A little bit rushed out the door. But, well.... it's going to get tougher to update. I start an internship tomorrow 
There is a solution to Frigga's loneliness/low population issues in there somewhere.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Quote:-------------
Shinji gaped at Ami hovering in front of him, her feet about thirty centimetres off the ground. She drifted in the air, making no sound as she turned to face him.
“Combat cyborg,” She grinned, dropping to the floor.
Tony rolled her eyes “Just because you’ve had your first lesson with your drive....”
“I saved for seven years to get this done right, I think I’m entitled to show it off!”
“....don’t embarrass us in front of Sailor Stellvia,” Amara hissed through her teeth into Ami's ear.
“It’s alright, really.” Yayoi tried to just wave it off.
Shinji looked up at Yayoi. Didn’t she say her show wasn’t that well known?
“Oh.... well it’s really nice to meet you,” Ami grabbed at the back of her own head with one arm, giggling nervously. “I mean, we didn’t expect to meet a named Sailor out here. Heh... Heh.”
“Slick,” Tony murmured. “Real slick.”
Yayoi politely excused herself, Shinji tagging wordlessly along behind her, wondering if he should actually sate his curiosity, or just be polite and keep his mouth shut. It nagged at the back of his mind, eating away at his own inhibitions before he finally just gave in.
“I thought,” he began, “that your.... um.... show wasn’t that well known?”
She gave him a knowing smile. “But, I never said that I wasn’t in my own right.”
He was led to a room which appeared from the outside to be some form of auditorium. There were doors at either end, light spilling out through frosted windows set into the doors themselves.
His skin started to prickle in anticipation, an electric current running through his body. He froze solid in front of the door, unable to move.
What if she wasn’t what he expected? Shinji doubted he’d be what she’d expect. The thought occurred to him that it’d be better to never know what she thought. It was easier to believe that maybe she might’ve been what he expected, than confirm that she wasn’t.
Yayoi was standing behind him, patiently waiting for him to take the step forward and make the decision himself. It was an illusion of choice. He couldn’t turn back.... she was behind him, gently blocking the way.
There was no way to go but forward. He closed his eyes and pushed the door open. It squawked on an oil-starved hinge. Warm, air rushed out from inside, embracing him in the smell of warm oiled wood and vinyl.
Sunlight made him blink for a moment.
He saw his father first. A paralysing bolt thrilled through his body as his vision sharped. The suited-man came into focus. He stopped in the doorway, studying him intently, confirming over and over again that it really was just a coincidental resemblance.
For one thing, this man was clearly western, and seemed to be deliberately trying not stare down at him with barely concealed contempt.
Beside him, stood Rei.
He opened his mouth to speak and it all just died in his mouth. Her hair was the same sky blue ke remembered. Her blood red eyes still pierced straight through his soul. Her skin was the same pale plaster tone.
“Is it you. Is it really you?”
He actually dared to hope.
“I am Rei Ayanami,” she answered in her usual, measured soft tone.
“You’re, like me?” he ventured, stepping towards her.
“I am Rei Ayanami,” she repeated, still looking right at him. “And that is all that I am.”
“But...” Shinji began, before he realised
“And you are Shinji Ikari?”
He answered with a wordless nod. That was typical of her. She said exactly what she meant, and never anything more.
They both waited, Rei never once breaking her gaze. She studied him, almost unblinking. He glanced down at the floor - polished hardwood carefully maintained - then at the main standing beside her, then glancing behind himself at Yayaoi, still cautiously smiling back at him as if to reassure him that it was okay.
He wanted desperately just to run forward and grab her into the deepest, warmest bearhug he could imagine.
“I’m glad you’re here, Rei,”
He meant every single word. She shared her Mona-Lisa smile in return, lighting her her face up for a few electrifying heartbeats. For a moment, his mind flashed right back to a smouldering moutainside when he’d first suggested she try smiling. Tears began to well up once more.
The man offered him a handshake, snapping him out of it. “Christopher Marsden. I’m Rei’s.... guardian.”
Still taken aback by a still-unfamiliar gesture, it took Shinji a few moments to accept. Marsden’s grip seemed to crush down on his wrist. He swallowed a little, blinking to clear his eyes.
“I thought,” Yayoi gently interrupted. “We might play a while together.”
Waiting on the stage was a brilliantly polished Steinway Piano, flanked by a pair of cellos, with a violin accompanying on a stand beside. A podium had been set aside for a conductor. Hot lights from above spotlighted the stage. The room itself had clearly been originally laid out as an auditorium, focusing on the stage with a glass ceiling above turned jet black.
He could see his own reflection looking back down at himself.
And Rei Ayanami standing right there beside him, patiently waiting.
-----
Pen to the Penth projected the ‘sheet’ music as a holowindow in front of each of them. The penguin dressed himself up, taking the conductors position while Shinji tuned a cello that, if he was honest with himself, seemed to be worth far more than he was.
It weighed far more than his old one, making a much deeper, more rounded sound.
Marsden formed the audience initially, joined for a few minutes by the three trainees, then a couple of the catgirls and their bots, before Nené, Anika and Kotono appeared. By the time it was Rei’s turn to choose the piece, even Ford had rumbled up in that massive Warthog.
He’d never played for an audience before.
“Jay Chattaway. The Inner Light. Re-arranged for Strings and Piano.”
Yayoi clearly recognised it immediately as Pen to the Penth busied himself searching and arranging automatically for the available instruments. Holographic sheet music appeared moments later.
Despite having never seen the piece before in his life, Shinji found he had little, if any trouble playing it straight off the sheet. It took concentration, but at the same time, it was far easier than it should have been.
He was consciously following along, hitting note after note. It wasn’t perfect.... by far it wasn’t, but he’d never been able to play like that before.... it normally required hours of practice to get close to being able to play straight through without interruption.
Shinji began to wonder while playing if it was some android special ability, some sort of computer control. He was consciously musing on this, while at the same time consciously following along.
And it was an exceptionally beautiful piece. Uplifting, but oddly melancholy with Rei taking the lead with a mourning violin.
------
Jet-Jaguar watched alone from the control room, via an exocomp’s video feed, quietly regretting that she hadn’t gone down in person.
Someone had to keep an eye on the rock, Daryl was sleeping, and she herself only bothered him anyway. Butting into his life would breed resentment. Being too far out of his life would make him feel unwanted.
It was a fine balancing act. She finished her broadleaf tea, letting it absorb the last few sparks of adrenaline from the morning’s training. Jet yawned deeply, stretching back onto the chair with her feet up on the console.
Maybe she’d be able to get some sleep later that night. She’d passed the time sending an update out to Shinji’s list, before making arrangements with A.C. to handle her own maintenance, and Shinji’s modifications. An extra pair of eyes was worth the money.
An alarm chirruped on the panel beside her. A flight plan notification had been filed.
Red Rider Flight. Estimated Arrival 15:37
Gina Langley Rhodes would be arriving within the hour. Jet sighed. Things didn’t go smooth, did they?
-----
There is a solution to Frigga's loneliness/low population issues in there somewhere.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?