Everyone else seems to think differently about that
Episode 19 Transcript
Hyuga: "Look, Shinji, if we hadn't taken over, you would have been
killed!"
Shinji: "That's not the point."
Hyuga: "Maybe, but it's the truth!"
Shinji: "Stop pushing me, damn it! Don't push me anymore! Unit One has
185 seconds of power left. That's enough to destroy at least
half of Headquarters."
Aoba: "He'll do it too, the way he is right now."
Maya: "Shinji, will you listen to us. If the Commander hadn't made
the decision to engage the Dummy plug, everyone here could
have been killed."
Even Kaji (manga) didn't agree with Shinji of doing nothing.
I think that they should have told Shinji who was in EVA-03, which might have motivated him enough to get the plug out safely and kill the angel via rip and tear (as he and EVA-01 are wont to do). Alas, NGE is nothing if not a tragedy of errors.
Next Laserdisc Chronicles! Satellite, Lead, and Revelation!
Kaji had his terminal out, connected to an abnormally large satellite dish, in an abandoned studio. From what he could tell from his report, the Americans had a telescope that they told everyone had become derelict, but in reality it had been merely mothballed in the wake of 2nd Impact.
Honestly it was really lucky it was even still in orbit after Second Impact messed with the planet. Now he just had to be lucky to connect to it with a repurposed TV satellite, and activate it, and use it. Preferably without the Americans knowing. At least his department were able to requisition some old service manuals for the ancient satellite, so he wasn't connecting blind.
But, if it worked at all, it would take a while for the satellite to respond. So he took out a smoke and thought about Misato. Despite his status as a 'Don Juan', he would've always returned to her had she wanted it. Maybe it was time to give up his status as a Casanova, and settle with her.
As he thought about life, relationships, and his future, the terminal beeped. "Huh. I didn't think it'd would work that quickly."
Following the extremely verbose instructions from the English service manual, he began entering a slew of commands. Over the next several hours; the satellite would start up from low power, enter safe mode a number of times, lock onto a specific target, enter safe mode a considerable number of times more, and finally send a few images back from the celestial body of choice. The images downloaded onto the terminal and the inquisitor analysed it.
"Most fascinating."
This would be an interesting matter for Oversight to discuss.
~
Meanwhile, down in Pinky and the Brain's laboratory, Misato was admiring their... interesting contraption. Compared to a few days ago, their machine was now encased in a thick lead case, the only view inside during operation was through a foot thick polarised piece of glass.
"So this is what happened to all our gallium."
"I requisitioned it from the right sources Misato." Ritsuko handwaved, handing the requisite binder of paperwork.
"What's this little project for anyway?" She queried in curiosity.
"Maya found some odd looking CDs in a trash bag when she was getting our laundry. We discovered they weren't CDs at all; they were a weird alien format with around 65 times the storage."
Ritsuko showed her a blue tinted disc, which she looked over. Internally, she was thinking how suspiciously similar the circumstances were, but she held her tongue for now. "Do we know where it came from?"
She shook her head. "We don't know. We thought we found something similar from an old pre-2nd company, but all we did find was speculative in nature. We suspect whatever was being developed was lost after Second Impact."
"It's from another universe then."
"...That sounds like a bit of a conclusion to jump to, Misato."
"Nowhere on Earth other than NERV can even hope to manufacture something like this, you realise, especially after Second Impact. And we'd know if someone here tried making this."
"Well, when you put it that way."
Misato continued looking onto the abominable machine, the case vibrating and purple light spotlighting through the window. "So are we gonna patent it?"
"...excuse me?"
"If we can figure out a way to not only manufacture these discs, but also read these discs without causing a power outage in R&D, we could get another valuable source of income without having to deal with the UN."
"Well, we still have a ton of other projects to do. And I've kinda adopted this project as a personal one anyway, since I think the disc has some valuable data."
"Well don't disregard all your other projects as well." The commander advised. "Once you've figured out what's on the discs, document it as much as you can and assign one of the other teams to it. Ooh, maybe you can finally replace Laserdisc!"
That was all the incentive Ritsuko needed.
"Sempai?" Maya motioned her down to a terminal. "We made a raw image of the first disc. It's still encrypted, but we should be able to work with the data without burning our retinas."
"Nice work Maya." Maya beamed at the complement as the machine died down and the lights returned to their full brightness.
"The NIIS would have a field day with this contraption you realise." The commander deadpanned.
"Good thing they're not allowed in the Geofront."
~
Misato cracked open a beer. "You guys realise Kaji and I are gonna have to get revenge on you now?"
"And so the cycle continues."
"Seriously though, both of you? I don't think I ever heard Rei and Kaworu that loud."
"Well, we had our reasons." Rei piously spoke.
"Reasons eh? And what wou- Hmm..." The gears started spinning in her mind as she thought about what would cause such... excitement in the Nephilim. The others could swear they heard clockwork coming from her head.
'The previous episodes maybe?' The previous disc replayed in her mind. 'What happened in the previous dis-'
Her train of thought crashed and burned as the clock struck 12. Whatever beer was in her mouth had become a fine mist. "Oh my God don't tell me." Like a pronking pink pony she became excessively excited. The other pair inquisively looked on.
"I would show off a ring, but Rei was pretty impromptu about it."
The duo were suddenly mobbed.
~
"Well, that went better than I expected." A frazzled Kaworu replied. It had been an hour since they announced their engagement, and the mood of the group was still high.
"Maybe in a previous administration they wouldn't allow pilots to marry, but this isn't the previous administration!" Misato announced, the beer flowing. "Considering all our pilots are already in relationships with other pilots, it's impractical to disallow it. Plus knowing you lot, you'd just elope if we didn't allow it."
"We probably would if we wanted to." Asuka suggested cheekily. "Shinji and I have discussed about it before."
"Oh? Are you two planning on getting married as well?"
"...eventually." She admitted. "Both our mother's have been pushing for it for a while."
"Quite incessantly pushing it, in fact." Shinji chuckled. "Though I can see where they're coming from. We've been together for quite a while, and we want to be together forever."
"So you two are already engaged?" Kaworu queried.
"I guess?" She shrugged. "We haven't technically proposed to each other, but we've come to the conclusion that we do want marriage eventually."
Misato rolled her eyes. "Great, so everyone here except me's gonna get married then." She said in deadpan.
"W-well, we don't want to remove the spotlight from Rei and Kaworu." Shinji defended.
"Misato, maybe you should propose to Kaji, then we can have a triple wedding!"
"That sounds like the start of some weird trip to Vegas." Misato deadpanned. "Oh well, now everyone here is intending on getting hitched, we should celebrate by watching another disc!"
~
Questioning
M: "I anticipated this bit would've been different at least."
A: "Why did they ask me for questions but not Shinji?"
M: "Well, as... I said, Shinji wasn't stable enough for questioning."
S: "Surely I wouldn't have been that bad after getting out."
A: "It's odd though. Despite the changed circumstances, the questions were more or less the same. Except I- well, Shinji, wasn't there."
K: "The scenario with Leliel was similar, so it makes sense SEELE would've thought similarly about it."
~
Soul Sister
A: "That was actually really sweet of Toji, seeing his younger sister so much."
S: "He tries to hide it, but he's pretty soft once you get to know him."
K: "Aida would skip class to see a battleship?"
S: "That's Kensuke for you."
~
Nevada
Misato sighed. "This was still the same unfortunately."
A: "Wait wait wait a minute, how does an entire branch just vanish?"
They watched as a replay of Observation Sat. 8 appeared on screen.
A: "Holy shit."
S: "How does that even happen?"
M: "Something went wrong during activating the S2 organ in Nevada's Unit-04, causing loss of said Unit, it's supporting facilities, and everything in a 89km area, including people." She echoed the show. "That's all we know."
K: "What about Dr Akagi's theory?"
M: "Probable, considering it just disappeared instead of exploding like a regular catastrophic disaster."
R: "So this is when Unit-03 gets sent to Japan, right?"
Misato nodded. "That should mean we see Hikari become a pilot this episode."
~
Dummy Plug
S: "So the plug merely emulates a pilot's thinking?"
M: "Yeah. It's not really capable of rational thought though, that was one of the reasons it failed so hard during Zeruel. All it does is throw itself at the enemy until one of the other dies."
K: "Would this simulacrum even be able to make an AT Field if it didn't contain a soul?"
M: "The soul of the Evangelion could suffice, I think. That's more Ritsuko's field of knowledge though, might want to ask her."
R: "I never understood why Ritsuko was envious about the commander's interaction with me."
A: "It's not like Ritsuko and Commander Asshole were doing it, right?"
The silence answered her question.
A: "...Really? I didn't know she could stoop that low." She incredulously stated, disappointed at the Doctor's actions.
~
Quarrel
A: "Hang on, why was this the same?"
S: "...That's weird."
Misato was laughing at their incandescence. "It's true though, it was obvious to everyone."
A: "But in our world, we faked it to keep a veil of secrecy. This looks genuine."
K: "..Odd. Maybe some things remain the same despite changes to the timeline."
A: "...Seriously though, in our world, when Toji mentioned that? That was the first time I seriously thought about getting married to Shinji."
M: "That early into your relationship? Man Shinji must've really knocked you off your feet."
~
Toji
M: "Hang on, HIM?"
A: "Wait, so not Hikari?" She boggled her mind. "Who then?"
M: "It could've been anyone else in Class 2A you realise. Hikari was chosen mainly because of her penchant for authority and following orders."
R: "The episode has been focusing a lot on Suzuhara."
A: "You think they chose him? Out of everyone else in the class, they would choose someone like Toji? I wouldn't believe it if I saw it with my own eyes."
M: "Choosing him does seem far fetched, but he was a pilot candidate. Still is, in fact, in case we need to recruit more."
A: "Also, that was kinda a dick move by Toji."
S: "I don't remember him doing that in our world. I think we were already starting to push them together so as to cover our tracks."
M: "What's this? Shinji playing matchmaker?"
A: "It was fairly obvious Misato."
~
Decrepit
A: "That was pretty much my reaction to her room."
S: "I don't remember going to her place with Toji."
A: "Yeah, wasn't it us who visited her place?"
R: "But that was while I was there, not during, right?"
A: "Oh yeah. So where does this fit in then?"
S: "...Wait a minute, didn't Ritsuko want Rei to hang around us so as to raise her sync rates?"
A: "Oh crap, yeah, and that's when we found out about her situation! That... didn't happen in this show as far as we know."
K: "Because you two did not get together when you did."
Asuka thought about the implications of this. "Shit. You're right Kaworu, things are already starting to become radically different."
~
Paradise
A: "Even they philosophise when they're bored."
M: "It's better than shutting yourself away at the very least, when there's nothing to be talked about."
S: "Y'know, I've always wondered what happened to Fuyutsuki."
M: "The UN dismissed him and charged him with conspiracy and treason, mainly to satiate the cries against SEELE. In fact, our little coup against him was one of the reasons NERV as an entity still exists today. Once the old commanders were gone, and SEELE was purged from the General Assembly, they were satisfied NERV wasn't gonna end the world."
A: "Ah. I assume he's in an Israeli prison then."
M: "Nope. He was executed unfortunately."
A: "...I wouldn't have expected such a harsh punishment."
Misato shrugged. "I don't agree with it personally. In fact I doubt anyone here agrees with it. But law is law, what can I say?"
S: "I mean, I didn't think he was so bad, relatively speaking."
K: "He was involved in SEELE's plot after all. And the old Commander's plot."
~
Vending Machine
A: "Oh come on, you and him had already gotten together and he was still womanising?"
S: "And with Maya too?"
M: "That's Kaji for you." She grumbled. "He's gotten better at least. He actually seems to be monogamous with me for once."
K: "This meeting was for secrets?"
M: "Yeah, this actually happened at least."
R: "It helps it wasn't directly connected to Asuka and Shinji."
M: "In retrospect, it could've been in a more secure location."
A: "I'm sure you two eventually found out your bedroom was a secure location."
Misato rolled her eyes. "Also, Shinji. If someone offers to buy you a drink, you accept."
S: "Even if-"
A: "Yes even if you're a boy!"
~
Melons
A: "You got to see his melons early?"
S: "..I thought the first time was when we were all together."
R: "Was that when I was going through a withdrawal?"
M: "Oh right, I remember that. You admired how green the melons were."
A: "And I displayed my maturity by showing my melons to Shinji."
Misato glared.
Asuka displayed a pensive sadness when the show's Shinji didn't answer he found happiness. Shinji responded by holding her hand. "Don't worry. We found happiness in reality."
~
Information
A: "How does Kensuke of all people even find out about this information? And why is it him of all people to break the news to Shinji?"
M: "Aida's father works at NERV. Knowing him, he probably breaks into his father's terminal on a regular basis."
R: "At the very least, with the changed timelines, my experiments with Kensuke won't be shown."
A: "I never understood why you did those Rei."
R: "I had to figure out what to do with boys one way or another. And I anticipated a painful death had I attempted that with Shinji."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't be painful."
R: "Case in point. At the very least it gave me experience in how to deal with Kaworu."
K: "Didn't you hook Aida up with two girls?"
R: "That wasn't the original intention, but they're happy together."
S: "Speaking of Miki and Sakura, we haven't seen them in the show, have we?"
A: "Not really, now I think about it. Also, why do you guys not tell us any critical information, like Unit-04 and NERV-Nevada disappearing?"
M: "That was old policy. New policy is to tell pilots about some critical information."
A: "That doesn't really help your case you realise."
~
Duty
S: "And here we see Horaki trying to get through that thick head of Toji."
A: "Doesn't help we didn't get our shit together to help them along."
M: "It looks like they will at least get together."
A: "And that was not how I found out about Hikari being the 4th Child."
S: "But that would probably have been your reaction had Toji been made 4th Child."
~
"Well, it looks like there has already been major changes to the timeline." Kaworu suggested.
"Yeah, that's a pretty decent change so far." Misato conceded. "Seeing Suzuhara get picked to be a pilot is weird."
"Guess we don't know what he's gonna do then."
"Well," Asuka began. "If things went how they did, he's gonna get into Unit-03, which will then turn into Bardiel. Oh crap Bardiel's coming up soon."
"Wouldn't be surprised if Bardiel appeared in the next episode." Rei added onto the conversation.
"Well then. That's gonna be fun." Asuka said through clenched teeth. "Misato, do you have any beer that isn't Yebisu?"
"No."
"I'll go sober then. Next disc!"
~
Transport
S: "It's a good thing they included subtitles."
A: "Why did they feel the need to include English?"
Misato shrugged. "Not like the Americans know any other language other than American."
K: "You mean English?"
M: "Nah, they hate the English. So much so that they changed most of their words to use other letters."
R: "That seems very petty."
M: "That's America!" She switched between a bad Texan accent and an equally bad cockney accent to make a comparison between American English and English English.
~
Matsushiro
A: "Did you think it was a good idea to leave two teens alone together?"
M: "God no, that's why I got Kaji to babysit the both of you!"
S: "Don't remember Kensuke being that bold though."
M: "Not that it would've helped though, considering Hikari was already chosen."
R: "Suzuhara in this case."
A: "Also, what you said about not having a chance to tell him, that's a bit bull."
M: "I thought I did tell him about it though. Did I?"
S: "I think you told both of us."
A: "So the us in the show are even more aloof and blind to the happenings around us." She derided. "At least Toji's sister is still getting helped."
M: "If anything, that makes him better. It was even on his file he would do anything to help his family."
A: "Considering Hikari's practically his family now too, that would still apply. Also I was not that testy."
~
Eleventh Impact
K: "Man he never stopped droning on about the false impact story, did he?"
S: "You could probably just take a recording of him, put it on loop, and that'll be Class 2A."
A: "I wouldn't be surprised if 'Gainax' did such a thing so as to save on costs."
M: "The you in the show walking home without Shinji?"
A: "...I think myself back then would've been angry at him, had this happened." She sighed. "Until I got with Shinji and opened myself up a bit, Hikari was the only friend I had at that school. I can see myself only opening up to her, had we never had our breakthrough."
Shinji shuffled closer to her, she rested on his shoulder with a sigh.
A: "At least my reaction to what she sees in Toji was the same."
~
Kaji
S: "This was similar."
A: "You two had a heart to heart?"
S: "Yeah. I think this was when he started suspecting about us."
M: "Kaji's right about what he's saying though. We can never fully hope to understand each other."
S: "I remember rebuking him about what he said about women though."
M: "Defending your girl, Shinji?"
The group laughed.
K: "That's probably why he suspected you two you realise."
M: "How did he definitively find out about you two anyway?"
A: "Well... We were kinda discussing about... carnal matters when he caught us."
Misato couldn't keep her composure at that revelation. "Couldn't keep your mouths shut about it?"
A: "In our defence, we didn't expect him to be home."
~
Activation Test
M: "That's still true. Having that many Evangelions deployed. Could do just about anything."
S: "Shame we only had 4 deployed for a short amount of time."
R: "There's the development into NT-Eva NERV is doing."
K: "Yeah. It will take a while, but we should be able to get our own Evas soon."
A: "Misato, does the UN impose a limit on how many Eva can be deployed?"
M: "They raised the number to 5, which works for us cause we got two spare pilots."
A: "That means the other NERV bases can have 5 Evangelions deployed as well?"
M: "Yeah, though they would have to manufacture it themselves, or get it imported from another NERV installation. After doing the paperwork."
S: "So not worth it?"
M: "Yeah."
Bardiel
M: "It went wrong the same way at least. Got up to sync, then Bardiel pulled an unlawful possession."
Matsushiro detonated. Silence descended.
M: "That also happened. But we survived, so shouldn't worry too much about it."
A: "Still though, it's confronting seeing you pretty much explode."
S: "Not like we knew much about it anyway."
R: "Or we could even do much, as Asuka said."
K: "At the very least, the commander tried to recover the pilot."
A: "Not well though, considering we had to get our asses thrown in the brig to save her. Him."
~
Silent
A: "NO! YOU BITCH BARDIEL!"
S: "That's actually really bad. We were both involved in defeating the Angel."
A: "So how the hell would we do it in the show then?"
Kaworu introspected. This was cut short by Bardiel going to town with Unit-00.
K: "NO! YOU BITCH BARDIEL!"
R: "That was not how it happened."
M: "I never heard you swear before Kaworu."
K: "...At least the Commander was somewhat justified in not cutting the neural connections, considering what Bardiel could do." He paused. "He's still an asshole though, to use Asuka's words."
A: "Well shit. Now we down two Evangelions."
S: "Leaving me. How the hell did I defeat it then?"
~
Simulacrum
M: "Oh shit the dummy plug..."
A: "It wasn't used this early."
S: "NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
The dummy plugged Unit-01 begun ripping and tearing at the disabled Bardiel. Everyone watched on in silence as the surroundings were painted in blood, the Shinji in the show's screams pronouncing the scene.
~
The rest of the episode was viewed in shocked silence. Shinji's scream capped the episode, and the room fell tranquil as the rest of the disc ran its course.
Asuka was the first to react. She went up to the fridge, grabbed a can of Yebisu and chugged it like water. Once the can was depleted, she crushed it akin to how the show's Unit-01 crushed the entry plug, and went for another can.
"I. Am going. To shit. On Gendo's grave." She calmly, and carefully, spoke in tranquil fury, her rage overflowing to a negative number. "What happened there, was worse, than what happened to us."
"I agree." Rei spoke, her face hardened. "Us being defeated so easily, and the fact Shinji had to go through that. I would be lying if I said I wasn't angry. Though I do believe most of the issues in this episode could have been avoided had anyone spoke to Shinji about Suzuhara." Rei analysed.
"This went radically different. I wouldn't even had to have knowledge on how Bardiel actually went to know this." Kaworu spoke, calm.
"What originally happened Kaworu," Asuka was still absolutely livid as she started passing around beer, Misato doing nothing to stop it. "Us three disobeyed Gendo, we got the Angel defeated and recovered the entry plug. Shinji and I later got arrested and fired by him for doing our job."
"I must agree with you then Asuka." Kaworu replied, declining Asuka's offering of beer. "I believe I would've ripped the Commander apart had he done that."
"Anyone here would've." Misato replied, grabbing a can from Asuka. "That was such an asshole move."
"At least it didn't actually happen. That's the only concession i could give at this moment in time."
"...Kaworu, do you know of what happens?"
"I have a few ideas." The fish replied, sadly. "Though I still need more information before I can know for sure."
"That's fair enough." Asuka conceded, finishing off her second can.
Her bucket list now one line longer, Asuka and Shinji retired for the night.
~
"It didn't happen."
"I know, but the show keeps reminding me how stuff could've happened, y'know?"
"I know." Shinji continued holding her partner. "But they're not us anymore, are they?"
"...I guess." She said. "But it's still confronting, y'know. Seeing yourself do that shit."
"...Do you think things will get worse?"
She sighed. "...I don't even know anymore, Shinji." Asuka confessed, holding her other tighter. "I hope it doesn't, but, I honestly don't know anymore..."
They continued holding each other.
~
Yet more things didn't go as planned. Even though its just a show, Gendo in the eyes of everyone has ascended even higher on the shitlist. Which should be impossible, since he was already at the top of all of their lists.
More development into the alien disc was made at least. Maybe they can actually decrypt it next snip, considering the Magi could probably do it at an insane pace. But then they would have to navigate the odd video standards, but a bit of trial and error could solve that. The real kicker will be when they realise it's depicting them.
Poor Asuka is gonna get quite a bit of trauma from the next two episodes, I imagine. Big Z is on the table, and we all know how that went in canon. It definitely wasn't the triumph that actually happened in their universe.
And if she thinks those two episodes are terrible...
A mild commentary item: The difference in A&T's timeline using Hikari as the pilot vs. canon's use of Toji is one of the best examples A&T uses to demonstrate the effect that kiss had on the timeline.
"Both the First and Second Child have had sharper raises in their Synch Rates over the last two months than the Third Child. He is still matching the Second's high scores, but the greater total rise for the First and Second led me to determine the next Pilot should be a female. Additionally, while she scores well on willpower and intelligence, the Fourth Child is more responsive to authority and hierarchy than the previous candidate. I believe this will give us better leverage over her than him."
Considering how Asuka's sync scores were lowering in canon and Shinji's rising alone (with Rei I believe holding steady? Not sure....) I can easily see how Ritsuko's train of thought would've been directed towards Toji as the preferred candidate.
In Spanish, we have an insult similar to that. "¡Me cago en tu calavera!" -- "I'll shit on your skull!" (or if you want to bring one's mother and father into it, "¡Me cago en la calavera de tu madre/padre!" -- "I'll shit on your mother's/father's skull!") A really extreme insult, you can see.
In fact, don't be surprised if Asuka goes to that extreme when Arael comes 'round: "Fuck shitting on his grave -- I'll shit on his skull while I'm at it!"
Everyone else seems to think differently about that
Episode 19 Transcript
Hyuga: "Look, Shinji, if we hadn't taken over, you would have been
killed!"
Shinji: "That's not the point."
Hyuga: "Maybe, but it's the truth!"
Shinji: "Stop pushing me, damn it! Don't push me anymore! Unit One has
185 seconds of power left. That's enough to destroy at least
half of Headquarters."
Aoba: "He'll do it too, the way he is right now."
Maya: "Shinji, will you listen to us. If the Commander hadn't made
the decision to engage the Dummy plug, everyone here could
have been killed."
Even Kaji (manga) didn't agree with Shinji of doing nothing.
Yeah, I will even point out that one of the good things in 2.22 is that Shinji doesn't freeze up like a deer in the highlights and tries to fight back, making the use of the Dummy Plug much more of a necessity.
That said, I think BG's Shinji is eventually going to become aware that he should have fought at the very least to save Touji, and if that didn't work...
*Sigh*
The world always values more than the life of one person, even if that person is your friend/family/lover.
That said, I think BG's Shinji is eventually going to become aware that he should have fought at the very least to save Touji, and if that didn't work...
We must consider that A&T Shinji and the Show Shinji, even before my omake, diverged in fundamentally different directions. The Shinji watching the Shinji who he could have become is probably yelling at the TV screen at his own stupidity. Even though it isn't even him anymore. Man this gets confusing quick
Speaking of which, have another Laserdisc Chronicles! Oversight, realisation, and innuendo!
There were more than a few rooms in the Geofront that have seen little to no use after the new administration took over. One of these rooms was the conference room, which was a bit of a shame, since it was a marvel of technology. Holographic projectors that allow you to hold a physical conference with an indefinite number of people from all over the world (provided they had the infrastructure), using the power of what used to be the Internet, with options for secrecy included (the so called "SOUND ONLY" mode).
For now though, it was used by Kaji of the UN Oversight Committee, to meet with a few of its members. Misato, as commander of a NERV branch, was allowed to join in on these meetings at her discretion. So she did, to see what Kaji was doing. And to hopefully get answers on SEELE.
"So what does this mean?" Queried one of the gentlemen present. A representative of American interests, owning one of the largest private aerospace corporations in the States.
"It means, SEELE have gotten their asses to Mars!" Exclaimed a middle aged man, in a thick Austrian accent. A high ranking government official, having received honours in the many wars following Second Impact. "A place no one can get to with any significant firepower."
"If they have indeed occupied Mars, how are they getting the MP-Evangelion to Earth?" 'Oversight 06' spoke in a warbled tone. It was hard to distinguish many details, because this enigmatic person had elected to use the monolithic SOUND ONLY mode. But they did have a lot of money. "Surely we would have several months notice had they been sending payloads to Earth via regular rocketry."
"It's mere speculation at this point, but I believe their Martian operation can somehow tunnel their MP-Eva from Mars to Earth." Kaji replied. Having been one of the driving forces in the creation of UN Oversight, and the initial clandestine operations against them, he held high respect in the council. He would be considered their leader, had they not been relatively independent. "Possibly using a Dirac Sea."
"That is certainly probable, considering the images you've obtained of their Martian operation shows they have a concerning amount of infrastructure built." The American mused. "This is a question for the Commander of NERV Tokyo-3. Have there been any abnormal energy readings before any contact event?"
The commander stood to attention and answered with military efficiency. "We have not detected any abnormal energy from the ground. However I are unable to confirm if there has been abnormal energy readings in space that may have gone undetected by our ground based operations, as our operational satellites are not designed for such a function."
"I would recommend NERV build satellites that can do such a function then." 'Oversight 06' spoke.
"I can ask the Massachusetts branch, as our Tokyo-3 and Matsushiro branches are currently occupied with other tasks. I estimate a timespan of 9 months for the new satellites to be operable, after negotiation with Massachusetts."
"Make it so." The American announced. "I will offer my resources and experience to Massachusetts to expedite the schedule by several months. The requisite paperwork should be on your desk by the end of the week, Commander Katsuragi."
"Thank you Sir." Misato bowed.
"With no other subjects to discuss, this meeting is adjourned. Keep up the fight against corruption and conspiracy."
The holograms deactivated and the lights of the meeting room activated, signalling the end of a call.
"...Great. More paperwork." Misato grumbled as she left with Kaji. "Gonna have to getting those damn Americans off their asses..."
~
The power draw from the conference room meant the mad scientist couldn't use her "UltraDisc" (patent pending) machine without tripping a circuit breaker, so she supervised the decryption of the raw image. While it was a (seemingly) simple encryption by Magi standards, Melchior didn't have many resources to go around, having been dealing with the SEELE files for a good while.
Consequently, Maya was now straddling Ritsuko, since there (seemingly) wasn't much else for them to do but get it on. The door could be locked, and camera's could be deactivated. So it makes sense, especially since it was 'therapeutic' to the two.
"R-Ritsuko, what if someone sees us?" She squeaked.
"Oh don't sound like a hentai Maya, I actually secured this place. So don't worr-"
Her train of thought was interrupted by the incessant beeping of a terminal, which caused Maya to tumble off Ritsuko in a bit of panic before she realised it wasn't someone.
"Stupid parent interrupting us..." Maya muttered as Ritsuko loosely buttoned up her shirt and went to look what the Magi done did.
"Melchior decrypted the image at least."
"Huh. That didn't take long."
"Apparently it was just a variant of some civilian standard." She bemused, clearly expecting it to take longer. "All the Magi had to do was brute force the keys."
"Still more secure than Jet Alone." Maya took station at another terminal. "The directory listing looks normal at least. Under the root directory is one folder; 'BDMV'."
Ritsuko looked into the folder, and noticing an index file, looked into it. "Curious. It appears to be a form of video."
"A video format? Using these discs? Maybe they are from another universe."
"I know right? Who the hell would use such a high capacity disc for such a basic thing?" She incredulously asked. "Oh well, now we know it should be video. The Magi can try reconstructing it into a regular format." She quickly typed in a few commands into the terminal, and Balthazar began work. Once that could be left unattended, she got up and straddled Maya. "Now, where were we~"
"Meep."
~
"..So apparently, SEELE are on Mars of all places." Misato exclaimed to the group, who were getting some R&R from yet another sync test.
"How did they even get there? Wouldn't we know if anyone launched a rocket?" Asuka queried.
Kaji shrugged. "We suspect they have teleportation technology, but that's just a theory at this point." He took a swig of beer. "Can't know for sure until Massachusetts gets those satellites working. SEELE must have had infrastructure there before the war though. As a contingency."
"Makes sense." Shinji responded. "But I thought their entire plan was Earth based."
Kaworu thought. "If they had a Fruit of Life and a Fruit of Knowledge, they could theoretically initiate an impact event on planets other than Earth."
"We don't have a Fruit of Life on Earth anymore, do we?"
"I am a Fruit of Life. But I doubt they're looking for one, since their MP-Evangelions continue to possess an S2 organ."
"A Fruit of Knowledge then?" Rei questioned.
"Possibly. The only way they would be able to get a usable sample would be through Lilith however. And through NERV."
"And through everyone here. Especially me." Rei said defensively, clearly deriding SEELE.
"Oh well," Kaji shrugged, defusing the situation. "Shouldn't worry about it for now. How's the show about us going?"
"We finished 9 discs so far. At disc 8, our universe and the universe depicted in the show diverged." Kaworu answered.
"...diverged?"
"Shit's different now." Asuka summed up. "For the worse in my opinion."
"Well then. You're still watching it?"
"Oh hell yeah."
~
Impotent Rage
M: "Y'know Shinji, you can be scary when your mad."
S: "It's rare it happens though. And when it does, I have a damn good reason for it."
Kaj: "Hang on, what happened last time?"
M: "Bardiel went differently."
Kaj: "...how differently?"
Kaw: "Units 00 and 02 were incapacitated almost immediately, and the former Commander activated the dummy plug system of Unit 01 when the Shinji of the show froze up, destroying the Angel."
R: "As a consequence, Shinji got a front row seat to the severe injury of his friend Suzuhara."
Kaj: "Wait, Suzuhara? How the hell did he get picked as pilot?"
A: "...Obviously me and Shinji not getting together has its consequences..."
S: "And of course he doesn't even speak to me, just knocks me out." He bitterly spat.
Kaw: "I'm not surprised NERV has contingencies against unwilling pilots."
S: "...To be fair though, if I didn't freeze up like I did, maybe things could've been better."
A: "It's not you though, is it? The Shinji we know, you, you would have done anything in your power to help. Like what actually happened with Bardiel."
S: "Yeah... though it kinda sucks seeing myself like that."
A: "...Now you see how I feel."
~
Hospital
S: "...Toji doesn't deserve that."
A: "He gets a train sequence too?"
R: "I think it's more he is somehow observing Shinji's train sequence."
M: "What's with these damn mental trains?"
Kaj: "There's been multiple so far?"
Kaw: "My suspicion is that it's a way for the show creators to get into the minds of us."
M: "What makes you think that Kaworu?"
Kaw: "Train of thought."
Everyone groaned at that pun.
R: "Where's Suzuhara's other leg?"
M: "Wait what?" She analysed the scene. "Well shit..."
S: "Oh no... He would've been devastated, knowing him."
A: "...if this is the universe's way of telling us me and Shinji are right for each other, we get it!"
~
Brig
S: "I still got sent to the brig. At least you didn't this time Asuka."
A: "With how things went, the brig is preferable."
R: "And then he attempts to charge you with criminal offences."
S: "These discs aren't doing anything to help my image of him." He deadpanned.
M: "You can say that again. At least this time you left on your own volition instead of being fired."
Kaj: "It wouldn't last. Unit-01 and its pilot was a key aspect of his plan."
~
Phone
S: "I appreciate Kensuke would've at least attempted to give me a pep talk."
M: "He said too much though."
A: "Yeah, Kensuke of all people should've known the public lines of Tokyo-3 would've been monitored." She sighed. "I didn't even come out to wish you goodbye..."
Shinji offered his hand, she took it. "She's not you."
M: "I'm damn right Suzuhara was a mistake..." She took a swig of beer.
~
Z
S: "Of course just as I'm about to leave the Angel alarm goes off..."
A: "Hang on, wasn't fucking. Zeruel. After Bardiel?"
M: "Yes... Well shit."
Kaw: "This hasn't even occurred yet and it will already go radically different."
Kaj: "Considering in our world, I had to catch Shinji and Asuka and get their asses to NERV, to hijack Unit-03, which just so happened to have an S2 engine."
R: "Unit-03 is gone in the discs."
S: "...Well I assume we still succeeded, given there's still more discs to go through."
A: "Even if we succeeded, we still have plenty of things to unfuck."
M: "That's gonna be pretty hard at this point."
~
Refusal
A: "An Eva could do that?"
S: "...I think I know what my mother did. The Rei dummy plug was used, which caused me so much pain with the Bardiel of the show. She saw that."
R: "She would thus refuse me. And the Rei plug too."
S: "Yeah, all because of what my father did."
M: "Points to your Mum for going against your father then, Shinji. If I was her I would've completely destroyed the commander."
Kaj: "But now Unit-01 has no pilot at all."
A: "At least I got to pilot my own Eva, hopefully I could at least do something to Zeruel."
~
Nope, you did absolutely nothing Asuka
A: "ICH HABE NICHTS GEMACHT! WHY DIDN'T I DO ANYTHING!? ALL I DID WAS STAND AROUND WIE EIN LAMM ZUM SCHLACHTEN!"
Kaw: "If you're this emotional at what the Zeruel of the show did, just imagine how the you in the show would react."
Asuka rage fell silent as she thought and came to a conclusion. "...why does this show hate me so?"
Shinji elected to hold her for the rest of the episode.
~
Watering
Kaj: "Why the hell am I there? I would've been at your apartment Misato."
M: "Maybe in this world. But that raises a good question. Why would you be watering plants, while an Angel threatens to destroy us all?"
He shrugged. "If we were gonna die, might as well be doing something you like. Though I'd rather-"
The show's Kaji read the real Kaji's mind and said something questionable about Misato.
Kaj: "Ehehe, that."
Misato merely gave him a glare. "Not on the job Mister."
S: "Wait a minute, did you do that on your own volition Rei?"
R: "I believe so. Not me, but the Rei of the show. In the show timeline, I would've never been weened off the drugs. Therefore I would continue to believe I was replaceable. A kamikaze attack would make sense in that case."
Kaw: "..it did nothing in this case." In his mind, Kaworu continued piecing his thoughts together.
~
Pilot
S: "So I still had to pilot the damn Eva."
M: "Almost seems like fate."
Kaw: "Considering the scrolls, it might as well have been."
A: "..At the very least, you seem to be getting stronger."
S: "Nowhere near as strong as I was in our reality. And all because we got together."
A: "..Seems kinda stupid how so many things so far have been linked to us two getting it on."
~
Power
M: "Oh god damn it."
S: "This is why we need a better power source."
M: "We're working on it."
A: "Oh come on, that's pretty bullshit."
Kaj: "Sometimes life just throws shit at you." He shrugged. "We just have to deal with it."
S: "How did I deal with it then?"
~
Mother's Love
S: "I... didn't?"
A: "How many times has your mother had to take matters into her own hands in this show?"
S: "Way too many."
M: "Wait, over 400%? That's really bad actually."
R: "How so?"
M: "Once you reach a sync ratio of over 400%, you can get absorbed into your Evangelion."
Kaw: "The barriers that make us us would break down. You would become one with your Eva."
S: "That's what happened to Hikari right?"
Misato nodded.
S: "...This isn't a regular berserk is it?"
Kaw: "She has awakened. She is now in full command of her Evangelion vessel, bypassing any control NERV could ever have."
Kaj: "Is Unit-01 eating Zeruel?"
M: "Jesus Christ she is."
Kaw: "Ahh, I see. Taking the S2 engine of Zeruel for herself.
This is how she becomes a God."
~
"A God?"
Kaworu nodded. "Unit-01 is.. unique when it comes to Evangelion. You know why, right Misato?"
She nodded, beginning the explanation. "As you know, Evangelion comes from the flesh of Adam." Units-02, 03 and the old Unit-00 were all made this way." She looked over to Shinji. "Except Unit-01."
"Unit-01 was born of Lilith."
"Lilith?" Asuka questioned. "It doesn't seem that different from the other Evas."
"Ultimately they aren't so different, but our thinking is only Adam based Evas can handle an S2 engine. Well, was, considering the Unit-01 of the show has an S2 Engine now."
"...so if Adam and Lilith come together, they create a God?"
"Correct." Rei replied. "That was SEELE's thinking. Fruit of Life; indefinite life at the price of never knowing, 'I Am'. Fruit of Knowledge; finite life but with indefinite knowledge, 'I Think'."
Asuka thought. "..combine the two and you get indefinite life and knowledge?"
"Yes. Hence why Unit-01 getting an S2 organ is such a big deal. Indefinite energy, indefinite knowledge."
"God."
Asuka groaned, boggling her head. "I need a drink." She got up and got some... not Yebisu from the fridge.
"Hang on, where'd you get that from?"
She shrugged. "Say you're from NERV and you can do just about anything in this city."
"You bought beer?!"
"Yes?" She took a sip of some proper German bier.
Misato sighed. "I don't even care anymore. In fact I completely understand, watching this shitshow."
"Cheers then?"
They clinked bottle to can, and continued watching.
~
Recap
A: "Oh boy a recap."
S: "More like they just got the last 30 seconds from the previous episode."
Kaj: "Well well, it's SEELE."
S: "Wait, this didn't go to their plan?"
Kaw: "Unit-01 essentially becoming a God was not in the original scrolls. Hence their apprehension."
Kaj: "Damn that robot, we still haven't found him."
M: "Still?"
Kaj: "I wouldn't be surprised if he got his ass to Mars."
~
Damage
A: "My poor Eva..."
M: "Oh man, that's some pretty severe damage right there."
R: "I don't remember NERV being in such a condition after Zeruel."
M: "It was pretty bad mind you."
S: "Was it as bad as depicted in the show?"
M: "Nope."
Kaj: "Man, hopefully the next Angel won't show itself while NERV's getting back on its feet."
Kaw: "NERV doesn't seem combat capable for at least a month. I would've hated to arrive there in such a state."
A: "Especially with all of our Evangelion in the states they're in."
S: "Damage report then. My Unit's frozen. The other two Units are in varying states of inoperability."
M: "NERV's in disrepair."
A: "And you're stuck in your Unit."
Kaw: "Not stuck. Absorbed."
~
Nothing
A: "I knew it... you idiot Asuka..."
S: "...Asuka?"
She held him tighter.
~
Primordial Soup
Kaw: "This is accurate."
M: "Then again, that's essentially what LCL is, isn't it?"
R: "Correct. Although with Hikari, it didn't matter whether her body was in the LCL, she still managed to reconstitute."
M: "In the situation of the show, we wouldn't know that though, considering how Bardiel went."
Kaj: "It'll be interesting to see how this goes then."
~
Introspection
A: "...Is this what Hikari saw?"
S: "It's pretty weird."
R: "There's been a few introspective scenes lately."
M: "They only started recently though, have they?"
A: "..yeah, after our botched kiss and Leliel. God damn it, is this a sign we should get married? Just to tell the universe 'OKAY WE GET IT'?"
Shinji laughed at that. "We should let Kaworu and Rei get hitched first though. Don't wanna remove their spotlight."
Kaj: "...wait, what!? Since when was everyone getting married a thing?"
M: "A few days ago." She shrugged.
~
Rumination
A: "I swear we've seen these scenes before."
R: "We have."
Kaw: "They seem to be reusing the scenes from previous episodes."
A: "God damn it, why does our show have a shoestring budget?"
S: "Could be worse. The show could have a rushed ending cause of low budget."
A: "I swear to God if this ending is terrible, I'm gonna throw the TV off the balcony."
M: "You know what? I'll allow it. I need a new TV anyway. But only after the ending."
~
30th Day
A: "I don't know how I would've dealt with going a month without you Shinji."
S: "Even with your show's mentality?"
A: "...even with my show's mentality." She held him closer.
M: "It's actually pretty lucky no Angel appeared in this time."
R: "I was expecting such a thing."
Kaj: "Maybe they finally caught a break."
Kaw: "I doubt it. There are still 2 more Angels to go." He became quiet. "The ones I am not looking forward to."
R: "I haven't seen you in this show yet Kaworu."
Kaw: "...You're right. I arrived around this time, didn't I?"
~
Contemplation
A: "So Shinji spent a month in his Eva? Hikari was only in there for at most a week!"
S: "I don't think I would've handled that well."
A: "Well, at least you have the good thoughts that came with me and Rei. Me though."
R: "You would've been a complete wreak Asuka."
She nodded. "Thank God it didn't happen like that then."
S: "...I would've gotten out of there as soon as I could. Even if it did bring me closer to my mother."
A: "...man, our mental states are complete trash in this other timeline."
~
One With Me
A: "WHY ARE WE ALL NAKED AGAIN?"
R: "And saying things like that."
M: "We can't even blame our Shinji for all this. He clearly wants companionship and love. This must be his mental state's way of showing us that desire."
S: "...it's a bit on the nose. And embarrassing."
K: "Sooooo, Shinji." Both Kaworu and Kaji said in sync.
Shinji hid his face. "I don't even think like that now."
A: "I mean, I wouldn't mind becoming one with you Shinji~"
~
Salvage
M: "Well, that didn't go to plan."
S: "You must consider, in this state, I might not have wanted to be recovered."
A: "You would just rather be one with your Eva?"
S: "...Yes. Knowing me."
A: "...I can understand that."
They watched on as the Misato of the show wailed.
M: "...That's still true. I would've truly been devastated if I lost you Shinji. Or anyone of you."
R: "...so that's why he named me Rei."
The group were contemplative for a bit.
~
Carnal Matters
This contemplative silence was broken almost immediately by the questionable next scene.
M: "Ah Christ."
Kaj: "W-Why is everyone watching this?"
M: "It may be showing us fucking, but it's still a part of the show, so we just have to deal."
A: "MISATO! I would berate you but that would honestly be quite hypocritical of me."
R: "Indeed, none of us can truly cast the first stone in this matter."
A: "I'm actually more disappointed you smoke, Misato."
M: "Ehh? No yelling at me for very clearly doing the deed with Kaji?"
Asuka shrugged, taking a swig. "We all know that getting it on, in a private place, with someone you love is one of the best forms of self therapy there is."
R: "I must agree with you Asuka. In fact, I might considering getting some of this therapy when I retire for the night. What do you think, Kaworu?"
She looked towards the fish.
The Trout, the Third and the Inquisitor all had their face in their hands, clearly embarrassed. Their collective incandescence only increased as Misato's implication filled the room.
M: "Now you know how I feel." She poked out her tongue.
~
"I don't remember giving that to you though." Kaji admitted.
"What was in it?"
"...It was a contingency. In case I had to do something that may result in my death." He admitted. "I would have only given it to you in that situation."
Misato went quiet. "...I told you what I'd do to you if you got yourself killed Ryoji."
"You'd kill me, I know."
"Especially now!"
"I know Misato, I know. I won't get myself killed, okay?"
Misato looked on at Kaji. They locked eyes. He noticed emotion building up in them.
"...Misato?"
She flung herself onto him, her arms cloaking him. "I- I don't want to lose you Kaji... Not again... don't know what I'd do..."
He ran a hand through her hair. "Shhh. It's ok Misato. I'm not gonna leave you."
The other couples watched on. "Asuka? What do we do?"
"Leave them be." She looked at the clock, thinking. "It's still early, but they'd probably want some time alone."
"..We could go get some ramen?" Her other suggested.
"That's... not a bad idea." She got up. "You coming Rei and Kaworu?"
"I don't see why not. We were thinking about leaving soon anyway."
"Misato?" Asuka ducked down to speak to them, quiet and gentle in volume. "We're gonna give you some time alone with Kaji, okay?"
She sniffed and quietly spoke. "..Okay. Don't be out too long.."
"We won't Misato."
They vacated the premises.
It was only after they left Misato allowed herself to cry. "I-I probably sound really clingy, but p-please don't ever leave me.. Kaji..."
"I won't. Don't worry Misato."
~
Despite it being close to midnight, the nightlife of Tokyo-3 bought good business for those willing to operate at such graveyard hours.
Which was good for the pilots, as they now had something warm to chow down on as they ruminated on the previous episodes.
"..He considered me a daughter."
"And yet he still treated you like dirt." Asuka understated. "Just like his own son."
"Even so. I never had any parental figure other than him."
"He was the only figure you had before you became close to all of us, Rei." Kaworu replied. "We've never really had any parental figures."
"...I consider Misato to be that." Shinji admitted.
A quiet descended. He continued. "My mother was lost to me when I was so young. My father lost all right to me when he abandoned me soon after.
But when I came to Tokyo-3, after a decade of not having any significant figure, Misato was there for me. She supports me. She cares for me, she cares for all of us. Even though I know where my mother is, and even though I can communicate with her, she cannot truly be a mother to me as long as she's in that damn machine!" His fist hit the table.
He took a few calming breaths. "Misato. She's been more of a mother to me than even my own damn mother. She's been a mother to all of us."
Silence descended again.
"You're right, Shinji." Asuka began. "I'm surprised we haven't been adopted yet."
"She would defend us like her own children." Rei spoke, continuing to eat.
"We are essentially her children. Misato is the type of person who would lay down her life to defend us."
They thought about those words for a bit.
~
"She would, wouldn't she?"
"Of course she would give her life for us Shinji." She swiped her card and the door opened. "She cares for-" Asuka grumbled. "Hasn't even been an hour since she broke down."
"What is it A-"
Asuka's hand covered Shinji's mouth and lowered her volume to a whisper. "Shush, listen."
He did. And became a tomato.
She rolled her eyes. "Considering what we do on a near daily basis, you should really be less embarrassed about this."
"I know, but it's still a bit embarrassing to me when others do it."
"You didn't seem that way when Rei and Kaworu were jackhammering through the walls a few nights ago."
"That's mainly because I got lost in the humour of it all, considering how pensive we both were."
"..You do know Misato can hear us when we do it, right?"
"She what?!"
"Yeah, and she doesn't give a shit. If anything it encourages her to be loud when Kaji's around."
"...So thats why you've been moaning a lot lately." He accused.
She poked out her tongue. "And I'm gonna continue, because its become a little competition between us."
"What, the 'how good our partners can pleasure us' competition?"
"Yeah, what's a bit of light hearted competition between two women?"
"Didn't you just agree with me that she was such a mother to us though?"
She cringed. "Okay, when you put it that way, it sounds bad. But in all honesty, that's not as weird as most other things we have to deal with."
"Like what?"
"Like the fact we're watching an anime that started out about us, but events changed so severely when we botched that kiss, its like the universe is begging us to get hitched."
"Fair enough, but we're getting off track. How are we gonna deal with the fact they're doing in the living room?"
Asuka gave an evil titter as she remembered something. "Watch and learn, my baka~" She sing songed before starting into a full sprint and leaping into the room. "PERVERTS!"
A shriek by Misato and the sound of tumbling had indicated to Shinji Asuka's power play succeeded. He continued listening onto their incessant arguing from the hallway.
"Man I love her." He smiled to himself, before joining the fray.
~
Deep within the core of Unit-01, a presence stirred. Today had been... concerning for Yui. Conversing with Shinji had revealed some... interesting revelations. This 'other reality', as Shinji called it.
And how much more screwed up it was. As if there could be a universe more screwed up than the current one.
His memories proved him right though. He recalled to her how the 13th went. Both in reality and in the show, and comparing it. She wasn't sure how he gained access to this other reality, but that didn't matter.
It was the intention that mattered, after all.
~
Mama Yui is up to something.
For those of you wondering how the UN Oversight Committee works, it's sorta like the Inquisition of W40K. You have several people, equal in stature, who are ostensibly independent from one another and the UN, all looking to root out heresy corruption and conspiracy within the UN (and between themselves). Consequently, they've been given a bit of leeway when it comes to certain things, but at the cost of not being able to rely on the UN or their funds (as they were established to oversee the UN to prevent any Illuminati tier conspiracy like SEELE from taking hold). Internal checks and balances prevent any one person from consolidating any power, but like most organisations, they still value two things: Respect, and the Greenback.
The slow march towards finding out whats on those strange blue discs is almost complete. You can understand Ritsuko's perspective though, so much data storage and it's used to store video. Seems kinda excessive from her perspective, especially given the 'modern' consumer video format is Laserdisc.
Everyone watching the episodes can now appreciate just how lucky they were not to get shafted. If they can appreciate this now, just wait for the next episodes. Though Kaworu's starting to wonder, just when will he appear?
S: "Could be worse. The show could have a rushed ending cause of low budget."
A: "I swear to God if this ending is terrible, I'm gonna throw the TV off the balcony."
M: "You know what? I'll allow it. I need a new TV anyway. But only after the ending."
The slow march towards finding out whats on those strange blue discs is almost complete. You can understand Ritsuko's perspective though, so much data storage and it's used to store video. Seems kinda excessive from her perspective, especially given the 'modern' consumer video format is Laserdisc.
Hmm. I'm wondering now... Are the Laserdiscs actually as we see the show, i.e a Japanese cartoon, or are the A&T crew watching a live action show with REALLY accurate actors?
Oh man, when you do the show's episodes 25 & 26, could you as a bonus maybe include "Shinji's Rant" (the hilarious commentary by Shinji's dub-VA)? I'd love to see the team's reaction to that little nugget of self-aware funny...
Z
S: "Of course just as I'm about to leave the Angel alarm goes off..."
A: "Hang on, wasn't fucking. Zeruel. After Bardiel?"
M: "Yes... Well shit."
Kaw: "This hasn't even occurred yet and it will already go radically different."
Kaj: "Considering in our world, I had to catch Shinji and Asuka and get their asses to NERV, to hijack Unit-03, which just so happened to have an S2 engine."
R: "Unit-03 is gone in the discs."
S: "...Well I assume we still succeeded, given there's still more discs to go through."
A: "Even if we succeeded, we still have plenty of things to unfuck."
M: "That's gonna be pretty hard at this point."
Speaking of which, have another Laserdisc Chronicles! Oversight, realisation, and innuendo!
There were more than a few rooms in the Geofront that have seen little to no use after the new administration took over. One of these rooms was the conference room, which was a bit of a shame, since it was a marvel of technology. Holographic projectors that allow you to hold a physical conference with an indefinite number of people from all over the world (provided they had the infrastructure), using the power of what used to be the Internet, with options for secrecy included (the so called "SOUND ONLY" mode).
For now though, it was used by Kaji of the UN Oversight Committee, to meet with a few of its members. Misato, as commander of a NERV branch, was allowed to join in on these meetings at her discretion. So she did, to see what Kaji was doing. And to hopefully get answers on SEELE.
"So what does this mean?" Queried one of the gentlemen present. A representative of American interests, owning one of the largest private aerospace corporations in the States.
"It means, SEELE have gotten their asses to Mars!" Exclaimed a middle aged man, in a thick Austrian accent. A high ranking government official, having received honours in the many wars following Second Impact. "A place no one can get to with any significant firepower."
"If they have indeed occupied Mars, how are they getting the MP-Evangelion to Earth?" 'Oversight 06' spoke in a warbled tone. It was hard to distinguish many details, because this enigmatic person had elected to use the monolithic SOUND ONLY mode. But they did have a lot of money. "Surely we would have several months notice had they been sending payloads to Earth via regular rocketry."
"It's mere speculation at this point, but I believe their Martian operation can somehow tunnel their MP-Eva from Mars to Earth." Kaji replied. Having been one of the driving forces in the creation of UN Oversight, and the initial clandestine operations against them, he held high respect in the council. He would be considered their leader, had they not been relatively independent. "Possibly using a Dirac Sea."
"That is certainly probable, considering the images you've obtained of their Martian operation shows they have a concerning amount of infrastructure built." The American mused. "This is a question for the Commander of NERV Tokyo-3. Have there been any abnormal energy readings before any contact event?"
The commander stood to attention and answered with military efficiency. "We have not detected any abnormal energy from the ground. However I are unable to confirm if there has been abnormal energy readings in space that may have gone undetected by our ground based operations, as our operational satellites are not designed for such a function."
"I would recommend NERV build satellites that can do such a function then." 'Oversight 06' spoke.
"I can ask the Massachusetts branch, as our Tokyo-3 and Matsushiro branches are currently occupied with other tasks. I estimate a timespan of 9 months for the new satellites to be operable, after negotiation with Massachusetts."
"Make it so." The American announced. "I will offer my resources and experience to Massachusetts to expedite the schedule by several months. The requisite paperwork should be on your desk by the end of the week, Commander Katsuragi."
"Thank you Sir." Misato bowed.
"With no other subjects to discuss, this meeting is adjourned. Keep up the fight against corruption and conspiracy."
The holograms deactivated and the lights of the meeting room activated, signalling the end of a call.
"...Great. More paperwork." Misato grumbled as she left with Kaji. "Gonna have to getting those damn Americans off their asses..."
~
The power draw from the conference room meant the mad scientist couldn't use her "UltraDisc" (patent pending) machine without tripping a circuit breaker, so she supervised the decryption of the raw image. While it was a (seemingly) simple encryption by Magi standards, Melchior didn't have many resources to go around, having been dealing with the SEELE files for a good while.
Consequently, Maya was now straddling Ritsuko, since there (seemingly) wasn't much else for them to do but get it on. The door could be locked, and camera's could be deactivated. So it makes sense, especially since it was 'therapeutic' to the two.
"R-Ritsuko, what if someone sees us?" She squeaked.
"Oh don't sound like a hentai Maya, I actually secured this place. So don't worr-"
Her train of thought was interrupted by the incessant beeping of a terminal, which caused Maya to tumble off Ritsuko in a bit of panic before she realised it wasn't someone.
"Stupid parent interrupting us..." Maya muttered as Ritsuko loosely buttoned up her shirt and went to look what the Magi done did.
"Melchior decrypted the image at least."
"Huh. That didn't take long."
"Apparently it was just a variant of some civilian standard." She bemused, clearly expecting it to take longer. "All the Magi had to do was brute force the keys."
"Still more secure than Jet Alone." Maya took station at another terminal. "The directory listing looks normal at least. Under the root directory is one folder; 'BDMV'."
Ritsuko looked into the folder, and noticing an index file, looked into it. "Curious. It appears to be a form of video."
"A video format? Using these discs? Maybe they are from another universe."
"I know right? Who the hell would use such a high capacity disc for such a basic thing?" She incredulously asked. "Oh well, now we know it should be video. The Magi can try reconstructing it into a regular format." She quickly typed in a few commands into the terminal, and Balthazar began work. Once that could be left unattended, she got up and straddled Maya. "Now, where were we~"
"Meep."
~
"..So apparently, SEELE are on Mars of all places." Misato exclaimed to the group, who were getting some R&R from yet another sync test.
"How did they even get there? Wouldn't we know if anyone launched a rocket?" Asuka queried.
Kaji shrugged. "We suspect they have teleportation technology, but that's just a theory at this point." He took a swig of beer. "Can't know for sure until Massachusetts gets those satellites working. SEELE must have had infrastructure there before the war though. As a contingency."
"Makes sense." Shinji responded. "But I thought their entire plan was Earth based."
Kaworu thought. "If they had a Fruit of Life and a Fruit of Knowledge, they could theoretically initiate an impact event on planets other than Earth."
"We don't have a Fruit of Life on Earth anymore, do we?"
"I am a Fruit of Life. But I doubt they're looking for one, since their MP-Evangelions continue to possess an S2 organ."
"A Fruit of Knowledge then?" Rei questioned.
"Possibly. The only way they would be able to get a usable sample would be through Lilith however. And through NERV."
"And through everyone here. Especially me." Rei said defensively, clearly deriding SEELE.
"Oh well," Kaji shrugged, defusing the situation. "Shouldn't worry about it for now. How's the show about us going?"
"We finished 9 discs so far. At disc 8, our universe and the universe depicted in the show diverged." Kaworu answered.
"...diverged?"
"Shit's different now." Asuka summed up. "For the worse in my opinion."
"Well then. You're still watching it?"
"Oh hell yeah."
~
Impotent Rage
M: "Y'know Shinji, you can be scary when your mad."
S: "It's rare it happens though. And when it does, I have a damn good reason for it."
Kaj: "Hang on, what happened last time?"
M: "Bardiel went differently."
Kaj: "...how differently?"
Kaw: "Units 00 and 02 were incapacitated almost immediately, and the former Commander activated the dummy plug system of Unit 01 when the Shinji of the show froze up, destroying the Angel."
R: "As a consequence, Shinji got a front row seat to the severe injury of his friend Suzuhara."
Kaj: "Wait, Suzuhara? How the hell did he get picked as pilot?"
A: "...Obviously me and Shinji not getting together has its consequences..."
S: "And of course he doesn't even speak to me, just knocks me out." He bitterly spat.
Kaw: "I'm not surprised NERV has contingencies against unwilling pilots."
S: "...To be fair though, if I didn't freeze up like I did, maybe things could've been better."
A: "It's not you though, is it? The Shinji we know, you, you would have done anything in your power to help. Like what actually happened with Bardiel."
S: "Yeah... though it kinda sucks seeing myself like that."
A: "...Now you see how I feel."
~
Hospital
S: "...Toji doesn't deserve that."
A: "He gets a train sequence too?"
R: "I think it's more he is somehow observing Shinji's train sequence."
M: "What's with these damn mental trains?"
Kaj: "There's been multiple so far?"
Kaw: "My suspicion is that it's a way for the show creators to get into the minds of us."
M: "What makes you think that Kaworu?"
Kaw: "Train of thought."
Everyone groaned at that pun.
R: "Where's Suzuhara's other leg?"
M: "Wait what?" She analysed the scene. "Well shit..."
S: "Oh no... He would've been devastated, knowing him."
A: "...if this is the universe's way of telling us me and Shinji are right for each other, we get it!"
~
Brig
S: "I still got sent to the brig. At least you didn't this time Asuka."
A: "With how things went, the brig is preferable."
R: "And then he attempts to charge you with criminal offences."
S: "These discs aren't doing anything to help my image of him." He deadpanned.
M: "You can say that again. At least this time you left on your own volition instead of being fired."
Kaj: "It wouldn't last. Unit-01 and its pilot was a key aspect of his plan."
~
Phone
S: "I appreciate Kensuke would've at least attempted to give me a pep talk."
M: "He said too much though."
A: "Yeah, Kensuke of all people should've known the public lines of Tokyo-3 would've been monitored." She sighed. "I didn't even come out to wish you goodbye..."
Shinji offered his hand, she took it. "She's not you."
M: "I'm damn right Suzuhara was a mistake..." She took a swig of beer.
~
Z
S: "Of course just as I'm about to leave the Angel alarm goes off..."
A: "Hang on, wasn't fucking. Zeruel. After Bardiel?"
M: "Yes... Well shit."
Kaw: "This hasn't even occurred yet and it will already go radically different."
Kaj: "Considering in our world, I had to catch Shinji and Asuka and get their asses to NERV, to hijack Unit-03, which just so happened to have an S2 engine."
R: "Unit-03 is gone in the discs."
S: "...Well I assume we still succeeded, given there's still more discs to go through."
A: "Even if we succeeded, we still have plenty of things to unfuck."
M: "That's gonna be pretty hard at this point."
~
Refusal
A: "An Eva could do that?"
S: "...I think I know what my mother did. The Rei dummy plug was used, which caused me so much pain with the Bardiel of the show. She saw that."
R: "She would thus refuse me. And the Rei plug too."
S: "Yeah, all because of what my father did."
M: "Points to your Mum for going against your father then, Shinji. If I was her I would've completely destroyed the commander."
Kaj: "But now Unit-01 has no pilot at all."
A: "At least I got to pilot my own Eva, hopefully I could at least do something to Zeruel."
~
Nope, you did absolutely nothing Asuka
A: "ICH HABE NICHTS GEMACHT! WHY DIDN'T I DO ANYTHING!? ALL I DID WAS STAND AROUND WIE EIN LAMM ZUM SCHLACHTEN!"
Kaw: "If you're this emotional at what the Zeruel of the show did, just imagine how the you in the show would react."
Asuka rage fell silent as she thought and came to a conclusion. "...why does this show hate me so?"
Shinji elected to hold her for the rest of the episode.
~
Watering
Kaj: "Why the hell am I there? I would've been at your apartment Misato."
M: "Maybe in this world. But that raises a good question. Why would you be watering plants, while an Angel threatens to destroy us all?"
He shrugged. "If we were gonna die, might as well be doing something you like. Though I'd rather-"
The show's Kaji read the real Kaji's mind and said something questionable about Misato.
Kaj: "Ehehe, that."
Misato merely gave him a glare. "Not on the job Mister."
S: "Wait a minute, did you do that on your own volition Rei?"
R: "I believe so. Not me, but the Rei of the show. In the show timeline, I would've never been weened off the drugs. Therefore I would continue to believe I was replaceable. A kamikaze attack would make sense in that case."
Kaw: "..it did nothing in this case." In his mind, Kaworu continued piecing his thoughts together.
~
Pilot
S: "So I still had to pilot the damn Eva."
M: "Almost seems like fate."
Kaw: "Considering the scrolls, it might as well have been."
A: "..At the very least, you seem to be getting stronger."
S: "Nowhere near as strong as I was in our reality. And all because we got together."
A: "..Seems kinda stupid how so many things so far have been linked to us two getting it on."
~
Power
M: "Oh god damn it."
S: "This is why we need a better power source."
M: "We're working on it."
A: "Oh come on, that's pretty bullshit."
Kaj: "Sometimes life just throws shit at you." He shrugged. "We just have to deal with it."
S: "How did I deal with it then?"
~
Mother's Love
S: "I... didn't?"
A: "How many times has your mother had to take matters into her own hands in this show?"
S: "Way too many."
M: "Wait, over 400%? That's really bad actually."
R: "How so?"
M: "Once you reach a sync ratio of over 400%, you can get absorbed into your Evangelion."
Kaw: "The barriers that make us us would break down. You would become one with your Eva."
S: "That's what happened to Hikari right?"
Misato nodded.
S: "...This isn't a regular berserk is it?"
Kaw: "She has awakened. She is now in full command of her Evangelion vessel, bypassing any control NERV could ever have."
Kaj: "Is Unit-01 eating Zeruel?"
M: "Jesus Christ she is."
Kaw: "Ahh, I see. Taking the S2 engine of Zeruel for herself.
This is how she becomes a God."
~
"A God?"
Kaworu nodded. "Unit-01 is.. unique when it comes to Evangelion. You know why, right Misato?"
She nodded, beginning the explanation. "As you know, Evangelion comes from the flesh of Adam." Units-02, 03 and the old Unit-00 were all made this way." She looked over to Shinji. "Except Unit-01."
"Unit-01 was born of Lilith."
"Lilith?" Asuka questioned. "It doesn't seem that different from the other Evas."
"Ultimately they aren't so different, but our thinking is only Adam based Evas can handle an S2 engine. Well, was, considering the Unit-01 of the show has an S2 Engine now."
"...so if Adam and Lilith come together, they create a God?"
"Correct." Rei replied. "That was SEELE's thinking. Fruit of Life; indefinite life at the price of never knowing, 'I Am'. Fruit of Knowledge; finite life but with indefinite knowledge, 'I Think'."
Asuka thought. "..combine the two and you get indefinite life and knowledge?"
"Yes. Hence why Unit-01 getting an S2 organ is such a big deal. Indefinite energy, indefinite knowledge."
"God."
Asuka groaned, boggling her head. "I need a drink." She got up and got some... not Yebisu from the fridge.
"Hang on, where'd you get that from?"
She shrugged. "Say you're from NERV and you can do just about anything in this city."
"You bought beer?!"
"Yes?" She took a sip of some proper German bier.
Misato sighed. "I don't even care anymore. In fact I completely understand, watching this shitshow."
"Cheers then?"
They clinked bottle to can, and continued watching.
~
Recap
A: "Oh boy a recap."
S: "More like they just got the last 30 seconds from the previous episode."
Kaj: "Well well, it's SEELE."
S: "Wait, this didn't go to their plan?"
Kaw: "Unit-01 essentially becoming a God was not in the original scrolls. Hence their apprehension."
Kaj: "Damn that robot, we still haven't found him."
M: "Still?"
Kaj: "I wouldn't be surprised if he got his ass to Mars."
~
Damage
A: "My poor Eva..."
M: "Oh man, that's some pretty severe damage right there."
R: "I don't remember NERV being in such a condition after Zeruel."
M: "It was pretty bad mind you."
S: "Was it as bad as depicted in the show?"
M: "Nope."
Kaj: "Man, hopefully the next Angel won't show itself while NERV's getting back on its feet."
Kaw: "NERV doesn't seem combat capable for at least a month. I would've hated to arrive there in such a state."
A: "Especially with all of our Evangelion in the states they're in."
S: "Damage report then. My Unit's frozen. The other two Units are in varying states of inoperability."
M: "NERV's in disrepair."
A: "And you're stuck in your Unit."
Kaw: "Not stuck. Absorbed."
~
Nothing
A: "I knew it... you idiot Asuka..."
S: "...Asuka?"
She held him tighter.
~
Primordial Soup
Kaw: "This is accurate."
M: "Then again, that's essentially what LCL is, isn't it?"
R: "Correct. Although with Hikari, it didn't matter whether her body was in the LCL, she still managed to reconstitute."
M: "In the situation of the show, we wouldn't know that though, considering how Bardiel went."
Kaj: "It'll be interesting to see how this goes then."
~
Introspection
A: "...Is this what Hikari saw?"
S: "It's pretty weird."
R: "There's been a few introspective scenes lately."
M: "They only started recently though, have they?"
A: "..yeah, after our botched kissed and Leliel. God damn it, is this a sign we should get married? Just to tell the universe 'OKAY WE GET IT'?"
Shinji laughed at that. "We should let Kaworu and Rei get hitched first though. Don't wanna remove their spotlight."
Kaj: "...wait, what!? Since when was everyone getting married a thing?"
M: "A few days ago." She shrugged.
~
Rumination
A: "I swear we've seen these scenes before."
R: "We have."
Kaw: "They seem to be reusing the scenes from previous episodes."
A: "God damn it, why does our show have a shoestring budget?"
S: "Could be worse. The show could have a rushed ending cause of low budget."
A: "I swear to God if this ending is terrible, I'm gonna throw the TV off the balcony."
M: "You know what? I'll allow it. I need a new TV anyway. But only after the ending."
~
30th Day
A: "I don't know how I would've dealt with going a month without you Shinji."
S: "Even with your show's mentality?"
A: "...even with my show's mentality." She held him closer.
M: "It's actually pretty lucky no Angel appeared in this time."
R: "I was expecting such a thing."
Kaj: "Maybe they finally caught a break."
Kaw: "I doubt it. There are still 2 more Angels to go." He became quiet. "The ones I am not looking forward to."
R: "I haven't seen you in this show yet Kaworu."
Kaw: "...You're right. I arrived around this time, didn't I?"
~
Contemplation
A: "So Shinji spent a month in his Eva? Hikari was only in there for at most a week!"
S: "I don't think I would've handled that well."
A: "Well, at least you have the good thoughts that came with me and Rei. Me though."
R: "You would've been a complete wreak Asuka."
She nodded. "Thank God it didn't happen like that then."
S: "...I would've gotten out of there as soon as I could. Even if it did bring me closer to my mother."
A: "...man, our mental states are complete trash in this other timeline."
~
One With Me
A: "WHY ARE WE ALL NAKED AGAIN?"
R: "And saying things like that."
M: "We can't even blame our Shinji for all this. He clearly wants companionship and love. This must be his mental state's way of showing us that desire."
S: "...it's a bit on the nose. And embarrassing."
K: "Sooooo, Shinji." Both Kaworu and Kaji said in sync.
Shinji hid his face. "I don't even think like that now."
A: "I mean, I wouldn't mind becoming one with you Shinji~"
~
Salvage
M: "Well, that didn't go to plan."
S: "You must consider, in this state, I might not have wanted to be recovered."
A: "You would just rather be one with your Eva?"
S: "...Yes. Knowing me."
A: "...I can understand that."
They watched on as the Misato of the show wailed.
M: "...That's still true. I would've truly been devastated if I lost you Shinji. Or anyone of you."
R: "...so that's why he named me Rei."
The group were contemplative for a bit.
~
Carnal Matters
This contemplative silence was broken almost immediately by the questionable next scene.
M: "Ah Christ."
Kaj: "W-Why is everyone watching this?"
M: "It may be showing us fucking, but it's still a part of the show, so we just have to deal."
A: "MISATO! I would berate you but that would honestly be quite hypocritical of me."
R: "Indeed, none of us can truly cast the first stone in this matter."
A: "I'm actually more disappointed you smoke, Misato."
M: "Ehh? No yelling at me for very clearly doing the deed with Kaji?"
Asuka shrugged, taking a swig. "We all know that getting it on, in a private place, with someone you love is one of the best forms of self therapy there is."
R: "I must agree with you Asuka. In fact, I might considering getting some of this therapy when I retire for the night. What do you think, Kaworu?"
She looked towards the fish.
The Trout, the Third and the Inquisitor all had their face in their hands, clearly embarrassed. Their collective incandescence only increased as Misato's implication filled the room.
M: "Now you know how I feel." She poked out her tongue.
~
"I don't remember giving that to you though." Kaji admitted.
"What was in it?"
"...It was a contingency. In case I had to do something that may result in my death." He admitted. "I would have only given it to you in that situation."
Misato went quiet. "...I told you what I'd do to you if you got yourself killed Ryoji."
"You'd kill me, I know."
"Especially now!"
"I know Misato, I know. I won't get myself killed, okay?"
Misato looked on at Kaji. They locked eyes. He noticed emotion building up in them.
"...Misato?"
She flung herself onto him, her arms cloaking him. "I- I don't want to lose you Kaji... Not again... don't know what I'd do..."
He ran a hand through her hair. "Shhh. It's ok Misato. I'm not gonna leave you."
The other couples watched on. "Asuka? What do we do?"
"Leave them be." She looked at the clock, thinking. "It's still early, but they'd probably want some time alone."
"..We could go get some ramen?" Her other suggested.
"That's... not a bad idea." She got up. "You coming Rei and Kaworu?"
"I don't see why not. We were thinking about leaving soon anyway."
"Misato?" Asuka ducked down to speak to them, quiet and gentle in volume. "We're gonna give you some time alone with Kaji, okay?"
She sniffed and quietly spoke. "..Okay. Don't be out too long.."
"We won't Misato."
They vacated the premises.
It was only after they left Misato allowed herself to cry. "I-I probably sound really clingy, but p-please don't ever leave me.. Kaji..."
"I won't. Don't worry Misato."
~
Despite it being close to midnight, the nightlife of Tokyo-3 bought good business for those willing to operate at such graveyard hours.
Which was good for the pilots, as they now had something warm to chow down on as they ruminated on the previous episodes.
"..He considered me a daughter."
"And yet he still treated you like dirt." Asuka understated. "Just like his own son."
"Even so. I never had any parental figure other than him."
"He was the only figure you had before you became close to all of us, Rei." Kaworu replied. "We've never really had any parental figures."
"...I consider Misato to be that." Shinji admitted.
A quiet descended. He continued. "My mother was lost to me when I was so young. My father lost all right to me when he abandoned me soon after.
But when I came to Tokyo-3, after a decade of not having any significant figure, Misato was there for me. She supports me. She cares for me, she cares for all of us. Even though I know where my mother is, and even though I can communicate with her, she cannot truly be a mother to me as long as she's in that damn machine!" His fist hit the table.
He took a few calming breaths. "Misato. She's been more of a mother to me than even my own damn mother. She's been a mother to all of us."
Silence descended again.
"You're right, Shinji." Asuka began. "I'm surprised we haven't been adopted yet."
"She would defend us like her own children." Rei spoke, continuing to eat.
"We are essentially her children. Misato is the type of person who would lay down her life to defend us."
They thought about those words for a bit.
~
"She would, wouldn't she?"
"Of course she would give her life for us Shinji." She swiped her card and the door opened. "She cares for-" Asuka grumbled. "Hasn't even been an hour since she broke down."
"What is it A-"
Asuka's hand covered Shinji's mouth and lowered her volume to a whisper. "Shush, listen."
He did. And became a tomato.
She rolled her eyes. "Considering what we do on a near daily basis, you should really be less embarrassed about this."
"I know, but it's still a bit embarrassing to me when others do it."
"You didn't seem that way when Rei and Kaworu were jackhammering through the walls a few nights ago."
"That's mainly because I got lost in the humour of it all, considering how pensive we both were."
"..You do know Misato can hear us when we do it, right?"
"She what?!"
"Yeah, and she doesn't give a shit. If anything it encourages her to be loud when Kaji's around."
"...So thats why you've been moaning a lot lately." He accused.
She poked out her tongue. "And I'm gonna continue, because its become a little competition between us."
"What, the 'how good our partners can pleasure us' competition?"
"Yeah, what's a bit of light hearted competition between two women?"
"Didn't you just agree with me that she was such a mother to us though?"
She cringed. "Okay, when you put it that way, it sounds bad. But in all honesty, that's not as weird as most other things we have to deal with."
"Like what?"
"Like the fact we're watching an anime that started out about us, but events changed so severely when we botched that kiss, its like the universe is begging us to get hitched."
"Fair enough, but we're getting off track. How are we gonna deal with the fact they're doing in the living room?"
Asuka gave an evil titter as she remembered something. "Watch and learn, my baka~" She sing songed before starting into a full sprint and leaping into the room. "PERVERTS!"
A shriek by Misato and the sound of tumbling had indicated to Shinji Asuka's power play succeeded. He continued listening onto their incessant arguing from the hallway.
"Man I love her." He smiled to himself, before joining the fray.
~
Deep within the core of Unit-01, a presence stirred. Today had been... concerning for Yui. Conversing with Shinji had revealed some... interesting revelations. This 'other reality', as Shinji called it.
And how much more screwed up it was. As if there could be a universe more screwed up than the current one.
His memories proved him right though. He recalled to her how the 13th went. Both in reality and in the show, and comparing it. She wasn't sure how he gained access to this other reality, but that didn't matter.
It was the intention that mattered, after all.
~
Mama Yui is up to something.
For those of you wondering how the UN Oversight Committee works, it's sorta like the Inquisition of W40K. You have several people, equal in stature, who are ostensibly independent from one another and the UN, all looking to root out heresy corruption and conspiracy within the UN (and between themselves). Consequently, they've been given a bit of leeway when it comes to certain things, but at the cost of not being able to rely on the UN or their funds (as they were established to oversee the UN to prevent any Illuminati tier conspiracy like SEELE from taking hold). Internal checks and balances prevent any one person from consolidating any power, but like most organisations, they still value two things: Respect, and the Greenback.
The slow march towards finding out whats on those strange blue discs is almost complete. You can understand Ritsuko's perspective though, so much data storage and it's used to store video. Seems kinda excessive from her perspective, especially given the 'modern' consumer video format is Laserdisc.
Everyone watching the episodes can now appreciate just how lucky they were not to get shafted. If they can appreciate this now, just wait for the next episodes. Though Kaworu's starting to wonder, just when will he appear?
I should've realized it with the New Type Eva AI mentions, as well as Rits' work, and the earlier Yui moment... but...were you introducing a plot line/story that's taking place during the LaserDisc Omake?
....by any chance are you a UN funded organization...because that takes a lot of NERV. ...I love it.
Definitely getting some good laughs here (though I don't know which scene that 'Nothing' moment comes from where A&T!Asuka is berating her canon self....still looking it up.)
A: "I swear to God if this ending is terrible, I'm gonna throw the TV off the balcony."
M: "You know what? I'll allow it. I need a new TV anyway. But only after the ending."
Several episodes and a scream of frustration later, several stories below, the last thing to go through the mind of an ill-fated SEELE hitman was a CRT.
"He was the only figure you had before you became close to all of us, Rei." Kaworu replied. "We've never really had any parental figures."
"...I consider Misato to be that." Shinji admitted.
A quiet descended. He continued. "My mother was lost to me when I was so young. My father lost all right to me when he abandoned me soon after.
But when I came to Tokyo-3, after a decade of not having any significant figure, Misato was there for me. She supports me. She cares for me, she cares for all of us. Even though I know where my mother is, and even though I can communicate with her, she cannot truly be a mother to me as long as she's in that damn machine!" His fist hit the table.
He took a few calming breaths. "Misato. She's been more of a mother to me than even my own damn mother. She's been a mother to all of us."
Silence descended again.
"You're right, Shinji." Asuka began. "I'm surprised we haven't been adopted yet."
"She would defend us like her own children." Rei spoke, continuing to eat.
"We are essentially her children. Misato is the type of person who would lay down her life to defend us."
In the A&T world yes, In canon, for Shinji, yes.(well she tries) Everybody else in well in canon... not so much especially for canon Asuka because after Arael well here's a quote a fic that best decribe their 'relationship' around that time.
Misato: Did something happen?
Asuka: …
Misato: If it did, you should talk to me about it.
Asuka: Why? It's not like you care anyway. You just want to find a way to get me out of your hair, same as always.
Misato: Now Asuka, that's not really fair —
Asuka: Don't talk to me about fair, you bitch! You never wanted to deal with me in Germany, and when I came here you watched me fall to pieces in front of your eyes without doing a damn thing about it.
Misato: Hold on now —
Asuka: And then you let the commander hang me out to dry, before you threw me out like garbage when I was no longer useful —
Misato: Asuka, wait a minute —
Asuka: —and then when Kaji died you completely forgot about me until I crawled into a hole somewhere to slit my wrists to die! And NEVER never once did you once visited me while I was rotting away in that damn Hospital room. So don't you ever tell me you once cared about me.
Several episodes and a scream of frustration later, several stories below, the last thing to go through the mind of an ill-fated SEELE hitman was a CRT.
Hmm. I'm wondering now... Are the Laserdiscs actually as we see the show, i.e a Japanese cartoon, or are the A&T crew watching a live action show with REALLY accurate actors?
If both the Laserdiscs and the Blu-rays are (in-universe) live-action, I'd like to think that the original NGE series the A&T!Pilots are watching now would have same production values as ST: TNG, while the Rebuilds would be more akin to ST: Discovery.
I assume you mean Shinji continued holding HIS partner. I did consider that you might have meant Asuka said that line and Shinji the next, referring to watching himself being forced to beat up Toji, but the next two lines are clearly Shinji and then Asuka. So I figure Asuka is referring to how she charged in carelessly and got herself taken out so easily.
My thinking was that it was an anime, like what are actually on the real world Laserdiscs (since they're ostensibly the actual Laserdiscs from our world, of course there may be some changes from the Laserdisc version cause, well, I don't actually have a Laserdisc player )
It's been a while since I've seen the show so I couldn't remember it clearly, but that's the first thing I thought of. I tried looking up a recap of the episode, but it sounded like she was reacting to a bad moment.
In the A&T world yes, In canon, for Shinji, yes.(well she tries) Everybody else in well in canon... not so much especially for canon Asuka because after Arael well here's a quote a fic that best decribe their 'relationship' around that time.
Misato: Did something happen?
Asuka: …
Misato: If it did, you should talk to me about it.
Asuka: Why? It's not like you care anyway. You just want to find a way to get me out of your hair, same as always.
Misato: Now Asuka, that's not really fair —
Asuka: Don't talk to me about fair, you bitch! You never wanted to deal with me in Germany, and when I came here you watched me fall to pieces in front of your eyes without doing a damn thing about it.
Misato: Hold on now —
Asuka: And then you let the commander hang me out to dry, before you threw me out like garbage when I was no longer useful —
Misato: Asuka, wait a minute —
Asuka: —and then when Kaji died you completely forgot about me until I crawled into a hole somewhere to slit my wrists to die! And NEVER never once did you once visited me while I was rotting away in that damn Hospital room. So don't you ever tell me you once cared about me.
Yes, that is one of the highlights of that fic, that it doesn't shy off of the worst moments of the cast of Evangelion while keeping them sympathetic in their actions.
Edit:
And for the record, Misato acknowledges that she was a failed parental figure in EOE.
Yes, that is one of the highlights of that fic, that it doesn't shy off of the worst moments of the cast of Evangelion while keeping them sympathetic in their actions.
Edit:
And for the record, Misato acknowledges that she was a failed parental figure in EOE.
Hello! I'm new here
Sort of.
I did read the ENTIRE THREAD, derails and endless shipping wars and all, over the last month, which has been...long...and full of madness...so I don't feel especially new except for not posting. Which I just made an account for and am doing right now, so yay!
Anyway, love this story! I only got into Eva a few months ago, but I've read some of the major fanfics and this is definitely ND-Tier or 2nd Try Tier levels of good.
Anyway, I hope to get along well with everyone and participate in the discussions as the story moves towards the endgame!
(I'm so terrified and excited...)
