's projections, the Second Child will be removed from the roster, along with Unit-02. We will be able to move forward the schedule for Unit-03's arrival."
"And if it doesn't?"
"It matters not. The next three Angels will do the job in any case. Bardiel, Zeruel or Arael."
Fujutsuki shrugged. "What about… that?" He pointed vaguely toward's Ikari's hand.
"Everything goes according to the scenario. My body is assimilating Adam's essence without any problems. I will be ready by the time Third Impact is upon us."
Fujutsuki took one of the jello cups, and an extra spoon. "You better be, or SEELE's revenge will be terrible."
"I will be ready. Third Impact will be under my complete and absolute control."
Buffer Zone
Unit-02's Core.
(Spiritual Plane)
Asuka followed the Phantom Stranger through a white void. Somehow, they were walking on nothing! But as long as she didn't look to her feet, she could manage to convince herself that she was walking over a solid surface. The only sounds she could hear were their own footsteps and the Stranger's voice.
"(Shinji Ikari has studied the Metahumans with a singular purpose. To learn from them.)"
"(Now you are going to tell me he learned to fight by reading those books and magazines of his?)" She arched an eyebrow.
"(No. Apart from your own teachings, he has been learning from one of the best trainers who ever lived. What he needed to learn was not how to fight. It was something very different. His childhood was deliberately manipulated to yield a very specific character and behaviour. In short, meek, docile and melancholic. A nihilist unable to see his own worth, always in need of validation.)"
"(He is not like that.)" Asuka shook her head. "(He is actually…)" she hesitated a bit, acknowledging Shinji's qualities would be quite a step. "(He is not a sad clown!)"
"(No. He managed to break that conditioning. With a bit of help.)"
"(So, what did he needed to learn if not how to fight?)"
"(Hope.)"
"(Hope?)"
"(That's it? Not a secret technique or a weapon? Just hope?)" she scoffed.
"(Hope is exactly what he needed to overcome his conditioning. Along with Will, Hope can reshape the world.)"
"(And what do I need, according to your infinite wisdom?)"
"(I am far from Omniscient, Miss Soryu. All I can do is try my best. And…)" he paused, making sure Asuka listened, "(Hope for the best.)"
Asuka rolled her eyes. "(That was the corniest thing you could have said.)"
"(It doesn't make it any less true.)"
She had no answer for that. They walked in silence for a few minutes. The Stranger whispered, "(We have arrived.)" He waved a hand, and two figures materialized from the white emptiness. Asuka recoiled in surprise and horror.
Her mind grabbed at the Stranger's voice, "(We are in the very core of Evangelion Unit-02.)"
"(What? How is this possible? What are you playing at?)" Asuka pointed at the two figures, both figures had her Mama's face. but couldn't be more different from each other. One wore a primitive version of a plugsuit, and looked tenderly at Asuka, her long blond hair floating serenely behind her, as if submerged in warm water. The other wore nothing but a hospital gown, and her eyes looked hungrily at Asuka.
"(Mama?)" her voice cracked. "(Is that you?)"
"(Stay with me, Asuka. We can live forever here.)" The one in the plugsuit said, extending a hand toward her.
"(Stay with me, Asuka.)" Said the other, extended an almost skeletal hand towards her. "(Stay with me, we can die together.)"
Instinctively, Asuka stepped back, screaming, "(What kind of sick and twisted game is this? My mother is dead! DEAD!)"
Both figures kept on beckoning Asuka.
"(This is the secret hidden in each Evangelion, Miss Soryu. The monstruous secret NERV hides from you. An Evangelion Unit is cloned from the very flesh of either the First or Second Angel. The process of their creation robs them of a soul. And they need a soul to function. To activate an EVA, a soul must be sacrificed, either whole or in part.)" His voice carried a deep sadness.
"(You mean… My Mother was…)"
"(Her soul was split in two to power Unit-02. The first Contact Experiment resulted in Yui Ikari's complete absorption into Unit-01. Your mother studied the incident in great detail, and created safeguards to protect herself from what she believed was a mere technical problem. But the organization that controls NERV, called SEELE, hid vital knowledge from her, with the ultimate goal of mutilating her soul to power Unit-02.)"
"(Oh, God…)" Asuka looked as if she was about to empty her stomach. "(Then Unit-00..?)"
"(A part of Rei Ayanami's soul. The process was refined by the late Dr. Naoko Akagi, and Rei's sanity was not broken. Her emotional spectrum was sacrificed instead. Her emotions mutilated, instead of her whole mind.)"
"(I'm gonna be sick…)"
The Stranger waved a hand, and both figures went completely still. "(There is a fundamental conflict in Unit-02's core. Unlike the other Evangelions' souls, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's sundered soul constantly fights with itself. A part of her carries her maternal love for you, while the other is merely possessive of the idea of you.)"
"(The damned doll.)" She practically spat the words.
"(Yes.)"
Asuka grabbed the Stranger's arm, shaking the sleeve desperately. "(We can't leave her like this!)"
"(There is nothing I can do for her, Miss Soryu. Only you can reach to her and reconcile her two halves.)"
"(What do I need to do?)" Her fists contracted by instinct. Asuka planted her feet on the inexistent ground, and stared at the two apparitions.
"(Hope.)" the Stranger whispered.
Buffer Zone
Fortress of Solitude
(Far Away from Unit-02)
Inside a dimensionally displaced building, a small army of AIs worked tirelessly. Their first duty was to preserve and repair the building. It would take years to repair the damage received.
The robots were a wonder of Kryptonian technology, a design tested and refined for hundreds of years. The robots looked vaguely like insects, a bulbous head connected to an oval shaped body, two thin arms folded against the body, reminiscent to a praying mantis' forelegs, each arm ended in a very precise and delicate hand, able to manipulate tools and instrument with a precision Earth science would reach for several millennia.
The robot in charge floated deliberately towards its, or rather, his, destination. The Healing Chamber.
In the way, other robots raised their eyes to look at him for a moment, sending updates of the current state of the repairs.
"(Kelex (1), repair to secondary fusion reactor at 53%. Restart estimated time, 3256 solar cycles.)"
"(Good, Ramnex. Maintain schedule. Master Kal-El will return. The Fortress must be in operating conditions when he does.)"
Kelex continued his inspection tour until he arrived to the Healing Chamber. "(Emnex. Condition of our guest?)"
"(Lead poisoning in check. No progress yet in the creation of an antidote.)"
"(Keep him in stasis in the meanwhile.)" Kelex ordered. "(Though not a Kryptonian, Lar Gand is a valued ally and friend of Master Kal-El.)"
Inside the healing pod, a young rested, his face pale and tense. His red and black uniform, along with a blue cloak, waited for him on a standing mannequin,
Author Notes
1. Kelex is the name of the robotic servant of the El family. The original version of Kelex debuted back in The Man of Steel issue 1 (Oct, 1986). He was destroyed when Krypton exploded. The second version was created by a Kryptonian device, the Eradicator, along with the Fortress of Solitude itself, in Adventures of Superman issue 461 (Dec 1989). The other robots are my creation, mainly to give Kelex somebody else to talk to.
2. The original version of Lar Gand, better known as Mon-El, debuted in Superboy issue 89 (Jun 1961), as a mysterious traveler arriving to Smallville in a Kryptonian ship, with star maps made by Superboy's father, Kal-El. He was amnesiac, and Superboy thought the young man was his big brother, not knowing his name, he named him Mon-El, from his own Kryptonian surname and the day in the calendar, a Monday. Later on, it turned out that the lad was not vulnerable to kryptonite, but to simple lead, which revealed that Mon-El wasn't from Krypton, but from a different planet, Daxam, whose inhabitant get similar powers under a yellow sun. However, unlike a Kryptonian, who recovers quickly once far enough from Kryptonite, the effects of lead on a Daxamite are cumulative and permanent. Superboy sent Mon-El to the Phantom Zone, while an antidote to lead poisoning could be created. A thousand years later, said antidote was created by Brainiac 5, and Mon-El was accepted into the Legion of Superheroes as a valuable member. The debut of the second version of Lar Gand is a bit confusing, but let's say it was during the Invasion crossover. After a short career in the XXth Century, he was also affected by lead poisoning, and sent to the Post-Crisis version of the Phantom Zone, renamed the Buffer Zone, in Superboy issue 19 (Sept, 1995). Just as his counterpart, he spent a thousand years in isolation, until he was rescued by the Legion of Superheroes in Legionnaires issue 31 (Nov, 1995). He took the name M'Onel, from the old Martian language, meaning "He Who wanders". BTW, this scene also insinuates that R.J. Brande is actually the Martian Manhunter.