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+--- Thread: The Rebuild of Nobody Dies (/showthread.php?tid=8294)
The Rebuild of Nobody Dies - GreggHL - 02-18-2012
Since Spacebattles is all privaty and stuff now, I decided to share the love. Keep in mind, I'm beta'ing the fuck out of this before I post it to ff.net, or until I finish Season 5 of ND. So this is still very rough, and also a reason I haven't updated ND lately. Because I'm on vacation from it.
Seriously, I've written ND non stop for two years.
--------
How little they know.
Of worlds.
Of stars.
Of the origins of life.
If there was life on the
world billions of years ago, they would have seen it. They would
have witnessed it, like they did. No one's beheld the face of the
Makers. No one's seen the truth of this endless, pointless war.
A stone. Or something
representing a stone. It skips along the blackness of the great sea,
sending white ripples through it before sinking into the aether.
At the edge of the
black, white crossed sea, there sits a figure. The whos and whys are
not important. The description of the figure, huddled against the
cold though there is no chill, huddled against the world though he is
solitary and all, is of less import. All that matters is that he is
alone.
Fleeting memories still
pass over him, and through him the world. Pain. Anger. Hate.
Abandonment. Fury. All them take shape in this empty world, all of
them take meaning in this empty world.
And then he is not
alone.
White feet walk across
the aether. White ripples over the black sea as she approaches,
skipping across the nothingness. White skin forms a white face,
framed by white hair, clothed in a white school uniform and holding a
white schoolbag on her shoulder. The only color save for the shadows
of definition is her eyes. Red, the color of blood, staring at him
as she tilts her head.
“Are you going to
keep running away?” she asks,
her voice a crystalline whisper.
He
says nothing. She tilts her head, smiles and giggles, and sits down
next to him.
“I
can stay, a while,” she says,
“Because it is time.”
-
-
Rebuild
of
Nobody Dies
-
-
Floating
freely over the large bay, the screen measures a football field
across. Divided up into twenty hexagonal panels, it forms a
honeycomb, images of a body of water outside the city limits passing
in quick time, showing water rippling, followed by the lake parting
to the sea bed in two even walls.
Zooming
out, it displays the first mark of the oncoming threat:
A
cross rising into the sky, light in the color of enflamed flesh. And
from it rises another shape, something neither human nor animal,
surrounded by walls of orange as it begins a silent advance.
Clearing
his throat, the man with white hair, showing each and every one of
his many years, leans against the table on the raised platform above
the main bridge.
“Very
well,” he says, “The Fourth Angel in en route. Set the MAGI to
combat configuration and alert Ikari. Prepare defenses.”
“We're
sorry, but due to emergency situations, no phone lines are available
at this time. Thank you, and please try again later.”
The phone slams back into the receiver, cracking the plastic as the
young man walks away.
AD
2017. +17 years, Second Impact
It
took him hours to get here by train. There were security checks,
there were stops, there were delays. And after every last,
excruciating moment of having to actually come here, he arrives to
find the city completely empty. Muttering
under his breath, he swings his knapsack off, opening it and reaching
into it. Pulling out an envelope, he tears it open, unfolds the
contents, and stares at a letter which is mostly black save for one
word:
Come.
“The Hell,” he mutters. Running a hand through his wild black
hair, the young man, clad in a worn gray sweatshirt and jeans, looks
around the ghost city, wondering at what point he exited his normal,
ordinary life and entered the Twilight Zone, or whatever that weird
show his Aunt watches is called.
“Damn
it,” he mutters, checking his cell phone and finding, once again,
no bars. Figures. He'd call his father's phone again, but he doubts
he's even answering
it, because goodness knows he couldn't actually tell him all this by
phone, he had to send by snail mail.
“I don't believe this,” he whines, dragging his knapsack on the
ground behind him, “I haven't seen him in three years! And all he
does is tell me to come! But no! That's typical of him! No, 'Hi
son, who we shipped off to live with his relatives for no reason we
articulated, how are you doing?'”
He
continues griping, rolling his eyes, looking up at the low buildings
around him as he wonders gee, if this is a city, where are
the skyscrapers
“But
nooooo,” he continues, shrugging his backpack over his shoulder,
“No, they just had to send for me. I swear, if this is all some
elaborate surprise birthday party they are getting such a talking to.
Why did they have to send for me? Why did I have to come here? Why
didn't they tell me why
I'm here?”
Rolling his eyes, he mutters to himself something about whining and
complaining, and continues walking through the empty city. Maybe
it's just this area of the city that's empty, he thinks. It's a big
city, maybe everyone from these few blocks took the day off, or went
on vacation, or died. Or something.
Reaching into his bag, he takes out a can of coffee, holding it for
a moment before he realizes it's warm, and so is the weather.
Spotting a bench near a convenience store, he stomps over as
effectively as a lanky sixteen year old can, slumping down on the
bench and placing his bag and the warm coffee next to him, looking
out and finally seeing the skyline of Tokyo-3.
Silver and steel rising from the center of what was once Hakone, a
spire at the center which he understands is the Tokyo-3 City Center.
Sighing, leaning back on the bench, he wonders, once again, what his
Dad needs him here for.
“Excuse me, Mister, but are you lost?”
He looks down. He would lecture the girl to not stand in the
street, but there haven't been any cars here the entire day. Maybe
there's a big fair on the other side of the city. A ten year old
girl with her dark brown hair in two hastily arranged pigtails is
standing in front of him, holding a bag of groceries.
“Huh?” he asks.
“We're all supposed to go to the shelters, but I thought we'd need
food and stuff for it,” she says, “Didn't you know that?”
He blinks, takes the coffee from next to his bag, popping the top
and sipping the cold coffee. Shelters? Well, that would explain
that. But why would an entire city have some sort of evacuation
drill? What would they evacuate an entire city for? Isn't Tokyo-3
landlocked?
“I'm Nozomi,” the girl says, smiling.
He blinks, and smiles, scratching the back of his head.
“I'm Shinji,” he says, “Uh...Shinji Ikari.”
The girl starts, tilting her head.
“Huh.”
“Huh, what?” he asks.
“Anyway,” Nozomi says, “You really should head to the
shelters, 'cause Mom's bosses said we had to all go there today, and
we don't want to get in any trouble with NERV.”
She walks over, grabbing Shinji by the wrist and pulling him to his
feet. He grabs his knapsack, sighing as he finds himself pulled
along by a bossy 10 year old, which he could think of as the story of
his life.
“So, wait,” he says, “Why are we going to the shelters?”
“'Cause NERV said there's a drill, today.”
“Why is there a drill? What possible reason could anyone have to
have an entire city go into shelters?”
The answer comes from a rumble overhead, and the two look up to see
jet fighters passing overhead, the ground shaking in time with their
supersonic wake. Mouth hanging open, Shinji watches as the jets are
accompanied by a half dozen VTOL craft, not even finishing passing
overhead before their side compartments open and a flurry of rockets
fire off at some object in the distance.
And then a pink lance of light shoots out and one of the VTOLs
explodes, debris raining down on an apartment block.
“Okay,” Shinji says, “That makes sense now. Run!”
Grabbing
the girl by the hand, they run, as the sounds of conflagration and
lasers fill the air, explosions and sonic booms overhead as they run
down the street, away from the fighting. That is important, that
they are not just running, but running away.
“The shelter's this way!” Nozomi yells.
“Good! Shelter's good!”
The explosions die down. He hopes that's a good thing. He really
hopes that's a good thing. Then, the other, dreaded question comes
to the forefront of his mind.
What
were they shooting at?
Something passes overhead, fast enough to make the ground shake and
make them lose their footing. Nozomi and Shinji both hit the ground
with a cry, Shinji looking up as something slams into the main
street, big enough that its motions gouge out chunks of the buildings
around it. He looks up, as the claws, as tall as he is, slams into
the ground in front of them, crushing abandoned cars, sending water
from severed lines spraying into the air. The claw, metallic,
smooth, is one of three on the leathery green foot, that goes up to a
knee at least three times his height, which goes into a gigantic
white shell.
It
towers over the buildings, the shell itself coming to a high dome,
three dull horns of white thrusting out of it. At the front of the
shell there is black, tracing out the shape of a stylized eye, tilted
vertically. Four claws feet gouge the ground and cement, a tail
swinging about behind it, ending in a red crystal sphere which glows
with some kind of inner light or fire. The front of the shell
splits, and a think like a serpent slides out, an eyeless mouth with
two teeth coming over the front of the lip, and two teeth framing the
sides. Swinging through the air, it turns, extending towards Shinji
and Nozomi as they scurry back, too frozen by fear and bewilderment
at the thing
in front of them to run.
The mouth opens, and attached to a long, thin tongue an eye coming
out, hovering in front of them. For a moment, it glances at the
girl, who shakes where she sits, eyes wide and mouth open. Then, it
turns to Shinji. And a slow rumble emits from the mouth of the thing
before him, as Shinji clenches his eyes shut, a noise like static
filling his ears and words forming in a tongue that has no name and
Through license of he who is named “I AM” I have come.
Though my feet must drag upon this Base Earth on this blessed
quest, I have come.
I am the second of the messengers,
Tested against the might of those who profane the glory.
Your might shall be tested,
Measured,
And found wanting before us,
And you shall be washed away like ash against the stream.
I am the Test of God,
Angel of Pride.
I am Iblis.
I have come.
Shinji yells out, grabbing his head, as the mouth rises, jaw
stretching out in front of him. And neither he, nor the monster sees
the figure running across the rooftops, but Nozomi does, pointing
towards the sky and yelling out. And the sky turns orange and the
wind slams down on them all, and the creature, Iblis, looks up just
before the figure leaping over them spins, and brings her arm down on
the creature.
Which the humans realize is not an arm or an extension of the arm,
but actually a rocket launcher which slams into the mouth, driving it
into the ground as a figure lands in front of them.
“Heee~ey there,” a lilting voice says, “Nozomi, your Mom's
really worried 'bout you, so we need to get you to a shelter. 'Kay?”
Nozomi nods, a wide smile on her face.
“You Shinji Ikari?”
Shinji nods, holding his head, shakily standing as Nozomi runs past,
disappearing through a pair of metal doors next to a clothing store.
There is a loud whirr, as the doors slam shut and the doors retract
into the sidewalk itself. And then a hand grabs him by the arm.
“Come with me if you want to live.”
He doesn't have time to actually see the girl's face. No, instead,
he has all the time to get out the first syllable of “Who are you
and what am I doing here?” before he finds himself picked up, by
one arm, and the entire world becomes a blur.
Screaming the entire way, he looks back over his shoulder, and
screams louder. This is because the gigantic monstrous turtle has
begun chasing after them. Him. Well, most likely her, because she
hit it in the face with a rocket.
“Heee~ey,” the girl says, “How're you doin'?”
Shinji screams something unintelligible, as the jaws of the monster
snap closed in front of him, empty buildings crashing apart as the
gigantic demon turtle gallops after them. The girl, however, simply
continues talking.
“Sooo I have Shinji, but we're being chased by the Angel! Yeah,
'cause I hit it in the face with a rocket. So we're trying to
loooose it but we're gonna need distractions. Great!”
The blur becomes faster as they pick up speed, speeding down a
narrow alleyway, twisting and turning as the monster chases after
them, Shinji seeing it in the cracks between buildings. His stomach
relocates into his throat as the alley becomes the street, as they
run vertically up a wall, the street becoming the rooftops of the
city, and the stylized Gamerra that is currently terrorizing it, and
him.
Leaping after them, he only watches as the roofs end, a distant drop
below, Shinji's screams becoming louder and more girly as the drop is
replaced by the another roof, and looks over his shoulder just as
they crash through the window, running through an office as impacts
shake the building. Another crash, and they're out of the building,
leaping through the air, desks and chairs falling out of the broken
window in their wake, and Shinji sees the monster turtle thing
shrieking as hovering, humanoid machines pepper it with rocket fire
and machine guns.
“Hey, are you afraid of heights?”
He whimpers a positive.
“Too bad.”
And they dive down, redirecting themselves in mid and and
accelerating towards the ground. Shinji screams, as it is natural
for him to do so when reaching terminal velocity. Instead of
impacting the concrete below, which seems sensible from his
perspective, the manhole cover swings aside and they descend into a
long tube, Shinji falling into a smooth, soft, frictionless padding
which does nothing to slow his descent, only redirect it.
His screams are matched by the laughter of the girl, who has braced
her hands on the sides and slowed herself down.
He would do that, too. Were he not terrified and possibly wetting
himself.
No, wait. Not possibly.
However, the light at the end of the tunnel has come. Only instead
of being salvation, or a reward, or peace, it is an actual end of the
tunnel, and Shinji's scream comes to an abrupt end as he slams into a
gel pad built into the white metal wall. The gel ripples out, making
a sound like an underwater burp, and he falls off of it and onto the
ground with a groan.
Another yell, not his, and a blue and white blur hits the gel pad,
hanging in the air before backflipping off. Looking up, his vision
still slightly blurred and feeling as if he has lost ten years off
his life, he finally gets a look at the girl who saved his life by
being more hazardous to his health than a house sized evil turtle.
His eyes start on the white, worn sneakers and black socks, going up
pale legs to the plaid skirt, white blouse and blue blazer. Finally,
they settle on a heart shaped face, framed by bright blue hair, and
sharp, deep red eyes. Her arms are up, and she bows, saying
something about a 'Ten point landing.'
“Soooo here you are,” she says, “Welcome to NERV! I'm-”
“REI!”
Slowly, Shinji turns his head to the side, as a woman with brunette
hair and in a blue wet suit and a lab coat runs over, fixing her
glasses and still toweling off her hair. Skidding to a stop,
apparently just noticing the sixteen year old boy on the verge of
passing out, she drops to her knees in front of Shinji and helps him
sit up.
“Shinji?” she says, “I'm Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. I work with your
father at NERV. Do you know why you were called here?”
Shinji shakes his head. Articulation is not his strong point at
present. Instead, Akagi moves his head up, so he is looking at the
girl again, who is now smiling with a mouth full of teeth. Many
teeth.
“This is Rei,” Akagi continues, “She's a Pilot. She's the
Second Child. The monster she saved you from is called an Angel. We
called you here to help deal with it.”
His head is once more turned to her.
“Any questions?”
Shinji's response comes not as a question. Instead, it comes as a
high pitched scream, starting in his stomach and exiting his mouth
with force and tremor. Carried aloft by the shriek, he scrambles to
his feet and runs, past the watching people in beige uniforms,
turning the corner and scrambling on all fours into the men's
bathroom.
Walking up to Ritsuko, who stares at the path that Shinji has taken
to half-heartedly escape, a woman with purple hair and in a beige
pants uniform sips her coffee mug.
“Yeah,” she says, “That went well.”
“Shut up, Misato.”
Rei skips past them, stretching her hands above her head.
“I'll go get'em,” she says, “Someone should tell Dad the
Fourth Child's heee~ere.”
And she skips into the bathroom, humming the entire way.
He locked himself in the handicapped stall and has determined he
will live there.
He found a small paper bag, closed his hand into a fist around the
opening, and sensibly began to hyperventilate. How could he not? It
makes sense. He will lock himself in here, let them transport things
like food and water under the stall door, and wait until there is not
a building-sized monster out there that wants to snack on him. Those
shall be his demands, and people will accept that, if they want him
to do what...
What did they want him to do?
“Heee~ey.”
The bathroom door swings open, and the girl skips in.
“Oh, Shinji? You ready yet? Hope you're not dead, 'cause if you
are we're kinda in trouble.”
Worn white sneakers stop in front of his stall door, lolling back
and forth on the balls of the feet. A hand knocks on the door once,
twice, three times...
And then punches through the stall door all the way to the shoulder,
feeling around the door before turning the lock and swinging open the
door. Rei bends down, a closed lipped smile and eyes closed as
Shinji notices he has stopped hyperventilating, because he has
forgotten to breathe.
“Soooo~oo,” she says, “The Commander, your father, really
needs to see you 'cause it's really important. So, I can show you
where it is, or I could knock you out and carry you.”
She tilts her head, showing teeth.
“'Kay?”
He nods, as she reaches out and pulls away the bag.
“What,” he starts, “What are you?”
“I'm Rei.”
“No,” he says, trying to find words that will not, possibly, get
him eaten, “What are you?”
She giggles.
“Already told you, silly. I'm Rei.”
And she grabs him by the arm and drags him out.
“Oh yeah. This was a great idea. Let's introduce Shinji to NERV
by having him meet Rei. I dunno, I'm pretty sure he finds the
Angel less terrifying.”
“Shut up, Misato.”
The lights flicker on as they enter, illuminating the wide catwalk
and the lake of yellow fluid beneath them. It shifts, ripples with
every footstep, less from the vibrations of the catwalk and more
from...something else. Something they can't accurately measure.
Like the liquid wants to move on its own. Akagi dismisses that idea.
She spends an unseemly amount of time swimming in it, after all, so
she'd hate to believe that somehow the liquid is alive. That would
be...
Bad.
“We need to prep Unit-00, just in case,” Ritsuko says, rubbing
the bridge of her nose as they walk through another arch, an open
doorway as the lights come on underneath them.
“Unit-00 has one arm.”
“Still, if we can't-”
“Is there a problem?”
The lights come on overhead, illuminating a balcony on high. Misato
sucks her teeth. Ritsuko rolls her eyes. Much of the time, this is
the appropriate reaction to the presence above, especially in tense
situations like this.
“The Fourth Child is on base, Ikari,” Ritsuko says, “Problem
is that he was brought onto the base by the Second Child, and is
currently...”
“Freaked out,” Misato finishes, earning a glare from the
brunette, “Last we saw, he locked himself in the bathroom and was
hyperventilating.”
Silence, from on high.
“I see.”
“In any case,” Ritsuko continues, “If we can't get the Fourth
Child-”
“Who's right here!”
The two women turn, and find standing in the doorway is Rei,
followed by Shinji, who's color at this point is starting to match
Rei's. Walking ahead of the albino girl, Shinji looks at the two
women, and then looks up, past them at the silhouetted figure
standing on the glass covered balcony. Stumbling forward, fighting
the odd wind around him, he looks up at the figure. He doesn't need
to see who it is. He knows. He knows exactly who would be there.
“Dad.”
“Shinji. You've come.”
“Yeah.” He looks around. Darkness, except for the illuminated
catwalk and the box his father is standing in. “Why? What do you
need me for? What was that thing outside?”
“An Angel.”
The other side of the catwalk, someone enters. Clad in gray sweats
and a labcoat, her short, messy brown hair showing some signs of
gray, and a face that is a mirror of Shinji's own. His shoulders
relax as she enters, untensing for the first time since he entered
this city.
“Mom?”
Yui Ikari smiles, crossing the catwalk and pulling her son into a
hug.
“Look at you,” she sighs, holding him at arms length, “It's
been three years since I've been in the same room as you. You've
grown.”
He nods, noticing that, at this point, he is actually taller than
the woman in front of him. Reaching up, scratching the back of his
head, he turns to the other people inside the chamber. Underneath, a
bubble pops in the yellow lake.
“Okay,” he says, “Uh...where am I? Why am I here?”
“You're in Project E,” Yui explains, turning him towards his
father, “I had Ritsuko bring you down here because you're needed.”
“E,” Shinji says, screwing his face in confusion, “Project
'E'? That's...an odd name.”
Reaching into her labcoat, she withdraws a large, flat plate,
clicking it and causing a red fig leaf symbol to flash on the front
before becoming the screen of a tablet. Tapping a command on it, the
lights overhead switch on, washing over the chamber with light.
“Project E,” she says, “Means Project Evangelion.”
And Shinji sees it. He comes up, at his full height, roughly to the
lower lip of the things face, with the chin at his feet. Purple,
green lined, the face is an almost demonic mask, a single purple and
green horn rising into the air, two yellow eyes staring back at him.
It is covered in armor, welded in place, a giant in the shape of a
man and yet very, very different. The air shifts around him in front
of the giant face, and in that moment Shinji realizes why.
It's breathing. And so, Shinji speaks the words which he believes
are the best way to address this situation.
“Oh what the fuck.”
Hissing, the monster lashes out, grabbing one of the flying metal
bipeds in its jaw and squeezing. It is rewarded by the sweet taste
of liquid fire as the annoyance explodes, licking the inside of its
mouth, seeing it dissolve in front of its eye with a shriek of
tearing metal.
Spitting out the remains, the tail whips out, the red sphere at the
end glowing as the air around Iblis turns gold. The laws of physics
are rewritten. The air around the hovering, metal creatures turns
thick like molasses, and they drop around the beast, before single
stomps from its feet crush them underfoot. Snaking out his eye,
Iblis stares at them, sniffing the air. No blood. No breath. They
are not living, merely...tools...of the Lilim. The air whines, and
another flock of the Lilim machines appear, the ones long and filled
with Lilim, their weapons less than useless against him.
Stomping past the broken machines, Iblis lets off a shriek in
passing, and continues its march through the Fortress City, rounds
from pursuing VTOLs exploding harmlessly against its bone white
shell.
“You want me to pilot the giant robot?”
Yui nods, arms folded. The ground shakes slightly, the rumbles
overhead catching the echoes of the battle in the Fortress City.
“Yes,” she responds.
“You want me,” Shinji says, pointing to himself, and then
gesturing to the purple giant, “To pilot the giant robot?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to pilot the Giant Robot?”
“Shinji, you asked me that three times,” Yui says, rubbing the
bridge of her nose with a groan, “Why did you ask me that three
times?”
“BECAUSE I WANT A DIFFERENT ANSWER!”
Yui sighs, and walks over to her son, placing her hands on his
shoulders and turning him towards her.
“Shinji,” she says, “Listen to me. This is important. We
sent you to live with your aunt and uncle because of our work, but we
found out we need you here. We sent you away to protect you, but now
we need your help. You're the Fourth Child.”
“Which is...”
“The only person who can pilot the Evangelion,” she responds,
“We will walk you through this. We will make sure you don't get
hurt. But, Shinji, I need you to not argue with me and get in the
giant robot.”
He opens his mouth, closes it. She's using her tone. Not
her disappointed tone, but her stop being snippy tone,
which she would use at least once in their weekly video chats.
Grinding his teeth, he nods, straightening up.
“I'll explain everything later,” she says, “But we just don't
have time. Shinji, will you help us?”
“...fine.”
“Good,” Yui says, and pecks him on the cheek, “Ritsuko! I
need A-10 connectors. Misato, head up to Central Dogma and join
Gendo and Kozou. I'll join you once Unit-01's ready for launch.”
Shinji sighs, already released from his mother's maternal grip, and
turns back to the giant in front of him. Blinking, narrowing his
eyes, he stares at the giant. He's quite sure that the robot's head
had moved a bit since he last looked at it. But that would be
ridiculous.
Wouldn't it?
“Start entry sequence. Set language to default Japanese.
Setting muscular lock settings to open.”
The voice of the woman is more chipper than it has any rights to be,
especially when faced with the possibility of being eaten by a
gigantic demon turtle. Lights turn on, and Shinji glances from side
to side, furrowing his brow and feeling the odd headpiece shifting in
his hair. His sweatshirt discarded, he sits in the comfortable
chair, clad in a black t-shirt and jeans, socks over his feet.
And looks down as the yellow liquid begins filling the room.
“Uh...okay,” he says, “Mom? Is this supposed to be
happening?”
“Yes. Shinji, don't worry, that's called LCL. It's
oxygenated.”
“So I won't drown?”
“No. It's perfectly safe! I use it all the time.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I have a tube filled with it I use for intense computer
work. I can explain later, but more importantly, don't panic. Just
breathe it in and you'll be fine.”
Squirming in the seat, he watches as the liquid comes up past his
toes, warm through his socks, soaking through his jeans. The liquid
is warm, room temperature, not chilly like he expected it at all. He
squirms as the liquid goes up past his waist, past his shoulders,
holding his breath as he clears his head. His Mom wouldn't try to
drown him, right?
“Shinji, it's completely safe and it's oxygenated. Just
breathe deeply. It will feel weird for a moment but it's not going
to hurt you.”
Betting his life on Yui Ikari's maternal instincts, he takes a deep
breath, the wrong feeling of liquid in his lungs somehow
familiar, and then he coughs.
“Ah, for...it tastes like blood!”
“Technically, it's the Evangelion's blood. It's part of the
link connection with the Eva.”
“Why does the giant robot have blood?”
“It's technically coolant.”
“Mom, you made sure I had enough of a scientific education to know
that's bullshit. Seriously.”
A snicker over the channel.
“Shut it, Misato. Technically, it's also a hydraulic gel for
your safety. You're in a very large object which moves very fast,
and suspending you in liquid, in addition to the acceleration couch
and the seatbelts, is the best way to keep you safe. Maya?”
“Second Stage start. Setting plug depth to 1.093 and ionizing
LCL.”
Shinji rolls his neck as he feels the hairs on his back prickle,
standing up.
“Stage 3. Synchro Start!”
And Shinji feels the pull on the back of his mind, something yanking
him down but not physically. He feels the stretching, the inside of
the room- the Entry Plug- becoming something more, stretching out
into a tunnel which seems to go on forever. The questions at the
back of his mind come to the forefront unbidden, echoing in his
little world.
Fourth Child. What is the Fourth Child?
First is unknown. Second is Rei. Third is coming.
Fourth is you.
I don't understand. What does that mean? Mom throws around that
word but doesn't tell me.
There's a sound in the background, filling the world. He opens his
eyes and finds himself not in the plug, but sitting in an open field.
He can see something...someone in the distance, watching him from
afar. Something...familiar about this but he isn't sure what.
Do you want to pilot?
“Not really,” he says, “It's not high on my list of
priorities, to be honest.”
But you said yes.
“Because...well, they asked,” he sighs, shaking his head, “I
mean...they needed me to do this. If they needed me to do this, I'll
do it. She wouldn't ask if she didn't need me.”
He can see it clearly, now. More clearly. He can see the figure on
high better, meets its eyes. For a moment, Shinji wonders if he
should be afraid, if he's meeting something that should not be. But
for the life of him, he can't muster any actual fear. All he can do,
when faced with what approaches, is smile. Because somehow, he knows
this is right.
And in the Entry Plug, Shinji's eyes open as the two connectors atop
his head glow blue.
“Fourth Child recognized,” the computerized, feminine
voice says, “Synchronization holding at 47%. Evangelion,
Unit-01:”
And outside the plug, in the Cage, two yellow eyes flash and glow
white.
“Activate.”
The purple haired woman whistles, nodding at the gigantic
screen as the numbers come up next to the hanging still picture of
the pilto. Patting Ritsuko on the back, she gives off a grin.
“Beats Rei's intial score,” Misato says, “We haven't trained
this kid before? At all?”
“No,” Ritsuko responds, pursing her lips, “Okay. Shinji, can
you hear me?”
The giant's head shifts towards one of the speakers in the Cage.
Metal shrieks as the chin of the Evangelion scrapes across catwalks,
tearing the catwalk off the rivets and causing it to hang from the
metal jutting from the giant's mouth.
“Uh...sorry. Uh...how'd I do that?”
“The Evangelion responds to thoughts,” Ritsuko says, resisting
the urge to facepalm, “The controls in the entry right now are all
psychosomatic. There are functional ones that will use later-”
“But that's not important right now,” Misato interrupts,
clamping her hand over Ritsuko's mouth as the brunette glares at her,
“Hyuga! Clear us a path to the D-17 zone! Shigeru, charge the
rails and set the carriage to release mode!”
Above the purple giant, the ceiling opens, revealing a straight path
above, the night sky in the distance. Behind the Evangelion, the
railings crackle with electricity as the catwalks retract, the broken
catwalk on the jaw falling to the floor below.
The doors to Central Dogma open, and Yui enters, fixing her labcoat,
glancing up at the station on high and spotting her husband looking
on with interest.
“Status?” Yui asks.
“Shinji's set a record for first-time synch,” Ritsuko says,
“Angel has been spotted approaching block D-17. We're launching
Unit-01 to intercept.”
Yui nods, walking past them, taking the walkie from the station
manned by the glasses wearing man and bringing it up to her lips.
“Shinji,” she says, “Good luck. We're with you every step of
the way.”
On the screen, Shinji hesitantly nods, closing his eyes and wrapping
his hands around the controls. Turning to Misato, Yui nods.
“Eva launch!” she calls out.
The carriage lurches, and launches skyward. In the entry plug,
Shinji grits his teeth as he's pressed against the acceleration
couch, a muted cry as the green and gunmetal walls of the launch
chute are replaced by the depressed skyline of the fortress city.
“Releasing locks!”
The mecha lurches forward. Gripping the controls, Shinji focuses,
the Evangelion taking a step out of the carriage. This is easy, he
thinks. Very easy. Piloting a robot controlled by his mind ought to
be a lot harder than this.
“Shinji!” Misato yells, “The Angel is right in front
of you!”
Shinji Ikari yelps, a high pitched squeak, and the Eva as a respond
brings up both its fists, shielding its face. Slowly, the fists
lower. And the Eva cranes its neck in responds to Shinji doing the
same, looking from side to side.
“Uh...where?”
And the Evangelion looks down. It comes up, roughly to the
Evangelion's waist. The highest peak of its bone white shell hovers
at equal height to the pelvis of the Evangelion, the black stylized
eye at its zenith apparently staring at the mecha's crotch. Looking
down, he sees the mouth snaking out of the shell, teeth hungrily
bared at the Eva.
And several teeth go flying when the Evangelion, unbidden, kicks it
in the face.
“Hey! Did I-”
“Thought controlled.”
“Huh,” Shinji says, as the Angel shrieks and hisses,
“It's...well, it's kind of small. How tall is this thing?”
“The Evangelion is 60 meters tall, approximately,”
Ritsuko says, a screen appearing hovering in front of him, as his
mother, behind her, covers her mouth to keep from laughing, “The
Angel is...ah. Twenty five meters tall. And 20 centimeters.”
“That's hilarious,” Shinji says, “What do I do now?”
“Get it out of the city!” Misato orders.
And the Evangelion rears back, braces itself, and kicks the Angel as
hard as it can. Windows around the Eva shatter, the street rumbles,
and Iblis shrieks as it goes flying through the air, spinning end
over end, teeth and bone raining down on the evacuated city before it
impacts outside the Tokyo-3 city limits.
The floating screen shows the remainder. As Unit-01 advances on the
gigantic turtle. As the Eva draws its progressive knife from its
left shoulder fin. As Iblis flips onto its front and swings out the
red sphere on the end of the tail.
“Observe,” the older man says, standing in front of the desk, in
front of Yui and Gendo, “At this point, Iblis fights back. Notice
the cascade of beams from the pseudo eyes on its shell. Notable
damage on Unit-01's torso shows signs of both freezing and burning.
Unit-01 defends itself by hiding behind the skyscraper. Which then,
as a result of Iblis' barrage and Unit-01's weight, falls on Iblis.”
He clicks the remote in his hand. The video fast forwards.
“Notice how, in a remarkable improvisation, Unit-01 uses elements
from the reinforced steel structure to leverage open the shell of the
Angel. The sounds made by Iblis are, presumably, sounds of pain.
Notice the blood. It was shortly after that that the Angel began to
beat Unit-01 with its own tail. However, the tail contained the
Core, which broke on Unit-01's horn. Thus, the Angel died.”
The screen clicks off. Behind him, Gendo's hands are folded into a
bridge over his mouth, and Yui's hands folded behind her. A small
smile is on her face.
Twelve monoliths float around them, illuminating the darkness in
red.
“Your damage estimates are...exceptional, Professor Fuyutsuki,”
the one labeled 05 says, “This was incurred by an Angel so
easily dispatched?”
“It took time for us to receive the pilot for Unit-01 and gain
clearance from the JSSDF to deploy Unit-01,” Kozou Fuyutsuki
responds, narrowing eyes at the monolith, “It is the hope of NERV
that the JSSDF will be less hesitant to deploy the only weapon
capable of neutralizing the Angelic threat, should the later ones be
more difficult to kill than Iblis.”
“You sound so sure they will be harder to kill,” the one
labeled 07 asks.
An unpleasant look passes over the old man's face. Folding his
hands behind him, he levels his gaze on the monolith. Behind him,
Gendo's face is unreadable, save for the barely perceptible nod.
“We should have acted earlier,” Kozou says, “This was written
down in the Scrolls. It has been seventeen years since Impact and we
have known they were coming, and we were still caught unaware.”
“I remind the Committee-” 07 starts, but goes silent as
Fuyutsuki continues.
“We have merely delayed them,” he continues, “We have weakened
ourselves with pointless wars. Because no one wanted to believe they
even existed. And when the truth finally dawned, it dawned in fire.”
He clicks the remote again. It shows outside of Tokyo-3, a line of
tanks and artillery, flattened. Of the crater where the Angel took a
direct hit from an N2 mine. Of the wreckage of the city in a
straight line, to the row of shattered windows where it faced the
Evangelion.
“This won't happen again,” Yui says, a hand on Kozou's shoulder,
“The Angels have come. NERV must take priority. Project E's
primary work begins now. Chairman?”
Silence as the other monoliths blink out, one by one, until only the
one labeled 01 remains.
“You will have your funding, Dr. Ikari,” the monolith
says, “Always a pleasure, Professor Fuyutsuki, Commander Ikari.
This meeting is adjourned.”
And the last monolith blinks out. And there is only darkness.
End Chapter 1.
- The Wanderer - 02-18-2012
A few proofreading/copyediting nitpicks I could give, but that aside... yeah. Looks good.
- Bob Schroeck - 02-18-2012
Agreed. ND has been on my list to read to Peggy for the longest time, and I'm looking forward to reading her the Rebuild now.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
- OpMegs - 02-19-2012
I'm really looking forward to this, because Nobody Dies has long been my #2 favorite Eva fic of all time*, even if it wandered off into some really weird places in the meantime.
A tighter plotted version with improved...everything that can only come from experience? Definitely looking forward to it.
*#1 is Once More With Feeling, but that's gone so long without an update that I think it's pretty well and surely dead.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
- Matrix Dragon - 02-25-2012
I have to say, using Iblis as the first fight is a concept that I don't think I've ever seen before. And the consequences of not being giant enough are amusing.
- GreggHL - 02-25-2012
The Hakone region of Japan. Miles upon miles of green. Forests,
planted and ancient, mark the landscape. And at the center, where
the town of Hakone once stood, there is the city of Tokyo-3. Metal
and concrete. Window and solar collector. The roots of the Fortress
City run even deeper, into the earth itself, stopping just above the
mantle.
Man made lakes surround the city, as do mountains, more ancient than
mankind. The contrasts work in synergy- the nature provides not just
a pleasant view and a reason for tourists to visit, but also a buffer
zone for the military, when a designated [ANGEL] threat approaches.
Nature to protect mankind. Mountains created from the earth sitting
beside lakes created by man.
The entire area is a study in contrast.
Another contrast would be the Evangelion itself. Standing over
sixty meters tall, a purple giant, lined with green and white, its
shape is masculine in appearance, if lanky.
In contrast, the screaming coming from the speakers around its neck
seems to be that of a little girl. High pitched, loud, containing
terror that is most likely accompanied by the pilot wetting their
pants. And as it runs towards the mountains, arms pumping, legs a
blur, the doppler effect resolves to reveal what the pilot is
screaming.
“Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck”
And as the Evangelion passes, close on its heels, the spiked end of
a dark red leg similar to a crab's slams into the ground. The leg
itself is more massive than the Evangelion, in both height and mass.
The shriek that fills the air, belonging to the creature that owns
said leg, is of a deeper pitch than that of the Evangelion's pilot.
Again, a study of contrasts. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
-
-
Chapter 2:
The Fortress City
-
-
Two weeks earlier.
-
-
“Ready to go?”
Shrugging on his sweatshirt, which has been cleaned in the three
hours he was in the infirmary following his trouncing of the Fourth
Angel, as they called the thing...Iblis...Shinji slides on his
sneakers and looks up. Nodding to his mother, he shrugs on his
backpack and follows her out of the white, sterile room, into the
metal hallway.
“So, I'm staying with you and Dad?”
“That's the idea,” Yui says, clicking off her PDA and giving her
son a smile, “With me, your father, and Rei.”
A cocked eyebrow. A stare.
“Yes?” Yui asks.
“That...uh...girl?”
“Who saved your life, who saved Miss Horaki's life, and got you to
NERV,” she responds, “Yes. She's your adopted sister. Now, you
have a busy day tomorrow, so you need your rest. You're starting at
the Tokyo-3 Municipal high school, and after that I need you to come
down to NERV and see Director Langley about your detail.”
Shinji's expression doesn't change. On one hand, he likes the
prospect of living with his mother again, even if he hasn't done that
in ten years. He's ambivalent about living with his father, however.
As much as Gendo Ikari is his father, during any family events he
gives the distinct impression that he has something better to do.
But, when 'something better to do' translates to 'build building
sized giant robots', he can't really blame him.
Still. He's reasonably sure that the girl unnerves him, and
considering that she lives with his parents when he doesn't...
Rubbing the back of his head, following his into the lift, he
decides not to bring it up. As much as the girl...weirds him
out...well, she's got to be normal when they get back home.
Perfectly normal. Probably boring.
A snort, and his adjust to the darkness. Wait. No. Not darkness.
Rubbing his face, Shinji turns over to the clock, and realizes that
the clock in this room, his bedroom in his parents' apartment, is on
the other side than it was in his aunt and uncle's house. Sighing,
he turns to the clock, rolling over, and places it down on its front.
That, however, does nothing to deal with the red glow that permeates
the bedroom. Looking up, finds the source seems to be the air
conditioning duct above his bed, two points of red bathing the room
in light.
No, wait.
There are other light sources. He sees another coming from another
duct and why does this bedroom have three ventilation ducts and
one, apparently, from the foot of his bed. Mouthing the words, he
sits up, and the room plunges back into darkness. Looking around,
slowly, eyes adjusting to the darkness, he sees nothing out of the
ordinary. Maybe it's stress.
He lies back down, closing his eyes. And the room once more is
bathed in red.
The sun rises over Tokyo-3.
Clad in her pajamas and white, blue striped bathrobe, Yui Ikari
looks over the city, tablet computer in one hand and cup of coffee in
the other. Leaning against the railing, the fresh morning air crisp
on the balcony of her apartment, she allows herself a small smile as
the alarms cut the air and the ground shakes. Anyone unfamiliar with
the Fortress City may panic. She will have to explain to her son,
after all, what the shaking is, if not let him see for himself.
The first spires begin rising, almost in time with her sipping her
coffee. Bathed in the golden light of dawn, the skyscrapers rise,
released from their berths underneath the city, sliding into their
places on the Tokyo-3 skyline. Silhouettes against gold, the towers
and spires rise as the solar collection pylons turn into place,
catching the Sun's rays on the perimeter of the great city.
Smiling to herself, she watches for a moment longer, before turning
back to her PDA, a cross section of Iblis on it.
Work calls, once again. And a new day dawns on Tokyo-3.
…
[IBLIS] is dead.
I know.
[IBLIS] is dead. I must repeat this so you are aware of
this. [IBLIS] is dead.
Brother, I know. I felt his passing.
Good. The death of [IBLIS] should be felt by you. You are
responsible.
I am curious how, brother.
It was you who suggested that [IBLIS] proceed. [IBLIS] was not
supposed to be first.
It was [IBLIS] who chose to proceed. All I did was convince the
others to wait. Now we know what the Lilim are capable of. We will
be better prepared.
At the cost of one of our own. That is not acceptable. The
Lilim are legion. We are not.
The more we know of their capabilities, the better
prepared we are. The more they react, the sooner [FATHER] comes
within our grasp.
A prize which [IBLIS] is no longer capable of grasping. You
sacrificed one of our own for this.
You are correct. But it was necessary. This conversation ends.
Yes. This is not over, [RAMIEL].
I imagine not.
Tapping his fingers on the desk, he finds that no matter how much he
fidgits, he doesn't attract the attention or scolding of the teacher.
Instead, the old man at the head of the room continues relaying
stories of life prior to Second Impact. More importantly, his
life. At least his aunt and uncle didn't go on and on and on and on
like this guy does.
Another glance around the room. A mousy girl is listening to the
teacher, occasionally shooting glances to Shinji, and to a boy in a
tracksuit sleeping, his head lolling back. He sees several girls
with their desks close together, pretending to take notes while
checking their phones. Rei is sitting at a window several rows back,
her hands folded in front of her face, occasionally turning her gaze
on another girl, a black haired, shorter girl who Shinji notices is
staring at him.
Much in the same way a bespectacled kid is staring at him. He hopes
that's not lust. He prays that's not lust. Which is when his screen
beeps.
Looking down at it, he sees a chat window open, twenty odd names
attached to it. Probably the whole class. All it has is a single
line of text:
MechaMechaKen: Are you the pilot, yes/no?
He turns around, looks at Rei. She smiles, nodding. Tilting his
head, he shakes his head. She nods. He shakes his head again. She
nods, again. Tapping her keyboard, another message comes up on his
screen.
TEHREI: They know about me.
He blinks.
Shinji: What.
TEHREI: Open secret. They know I'm a pilot, they know Little
Mommy built the giant robot, they know you're her son.
Shinji: I thought that was supposed to be a secret.
TEHREI: :V.
He sighs. The chat window with the glasses wearing kid beeps again.
The same message, repeated.
MechaMechaKen: Are you the pilot, yes/no?
He shrugs. Nepotism has to earn him some leeway.
Shinji: Yes.
Which is when the entire room erupts into screams and questions.
Class degraded into questions shouted at him from other students.
How big was the robot? What was the power source? How does it feel
to kick the ass of Gamerra? Was there a guy in an elaborate puppet
costume inside the Angel? All of those, he honestly answered, that
he had no fricken clue.
The lunch bell rang soon after, and that gave him a welcome
reprieve. He wasn't hungry, and may want to ask Mom about that, so
instead he decided wander. The back door of the lunch room opens up
to the dirt field which must double as a sports field, and hands in
the pockets of his navy slacks, the navy blazer of the school uniform
itchy against his neck, Shinji exits and begins walking across the
field.
“Hey! New kid!”
He turns, slowly. The guy in the tracksuit, who somehow manages to
get around the whole school uniform thing. Looking up, Shinji
realizes he comes up, roughly, to the guy's chin. He really needs to
see if Mom can engineer a growth spurt in him with her science
powers. With the guy is the kid with glasses who got him to blow his
cover.
The glasses wearing kid looks like he either wants to interview him,
jump him, or rub up against him. He's not sure which disturbs him
more.
“Uh...yeah?” he asks.
“We had ta find ya,” the tall kid says, his accent confirming
him being from Osaka, “We have a few questions for ya.”
The glasses wearing kid smiles. Really widely. Shinji fights down
a shudder, and wonders if he has bodyguards, just in case the kid
tries to give him a bad touch.
“Suzuhara, I said find him, not corner him!”
The tall kid winces at the voice. He steps aside, scratching the
back of his head, and the girl who was at the head of the class steps
up. A little shorter than him, brown hair that's tied back into a
ponytail, in the plaid skirt and blouse of the school uniform with a
badge on her jacket marking her as class representative. She has
freckles, and is a little pale, but not as much as, say, Rei. More
importantly, she's looking him up and down. Analyzing him.
“You're Shinji Ikari?” she asks, “You're the new pilot?”
He nods, shifting from side to side, back and forth on his feet. He
might need an escape route.
“Um...yeah,” he says, and coughs, clearing his throat, “And
you're...”
“Hikari,” she says, “This is, um...this is Touji,” she
elbows the tall kid, who waves with an uneasy smile, “And Kensuke.”
She glares at the glasses kid. He straightens up, tries to hide his
smile.
She clears her throat, taps her foot.
“You, uh,” she says, and coughs, “You're the pilot?”
“Yes,” he says.
“And, you were outside when the Angel attacked?”
“Yeah,” he says, “Yeah, I...uh...got rescued by Rei.”
“And you saved a girl,” Hikari adds, “About...ten years old?
Dark hair? This tall?”
She holds her hand up, around her stomach. A jumble of memories
from the day before. The girl who pulled him along, who he saw
running through a pair of metal doors when Rei carried him off.
“Yeah,” he says, “Yeah, I did. Is she okay?”
She nods. A small, nervous smile crosses her face.
“Yeah,” she says, “Yes. That was Nozomi, my little sister.
She showed up at one of the other shelters and we found her last
night. She's fine.”
Which is when she grabs the lapels of his jacket, pulls him forward,
and mashes her lips against his.
“Rei went on ahead. She wanted to head straight to NERV and check
up on her Evangelion. Rei's usually very eager to pilot, and if she
didn't have the accident with Unit-00's startup, she would have
fought the Angel.”
Tapping her tablet as she sips her coffee, Yui glances over it and
across the cafe table at Shinji, who sits ramrod straight with a
smile on his face that can best be described as 'goofy'.
“And Section 2 does have you under surveillance,” she says,
“Lots of surveillance. So, I know you met Ms. Horaki today. And
Mr. Suzuhara and Mr. Aida. Good work.”
He sputters. She smiles, as the waitress comes by, the young woman
smiling at Shinji and placing the two plates in front of them. A
salad, she places in front of Yui, and a sandwich in front of Shinji.
“Uh...”
“Section 2 keeps full surveillance on all the pilots and essential
staff,” Yui explains, “So, we saw Hikari kiss you.
Understandable, too. You did save her sister's life, and Hikari's
never been good at being subtle.”
Shinji blinks, staringat his mother. Several questions go through
his mind. Many of them sarcastic. He shelves them, for now.
“You know her?”
“She's a good friend of Rei's,” Yui says, “Several of the
girls in the class are, actually. Most of them are curious about you
because Rei's talked about you, a lot.”
“Really.”
“Yes,” Yui continues, shrugging, “She knows a lot about you.
Remember, Rei's your adopted sister. Just because you've been living
with your aunt and uncle doesn't mean that we never talk about you.”
“And yet, this is the first time I met my adopted sister.”
Yui sighs, nodding.
“Why?”
“It's a very, very long story,” she says with a shrug, “Look,
it's not that we didn't want to, it's just that...well, it's
complicated.”
She taps her fingers on the table.
“Very complicated.”
White gloves on the railing, he stares at the beast in its cage.
Letting his grip slack, he leans, resting his forearms on the cool
metal, feeling it through his black jacket and red sweater, staring
at the monster as the technicians work to replace the armor around
its chest. He doesn't turn as the door to the catwalk opens and the
footsteps approach. He knows who it is, of course. He recognizes
the speed, the sound, the rhythm of the walk.
“Professor,” Gendo Ikari says.
“Ikari,” Kozou Fuyutsuki says, the white haired man pressing the
can of coffee into Ikari's hand, “No need to be all festive. It
seems we're finally off to a good start.”
The Supreme Commander of NERV snorts, running a gloved hand over his
beard and standing, still staring at the giant. Adjusting his amber
glasses, he pops the top of his coffee and sips, the demonic mask of
the purple mecha still and unexpressive.
“We are,” he says, “But I still don't like it. We could have
kept it in shutdown if Unit-00 didn't have the accident.”
“At least we got Shinji here.”
“Yui and I were going to visit in two weeks.”
“Not the same,” Kozou responds, shrugging, “When do we make
overtures to the Old Men about Unit-02?”
“When the Fifth Angel's dealt with,” Gendo responds, “I'm not
looking forward to it.”
“Because Sohryu would come with Unit-02.”
Gendo nods, sipping his coffee.
“Yui does not play well with others.”
“She does with Akagi.”
“Because Ritsuko Akagi is not her mother,” Gendo responds,
shaking his head, “Honestly, Kozou, if what happened with Naoko
didn't happen, there was a non-zero chance Yui would have strangled
her with her own pearls.”
The other thing Mom had to do when they were at lunch is give him
his own, NERV-issued PDA. For all he can question their motives of
shoving him in a giant robot and fighting monsters, the tablet
computer is pretty sweet. Tapping the screen, the red fig
leaf gives way to a screen with icons.
“Okay...GPS...map...cool. Music? Huh, cool,” he says,
smirking, “They put all my music on it. Nice.”
He walks through the doorway, following the path laid out on the map
program, red lights on the floor glowing as he walks over them. The
sound goes from a steady thump to a hollow clang, and he looks down
to see the floor now a lattice of metal over a yellow lake. Looking
up, he turns and looks over the catwalk, and stares at the hangar
walls.
Hanging on the wall are objects that resemble people, but are twice
as tall. Their 'skin' is metal, shining under the overhead lights,
their arms and legs ending in narrow spikes. Their chests each have
a single, glowing white circle at the center, white light running
along the seems of their armor, and up the lines of the frozen,
featureless heads.
“Those are FRAMEs,” a voice says, “Free Roaming Automated
Mechanical Exoskeletons. They're an extension of aerial drone
technology controlled by the MAGI, and are used when an Angel attacks
for recon and precision attacks.”
He turns. Smiling, the woman in front of him lightly waves. She's
shorter than him, dark hair cut short, and a face which reminds him
of his Mom.
“You're Shinji?” she asks, “I'm Maya Ibuki. I work with your
mother in Project E.”
He nods.
“Oh,” he says, “Uh. Hi.”
Holding her tablet against her chest, Maya nods to the restrained
mechas.
“We're rebuilding three of them that were destroyed by Iblis,”
she says, “Whenever an Eva is deployed, we try to have it deployed
with a backup of conventional forces. The FRAMEs are usually what
you'd be fighting alongside, so we keep the risk low.”
“Low,” Shinji repeats.
“An Evangelion is the safest place to be when an Angel attacks.”
“Giant fighting robot. Safe,” he says, and raises an eyebrow,
“Right.”
“Anyway, where are you going?”
Chipper. That's probably the word Shinji would use to describe this
woman. Her smile, her light, happy voice, her continuing to ask
questions despite him being sarcastic. He thinks that Miss Ibuki
would not be completely out of place with a bushy tail and buck
teeth.
He blinks, realizing she did, in fact, ask him a question.
“Some guy named Langley.”
She nods.
“That's Director Langley,” Maya says, “He's in charge of
Section 2, which is your security detail. Just keep going straight,
and he's at the end of the hallway. I'll send down Mari.”
She waves, and walks past him, out of the hangar. Shrugging, Shinji
keeps walking, glancing around and attempting to keep up the careful
sheen of indifference he has worked so hard to cultivate. The
catwalk becomes a white hallway, doors with names on them lining it,
and a small door at the end. Clicking off the PDA, the screen going
black, Shinji walks down to the door and squints.
He can't read the writing on the door, for starters. But, Miss
Ibuki said it would be on the end of the hallway, and hence, he
reaches out and taps the button next to it. It buzzes.
“Ja? Herein?”
The voice comes from the speaker next to the door. He isn't sure
what it meant or who said it, but the door slides open anyway. He's
guessing it meant, 'Come in.'
The
office in front of him is orderly. That would be an understatement,
though. It is not just orderly, but thrives on order. Reports,
signed and stamped, are arranged and stacked without a single paper
peaking out of the pile. Books are arranged on the bookshelf behind
the desk by name and by size order. There is a cup on the desk with
pens, and markers, and a white board on the wall which has names and
times in two languages, and both in perfect handwriting.
The
man at the desk is around his father's age. His hair is mostly white
and gray, with some brown in it, a trim gray and brown beard adorning
his face. He is in a beige NERV uniform, his jacket open to the
white turtleneck underneath, a holster hanging on the hook behind
him.
“Hello,”
Shinji says, glancing from the gun to the man, “I'm...uh...I'm
Shinji Ikari.”
The
man looks up. Brown eyes blink and stare at him. Sighing, he
reaches for his phone and taps a button on it, a loud beep filling
the room.
“Mari?”
he asks, “Konnten Sie kommen hier unten?”
Shinji
stands ramrod straight, hands behind him. The man, on the other
hand, has gone back to filling out the reports, signing one from the
stack to his right and placing it atop the stack to his left. He
gestures to a seat in front of him, and Shinji sits, obediently.
“Uh...”
“Sprechen.
Langsamare.”
“Sorry.
Dad's japanese is really, really bad.”
Shinji
looks to his side. Adjusting her glasses, lolling back and forth on
her white sneakers, there is now a girl with dark brown hair tied
into two pigtails. She is definitely younger than him, shorter than
him, dressed in the white and green school uniform the middle
schoolers are cursed to wear. She is smiling, the smile of a girl
amused by other people's problems, as the man says something to the
girl.
“Ja,
Papa,” she says, and turns back to Shinji, “Aaaanyway, I'm Mari
Illustrious
Langley, and this is my dad, Director Pieter Langley. And who're
you?”
“Shinji
Ikari.”
The
girl claps her hands together and squeals.
Shinji blinks. He's reasonably sure people aren't supposed to make
sounds that high pitched.
“You're
the new pilot!” she says, jumping up and down, her pigtails bobbing
in time, “Ohmigod! It's so cool
to meet you! I'm one of the backup candidates myself, meaning when I
turn 16 I might get a chance to pilot an Evangelion but I keep
destroying my Eva in the virtual reality sims they have me practice
on but anyway
it's so great to meet you!”
She
breathes, taking a deep breath.
“So,”
she says, slower, “What can we do for you?”
The
light burns red from on high, and they watch, sitting atop the trees
to see. They have moved lightward along the upcurve, following,
hunting. The one in lead, a head taller than the others, makes a
sound, pointing with a thick tendril from its back. A smaller one,
still growing, face still fluid and soft, disappears into the thick
green vines, rustling along the leaves as the old one rests on legs
covered in cracked white plate.
There
is a rustling. There is a shout. There is a crack.
The
young one returns, pushing aside leaves, pulling behind it a thing
which resembles a black and red mushroom, but with tendrils trailing
behind it, like a jellyfish. The old one makes another sound, and
the ones behind it make the same sound, only higher pitch, pulling
the young one with them, chittering and grunting to it, as they walk
along treetops.
And
the light burns red from on high.
And
Rei opens her eyes, a bubble escaping her mouth in the LCL, blinking.
She shakes her head, listening to Akagi as she comments on
fluctuations in her synch score, but how she is still within normal
range. A flicker on the screen, and she picks up a camera feed of
Shinji walking towards Mom's office.
“Rei,
we're going to hold the Unit-00 activation test in four days. Okay?”
Rei
nods, smiling. And the lights go dark as the LCL drains from the
test plug.
Swinging
his bookbag over his shoulder, Shinji exits the elevator, the metal
walls giving way to Tokyo-3. The sky is red and gold, and Shinji
realizes the sun is setting. Sighing, he looks up and sees the
apartment building his parents and the weird blue haired girl lives,
and where he lives as well, and begins walking towards it. Another
night, another fitful sleep, another
“Heee~ey.”
He
jumps, turns, and Rei smiles, teeth showing. Many teeth. Shark-like
should be a description of demeanor, not dentistry, he reminds
himself. He smiles back, nervously, as she shrugs on her backpack
over her uniform blazer and begins walking, Shinji taking the hint
and walking next to her.
“Sooo~oo
I know that you're not all warm and fuzzy and stuff with me 'cause
you think I took your place as the child of the family, excising you
from the warm and womb like home and out into the cold, dark,
dangerous world. And stuff.”
What
did she just say, he asks himself. Should he understand what she
said? Does he want to understand what she said? Then, it
hits him, if ever so slightly.
“So,
were you the reason I was sent away?”
“Kinda
sorta not,” Rei says, walking next to him as they make their way
down the empty sidewalk, “Sorta. Kinda. Maybe.”
He
says nothing. On one hand, it would justify him hating her. But on
the other hand, a part of him is thinking Good on her, she had to
deal with Mom being Mom and Dad being whatever the Hell he does.
It's not like Mom and Dad abandoned him on a street corner or a train
station, they sent him to live with Mom's brother and sister in law.
He had a perfectly normal childhood.
“Sooo
anyway,” Rei continues, “Hikari's one of my bestest best friends,
so I gotta remind you that I think she likes you 'cause you saved her
little sister, and if you hurt her feelings, I gotta hurt you. But
not really, 'cause I don't think you would, and Mom talks about how
nice you are.”
Rei
smiles, showing teeth once again.
“'Kay?”
He
nods, slowly. He would shrug, go silent, and walk away, but he's
getting the feeling that turning his back on this girl would be a
very bad idea. So would exposing his throat.
“So
anyways,” she says, lightly skipping next to him as they pass a
convenience store, “You're a hero. Everyone kinda knows Nozomi,
an' now her whole class has heard about you and a lot of the girls
her age think of you as a hero and maybesorta have crushes on you but
that's because you're all heroic and stuff.”
“I
didn't save her,” he cuts in, “You did. You saved both of
us!”
“Well
kinda, but if she was standing where she was and wasn't running with
you she could've gotten hurt and stuff. So yeah, you saved her, I
saved you. Circle of life, kinda like how everything runs on lion
poop and stuff.”
He
blinks. That made sense. Somehow. But he's not sure how.
“So...”
“So
you shouldn't be mopey just 'cause you have to pilot the giant
robot,” she continues, “'Cause that's not the only reason you got
brought here, and Lil'Mommy's happier now that you're here, too. And
besides which,” she smiles, flashing red eyes, “In another week,
Unit-00 will be all fixed up, and you'll get to be my sidekick!”
“Sidekick.”
“Yep!”
Rei shouts, punching the air, “We're gonna be awesome!
We're gonna kill Angels and save the world! For GREAT JUSTICE!”
“Well,
I do think it's a good idea to have Shinji live with you and Gendo.
I'm of two minds about having him live with Rei.”
Pieter
does not look up. He can tell the sound of sneakers compared to the
sound of shoes or heels, and there's only one person in this job who
a) visits him, and b) wears sneakers. Which would have to be the
person at his office door. Yui smirks as he finally does look up,
then turns back to the reports in front of him.
“Mari
came by?” Yui asks, effortlessly switching to German.
“I
can understand Japanese fine. My speaking sucks.”
He
signs a report as Yui rolls her eys.
“I
still say you and Akagi need to write a program for the MAGI that
hooks up to my brain and makes me completely fluent.”
“We
could,” Yui says, leaning on the door, “But if we do, it'll
probably cost you something else, like your ability to clog dance.”
“You
monsters.”
Yui
snorts, and walks over, leaning on his desk.
“If
you're done being stereotypically German, Pieter, what's your
concern?”
“That
Rei's going to make him her sidekick,” Pieter responds, putting
down his pen and looking up at her, “I've watched the tapes.
Shinji's a fine pilot. He has a good head on his shoulders. Him
growing up where he did probably helped with that. But putting him
in the same home as Rei is going to expose him, a lot, to Rei. And
he's already slipped that he's a pilot to the school.”
“Half
the students guessed that already and Rei egged him on.”
“My
point exactly,” he responds, “If he's around Rei all the time,
he's going to find out things which are going to mess with his head.
Some distance is probably a good idea.”
She
shakes her head, folding her arms. He raises his eyebrows, and
sighs. That's probably a no-no with her, he realizes. He probably-
“Did
you just suggest that I kick out my own son?”
“No,”
he says, holding up a hand, avoiding eye contact, “No. No no no.
No. Yui, what I'm suggesting is not leaving him alone with Rei the
entire time. You and Gendo work long hours. This is going to get
worse now that the Angels are actually here. They need some
sort of supervision. That's all I'm saying.”
His
phone, the receipts that were in his pocket, and his MP3 player are
on the desk. His laptop is next to it, charging. And the clock
reads almost 11:00. Kicking off his socks, Shinji climbs onto the
bed, rolling onto his back and folding his hands on his chest.
Slowly, his eyes close and he begins to drift off into sleep.
Which,
naturally, is when the phone rings.
Groaning,
he rolls over, slapping at the night table and grabbing his phone.
Staring at the number on it, he flips it open, rolling onto his back
and bringing it up to his ear.
“'Ello?”
Silence
on the other end. A cough, light, on the other end.
“Um...hello?”
A
pause. A shuffling on the other end.
“I'm...um...I'm
not waking you, am I?”
It's
definitely a girl on the other end, he realizes. A very, very
nervous girl. Blinking, Shinji sits up, scratching the back of his
head, the sleepiness receding and giving way to what is, honestly,
curiosity.
“Uh,
no,” he says, “No, you're-”
“Oh
FUCK! Scheisse! Oh god oh god oh god-”
There
is a sound from the phone he cannot readily identify. Of swearing,
something banging, and the firing off of some sort of gas, followed
by more swearing, in both a language he recognizes and others he does
not. Heavy breathing from the other line as Shinji taps his finger
on his bare knee, before the girl clears her throat again.
“Right.
Um...well, if...uh...if a woman with a german accent calls and
sounds...um...angry, you didn't hear someone almost set the kitchen
on fire. Understood?”
“Deal.”
“...thank
you.”
The
other end goes silent for a few moments. The girl, again, clears her
throat, coughing over the sounds of metal falling on metal. Perhaps
burnt pots being dropped into a sink.
“Um
anyway,” she says, “I uh I well I um well I saw the video
of you in the Evangelion and I um sort of wanted to say that I was
really really impressed.”
A
sound of something hitting wood. Possibly a knife, some soft
muttering and static from the other line, like hair against the
receiver.
“I
um I know it might be late but...well, I just wanted to say that.
And oh scheisse got to go bye.”
The
line disconnects. Shinji stares at the phone, closes it slowly, and
lies back down.
The
phone rests back on the cradle next to the sink as the door opens,
and blue eyes dart from the cutting board to the entrance to the
white tiled kitchen, as she dumps the cut carrots into the pot,
placing it on the stove as blue flame licks the bottom. The burnt
pans are soaking in the sink, flecks of black on top of the suds.
Water boils in short order, the carrots joined by potatoes and other
vegetables, and she perks her ears at the sound of a bag dropping by
the floor.
“S-sorry
if it's late,” she says, “I” She sucks her teeth. “I was a
little busy.”
The
girl turns to the entrance of the kitchen. The woman standing in the
entrance is a mirror of her. Same face, but older, lines around her
eyes but not her mouth. Red hair hastily curled running past her
shoulders, a heavy black overcoat over her red sweater and black
skirt. In contrast, the girl is more relaxed, in a sweatshirt and
sweatpants, but at the same time less so. Her hands fidget as she
locks eyes with the woman, a nervous smile on her face, her red hair
frizzy and messy.
The
girl shifts back and forth on her feet, quickly averting her gaze,
the older woman's blue eyes still staring at her. Before they close,
and she nods, rubbing her temples.
“That's
fine, Asuka,” she says, “I need to wash up, anyway.”
“I
already m-made the bath for you.”
The
older woman smiles, faintly, only a small upturn of the line of her
mouth.
“Thank
you, then,” she says, shrugging off her coat, walking to the
kitchen table and draping it on a chair, “How long until dinner?”
Asuka
glances at the boiling pot, and darts to the refrigerator on the
other side of the sink, taking out a package of meat, half glancing
at the black spot over the stove and hoping she doesn't notice.
“Um...half
an hour?”
She
turns, and finds the woman in front of her. She is her height, as
tall as her, but still towers over her. Asuka averts her eyes once
again, and closes her eyes when she feels her lips on the top of her
head.
“I
don't know what I'd do without you, Liebchen,” she says, patting
her shoulder, “Tell me if anyone calls, okay?”
“Okay,
Mother.”
And
Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu leaves the kitchen. Asuka glances at the
phone, then back at the cooking dinner. And silently, turns back to
her work.
And
between, in the world between the white and the black, she watches,
watches the strands as they dance and twine together. Walking along
the black and white sea, away from Him, she watches the world,
watches them as it begins to play out. Watches as the Children begin
their dance as they have before, till the bitter, bitter end.
Until
only one is left standing.
Until
the world is once more ash and flame.
And
she sighs, and continues, in the world between white and black, as
the strands of their fates begin to twist and intertwine. She
continues, humming to herself, always in the background, always
unseen but still known.
Walking
in the shadows of their dreams.
End
Chapter 2