You know, I can still hear the last words of so many people who have died in front of me, clear as day. Some days, depending on the danger, I can remember whole conversations with people, even if we all only got close to dying.
I'm going to remember a lot of today. I won't even need to write much of it down to do so. Fourth Impact happened. Shinji Ikari was pushed over the edge. And though the world was saved, it still managed to grow far beyond what any of us expected.
- From the personal journal of Koji Takao
On the Road to Village-3
Daniel Theisman reminisced silently as he slowly made his way through the Corite landscape, taking in the sights around the group that he traveled with.
It was hardly a noteworthy thing for him to ponder on his memories. God only knew how many there were to go through with how long he'd existed in one form or another. How much time each one, to some extent or another, had been given. But for now, he remembered a far more recent vista, a similar sight to the one he now traversed, a dream in glittering crimson that he had strode across going in the opposite direction. Had they passed through Hadano, the place that had, here, become Village-3? They would have had to at least go by it, the tides of the world only having dropped somewhat by that point to allow them across the bay that now stood between them and their destination.
The rest of the group, for now at least, shared his silence, all of them seeming to ponder on one thing or another as they watched a Failure of Infinity, stirred from its sleep like the rest of them from the Fourth Impact, treading past them in the distance, its massive footfalls the only sound that reached them, booming like thunder as it walked. Its headless, lanky body gave it the air of a walking corpse, seemingly unaware of its loss as it went past its fallen compatriots. Knowing what was held within, perhaps the comparison wasn't too far from the truth.
Daniel managed to tear his gaze away from the sight, as it disappeared for a moment behind the crumbling support pillar of what was likely a raised highway, looking at the Children as they continued. The older Shinji had joined his wife, who now lagged somewhat behind Shikinami as she led them on. Rei and the Ayanami unit continued to walk together, and young Shinji stayed by Kaworu's side, whether out of some form of guilt or because of the familiarity of his face, he was unsure.
He did not want to break the silence that had fallen on them. It seemed almost… sacrosanct, now. A part of their pilgrimage to a place of healing. So, he linked himself to the elder Children, seeking only to disturb their trains of thought.
"Alright, kiddos," he said, gaining their attention even as he wordlessly urged that they be silent.
"What's the status of the young'uns?"
There was a collective mental sigh from Asuka, Kaworu, and Shinji.
"Well, when it comes to Shikinami," Asuka replied,
"she's actually made a hell of a course correction now that Bardiel's out of the picture in her head. I don't know how long it's going to take for her to show it visibly, but… however different she might be, she's still a version of myself. I know the signs to look for."
"Ayanami is less… responsive than Shikinami may be," Rei began.
"But it is encouraging that she wishes the book that young Shinji left for her to be read to her. I will take up the task of reading to her tonight when I retrieve the book from you."
"Consider it done," Daniel said, hope flickering in between the words for a few moments before he turned his focus on Kaworu.
Kaworu broadcasted most clearly his feelings of apprehension.
"Shinji is… making progress. Far from nearly comatose, but it still concerns me that he clings so closely to me, being in the image of the boy he piloted alongside. If something does not change soon, I fear he may be, in some way, obsessed with me, and I do not know what changes, most likely negative, would follow."
Daniel nodded, still at the back and out of sight of the other kids.
"I'll take care of that as best I can. I think I've got enough of this Kaworu's soul and Frames to allow him to carry on a conversation. When we settle down for the night, I'll bring him out to talk."
He looked up at the sky, silent gratitude flowing from him as he dropped the link. The sun had begun to set, and the sight of it going under the horizon, the red making the crystals around them glow and glitter as if they were in a massive open cavern, almost like the sun itself was flowing into them… it would be a sight well worth remembering.
As they continued to walk, he put a hand through his Plugsuit, the space around his wrist fuzzing as he reached into his pocket and gently grasped the crystal that held the soul of the former Commander Kaworu Nagisa. He toyed with the little marble for a moment, looking down with his Sight to see the Frames held within. Enough were there to hold a conversation with him, and he would be able to access his memory.
"Hey. Hey! You there?"
The words, their urgency and their suddenness, made him jump for a moment, his instincts causing him to look around for the source of the voice. His wits came back to him as he linked himself to Shikinami-Bradley.
"I am. Are you unharmed?"
"Yeah, actually. You seem like you were in the middle of something. The connection dropped for a little while there, to say nothing of the shaking."
Daniel opened his mouth, then chuckled softly.
"Well yeah, kind of. Preventing the end of the world makes it a little difficult to keep the lines up."
He fed her some of the memories of stopping Fourth Impact, feeling the sense of awe and fear that echoed through her as she observed the spectacle.
"Did… did Langley make it out okay?"
"Yes. Well, at least as well as she could, given the circumstances. Unit-02… had to self-destruct in order to keep the Wunder from getting taken over."
There was a rapid hollowing feeling at the other end of the connection, all thought seeming to focus on the fact that Unit-02, as she knew it, the reason for her creation… was gone.
"Well… damn." Bradley finally said.
"Langley made the best decision she could, I'm sure of it. But still…"
Daniel was quiet for a moment, letting Bradley process what she'd just heard for a moment.
"Would you like to talk with her tonight?" he asked, with a somewhat hesitant, quiet tone to his words.
"You can do that?" Bradley scoffed.
"What am I saying? Of course, you could do that."
Daniel smiled slightly.
"I'll take that as a yes, then."
He put the connection into the back of his mind for a moment, allowing Nynrya to catch up with Bradley as he connected himself to the soul of the young — well, 'young' — Kaworu. It was silent at first, Daniel taking in the shocked surprise of the Angelic Child before he was noticed.
"You. What have you done?"
The boy's tone was almost acidic in its annoyance, edging on anger. Daniel remained calm in the face of it.
"I saved your soul, young man. Right before I prevented Shinji Ikari from acting out the consequences of your imposed isolation."
He fed young Nagisa the same memories that he'd given to Bradley. He knew that the boy would most clearly see the rage in young Shinji's face, the words that he'd said in anger against those that he'd called friends to Kaworu.
It was silent as young Kaworu processed what he'd seen. The results of his actions. Would it get through, at last? After all this time spent trying to isolate him anyway, in this loop and those long past?
"I am…" young Kaworu's words were hollow now.
"I am responsible for this."
Daniel didn't relish the quick burst of triumph that he felt from young Kaworu's admission.
"Yes," Daniel replied.
"You are. But it can end here only if you so desire. You can get to know the real Shinji Ikari if you approach him as one of his friends."
Young Kaworu once again contemplated the words.
"I see. I do not know if I will get the chance to in this life, however. Unless…"
Young Kaworu pondered on his situation for the moment, and Daniel nodded mostly to himself.
"We'll talk later. Shinji and company will be there."
With that, he severed the connection, his focus returning to the world around them. And, seemingly unnoticed by the others, the two figures, clearly armored, who were in the distance off to the left. Magnifying his vision, he studied the pair for a moment before smiling slightly. They were here. All of them, hopefully.
'Of all times.' Daniel thought as his smile became something of a grimace.
. . .
Burbank, New Pacifica
Vice-Captain Ritsuko Akagi stepped out of the ship, looking out to the portion of the drydock that held the main course of their repairs: the two specialized turrets, ready and waiting to be installed in place of their mangled duo. They even had the correct turret fittings, able to be quite nearly dropped in.
'For once, I'm almost glad that Misato wanted the two other turrets she wanted to have built anyway.' she mused as she made her way toward the three people who would be in charge of the repair.
The man she walked to was a swarthy sort, looking down at a chart with his attendants, all three wearing coveralls with the KREDIT logo on it, nodes and lines making a stylized K. The man ran a hand with thick, callused fingers through his short, black hair before looking up at her approach.
"Vice-Captain," the man said in English as he looked at her with discerning hazel eyes, "it's a hell of a thing you want me to pull off here. Though I'm not surprised to see the grand old bitch again, based on what you outfitted her for."
Ritsuko almost smiled. "It's a pleasure to see you as well, Mr. Mendelsohn," she replied in the same language. "I'm sure the ship is in good hands again."
Mr. Mendelsohn scoffed. "With how she seems to be after one active combat mission, I can think about more than a few hands that would be better than yours. Though, considering the world still exists, I think I can give you guys a pass."
He looked past her, and a smile split a craggy face set into a square head with a prominent chin that had some stubble in it. "Street Sam! It's been too long, you crazy bastard!"
Ritsuko turned to see Koji Takao striding forward ahead of the rest of the main bridge duty shift, a grin on his face as he took Mr. Mendelsohn in a quick embrace. "Grease, you damn fool. How's being put out to pasture been treating you?"
"Oh, about as well as I can tolerate it," Mendelsohn grumbled as the two men parted, looking back at the rest of the group coming to a stop beside Ritsuko as he waved off his subordinates to other tasks. "I'd ask how the end of the world went, but if you had to bring her back this banged up, I'm not sure I wanna know."
"Who's this, Koji?" Volunteer Kitakami asked.
"Well," Koji replied, "This is Greggory Mendelsohn. We served together in the UN Task Fleet during the Impact Wars. He signed up for KREDIT when it came around and became… what was it again?"
"Fleet Maintenance Manager," Mendelsohn said with a somewhat weary sigh. "Big, fancy name for being the sorry fool who gets to make sure all these damn boats keep running."
Midori nodded. "Well… it's nice to meet you, Mr. Mendelsohn."
Mendelsohn smiled as he nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, madam," he said, an somewhat unexpected warmth in his tone.
Koji seemed somewhat amazed at the display. "Why Greg, I didn't know you were even medically capable of being polite to someone. I'm impressed, really."
Mendelsohn chuckled. "It's been known to happen once in a blue moon. Especially when you aren't fully responsible for the sorry state of the ship." he cast a leering glare at Koji as he finished speaking.
Koji shrugged. "Hey. I'm on the bridge more often than not."
"Oh, spare me. A cushy bridge job? I didn't think you'd be able to stand from the cushioned seats if they'd put you there before. Must have gone soft." Mendelsohn gently punched Koji's arm.
"Hardly, Mr. Mendelsohn. His quick thinking kept the damage from being any worse. You should be thanking him."
All turned back to the unexpected voice, and Ritsuko found herself shocked to see Misato, walking down the ramp towards them, Ryoji and Maya by her side. She wasn't smiling, and she seemed… disturbed, still. The shock of having Ryoji around again was, hopefully, wearing off.
The far more current shock of the sight left everyone silent as the trio came to a stop behind them, Misato nodding to Mendelsohn. "I leave the
Wunder in your good graces, Mr. Mendelsohn. I expect her to be updated to your usual standards of excellence."
Mendelsohn nodded. "Yes, Director. We'll be on it as soon as we're done speaking."
Director was the title of the highest ranking person within the command structure of KREDIT, an intentional civilian slant to the language to offset it from the more militaristic verbiage of WILLE. Being its founder, Misato was the current, and only, Director thus far.
Before Misato could reply, Ritsuko spotted a car, a small white sedan, driving up the pier towards them. That must have been someone important then, with how scarce fuel was. Everyone else turned to see the car approaching, Mendelsohn saying a quick goodbye to Koji and walking off as a man, tall and thin, built almost like an Evangelion, stepped out of the passenger's seat, a breeze sweeping through the bay catching blond hair speckled with grey as the man's blue eyes, set in a firm face that was now beginning to feel the approach of old age, scanned the crowd and locked on her, the man waving as he approached.
"Doctor Akagi." the man shouted, a man that Ritsuko knew as Doctor Jacob Lewis, the head of the science board here in New Pacifica. He was a rather muscular man for his position, with a square face and a broad chest. "If you could come with me so we could speak for a moment? We have what might be a massive problem."
Ritsuko nodded. "I'll be with you in a moment, Doctor."
She looked over at Maya, who looked back at her with… apprehension? Something to be asked about later. "If you'll come with me, Captain Ibuki? I'm sure I could use the extra hands."
Maya blinked as if she'd been lost in thought about something, then nodded. "Let's not waste any time, then."
They said their brief goodbyes to the others, and made their way to the car, getting into the back seat as they drove off. "So, Doctor Lewis," Ritsuko began, "what seems to be the problem? If it's important enough to take us away from overseeing repairs on the
Wunder-"
"We have two dead scientists and a dead technician, Doctor," Lewis interjected, clearly agitated. "At least… we think they're dead." he shook his head as he sighed. "We need, of all things, a second opinion."
Ritsuko arched a brow as she looked over at an equally confused Maya. "From us? Wouldn't looking at bodies be more the task of a coroner?"
"That's the thing, ma'am. There aren't any bodies. The men with them as they went out into the core material said that they exploded into something that looked like an orange soda."
After a moment's confusion, Ritsuko and Maya's eyes went wide. "They turned into LCL?" Ritsuko asked, almost dazed. If that was the case, then things had not been as undisturbed by the prevention of Fourth Impact as she'd hoped.
. . .
Daniel took a seat in the shade of a ruined elevated roadway on the outskirts of what Shikinami's device said was once the town of Matsuda, the hand and arm of another fallen Failure of Infinity hanging over the support pillar they sat by. Ahead of them, to the left of the pillar, a ruined cellular tower leaned away from them, crusted over by Corite just like everything else in this landscape.
Clearly, as the older Shinji tended to the fire and they prepared to eat dinner, it was a sight that was beginning to wear somewhat, as the older Asuka looked around and sighed quietly. "I know I like red, but looking at all this Corite is getting stale."
She looked over to Shikinami as she set her capsule down in front of the fire. "How close are we to Village-3?"
Shikinami looked down at her device. "About 2 and a half, 3 kilometers away. We could push it and be to the perimeter in about 2 hours if… we…"
Her words were stifled by a cavernous yawn as she put a hand to her mouth. After long seconds, Shikinami blinked, rubbing her eyes after a moment. "Well then. Looks like you weren't wrong about sleeping, Daniel. I'm… tired."
She was silent for a moment as she took in what she said, a contemplative look on her face. "It's been so long since I've felt that," she said quietly.
Daniel nodded, seeing young Shinji's expression. Wondering. Realizing. It gave him a sliver of hope.
He pondered on that hope as he looked out over the setting sun. It was everything that he expected of it, the sun a brilliant red as it began to plunge beneath the horizon. It was a thin line of light where star and ground met, the glint of an Arthurian sword at sunset. It was a thin hope… but it was enough.
Daniel watched the sunset as he ate, letting the kids eat in relative silence. As he finished his meal, taking a swig from his water container, he glanced to his side to see Rei Nagisa take a seat beside him, looking out with him at the sunset. "When we left you guys in Lilith," he began quietly, "did you and Eleanor ever see something like this?"
Rei nodded slightly. "Once. It took some time to figure out how to see through the Corite like a lens, but… the sight of it was breathtaking."
Daniel nodded, and they took a moment to simply appreciate the sunset. Then, Rei looked over at Daniel. "Can I see the book that you have?"
Daniel nodded, pulling it from a pocket dimension Expression that Nynrya had been kind enough to keep going for him and proffering it. "Here. I hope that she finds what she needs from it."
Rei nodded as she took the book, smiling slightly as she opened it and scanned the pages, a fond look in her eyes. "I do as well."
Rei looked up after a moment, and her eyes narrowed. "Who is that?"
Daniel followed her gaze and saw the same two figures from earlier in the day. They were joined by another pair, the four of them standing in front of a ruined house, the first in a neighborhood.
They waited for him, more than likely doing so expectantly. He was glad they were here, but… how glad? And what other emotions swirled under the surface, just outside of his full perception?
'Either way,' he thought as he stood,
'I'll need to talk to them anyways. Make sure things get handled as best they can be.'
It was a fine line to cross, especially at a time like this. But leaving them out would only make things harder. "The others. I'll go fill them in," he said quietly, letting Rei know silently who was here at last.
. . .
Young Shinji watched Daniel begin walking away from the group, out towards the houses across from them and wondered what, exactly, was going on. "Where's Daniel going?" he asked the older Rei as she stood and turned back to them, the book he'd given Ayanami in hand.
"To meet with some of our compatriots." the older Rei said as she sat down next to the Ayanami unit, the younger version of herself looking down at the book as she opened it. "He will be returning shortly."
"Having a reunion without us?" the older Asuka asked, scoffing slightly as she shook her head. Then, after a moment, she glanced over at young Shinji and Asuka, her expression softening. "Then again, after everything that's happened today…"
Asuka Shikinami's brow furrowed, and she stood up, looking over at the house that Daniel and the others he'd walked towards had disappeared into. "Why be secretive with us now? Who could you guys be working with that would scare us so much?"
With that, she walked past the fire and towards the house, beginning to crouch low as she approached.
"Asuka. Asuka!" the older Asuka said, shaking her head before she frowned for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, she won't be getting into the house or anything. What's trying to listen from outside going to get her anyway?"
Young Shinji looked at the retreating form of young Asuka, then, for whatever reason, stood up as well. His head still felt like it was… floating, almost disconnected from the rest of him as he almost saw himself standing. Who was he? What was going on? He knew, on at least a somewhat intellectual level, but… did he, really?
The reaction when he began to walk was confusion, to say the least. "Shinji?" his older self asked, causing him to pause for a moment and turn, taking in the baffled expressions of all those around them, even the Ayanami unit's brow furling ever so slightly. "What are you doing?"
What was he doing? What could he do that didn't lead to isolation and the end of the world? Who was Shinji Ikari if he wasn't any of those things, alone and carrying the world on his shoulders? The questions gnawed at him, the chance to talk with others only taking his mind off of them for a few spare moments.
"I'm… trying to do something different," he said, the words coming out weary and with a quiet sigh. What did they even mean?
He didn't let himself think about that before he turned and did his best to sneak after Shikinami. It felt odd, trying to sneak anywhere in a Plugsuit, the gentle creaking and the smell of LCL beginning to become somewhat stale seeming to him like a dead giveaway. How was Asuka planning on trying to sneak up on someone with near god-like power? How was he?
As he came close to the house, Asuka crouched by the still-closed door, Asuka looked over at him, eye widening in surprise. "Idiot Shinji? What are you doing?"
"Something that isn't ending the world. At least I think it won't," he replied levelly as he paused in front of Asuka. "Have you heard anything from inside?"
Asuka stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "Not really. They're behind this wall, talking. I can kind of hear them, but just their voices. No words."
Shinji nodded as he scratched the back of his head.
'Maybe… I could do something with my hearing like I can with my strength?'
It was a possibility. If nothing else, he could at least try, as he closed his eyes and began to focus. He could feel within himself that 'string' that he kept tuned for his strength, to keep it from getting away from him. He tried visualizing another string, one that connected to his sense of hearing. As he tried to tune what he settled on, he took in the sounds that surrounded him. Asuka's breathing in front of him. The distant crackle of the fire. The susurrus of voices within the house he leaned against.
Then, he took a deep breath and tuned his string up.
With the barest hint of resistance, the world became a riot of sound, young Shinji's closed eyes squeezing shut as the campfire became a blazing inferno, the breeze became a hurricane, and every word that he heard seemed to be screamed into his very mind.
"Idiot Shinji? Shinji, are you okay?" Asuka asked, Shinji clapping his hands to his ears to try and stop the sound. The act simply sounded like a massive peal of thunder, stifling nothing as the voices continued.
"What god, then, had sent them to this bitter collision? Apollo, son of Zeus and Leto…"
"I have no idea what you guys get from this. How do you even understand what's going on?"
All the words pounded in his skull like an unceasing drum, the sounds blurring together into near meaninglessness as he tried to make it just
stop.
But there… somewhere in the cyclone of sound…
"GEIST, huh? Hell of a name. Better than Outbound Operations, at least."
That had to be Daniel, who then sighed, the sound like a gale.
"But as good as it is to see you all here… you guys have some really bad timing. Shinji probably shouldn't see you guys right now. Any of you, really. Especially you, G-"
Shinji finally made it stop, the string tuning down at last, the voices finally falling silent. He took a deep breath of exhausted relief. Wait a minute. Why didn't he hear that?
He lowered his hands as he opened his eyes, and saw Asuka's mouth moving. Why wasn't she saying anything?
His eyes went wide as he realized what he had done.
'I'm… deaf. No. No! I need to make it stop!'
His hands went back to his ears again, seeing Asuka's anger hiding the panic behind her eye, glancing over with her to see the older versions of them standing up as they no doubt heard Asuka doing what was likely shouting. Then, somehow, he heard someone speak, the words unknotting all the tension and fear in him.
"Shinji. I've gotta say, kid, I'm kind of surprised."
He looked around, the voice echoing in his head almost like it had come from a vast cavern, and found Daniel standing behind him, hands on his hips. The look on his face was… bemused, more than anything, empty of accusation and annoyance as he crouched down. No others came out with him as he put his hand on Shinji's shoulder.
"Let's get you fixed up. You learned how to tune it down, but we haven't taught you to tune your abilities up yet. I don't think that would have flown with the Captain."
Daniel chuckled for a moment. "Now, focus. Tune it up again. Slowly, now that you know what it feels like. I'll watch over you every step of the way."
"But how do I stop it from happening again?" he asked. Or, at least, he thought he asked.
"Envision a series of mountain peaks, three in total. You're currently at the bottom of the first, trying to work your way back to normalcy. Tune your string back up to that first peak."
Daniel paused as Shinji began to do so, slowly but surely restoring his hearing. "And don't forget to breathe. It helps when you aren't passed out." he said with a smile.
Shinji took a breath he hadn't quite realized he'd been holding back, thankful to hear himself breathing again as things continued to come back to him.
"How long is this going to take?" he heard Asuka ask, her words almost seeming whispered, but heard all the same.
"As long as Shinji needs," Daniel replied, the words no longer sounding echoed. He was so close…
Finally, Daniel put a hand up to tell Shinji to stop his concentrated effort, and Shinji took a deep breath as he listened to the crackling of the fire a ways away from them, the breeze gently blowing once again.
Daniel patted him on the shoulder as they all stood. "Good job. We'll keep training you guys on how to get your abilities under control once we've gotten to Village-3."
Asuka walked around Shinji and Daniel going into the doorway that Daniel had emerged from, peeking in down the hallway. "So, who were you talking to? It's not like there's anyone else from around here just hanging out in this sort of place."
"How about I tell you both when we get back to the others?" Daniel said, shepherding them back to said group as they took the short walk in silence.
As they approached the now at least somewhat resettled group, the older Rei paused her reading, all of the others looking expectantly at them. "So," the older Asuka said with an arched brow and a slight, wry smile, "how was the reunion?"
"Perfectly fine," Daniel replied as the three of them sat down by the fire. "We're not simply Outbound Operations anymore, either. Welcome to GEIST, kids. My older kids, at least."
The elder others nodded. "That would be Misato, wouldn't it?" the older Shinji asked with a small smile.
As Daniel nodded and the others began joking with familiar ease about the woman, young Shinji pondered the revelation for a moment. What was this version of Misato like? More like the one that he'd known all those years ago?
"When will she and the others be meeting up with us?" the older Shinji continued. "If they're here…"
"It's not just the Kajis and Akagis, Shinji," Daniel said. "As for who's with them…" he paused, seeming to ponder what he should say further. "We'll get there when they meet up with us in a couple of weeks. They've got some things to keep an eye on first."
Young Shinji looked over at Daniel as he went quiet for a moment, then glanced over at Asuka Shikinami. "However, there is someone I'd like you all to meet. Especially you, Asuka Shikinami-Langley."
He held out his hand, and motes of light, tiny stars, sprang into existence, glowing lines crossing the air between them, connecting them into a wireframe, then weaving what was almost a funnel web of different hues, skin tones, blue eyes, red hair over what was becoming a familiar face…
He saw Shikinami's eye go wide, along with the eyes of everyone else, as the head floating in his hand blinked, and looked around, locking eyes with Shikinami as she smiled. "Well, then. It's been a while, Langley. Feliz Jueves, and all that."
"Bradley?" Shikinami said, her mouth hanging open slightly in utter shock. "How are you…"
"By the not-so-good graces of Commander Ikari, kid," Bradley replied. "He's got plans for me, I'm sure."
"So wait," the elder Shinji said, holding out a hand, "you're… another clone of Asuka?"
"The first, technically. Asuka Shikinami-Bradley, as much at your service as I can be and all that." Bradley said with a shrug that was implied more than seen. "It's a story that I'm sure Daniel will let me tell, now that I know he can do this."
"What is 'feliz jueves'?"
All eyes turned to the Ayanami unit, whose expression was, as always, completely level, though now there was a slight furling to her brow. The older Asuka nodded as she looked at Daniel, confusion far more evident on her face. "Actually, yeah. What's with the Spanish? It isn't even Thursday."
Daniel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Bradley gave a smug grin. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice that. Now, of all times, is not the time to have a conversation about meme culture and what Evangelion has to do with it."
Asuka Ikari-Soryu opened her mouth to object, but Daniel raised a hand. "When we get to the village. Promise."
He paused for a moment as he shot an unamused stare at Bradley, whose grin only faltered a little. "In the meantime, why don't you introduce yourself more, Bradley? We've got all night, after all."
. . .
Three men walked back towards the line of ACC Pillars, coming back from another Pillar, the last in an expansion of the network to cover what was once the old NERV base in the area. They were… average was really the only word to describe them, fairly passable in their looks, varied though they were, all wearing coveralls with some company logo or another, likely contracting with KREDIT. The men were clearly familiar with each other, the one in the middle of the three giving his companion on the left a gentle smack on the shoulder as they conversed.
Then, the first man popped, a shower of LCL seemingly erupting from the man's clothes as they went fluttering to the ground away from the other man's hand. The two men looked at each other, stunned into silence and with horror in their eyes.
The man to the left on the screen then popped without another word, the final man, who had been between his compatriots, beginning a dead sprint towards the still active part of the perimeter. As he drew close to the camera, one could see his eyes clearly. They were the first part of him to become LCL or at least the first visible part, the rest of him following all too quickly after as his quickly emptying coveralls fell to the crystalline ground.
Ritsuko pressed pause on video as she looked around herself at the vast landscape that now stretched out before them, barren of the core material since the ACC Pillars activated. Now, it was rolling hills, some few buildings still left standing, and the object of the men in the video's task: a low, bunker-like outcropping made of concrete and rebar, which she knew would have the NERV logo painted on more than a few surfaces.
"It's a… messy way to go," Maya said beside her, her voice quiet and somber.
Ritsuko nodded. "Indeed it is."
She looked over at Doctor Lewis, looking over charts with one of his coworkers, a somewhat shorter, stouter man with a tan and dark brown hair whose coat also, coincidentally, tagged him as Dr. Lewis. Carter, she believed his given name was. "How long ago was the incident?"
Jacob looked up at Ritsuko. "About 2 and a half hours ago, ma'am. After that, we activated the new perimeter, cleared out the now safe core material, and started taking down the old ACC Pillars for use elsewhere."
"Did your Fuyutsuki detectors sense a spike in energy from beyond the ACC field?" Maya asked.
Jacob looked at Carter, who nodded after a moment looking down at his tablet. "Yep. Big spike about 6 or 7 hours ago. Detectors have been showing constant low-level activity since then."
"How long had they been out there for?" Ritsuko said as she motioned for them to follow her and Maya, the four of them beginning to walk back to the car.
"They were out there doing a final readiness check on the last ACC Pillar for the new perimeter," Jacob replied as they got into the car and Maya began to drive to the NERV building. "They were out for… 30 minutes. Maybe a little more than that."
Ritsuko nodded. It was like the entire world was participating in a massive Contact Experiment now. The thought left her distinctly uneasy. "I see. I'm familiar with such low-level exposure. I wouldn't recommend being in the core material for longer than that without some sort of protective suit. I'll have WILLE and KREDIT draft up a warning."
"It'll be out by the end of the day," Carter said with a firm nod.
"Good," Jacob said, making a note on his tablet before looking up. "Where are we going?"
"From what I can recall…" Ritsuko paused as she pulled out her smartphone and opened an old registry of NERV sites. "This is Storage Building C-418 of NERV's North America West Branch. We'll likely find some rather useful things within."
She looked back at the two Lewis'. "As tragic as these men's deaths are, they've likely provided us with what we need to continue the fight of rebuilding this world safely, along with what we need to do in order to keep other people from sharing their fate. They're to be commended and remembered for that."
"Will you need us there to assist you with anything?" Carter asked after a moment of silence. "The message can be composed while we're helping you…"
"No need," Ritsuko replied. "It's likely just a simple look through the base's files once we find the database, which is just a matter of us walking around and hacking our way through any obstacles. You can go on your way, and we'll request assistance as needed."
Carter nodded as they came to a stop in front of the bunker, set into a large hillside and likely running deep into the earth. As Ritsuko expected, the NERV logo, faded and patchy though it was, was prominently displayed on both the crew-size door and the far more massive cargo-sized door beside it.
Ritsuko waved the men off, thanking them for their help, and walked over to the crew door with Maya by her side. The woman shook her head as she sighed. "Young men. We're able to do this on our own well enough."
"Maybe so, Maya," Ritsuko said with a slight smile as she opened the door, the lock likely deactivated with the main power out, "but they mean well enough, in the end."
They walked through the darkened halls with flashlights and maps pulled up on their phones, the sight of their austere grey walls with a stripe of red at about waist height almost nostalgic. They gave such feelings little mind, however, as they stepped into what was supposed to be the head manager's office.
The place was covered in a thick layer of dust, the very act of opening the door sending up a cloud of it that caused both Ritsuko and Maya to cough for a few moments, waving their hands to clear the mist-like cover away. It was a similarly austere space compared to the hallways, the only things in the room were a desk, a chair, a few filing cabinets, and most important to them, a computer console atop the desk, bulky and seemingly well put together.
The two women crossed the room to the computer, Ritsuko making a call as Maya wiped off the dust from the screen and keyboard. "
Wunder? This is Vice Captain Akagi. I'm going to need a wireless power transmission to the central power plant at Storage Building C-418 and to the terminal at my current location."
"Acknowledged, Vice-Captain." the voice at the other end of the line said. "Power should be online in… about 5 minutes."
"Good to hear. Vice-Captain out." Ritsuko ended the call, returning the phone to her pocket as Maya continued to check the console for any physical damage.
"How much data corruption do you think we're going to be dealing with, Senpai?" Maya asked as she stood from under the desk, wiping off as much dust as she could from the screen and keyboard.
"Depending on if this computer was active during when power was cut off, what it might have been doing then, and what kind of security systems are in place in the servers in case of a sudden loss of power… I can't really say." Ritsuko said with a slight shrug. "We'll just have to roll with whatever comes."
"As we always have," Maya said with a slight smile.
That slight smile caused Ritsuko to smile in turn. "I'm impressed that you can smile after all that's happened… today I guess."
"Frankly, Ritsuko… I am too." Maya looked around for a moment before looking back at Ritsuko, her smile widening slightly. "And I've got to admit, doing this sort of thing, messing with a computer in the depths of NERV… it brings back memories. And hey, if that's the case, then this should be a breeze."
Ritsuko simply looked into Maya's eyes for a moment, taking in that bright optimism that was there from the start. That had drawn out the darkest secrets she held and gave her comfort as she faced them. The brightness of years past hadn't dimmed but had simply been diffused into a warm thing, full of confidence and surety that she showed so few people nowadays.
She found herself drawing closer. A part of her protested that they were on the job right now. Surely, this could wait. But another part, just that little bit louder, didn't care. It had been so long since they'd been alone, with little to no chance of being interrupted…
Then, she paused, a jolt of confusion racing through her brain as Maya put up a hand to stop her advance. "Maya? What's wrong?"
Maya opened her mouth, then closed it after a moment, shaking her head slightly. "It's something I want to talk about with you and Misato later."
She turned away, the smile gone and the warm brightness snuffed out. "After this, though. No sense in not getting this done before then."
Ritsuko's brow furrowed as she nodded, looking back to the still-dark computer, wondering for a moment what secrets lay within. "Does it have something to do with earlier today? Stopping Instrumentality?"
Maya nodded. "Yes."
That she did not elaborate worried Ritsuko even as the lights came on and the computer before them hummed to life, the tower beneath the desk kicking out a fair amount of dust as it booted up. She put the feelings she felt at the moment in the back of her mind as best she could.
"Alright, let's see what treasures we have in store for us…" she began as she took the keyboard and began to type, several menus and UIs going by quickly until they reached their goal: the main storage manifest. There was, unsurprisingly, a fair amount of corrupted data, missing numbers, letters, or even ridiculous symbols in their places.
"Let's see…" Ritsuko said quietly as they began to scroll through the manifest, scanning for anything of particular note. "Several different kinds of computer parts, that's nice. Ammunition for Pallet Rifles, a few Progressive Knives…"
She paused on a particular log entry, her eyes narrowing at how ridiculous it seemed. "There's no way there's that many…"
Maya leaned in closer, hovering over Ritsuko's shoulder, her eyes going wide. "7,894 ESV-10.25… Enchanted Shields of Virtue? When did they make that many? And what were we ever going to do with those?"
Ritsuko shook her head slightly. "Corrupted number, most likely. There's no way we could produce even half as many as it claims to hold. But even a small number of them would be exceptionally useful for integrating into ship defenses or Evangelion deployments."
"That's true." Maya paused for a moment. "And what iteration of the design were we on when Ramiel attacked?"
Ritsuko cupped her chin as she pondered. "I believe it was… iteration 9 we were on when the 6th Angel attacked." she paused, blinking as she looked back up at Maya. "What's Ramiel?"
Maya was silent for a moment before she bowed her head slightly, chuckling softly. "That's something from Daniel's friend. At least, so he said back then. All the Angels have names where he's from. Including a few that never showed up for us."
Ritsuko continued scanning through the document, then began searching for any manufacturing information on the Shields. "Should we be concerned? We have dealt with 13 Angels, after all. More coming now would be disastrous."
"No." The moment it took for her to answer, the timbre of her voice told her there was more to the word. "They were just substitutions, mostly. The 3rd Angel didn't exist for them, there was a giant whale Angel named Gaghiel, one they went into an active
volcano for, a giant spider that wept acid…"
"How do you remember all these?" Ritsuko interjected as she found something better than what she was looking for: actual blueprints of the current Shields of Virtue stored here. "And how can you be sure he's telling the truth? He lied to us about his background and life story."
"It's not hard to remember a description of an Angel, Ritsuko. And he's not the kind to lie without reason." Maya replied. "He was undercover. Trying to stop the people who sent those monsters after us during the concert. That all but proved that whoever he's fighting had people in our ranks. Some good people, sure, but more than a few who didn't blink an eye trying to kill us. Or their own."
Ritsuko finally paused uploading the schematics to the
Wunder's database, looking up at Maya. "Why don't I know any of this, Maya?"
Maya looked back at her, staring for what seemed like the longest time. "Because he knows us. He knows you, and me, and Misato, and almost everyone else from NERV, at least from another universe. He knows… he knew, rather, what would happen after Shinji woke up. What he would be driven to do. What we would do to the boy if Daniel and company didn't step in. So, naturally, he didn't trust us. At least, at first."
"Wait, you're saying that he…" Ritsuko scoffed as she stood from the console. "He knows what's coming? He knows how things will play out in this world, here and now?"
She stepped forward, feeling a spike of confusion and concern pierce her heart as Maya stepped back. "Why didn't you tell me, Maya?"
Maya was silent, then she sighed. "Like I said, it's something I want to talk with you and Misato about. I promise I'll bring up my concerns then. Okay?"
Her concern grew stronger as fear flickered to life in Ritsuko's heart, a flame that seemed to cause her gut to begin boiling. Even still though, she nodded. "Okay," she said quietly, pulling out her phone. "I'll make the call for people to get in here and start going over the storage area. Then I'll tell Misato you want to meet with her."
Maya finally smiled again, ever so slightly, and Ritsuko couldn't help but feel comforted by the sight of it. "Thank you, Senpai."
Ritsuko smiled in turn. "Of course, Kouhai."
. . .
Daniel Theisman, Worldstrider, Interfacer, a man who had, for the briefest of moments in the counting of Reality, been a god, still couldn't help but wonder as he looked up at the stars in the night sky. The feeling of possibility, of a place beyond this waiting for one brave enough to reach for it, still pulled at him as he sat outside the house that he'd shepherded the Children into, the same one he'd had his meeting in earlier tonight.
He'd left the kids to their devices, the last he'd seen of them being Rei continuing to read quietly to Ayanami, young Shinji talking to this world's Kaworu after having given the marble to him as both the older Shinji and Kaworu watched on, and the Asukas talking to Bradley. All of them sat on thick, fluffy sleeping bags that surrounded a light on a small stand that replaced the fire, each bag temperature controlled so that the humidity and heat of the night wouldn't get to them. It was especially handy when a few degree's difference could mean life or death.
'And yet, it all seems so… luxurious right now.' Daniel allowed himself a wry grin as he thought back to the empty one waiting for him.
'Almost like we're camping out here.'
He remembered camping. Back before he'd become anything like he was now. When he was just a normal man. It was a hazy thing at best now. He remembered the faces of his family as they did it. Those would never fade. But the locations themselves blurred together, mountain and forest and valley blending into a mess of heights and depths and backgrounds. It happened, with memories that far back. Sure, he could pull from his soul, that vessel that perfectly remembered all things, but doing so would take time and energy he had no desire to spend.
But the one thing he remembered without ever needing to think for any length of time was the stars. He always would.
He took a deep breath, taking in the smell of the sea, and an oncoming rain. The sky was exceptionally clear tonight, too. It was probably going to rain quite heavily tonight. The smell itself brought on memories as well, memories of another night sky on another world, with tall mountains, vast oceans, and deep forests.
And, as he reminisced, he began to
sing softly, an ancient tune only he knew here playing in his mind.
"Neyum arn urm,
Mynaþyaum vreyrai,
nerim dexji lem xedrim.
Mynaþya, kevelut jev himum rehov.
Ney, khon jev ki hur.
Ohr dexji heyr xama ðivouxi mahoum.
Ohr dexji heyr dimeri jifum lhumin…"
"What's that?"
Daniel looked at the doorway as the song trailed off, finding the older Shinji as he spoke, followed by Kaworu and the older Asuka. Just out of sight, the older Rei peeked beyond the doorway. He smiled slightly. "An old song, from an old life. How are the kids?"
The four Children began to exit the house, each taking a seat around him. "Well," Asuka began, "the Shikinamis are going to sleep together. It's actually terribly sweet. Rei put the Ayanami clone to bed as well once they got to a point where she felt they could pause."
"That it ended on Zeus calling it a night and retiring to bed is just a coincidence, I'm sure," Kaworu said with a slight smile.
Rei shrugged slightly. "Indeed so."
Daniel chuckled softly as he nodded, looking over at Shinji. "And what about your young double?"
Shinji sighed. "He's still talking with the other Kaworu. I think they'll be at it all night, frankly."
"And Kaworu himself?"
Shinji was silent for a moment before he sighed. "He's… a mess right now. Talking to the other Shinji helps somewhat, but he's a wreck in ways I don't think I can understand."
All eyes turned to Kaworu, who nodded. "He is in conflict with his nature. A nature entirely divorced from his being an Angel. I have little experience with such urges and desires as my mirror image here has, but I can at least provide some compassion and sympathy."
"And what happens if he decides that he's just got to be more sneaky the next time around instead of growing up and getting some friends?" Asuka asked with an arched brow.
"He won't," Daniel interjected, his voice quiet and contemplative. "I've made sure of that. Through young Shinji, we can show this world's Kaworu how important knowing more than just one person as a friend is."
The Children all nodded, and it was silent for a little while, Daniel returning to his vigil over the stars. "So, Bruder," Asuka finally asked quietly, "where did the song come from?"
Daniel nodded slightly. "It's an old hymn from Caladan, from long before House Atreides settled there. Paul's nursemaids used it as a lullaby to sing him to sleep when he was a baby." the words came as a whisper.
He chuckled softly. "Duncan and I were taken with it. We went so far as to learn the language and the song. Its title roughly translates to 'Wave and Waterdrop'. It's a plea, of sorts, to the sea and to storms, to give those who sing it rest and relief."
He paused as he looked to the east, and saw the clouds in the distance coalescing and coming toward them, utterly dark save for the flashes of lightning that arced through them. A quiet rumble echoed in the night, promising rain as the smell of it grew stronger. "And it seems like I've been answered," Daniel said after a moment, a small grin on his face.
He stood, the other kids standing with him. "No sense in stargazing when the only sight will be the rain hitting my eyes. Besides, sleeping in an actual house after all this time is terribly nice, really."
They went inside the house, all crawling into their sleeping bags and settling in as the light turned out, and the rain began to drum upon the roof, a comfortably familiar sound for most.
Daniel, nestled in his bag, still tossed and turned. The memories, now that he'd spoken of a few of them, came uninvited, one world flowing into another. And, as always, blood and screams and tears came with them. The eyes, unseen for now, seemed to try and crush him as they did every night. It would be worse if he went to sleep alone like this.
He wished that Eleanor was here. Now that Hamar'ramah was likely gone, she could soothe and support him whatever came without worrying much. But she was half a world away, too far out of reach without something to act like a bridge.
As he shifted to look out over the now still room, his eyes landed on the older Children, each holding hands and pressing their sleeping bags close. The sight, as much as it cheered him up, made a part of him ache.
He continued to scan the room, young Asuka and the Ayanami unit sleeping apart from each other, and young Shinji apart from them, surely still clutching the sanguine pearl that he'd given the boy.
He blinked as he realized that young Shinji was still awake, locking eyes with him as they looked at each other silently for a moment.
So as to not disturb the others, he lightly connected his soul to Shinji's.
"Hard to fall asleep, isn't it?" he said, a weary, jesting tone to the words.
As Shinji opened his mouth to answer, Daniel interrupted him.
"No need to speak. Just think clearly."
Young Shinji nodded.
"Yes. It is."
"I get it. The memories, the nightmares, all of it, waiting on the other side of consciousness. There's a lot to face."
"I wish I could just… stay awake. Like Asuka did."
"But you can't run away from them forever."
Young Shinji looked away, and Daniel could feel the sadness, the shame within the boy.
"That doesn't mean that you have to face it alone," he said, a soft assurance to his words.
"Just drift off. With our souls connected, I can help you bear the burden of whatever comes."
"What about you?" young Shinji asked, a clearly plaintive tone to his internal voice.
Daniel smiled slightly.
"I'll manage on my own. I have before. I can do it again."
Even still, the connection was assuring, as soothing as the rain above them as he finally closed his eyes, and steeled himself to safeguard young Shinji's rest.
. . .
Ritsuko couldn't help but ponder on the astonishing sight of what had been stored in the recently uncovered warehouse as they drove back toward the
Wunder.
The number of Enchanted Shields of Virtue, while still falling far under the number that the database had given them, greatly exceeded their expectations.
Long rows of the massive, slab-like constructs, unpainted grays and whites stretching out before them, were sequestered within the main warehouse portion of the building. And, far beyond the rather bland description of the facility, it had the means, if not the current capability, to produce more of everything that it held within.
'85 Shields in all… what a boon for the fleet. And for our Evas. The detachable shield is going to be useful for combat encounters if we can somehow store a few of them aboard the Wunder.'
Which brought her back to the present, as they came to a stop in front of the
Wunder itself, getting out of the car and walking up the ramp back into its depths. Sparks flew, falling in great torrents at the front of the ship, and flickering across the rest of the body of the habitable portion of the vessel. Two massive cranes lifted the mangled turrets from the arm of the ship where they lay, the scraping sound intermittently grating at her like iron nails across a chalkboard.
She looked over at Maya as she came to her side, and that anxiety that she had kept tamped down as best she could in the time since their… confrontation, so to speak, began to roil again. Maya had that look of… determination in her eyes. More often than not, that determination had been aimed at her in a positive way, to lift her from the darkest parts of herself. Now though, those eyes, seeming almost to gleam, were set in firmness, yes, but also against fear. She was afraid of what she might be doing.
'What's going on?' she wondered as she looked up at Misato and Ryoji, noting Major (it was strange to refer to her as such) Eleanor Theisman standing beside them.
'What does she have to do with any of this?'
The five of them retreated into the ship in near silence, the sounds and clamor of what was going on above and around them dimming to a muted rumble before Maya and Mrs. Theisman ushered the group into a secluded mess hall. There were no others there waiting for them.
"Maya," Ritsuko finally said as they all sat down at the nearest table, "what's going on? What have you been wanting to talk to all of us about?"
Maya took a deep breath, casting a glance around the table at all of them. "It has to do with what happened earlier today. And what led up to it, ever since we started putting those damned collars on all of the pilots."
Ritsuko blinked in shock, speechless for the moment as Maya continued. "We started putting those collars on children, and we stopped caring about them as people. They're tools to us now."
"They're dangerous, Maya." Ritsuko finally said as she got her wits about her. "Any one of them can end the world just like Shinji Ikari tried to do today."
"Maybe so." Maya retorted. "But as long as they have someone who's willing to guide them and support them, keep them from reaching a point where they would consider doing that, then we would never need the things in the first place. But they don't. They
need us. Not the captain and crew of this ship, they need people. Daniel Theisman realized that, and he began to act, however in the way we might have gotten."
"Maya," Ritsuko said, her head beginning to spin as she saw the recrimination, yet unspoken, that was in her student's eyes, "we can't put the comfort of a few children above keeping the planet safe. We already tried that, and-"
"No, Senpai!" Maya's outburst made whatever she was going to say next wither in her mouth. "They aren't tools! They were made tools,
we were made tools, by Commander Ikari. But that doesn't give you any right to continue that, on them or anyone!"
Ritsuko was indignant. "There's no way I'd do that to you! There's no way Misato could-"
"No."
Ritsuko stuttered to a halt, something she hadn't done in decades, as she turned to Misato. The word was quiet and could be almost contemplative if they weren't still so hollow. "She's right, Ritsuko. We went down the path Gendo Ikari cleared for us. We never questioned it for a moment. Not when you put a bomb around Asuka's throat. Not when you did it to Mari. Not when you did it to Shinji."
Ryoji remained silent, his face ashen as Misato shook her head. "We were… choking the life out of them."
'Choking the life out of them…'
Memories came to her, of a darkness that had poured forth from a screen, years and years ago. Memories of a security feed that had been found in the depths of NERV's database, sequestered away in what were Gendo's personal files. Memories of the woman who couldn't have been her mother… strangling Rei.
'I can't… I'm like her. Oh god, I'm just like her.'
She didn't know when she'd risen from her chair, or when Maya had risen from hers. But they both sat down slowly, Ritsuko not bothering to hide the horror in her eyes. "Maya…" she couldn't continue, the thoughts swirling through her mind on how she'd betrayed her student, her friend, the woman that she loved, to say nothing of the pilots and everyone else around them.
"But there's got to be a point to all this," Ryoji said. "I'm sure you wouldn't just call us all here to simply preach to us, as necessary as it might be. So what do you have to say to us?"
Maya took a deep breath. "I'm here to state my intentions. Myself, and all but Shigeru and Makoto from the main bridge duty shift, are going to be teleported back to Village-3 by Mrs. Theisman. We've said nothing in the past. That was our mistake. But a line needs to be drawn somewhere. Now, we have to show you that we think there's a better path."
Ritsuko's eyes went wide, and she looked over at Misato and Ryoji. Misato was at once aghast and somehow resigned, while Ryoji… Ryoji seemed like he'd almost expected the thing to happen.
"Maya…" Ritsuko said, looking back at her friend. "You can't leave us yet. Not when the Paris operation's just waiting for us to be ready to execute it. Unit-02 and Unit-08 are depending on it, to say nothing about getting Paris itself back when we activate the Paris Branch's last chance."
Maya opened her mouth, then closed it, cupping her chin silently as she considered what Ritsuko had said. It was silent for long moments, Ritsuko glancing between Maya and Eleanor, wondering what the other woman, who had stayed silent this whole time, was thinking.
Then, Maya nodded as she sighed quietly. "Alright, then. We'll stay on for the Paris operation, then leave when it's concluded."
"Thank you, Maya," Ryoji said. "We really do appreciate your skills, and clearing Paris for people to return to will likely give us enough to do before you return."
"And we will return, Commander." Maya nodded, then looked over at Ritsuko. "When you next dock in Village-3, I think you'll all have had enough time to think."
With that, both Maya and Eleanor rose, Ritsuko, Misato, and Ryoji rising with them. "I'll be waiting, Senpai," Maya said, smiling slightly, even as tears welled in her eyes. "I promise."
