- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Particularly since they canonically have the specific power 'Write themselves into the local history as your ally and best buddy, and you believe it'.
Cast in Gold - Evangelion/Exalted
- Thread starter Shyft
- Start date
Chapter 41: Siege Part 1
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
So here I'm going to try an experiment, and go back to posting shorter sections, but aiming for 'Substantial movement and completed thoughts' instead of orphaned scenes like I did WAAAY back at the beginning. This experiment will probably last for the duration of the first act, and likely won't extend beyond the entire chapter. Alas, no italics, because this is still 2500 or so words.
--- Chapter 43: Siege ---
Even now as the dust settled, post-battle recovery was a well-worn routine. There were clear objectives and challenges that the work crews and technicians were all equipped to handle. Despite their obvious exhaustion, JSSDF jumped to do their part, and Shinji could see the tawny-coated men and women of the tiny NHIS cell starting to fuss over the collapsed Jet Alone, just visible over the tops of trees.
Civilians started to mill about the thinly forested Geofront interior, coming out from under cover as the adrenaline and the sounds of battle faded. They were quickly gathered up by medics and volunteers, finding some final surge of energy to get sorted before finally settling down. Unit-01 stood forgotten in the distance, and closer, the damaged face of Central Dogma's pyramid stood out from the center of the Geofront forest.
Tables, tents, remote consoles, first aid-kits and industrial tools piled up around them as the increasingly permanent Geofront residents threw themselves into getting things back together. All of that activity surrounded and insulated Shinji, the other pilots, and the senior command staff. From pilot to general, every move and glance demanded explanations, but at the moment, no one could even think to speak.
Shinji had found a seat in a cheap folding chair, with Ayumi on his lap. Her hands had clamped down around one wrist, hard enough to hurt, and while she stopped muttering, the shakes remained. He could ignore is own pain fairly easily, even his broken arm was a dull pressing ache at the moment. Quietly, he sank into a particular mode of thought, gently urging his inner reserve to the fore. The bruises beneath his wrecked suit were already starting to fade, and the bones would heal in time.
"Are we sure he's... Not one of them?" Even leaning against Rei, Asuka had a way of asking obvious questions; blunt, unadorned and fearless.
Still clad in her captured breastplate, Misato let a hand drift down to her holstered sidearm. The newcomer didn't seem to notice, or care. He smoothed back his fringe with one hand, fingers passing through the fiery silver disc hovering over his eyes. The tattoo man's attention slid from Nagisa to Kensuke, snorting faintly at the two older generals, and lingering with no small amount of interest on the girls present. He offered Misato a surprisingly white, toothy grin.
Shinji exhaled softly, giving Ayumi's side a reassuring squeeze before speaking. "I don't think he's one of them, they don't have-" He waved his hand at his brow, and this time willed the brand to ignite, shining sunfire gold and warming the cold air.
The sudden shining seemed to catch the man's eye, and he all but bounded over, speaking a mile a minute. And Shinji could not understand a word. The language sounded foreign in a way that defied description, alien almost, and Shinji wasn't alone. He gave the Exalt a helpless look, shrugging with his bad shoulder and ignoring the twinge of healing tendon.
Sniffing audibly, the man huffed, clearly trying to think of a solution. Shinji gently tugged his hand out of Ayumi's grip before pointing at himself. "Shinji."
Before their guest could reply, Rei picked up the idea and introduced herself, with Asuka following suit. The impromptu command group introduced themselves one by one, including generals Ishida and Kirishima. When it was finished, they all turned expectant eyes on the man with the silver tattoos.
He bowed then, arms spread wide and enunciating clearly. "Vand!"
* * *
With a vocabulary consisting entirely of offered names, the so-called Vand was extremely expressive. Exaggerated and boisterous, he ambled, gamboled, sauntered around the group with undisguised interest and happily ignoring the wordless questions and unvoiced demands from the two generals. Vand went around the group, matching faces to names, never once slipping or miss-remembering. The three lady-pilots plus Misato had gathered together on some subconscious whim, and Shinji could only watch, disbelieving. He sidled up to Rei and Asuka, practically oozing charm.
"Rei..." Vand all but purred, reaching out to tuck a lock of Rei's hair behind her ear.
She did not react, falling back into her almost instinctive icy facade. Apparently not discouraged, the man twisted adeptly and scooped Makinami's body-gloved hand up in his own, giving it squeeze. "Ma-Ah-ri~"
Vespa's pilot did respond, eyes shining behind her glasses and wriggling in place, clearly suppressing a squeal. Asuka shut him down before he tried with a baleful, one-eyed glare, but Vand just waggled his eyebrows and let out a laugh at her sudden flush. Misato was last in his little circuit, and Shinji almost dreaded what was coming. Vand's hand landed on the small of her back, pulling the woman forward but not quite hip to hip. There was a line, and Shinji could see how gleefully this man was dancing along it. Misato's cheeks turned red beneath the grit and sweat. She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes with one hand going for her weapon and the other hand drifting towards a bare bicep.
And then Vand was gone, three or more strides away and leaving Misato's curling fingers reaching for empty air, caught up in his flow. She blinked once, glancing down at the other girls before shrugging. "I have no idea what that was, but I think he just gave me the best compliment I've never heard."
Vand ignored Misato, focusing on Ayumi now. He crossed the distance, cutting between Ishida and Kirishima with a sly laugh. There was no flirting or easy humor in the man's eyes then. Slowly, he knelt down and caught Shinji's eye, clearly asking permission before turning to Ayumi. Shinji hugged the girl a little tighter, but gave the man a tight nod. Permission granted, Vand gently reaching out to touch the girl's brow.
There were a million questions buzzing in Shinji's mind, but one fact stuck out- Ayumi had met this man before, outside somewhere. Vand brushed his knuckles against the girl's face, and to Shinji's ears, sounded like he was reciting a nursery rhyme or lullaby. It was an odd, crooning little tune. She let out a watery giggle, and some of the tension Shinji could feel in her spine finally let go.
"Alright- Va-nd?" Misato hesitated over the man's name, stepping between the tables and chairs around the ad-hoc field command tent, reaching up to lay a hand on his shoulder. When he stood up and carried her with him, it clicked into place just how tall he was- tall as Shinji himself.
As Vand spun in place and guided her hand , Shinji could see the flash of red on her palm just before she did. Misato sucked in a quick breath, eyes wide at the tiny cut on her hand. By the time her hand reached her pistol, Vand leaned in and licked the wound closed, fully healed as if it had never been. She yanked her hand free from his, snarling sharply. Vand raised his hands with palms forward, and now they could see the gleaming liquid silver claws on his fingers. He shot Misato an apologetic grin and somehow banished the claws, while a wet line of red dripped down his lower lip. The smear of red vanished under his tongue.
"This is only going to last about an hour so before I forget- sorry-" His accent was notable, unmistakable in fact. But he spoke clearly, in oddly Misato-ish Japanese. "So you told me your names, but I'd love to know more about you all. Also- have any of you by chance heard of Creation?"
* * *
Out and out magical bullshit!
Everyone beneath the command tent save for their new weasel-man were all... Asuka wasn't even sure what she wanted to think. No one was talking, that was for damned sure. She was tired, sore, her hair was sticky with dried LCL, and Asuka was absolutely certain that she was the best off out of the whole mess. She glanced across a table to see Misato brace herself on the edge with both hands. Bloody scrapes and scratches covered her from head to toe, despite the lustrous armor and her own tactical webbing. The pilots- even Makinami were in better shape, save Shinji.
There was however the other concern. This man had gained full competency in at least one language from drinking Misato's blood. Maybe there was some middle step she missed, but it seemed pretty to clear to her that blood in led to language out. Asuka moaned inwardly, suffering and silent even as she leaned more heavily on Rei. She had the worst case of LCL in her ears since... Ever, and it was throwing her balance off something fierce. Rei only smiled out the edge of her mouth and hugged her side a little more firmly.
"So, re-introductions!" The weasel-man declared, accent still unmistakably thick. "I am Vand by name, Carries-The-Storm by deed. My brother's here too, but he's shy. My earlier question stands though."
The generals weren't up for handling today's level of bullshit, and being honest with herself, neither was Asuka. She glanced over at Shinji, firmly trying to quiet down roiling boil of guilt and horror. She was going to have nightmares about it, she was sure. Meanwhile, Makinami was muttering to herself, red-faced and mouthing the word brother, with a clear silent question on her lips. Asuka couldn't stop the eye-roll, or the hopeless prayer for something to save her from hormonal fools.
Deciding to nip that one in the bud, Asuka huffed. "Who's this 'we'? How many of you are there, or are we talking imaginary friends?"
"You're a gutsy sweetheart, aren't you? But where I come from, anything imaginary is likely to take a finger for the offense, so for your sake we'd best hope not!"
To that, Asuka could only cross her arms and snort. "Hrmph."
Misato, fortunately, was on-top of things as usual, even if she glanced at her healed hand with more than a little apprehension. "Do you mean the act of creation or..."
The moment she said it, everyone around seemed to get what Vand was getting at. The exact biblical phrase eluded her, but Creation implied world. For all the talk of NERV and Angels and whatever else it used for branding, Asuka knew that it was mostly institutional humor and the like. Angels were just a code-name for whatever the enemy was, not actual divine messengers or whatnot. She had to admit that it was a bit of a leap, but after everything they'd seen, how he asked the question implied volumes.
Vand seemed to get it too, scratching the back of his head. He glanced around the Geofront interior, eyes notably swinging up to peer past the tent flap, before whistling at the hanging cityscape. "Answer's that, I guess. I am really far out there then."
"Question." Rei's voice cut through the sounds of recovery operations despite its softness. "You have a brand on your brow like Shinji- so what are you?"
"Oh- huh. Well, no screaming about 'skin-changing demons' is pretty refreshing." Vand seemed surprised, before waving a hand at Shinji. "Your Shinji is clearly a Solar, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. I'm a different beast," His smile turned unexpectedly toothy, "- A Lunar, Chosen of the Silver Lady by the sign of the Full Moon."
Asuka groaned, this time out loud. "Of course there are more gods..."
"Hey, Asuka." Shinji raised his free hand and waved her over, incidentally keeping her from following that particular thought too far. "Come over here?"
Still off-kilter, she tried walking on her own, but too many errant crates and chair legs led to more than a few helping hands. Halfway across the tent, Misato took over for Rei and helped her over, and Shinji sighed. Ayumi shot her a sympathetic look, even now looking a lot more composed since... Everything.
"Yeah- something is wrong. Your balance is all messed up for some reason." He met her uncovered eye with his own, seemingly willing to let things lie for the moment. "When I get set up for triage, check I with me and I'll get you sorted?"
"I will, thanks." Asuka let out a deep gusty breath herself, before finding a chair and settling down next to him and his girlfriend. Without looking, Asuka gave Ayumi a playful slug on the arm. "You were pretty badass today. I'm sorry."
Saneda didn't speak, only giving her a wan, shaky smile. She did have the decency to rub her arm like it hurt.
A pair of hands met cheeks, and Misato dragged her fingers down her face, stretching her eyelids as she went. "Uugh. Okay. As great and interesting as this all is, we need to secure our perimeter, call off the pattern blue and get set for triage. Shinji, I don't want to ask you, but you're one of our best medics so..."
Shinji waved his broken arm, giving Saneda a light, reassuring squeeze as he did. "I was in worse shape after the cyborgs, and I've been putting myself back together this whole time. I'm good to go."
Misato nodded, before gently ordering most of her pilots to hit the showers and find a place to take a break. Makinami swanned off with a jaunty wave, ponytails bobbing lightly. Misato then turned to Vand, who had for the moment stopped talking and moving. His eyes snapped up from below Misato's waist line before settling back somewhere north of her collarbone, pointedly ignoring her quirked eyebrow.
"Vand or whatever your name-title is. Don't leave the Geofront." She waved at the domed ceiling, just so he knew what she was talking about. "We'll deal with you later."
The blue-haired man just winked at her. "I never refuse a beautiful woman. Though in an hour I'll need another taste or two of the local flavor, if we want to keep talking."
Leaning around his girlfriend, Shinji caught Asuka's eye. "This is the part where you say 'that is such utter bullshit', right?"
--- Chapter 43: Siege ---
Even now as the dust settled, post-battle recovery was a well-worn routine. There were clear objectives and challenges that the work crews and technicians were all equipped to handle. Despite their obvious exhaustion, JSSDF jumped to do their part, and Shinji could see the tawny-coated men and women of the tiny NHIS cell starting to fuss over the collapsed Jet Alone, just visible over the tops of trees.
Civilians started to mill about the thinly forested Geofront interior, coming out from under cover as the adrenaline and the sounds of battle faded. They were quickly gathered up by medics and volunteers, finding some final surge of energy to get sorted before finally settling down. Unit-01 stood forgotten in the distance, and closer, the damaged face of Central Dogma's pyramid stood out from the center of the Geofront forest.
Tables, tents, remote consoles, first aid-kits and industrial tools piled up around them as the increasingly permanent Geofront residents threw themselves into getting things back together. All of that activity surrounded and insulated Shinji, the other pilots, and the senior command staff. From pilot to general, every move and glance demanded explanations, but at the moment, no one could even think to speak.
Shinji had found a seat in a cheap folding chair, with Ayumi on his lap. Her hands had clamped down around one wrist, hard enough to hurt, and while she stopped muttering, the shakes remained. He could ignore is own pain fairly easily, even his broken arm was a dull pressing ache at the moment. Quietly, he sank into a particular mode of thought, gently urging his inner reserve to the fore. The bruises beneath his wrecked suit were already starting to fade, and the bones would heal in time.
"Are we sure he's... Not one of them?" Even leaning against Rei, Asuka had a way of asking obvious questions; blunt, unadorned and fearless.
Still clad in her captured breastplate, Misato let a hand drift down to her holstered sidearm. The newcomer didn't seem to notice, or care. He smoothed back his fringe with one hand, fingers passing through the fiery silver disc hovering over his eyes. The tattoo man's attention slid from Nagisa to Kensuke, snorting faintly at the two older generals, and lingering with no small amount of interest on the girls present. He offered Misato a surprisingly white, toothy grin.
Shinji exhaled softly, giving Ayumi's side a reassuring squeeze before speaking. "I don't think he's one of them, they don't have-" He waved his hand at his brow, and this time willed the brand to ignite, shining sunfire gold and warming the cold air.
The sudden shining seemed to catch the man's eye, and he all but bounded over, speaking a mile a minute. And Shinji could not understand a word. The language sounded foreign in a way that defied description, alien almost, and Shinji wasn't alone. He gave the Exalt a helpless look, shrugging with his bad shoulder and ignoring the twinge of healing tendon.
Sniffing audibly, the man huffed, clearly trying to think of a solution. Shinji gently tugged his hand out of Ayumi's grip before pointing at himself. "Shinji."
Before their guest could reply, Rei picked up the idea and introduced herself, with Asuka following suit. The impromptu command group introduced themselves one by one, including generals Ishida and Kirishima. When it was finished, they all turned expectant eyes on the man with the silver tattoos.
He bowed then, arms spread wide and enunciating clearly. "Vand!"
* * *
With a vocabulary consisting entirely of offered names, the so-called Vand was extremely expressive. Exaggerated and boisterous, he ambled, gamboled, sauntered around the group with undisguised interest and happily ignoring the wordless questions and unvoiced demands from the two generals. Vand went around the group, matching faces to names, never once slipping or miss-remembering. The three lady-pilots plus Misato had gathered together on some subconscious whim, and Shinji could only watch, disbelieving. He sidled up to Rei and Asuka, practically oozing charm.
"Rei..." Vand all but purred, reaching out to tuck a lock of Rei's hair behind her ear.
She did not react, falling back into her almost instinctive icy facade. Apparently not discouraged, the man twisted adeptly and scooped Makinami's body-gloved hand up in his own, giving it squeeze. "Ma-Ah-ri~"
Vespa's pilot did respond, eyes shining behind her glasses and wriggling in place, clearly suppressing a squeal. Asuka shut him down before he tried with a baleful, one-eyed glare, but Vand just waggled his eyebrows and let out a laugh at her sudden flush. Misato was last in his little circuit, and Shinji almost dreaded what was coming. Vand's hand landed on the small of her back, pulling the woman forward but not quite hip to hip. There was a line, and Shinji could see how gleefully this man was dancing along it. Misato's cheeks turned red beneath the grit and sweat. She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes with one hand going for her weapon and the other hand drifting towards a bare bicep.
And then Vand was gone, three or more strides away and leaving Misato's curling fingers reaching for empty air, caught up in his flow. She blinked once, glancing down at the other girls before shrugging. "I have no idea what that was, but I think he just gave me the best compliment I've never heard."
Vand ignored Misato, focusing on Ayumi now. He crossed the distance, cutting between Ishida and Kirishima with a sly laugh. There was no flirting or easy humor in the man's eyes then. Slowly, he knelt down and caught Shinji's eye, clearly asking permission before turning to Ayumi. Shinji hugged the girl a little tighter, but gave the man a tight nod. Permission granted, Vand gently reaching out to touch the girl's brow.
There were a million questions buzzing in Shinji's mind, but one fact stuck out- Ayumi had met this man before, outside somewhere. Vand brushed his knuckles against the girl's face, and to Shinji's ears, sounded like he was reciting a nursery rhyme or lullaby. It was an odd, crooning little tune. She let out a watery giggle, and some of the tension Shinji could feel in her spine finally let go.
"Alright- Va-nd?" Misato hesitated over the man's name, stepping between the tables and chairs around the ad-hoc field command tent, reaching up to lay a hand on his shoulder. When he stood up and carried her with him, it clicked into place just how tall he was- tall as Shinji himself.
As Vand spun in place and guided her hand , Shinji could see the flash of red on her palm just before she did. Misato sucked in a quick breath, eyes wide at the tiny cut on her hand. By the time her hand reached her pistol, Vand leaned in and licked the wound closed, fully healed as if it had never been. She yanked her hand free from his, snarling sharply. Vand raised his hands with palms forward, and now they could see the gleaming liquid silver claws on his fingers. He shot Misato an apologetic grin and somehow banished the claws, while a wet line of red dripped down his lower lip. The smear of red vanished under his tongue.
"This is only going to last about an hour so before I forget- sorry-" His accent was notable, unmistakable in fact. But he spoke clearly, in oddly Misato-ish Japanese. "So you told me your names, but I'd love to know more about you all. Also- have any of you by chance heard of Creation?"
* * *
Out and out magical bullshit!
Everyone beneath the command tent save for their new weasel-man were all... Asuka wasn't even sure what she wanted to think. No one was talking, that was for damned sure. She was tired, sore, her hair was sticky with dried LCL, and Asuka was absolutely certain that she was the best off out of the whole mess. She glanced across a table to see Misato brace herself on the edge with both hands. Bloody scrapes and scratches covered her from head to toe, despite the lustrous armor and her own tactical webbing. The pilots- even Makinami were in better shape, save Shinji.
There was however the other concern. This man had gained full competency in at least one language from drinking Misato's blood. Maybe there was some middle step she missed, but it seemed pretty to clear to her that blood in led to language out. Asuka moaned inwardly, suffering and silent even as she leaned more heavily on Rei. She had the worst case of LCL in her ears since... Ever, and it was throwing her balance off something fierce. Rei only smiled out the edge of her mouth and hugged her side a little more firmly.
"So, re-introductions!" The weasel-man declared, accent still unmistakably thick. "I am Vand by name, Carries-The-Storm by deed. My brother's here too, but he's shy. My earlier question stands though."
The generals weren't up for handling today's level of bullshit, and being honest with herself, neither was Asuka. She glanced over at Shinji, firmly trying to quiet down roiling boil of guilt and horror. She was going to have nightmares about it, she was sure. Meanwhile, Makinami was muttering to herself, red-faced and mouthing the word brother, with a clear silent question on her lips. Asuka couldn't stop the eye-roll, or the hopeless prayer for something to save her from hormonal fools.
Deciding to nip that one in the bud, Asuka huffed. "Who's this 'we'? How many of you are there, or are we talking imaginary friends?"
"You're a gutsy sweetheart, aren't you? But where I come from, anything imaginary is likely to take a finger for the offense, so for your sake we'd best hope not!"
To that, Asuka could only cross her arms and snort. "Hrmph."
Misato, fortunately, was on-top of things as usual, even if she glanced at her healed hand with more than a little apprehension. "Do you mean the act of creation or..."
The moment she said it, everyone around seemed to get what Vand was getting at. The exact biblical phrase eluded her, but Creation implied world. For all the talk of NERV and Angels and whatever else it used for branding, Asuka knew that it was mostly institutional humor and the like. Angels were just a code-name for whatever the enemy was, not actual divine messengers or whatnot. She had to admit that it was a bit of a leap, but after everything they'd seen, how he asked the question implied volumes.
Vand seemed to get it too, scratching the back of his head. He glanced around the Geofront interior, eyes notably swinging up to peer past the tent flap, before whistling at the hanging cityscape. "Answer's that, I guess. I am really far out there then."
"Question." Rei's voice cut through the sounds of recovery operations despite its softness. "You have a brand on your brow like Shinji- so what are you?"
"Oh- huh. Well, no screaming about 'skin-changing demons' is pretty refreshing." Vand seemed surprised, before waving a hand at Shinji. "Your Shinji is clearly a Solar, Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. I'm a different beast," His smile turned unexpectedly toothy, "- A Lunar, Chosen of the Silver Lady by the sign of the Full Moon."
Asuka groaned, this time out loud. "Of course there are more gods..."
"Hey, Asuka." Shinji raised his free hand and waved her over, incidentally keeping her from following that particular thought too far. "Come over here?"
Still off-kilter, she tried walking on her own, but too many errant crates and chair legs led to more than a few helping hands. Halfway across the tent, Misato took over for Rei and helped her over, and Shinji sighed. Ayumi shot her a sympathetic look, even now looking a lot more composed since... Everything.
"Yeah- something is wrong. Your balance is all messed up for some reason." He met her uncovered eye with his own, seemingly willing to let things lie for the moment. "When I get set up for triage, check I with me and I'll get you sorted?"
"I will, thanks." Asuka let out a deep gusty breath herself, before finding a chair and settling down next to him and his girlfriend. Without looking, Asuka gave Ayumi a playful slug on the arm. "You were pretty badass today. I'm sorry."
Saneda didn't speak, only giving her a wan, shaky smile. She did have the decency to rub her arm like it hurt.
A pair of hands met cheeks, and Misato dragged her fingers down her face, stretching her eyelids as she went. "Uugh. Okay. As great and interesting as this all is, we need to secure our perimeter, call off the pattern blue and get set for triage. Shinji, I don't want to ask you, but you're one of our best medics so..."
Shinji waved his broken arm, giving Saneda a light, reassuring squeeze as he did. "I was in worse shape after the cyborgs, and I've been putting myself back together this whole time. I'm good to go."
Misato nodded, before gently ordering most of her pilots to hit the showers and find a place to take a break. Makinami swanned off with a jaunty wave, ponytails bobbing lightly. Misato then turned to Vand, who had for the moment stopped talking and moving. His eyes snapped up from below Misato's waist line before settling back somewhere north of her collarbone, pointedly ignoring her quirked eyebrow.
"Vand or whatever your name-title is. Don't leave the Geofront." She waved at the domed ceiling, just so he knew what she was talking about. "We'll deal with you later."
The blue-haired man just winked at her. "I never refuse a beautiful woman. Though in an hour I'll need another taste or two of the local flavor, if we want to keep talking."
Leaning around his girlfriend, Shinji caught Asuka's eye. "This is the part where you say 'that is such utter bullshit', right?"
Chapter 43: Siege Part 2
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
So today I am going to take the effort to put in italics- because this some of this section really does need them
* * *
She'd been down to the lowermost levels of NERV a handful of times, and every time, she went a bit deeper. She also regret it that much more. The secret vaults were understandable, and Ritsuko's private labs were strange if fine. The LCL manufacturing facility and its rusty destroyer were somewhat less comforting. A small part of her wondered just how they got it all the way down there. Granted, she also wondered about the battleship up in the Geofront's main lake.
The rest of her was just too damned tired to care. Two high-intensity combat missions across thirty-six hours was no easy job, and she wasn't twenty years old anymore. A whole list of aches, pains and bruises tugged at her from head to toe, but Misato could not stop right then. On top of the physical, there was the emotional. Misato couldn't call it coping, but she shoved all her lingering questions and fears about her kids aside for the moment. They and NERV need their Operations Director, not their big sister and friend.
Ritsuko had joined her almost the moment she entered Central Dogma, supplementing shaky legs with a crutch under one arm. The elevator headed for the bottom had a suspiciously red-stained floor, hastily mopped up not long ago.
Misato glanced up at her friend, and Ritsuko shook her head. "The Commander. He'll be laid up for a while. Kaji's in Terminal Dogma overseeing everything."
"Kaji?" Misato blinked owlishly. "Who allowed that?"
"I did." Ritsuko sucked on her teeth, visibly aching for a cigarette. "Fuyutsuki's better keeping the command staff focused, when you're not there."
Dropping swiftly, the elevator passed by the faint evidence of Shinji's hand at repair, before shifting onto a different track system and sliding further down. She'd missed the visit to Rei's... place, but Asuka had given her the overview after the fact. When the doors opened, Misato shot a glance at the odd, labyrinth-like complex that stretched out ahead. Ritsuko pointed with her crutch to the right, where flood lamps and the sound of construction equipment cut through the shadows.
Bakelite pooled in viscous flows, not quite set but hard enough to stand on. Most of the Evangelion graveyard was covered by the stuff, and Misato tried not to think about what graves she was walking over. Dead gods still dreamed, or something.
Ritsuko was talking, hobbling on a three-legged gait and leaving round crutch marks in the bakelite. "As far as we can tell, it's the same Angel that we caught in the MAGI last year. The SEELE infiltrators found one of my labs and broke it out of containment. Since then, we think it evolved into something like an extra-dimensional nanomachine entity."
Misato considered a handful of questions, but stopped when Ritsuko did. Hazard tape marked off a broad region of LCL, and inside the boundary, workers in hazard suits wielded liquid-nitrogen guns, hand-held grinders and jackhammers. They froze, cut and crushed the bakelite away bit by bit. Standing off to one side, Kaji turned away from the work to toss them both a half-hearted wave. A moment later, a sound leaked through the cracked material, and a lashing, impossible tendril shot out. Before Misato could even draw her sidearm, the cryoguns let out a blinding gust of icy mist, freezing the thing solid.
The blonde exhaled softly. "Still freaks me out when that happens. The Angel is still trying to get free, and has been converting the Bakelite into usable material. Fortunately, it can't really maintain its nanomachine form and stay immune to sudden temperature changes."
Misato crossed her arms beneath her breasts, fingertips brushing against the opaline filigree around her sides. "Angels are bullshit, Ritsuko, you know that."
"Yeah, but for now, this one is contained." She waved her hand at the crews pulling out sample boxes, stuffing the frozen parts before sealing them shut.
"Call off the pattern blue then." Misato sighed. "How are you doing Rits?"
"Pretty good, all things considered." Her friend smiled thinly, but it reached her eyes. "I have a theory that might lift your spirits."
That got her attention. "Yeah?"
Ritsuko called Kaji over before she started explaining, crutch-walking away from the work site and the sounds of cutting tools. "So we've been attacked on all sides by these things for almost four months now. Their logistics are unbelievable, personal abilities are outright superhuman, and their weapons are almost out of myth."
Kaji scratched the side of his head, but nodded. "We took the same humanities classes, Akagi, so I get you, but that doesn't sound very heartening."
Misato found herself nodding, but Ritsuko smiled despite it. "That's true- but think about it- they've had four months to break into the Geofront, and we know they want to. Or at least want us to think they do... But they don't. All logic indicates that they have every means and more than a few opportunities. So I have two theories, and admittedly one is awful."
"They're playing with us, like you said earlier." Misato figured out the worst theory without much prompting. "The other option?"
"I need to do some research, maybe some experiments, but if I'm right... I don't think it's a question of won't come into the Geofront." Ritsuko smiled a bit wider, eyes shining. "They can't."
* * *
Every kid in Tokyo-3 knew more or less how the Geofront was laid out, from the giant-robot fans to those who followed the geniuses and role models of their fields. Most of the Evangelion cages were in the roof, wedged between the retractable structures. The dome itself was a forest-full of arable land with a misty pine forest and its own lake. Sunlight was piped in from fiber optic cables and massive reflector dishes up on the surface.
The Geofront was nearly pitch black, save for floodlights at ground level and the dim red beacons that hung from the ceiling. There would be no sunlight for a long, long time. Or heat- without the reflectors, Ayumi and the other refugees could only huddle in the gradually warming interior complexes beneath the pyramid. There hadn't been time for preferential treatment, pilot's girlfriend or no. Not that Ayumi particularly cared about it either- she just wanted to know if her family was alive. The shakes from earlier hadn't fully stopped either, sending her teeth chattering.
People were getting organized, slowly but surely as they picked up means to identify each other. Tokyo-3 Municipal became the banner that all of the students, their families and school staff rallied beneath, and Ayumi found herself swept up in that direction. Pressed shoulder to shoulder and finding what places to sit where they could, the class representatives corralled their peers. They handed out clipboards with hastily printed questionnaires asking for their names, blood types and more. Computer records were out of the question for the foreseeable future, and for a lot of people, it was going to be the first and only way to find their families.
At first, she was sure the tight confines and crush of people would have put her right back in that cafeteria, but somehow, the dirt-smeared faces and splotches of blood and grit seemed friendlier, more honest and stronger than that. The shivers tapered down but not off, and Ayumi let herself breathe.
Blankets were handed out, along with styrofoam cups of steaming hot tea or instant noodles. Ayumi's stomach protested, painfully aware that she had not eaten anything for weeks. How that was possible, she had neither the strength nor inclination to think about, just that it was probably bad. Her limbs were rail thin, gaunt even, and she was absolutely sure she lost a cup-size or two. A little baggie was taped to the cup, along with a note. The little pills inside would settle her stomach and let her handle rich food even after going without. She stared at the off-white caplets for a long moment, and found herself drifting back to that impromptu party Shinji threw for Misato and Sorhyu.
Smiling despite herself, she tossed the pill back dry and dug in.
* * *
She'd progressed from 'water in her ears' to frustratingly bad vertigo about an hour ago, and all signs were pointing towards more to come. Asuka had found a bench in the ad-hoc infirmary and settled in for the long wait, wedged somewhere in between 'life-threatening' and 'urgent but stable care'. She let her view rove over the crowds of refugees, former POWs and injured soldiers milled around in long queues, while more and more of NERV's trained medical staff joined up with army medics. From her place in the growing tent-complex, she had a documentary view of it all.
People were pulled out of line, gently sorted and moved elsewhere with a quiet, urgent efficiency, and the louder shouts for supplies and specialists carried over the muted hustle of the malnourished and bloodied. While she wasn't in-line, Asuka knew her time was coming. She glanced to the side, out her working eye, watching the gradually building sunspot at the far end of the treatment area.
It had all felt so natural, a half-dozen hatchets she thought she'd buried where right there in her hand and begging to carve out his hide. Fresh nausea unrelated to her listing vision rolled over her innards in a heavy wave. Passion was one thing, being fiery was something she greatly enjoyed, especially in contrast to the sea of black and brown heads that surrounded her in Japan, but that height of fury and rage... Asuka shook her head and groaned, wanting no part of it.
With no horizon to really focus on, she considered a brief catnap, but even the thought of tilting over sent her stomach tumbling. Arms crossed over her middle, she tried thinking of something else, something productive. The other pilots were helping out with recovery, Misato was dealing with the Angel, their new weasel-friend was... doing weasel-things. She wasn't sure if she wanted to follow that thought any further.
Noonday sun cast long shadows from her legs, and she looked up to see Shinji offering her a hand up. He'd stripped out of his wrecked plugsuit in favor of sweatpants and surgical scrubs one size too small. Blood dotted the smock, but somehow that reassured her. When her hand wrapped around his, he pulled her up and helped her back towards his station. Tools and instruments spread out in arms reach along with trays of both fresh and bloodied bandages. She'd long since noticed that even if he could heal with a touch, he got more mileage out of using tools too.
There was a free-standing mirror on one of the rolling stainless-steel drawers, and the glimpse she caught of herself said more than she would've liked. LCL caked around her neck and the seal of her suit, while her hair was still a dingy, citrine-matted mess. Her two gathered tails were mussed up something fierce, with heavy tufts bunching up in a way that demanded brushing. And a shower. A long, long shower.
"I sent a runner for some of the supplies you brought back." He eased her onto a stool and started looking her over. His fingertips touched her neck, searching for and finding a pulse on the first try. "Soap, shampoo. There's a shower behind this station."
Guilt was the wrong word, but something made her tongue feel fat and useless, and she wanted to speak. "I-Thank-"
Asuka cut herself off with an aimless glare, scowling. After a few seconds, she tried again. "Are we going to... Not say anything?"
"I think we will. Should." Shinji smiled slightly, and the light from the disc over his brow made the lines of his face stand out a bit more under darker shadows. "Do we have to do it here, today?"
She let out a long, whispering breath. "We really don't. Work your magic Golden Boy."
Minutes passed in an increasingly comfortable silence, as he gently took stock of her symptoms and distinct lack of injuries. Aside from the increasingly mystified look on his face, there didn't seem to be anything obviously wrong. No concussion, damage or anything outstanding. All signs pointed to something being off though...
Her hackles rose, bunching up and up and up all along the back of her skull, no longer proverbial and right into a twitching muscle spasm. The shuddering sensation seemed to cling to the back and sides of her skull, and she felt her hair move. Whatever it was, Asuka's hands flew up to grab it, dreading the creeping nastiness that might've hitched a ride in her hair.
Sound thundered in her awareness, and she whirled in her seat to see the weasel-man standing behind her. "Don't do that! Scared me half to-oh god that is not sanitary at all!"
Vand blinked once, red-smeared tongue vanishing after he had licked a used bandage. Then he drawled in the thickest Kansai accent she'd ever heard. "Blood's free, not like he was using it. Are you alright?"
Spinning back in place, Asuka saw Shinji open his mouth to say something, but her hands were already buried in her stiff, matted hair. There was something beneath her fingers that did not belong. Her hands pawed around, but no matter what she felt, she could not fully register its shape save that it felt back. She was feeling something that could feel! She was feeling herself.
The runner Shinji had mentioned entered with a small bag full of hand-bottled soaps. Asuka all but stumbled off the stool and scooped the bag out of his unresisting hands, listing before Shinji caught her and half-carried her to the open-stall shower. He turned it on without a word, and small favors, it was hot. She didn't even bother with the plugsuit, just sticking her head under the spray before scrambling for the first bottle. Around her feet, Runny streamers of orange trickled down drainage channels, leaving her hair a darker red and plastered against her skull.
Something echoed in her skull as the droplets beat down on the top of her head, but she ignored that in favor of getting the dried LCL out of her hair. More sounds assaulted her from every direction- the gurgle of running water, or how it splashed on the ground, dripping from the ends of her sodden hair. Further away, men and women shouted for assistance or supplies, and something on her skull moved in response. Parts of her head were moving on their own.
"Ohgodohgodohgod-" Still sopping wet, she turned back for the mirror, doing her best not to run into anyone or anything important along the way.
It was a trip of maybe ten dizzying steps, but she was going to remember it for the rest of her life. He wasn't going full blast, but even standing a few steps away from Shinji was like being under noonday summer sun. Her hair steamed, fluffing out in lighter waves before her eyes. Tilting the mirror up, she reached back and yanked her headset off, breaking the central band in the process. Her two gathered tails of hair unfurled on their own, and rising out from the back and sides of her head were two red-covered, fuzzy triangles.
Cat ears.
* * *
She'd been down to the lowermost levels of NERV a handful of times, and every time, she went a bit deeper. She also regret it that much more. The secret vaults were understandable, and Ritsuko's private labs were strange if fine. The LCL manufacturing facility and its rusty destroyer were somewhat less comforting. A small part of her wondered just how they got it all the way down there. Granted, she also wondered about the battleship up in the Geofront's main lake.
The rest of her was just too damned tired to care. Two high-intensity combat missions across thirty-six hours was no easy job, and she wasn't twenty years old anymore. A whole list of aches, pains and bruises tugged at her from head to toe, but Misato could not stop right then. On top of the physical, there was the emotional. Misato couldn't call it coping, but she shoved all her lingering questions and fears about her kids aside for the moment. They and NERV need their Operations Director, not their big sister and friend.
Ritsuko had joined her almost the moment she entered Central Dogma, supplementing shaky legs with a crutch under one arm. The elevator headed for the bottom had a suspiciously red-stained floor, hastily mopped up not long ago.
Misato glanced up at her friend, and Ritsuko shook her head. "The Commander. He'll be laid up for a while. Kaji's in Terminal Dogma overseeing everything."
"Kaji?" Misato blinked owlishly. "Who allowed that?"
"I did." Ritsuko sucked on her teeth, visibly aching for a cigarette. "Fuyutsuki's better keeping the command staff focused, when you're not there."
Dropping swiftly, the elevator passed by the faint evidence of Shinji's hand at repair, before shifting onto a different track system and sliding further down. She'd missed the visit to Rei's... place, but Asuka had given her the overview after the fact. When the doors opened, Misato shot a glance at the odd, labyrinth-like complex that stretched out ahead. Ritsuko pointed with her crutch to the right, where flood lamps and the sound of construction equipment cut through the shadows.
Bakelite pooled in viscous flows, not quite set but hard enough to stand on. Most of the Evangelion graveyard was covered by the stuff, and Misato tried not to think about what graves she was walking over. Dead gods still dreamed, or something.
Ritsuko was talking, hobbling on a three-legged gait and leaving round crutch marks in the bakelite. "As far as we can tell, it's the same Angel that we caught in the MAGI last year. The SEELE infiltrators found one of my labs and broke it out of containment. Since then, we think it evolved into something like an extra-dimensional nanomachine entity."
Misato considered a handful of questions, but stopped when Ritsuko did. Hazard tape marked off a broad region of LCL, and inside the boundary, workers in hazard suits wielded liquid-nitrogen guns, hand-held grinders and jackhammers. They froze, cut and crushed the bakelite away bit by bit. Standing off to one side, Kaji turned away from the work to toss them both a half-hearted wave. A moment later, a sound leaked through the cracked material, and a lashing, impossible tendril shot out. Before Misato could even draw her sidearm, the cryoguns let out a blinding gust of icy mist, freezing the thing solid.
The blonde exhaled softly. "Still freaks me out when that happens. The Angel is still trying to get free, and has been converting the Bakelite into usable material. Fortunately, it can't really maintain its nanomachine form and stay immune to sudden temperature changes."
Misato crossed her arms beneath her breasts, fingertips brushing against the opaline filigree around her sides. "Angels are bullshit, Ritsuko, you know that."
"Yeah, but for now, this one is contained." She waved her hand at the crews pulling out sample boxes, stuffing the frozen parts before sealing them shut.
"Call off the pattern blue then." Misato sighed. "How are you doing Rits?"
"Pretty good, all things considered." Her friend smiled thinly, but it reached her eyes. "I have a theory that might lift your spirits."
That got her attention. "Yeah?"
Ritsuko called Kaji over before she started explaining, crutch-walking away from the work site and the sounds of cutting tools. "So we've been attacked on all sides by these things for almost four months now. Their logistics are unbelievable, personal abilities are outright superhuman, and their weapons are almost out of myth."
Kaji scratched the side of his head, but nodded. "We took the same humanities classes, Akagi, so I get you, but that doesn't sound very heartening."
Misato found herself nodding, but Ritsuko smiled despite it. "That's true- but think about it- they've had four months to break into the Geofront, and we know they want to. Or at least want us to think they do... But they don't. All logic indicates that they have every means and more than a few opportunities. So I have two theories, and admittedly one is awful."
"They're playing with us, like you said earlier." Misato figured out the worst theory without much prompting. "The other option?"
"I need to do some research, maybe some experiments, but if I'm right... I don't think it's a question of won't come into the Geofront." Ritsuko smiled a bit wider, eyes shining. "They can't."
* * *
Every kid in Tokyo-3 knew more or less how the Geofront was laid out, from the giant-robot fans to those who followed the geniuses and role models of their fields. Most of the Evangelion cages were in the roof, wedged between the retractable structures. The dome itself was a forest-full of arable land with a misty pine forest and its own lake. Sunlight was piped in from fiber optic cables and massive reflector dishes up on the surface.
The Geofront was nearly pitch black, save for floodlights at ground level and the dim red beacons that hung from the ceiling. There would be no sunlight for a long, long time. Or heat- without the reflectors, Ayumi and the other refugees could only huddle in the gradually warming interior complexes beneath the pyramid. There hadn't been time for preferential treatment, pilot's girlfriend or no. Not that Ayumi particularly cared about it either- she just wanted to know if her family was alive. The shakes from earlier hadn't fully stopped either, sending her teeth chattering.
People were getting organized, slowly but surely as they picked up means to identify each other. Tokyo-3 Municipal became the banner that all of the students, their families and school staff rallied beneath, and Ayumi found herself swept up in that direction. Pressed shoulder to shoulder and finding what places to sit where they could, the class representatives corralled their peers. They handed out clipboards with hastily printed questionnaires asking for their names, blood types and more. Computer records were out of the question for the foreseeable future, and for a lot of people, it was going to be the first and only way to find their families.
At first, she was sure the tight confines and crush of people would have put her right back in that cafeteria, but somehow, the dirt-smeared faces and splotches of blood and grit seemed friendlier, more honest and stronger than that. The shivers tapered down but not off, and Ayumi let herself breathe.
Blankets were handed out, along with styrofoam cups of steaming hot tea or instant noodles. Ayumi's stomach protested, painfully aware that she had not eaten anything for weeks. How that was possible, she had neither the strength nor inclination to think about, just that it was probably bad. Her limbs were rail thin, gaunt even, and she was absolutely sure she lost a cup-size or two. A little baggie was taped to the cup, along with a note. The little pills inside would settle her stomach and let her handle rich food even after going without. She stared at the off-white caplets for a long moment, and found herself drifting back to that impromptu party Shinji threw for Misato and Sorhyu.
Smiling despite herself, she tossed the pill back dry and dug in.
* * *
She'd progressed from 'water in her ears' to frustratingly bad vertigo about an hour ago, and all signs were pointing towards more to come. Asuka had found a bench in the ad-hoc infirmary and settled in for the long wait, wedged somewhere in between 'life-threatening' and 'urgent but stable care'. She let her view rove over the crowds of refugees, former POWs and injured soldiers milled around in long queues, while more and more of NERV's trained medical staff joined up with army medics. From her place in the growing tent-complex, she had a documentary view of it all.
People were pulled out of line, gently sorted and moved elsewhere with a quiet, urgent efficiency, and the louder shouts for supplies and specialists carried over the muted hustle of the malnourished and bloodied. While she wasn't in-line, Asuka knew her time was coming. She glanced to the side, out her working eye, watching the gradually building sunspot at the far end of the treatment area.
It had all felt so natural, a half-dozen hatchets she thought she'd buried where right there in her hand and begging to carve out his hide. Fresh nausea unrelated to her listing vision rolled over her innards in a heavy wave. Passion was one thing, being fiery was something she greatly enjoyed, especially in contrast to the sea of black and brown heads that surrounded her in Japan, but that height of fury and rage... Asuka shook her head and groaned, wanting no part of it.
With no horizon to really focus on, she considered a brief catnap, but even the thought of tilting over sent her stomach tumbling. Arms crossed over her middle, she tried thinking of something else, something productive. The other pilots were helping out with recovery, Misato was dealing with the Angel, their new weasel-friend was... doing weasel-things. She wasn't sure if she wanted to follow that thought any further.
Noonday sun cast long shadows from her legs, and she looked up to see Shinji offering her a hand up. He'd stripped out of his wrecked plugsuit in favor of sweatpants and surgical scrubs one size too small. Blood dotted the smock, but somehow that reassured her. When her hand wrapped around his, he pulled her up and helped her back towards his station. Tools and instruments spread out in arms reach along with trays of both fresh and bloodied bandages. She'd long since noticed that even if he could heal with a touch, he got more mileage out of using tools too.
There was a free-standing mirror on one of the rolling stainless-steel drawers, and the glimpse she caught of herself said more than she would've liked. LCL caked around her neck and the seal of her suit, while her hair was still a dingy, citrine-matted mess. Her two gathered tails were mussed up something fierce, with heavy tufts bunching up in a way that demanded brushing. And a shower. A long, long shower.
"I sent a runner for some of the supplies you brought back." He eased her onto a stool and started looking her over. His fingertips touched her neck, searching for and finding a pulse on the first try. "Soap, shampoo. There's a shower behind this station."
Guilt was the wrong word, but something made her tongue feel fat and useless, and she wanted to speak. "I-Thank-"
Asuka cut herself off with an aimless glare, scowling. After a few seconds, she tried again. "Are we going to... Not say anything?"
"I think we will. Should." Shinji smiled slightly, and the light from the disc over his brow made the lines of his face stand out a bit more under darker shadows. "Do we have to do it here, today?"
She let out a long, whispering breath. "We really don't. Work your magic Golden Boy."
Minutes passed in an increasingly comfortable silence, as he gently took stock of her symptoms and distinct lack of injuries. Aside from the increasingly mystified look on his face, there didn't seem to be anything obviously wrong. No concussion, damage or anything outstanding. All signs pointed to something being off though...
Her hackles rose, bunching up and up and up all along the back of her skull, no longer proverbial and right into a twitching muscle spasm. The shuddering sensation seemed to cling to the back and sides of her skull, and she felt her hair move. Whatever it was, Asuka's hands flew up to grab it, dreading the creeping nastiness that might've hitched a ride in her hair.
Sound thundered in her awareness, and she whirled in her seat to see the weasel-man standing behind her. "Don't do that! Scared me half to-oh god that is not sanitary at all!"
Vand blinked once, red-smeared tongue vanishing after he had licked a used bandage. Then he drawled in the thickest Kansai accent she'd ever heard. "Blood's free, not like he was using it. Are you alright?"
Spinning back in place, Asuka saw Shinji open his mouth to say something, but her hands were already buried in her stiff, matted hair. There was something beneath her fingers that did not belong. Her hands pawed around, but no matter what she felt, she could not fully register its shape save that it felt back. She was feeling something that could feel! She was feeling herself.
The runner Shinji had mentioned entered with a small bag full of hand-bottled soaps. Asuka all but stumbled off the stool and scooped the bag out of his unresisting hands, listing before Shinji caught her and half-carried her to the open-stall shower. He turned it on without a word, and small favors, it was hot. She didn't even bother with the plugsuit, just sticking her head under the spray before scrambling for the first bottle. Around her feet, Runny streamers of orange trickled down drainage channels, leaving her hair a darker red and plastered against her skull.
Something echoed in her skull as the droplets beat down on the top of her head, but she ignored that in favor of getting the dried LCL out of her hair. More sounds assaulted her from every direction- the gurgle of running water, or how it splashed on the ground, dripping from the ends of her sodden hair. Further away, men and women shouted for assistance or supplies, and something on her skull moved in response. Parts of her head were moving on their own.
"Ohgodohgodohgod-" Still sopping wet, she turned back for the mirror, doing her best not to run into anyone or anything important along the way.
It was a trip of maybe ten dizzying steps, but she was going to remember it for the rest of her life. He wasn't going full blast, but even standing a few steps away from Shinji was like being under noonday summer sun. Her hair steamed, fluffing out in lighter waves before her eyes. Tilting the mirror up, she reached back and yanked her headset off, breaking the central band in the process. Her two gathered tails of hair unfurled on their own, and rising out from the back and sides of her head were two red-covered, fuzzy triangles.
Cat ears.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
I am somehow unsurprised.
Robo Jesus
Your Mechanical Messiah
Rei is sure to find this both worrying and amusing. Oh gods, the bad jokes that will be told.
Bets on whether or not Asuka is Shinji's Lunar Mate?
Also, when does Vand explain about the Raksha?
Also, when does Vand explain about the Raksha?
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
Last edited:
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
I am hereby adding a new entry to the FAQ: Anyone who Exalts as a Lunar has an unmistakable visitation from Luna. There is no ambiguity. Animal Features != Lunar Exaltation
Remember, Creation is a setting where it is perfectly possible to encounter a lion-headed man, and he simply just has some lion-god ancestry.
As for your other question- when time permits.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
'Simply'.
- Location
- Really? This field is required?
You can't stop me thinking it! (Seriously, after that Gaghiel fight Asuka totally deserves an exaltation of some kind
)
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
While I would die laughing and it would tickle my little shipper's heart to see Asuka Exalt as Shinji's Lunar mate, I really doubt that's coming. Only one Exaltation here, the man said. (We've already made the 'Asuka is definitely the Chosen of the Unconquered Tsun, and that's plenty to match Shinji' jokes.You can't stop me thinking it! (Seriously, after that Gaghiel fight Asuka totally deserves an exaltation of some kind
)
Chapter 43: Siege Part 3
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Bit longer of a post today, but still digestible I hope
* * *
Clean clothes, a lukewarm shower and six hours thaumaturgy-induced sleep had Misato feeling something approaching useful. Normal or even good was a ways off. She pressed the heels of her hands into eyes, sighing. Generals Ishida and Kirishima didn't look much better, despite the pressed and smartly creased uniforms. The lines of their faces dragged down to the floor, with heavy baggy eyes following close behind. Of all of them, the Commander looked the best and worst. His NERV issue jacket was lint free, and his skin was as pale as it had always been.
His black slacks were tied off at the knee, and he let his hands lay flat on the wheelchair armrests.
The little room in Central Dogma was mostly unadorned, save for a cheap table, a broken coffee machine, and a small park's worth of reports. Recovery operations were still ongoing, but at last word, Misato knew they were on their way to total coverage. Aida and Ritsuko had trained enough 'specialists' in the magical warding techniques to build up primary and secondary lines of defense around all Geofront access points. It was by no means perfect, but every hour they had to fortify was in a very real sense, whole days left alone.
So right then, Misato needed to brief and be briefed on the situation unfolding in the Geofront. She reached for her hastily composed report- more a handwritten list really, before Ishida let out a sour grunt.
"Was our..." The wizened soldier tilted his chin at the taller, blue-haired man leaning against the wall. "Guest, invited?"
Misato kept the wince off her face, but she could see Gendo's eyes slide from her to Vand. The Lunar waved jauntily, flashing straight, white teeth and saying nothing. Misato got the message loud and clear- like we could stop him. Fortunately, he seemed civil and nominally on their side. Actions spoke louder than words, but she'd already made it known that the weasel man was to be watched, and taken down if he did anything untoward.
Finally ignoring Ishida's question, Misato sucked in a quick breath and got started. "I don't have exact numbers yet- we're working on getting a full headcount, but initial estimation says we've recovered about seventy-seven percent of Tokyo-3's permanent population. This includes a significant portion of our support staff who were off-duty at the time of the invasion."
"A miracle we got even that many." Kirishima muttered.
"It puts us in a strong position to fortify and recover after any future deployments." Misato scribbled a note to herself to follow up on psychological assessment. "We need people at work in the worst way, when they're ready and not one second sooner. The bad news is still pretty bad though."
The two generals urged her on with silent looks, and Misato matched their worried looks with one of her own. "Short of sending someone up, we have no remote observation above ground. We're pretty much blind down here, mushrooms."
Ishida nodded once, glancing from his seat toward Gendo and Vand before carrying on. "Between General Kirishima's forces and the war material my men brought in, we have to handle any reasonable conventional war. We've even got enough VTOLs for a full squadron. Akagi had her breakthrough yesterday, but I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Major."
He didn't need to explain, letting Misato read between the lines at her own pace. Until they had a way of engaging the enemy on advantageous terms, there was no point in committing regular soldiers and rifles against fairytale horrors. Considering what had happened during the rescue mission, she couldn't blame him. One hand drifted towards the cross around her chest, and she nodded. From this point on and possibly til the end, it was going to be an Evangelion campaign.
She circled that 'psychologist' note a second and third time, before writing both Shinji and Asuka's name. Especially after their little throw down, Misato was sure someone, somewhere thought her pilots were about ready to have a full-on meltdown. She had to make sure it wasn't an inquisition, but it had to happen, no matter what. The other three men were focusing on each other at the moment, with Vand still iding in the shadows.
"Commander Ikari, if you'll forgive my tone, is there anything you can offer?" Kirishima did a fair job of restraining his growl, but Misato could tell it was a near thing.
Elbows propped up on the arms of his chair, Gendo laced his fingers together over his face. It lost some of the effect when not behind a desk, but the casualness spoke volumes. "The Geofront is secure."
The silence that followed was heavy, and Misato found herself glancing down at his abbreviated legs. Gendo waited, almost daring the two soldiers to question his contribution. Granted Shinji would likely take care of it eventually, but last she heard, he was still working through critical cases. Asuka had been shifted over to Ritsuko's care, under observation for something related to the transformative wave. On the heels of that note, Asuka had put in a request to try for the Pacific Fleet. She didn't discard it out of hand, but attempting a long-range deployment under the current circumstances did not look good. Asuka herself knew as much, and said so in her request.
Before anyone else could speak up, the Commander continued. "Our research staff are working."
No aggrandizement, up-selling. A normal man would have boasted about the top minds and resources at his disposal, of how answers were coming. Misato knew the man well enough to say that if he had an answer, he would've given it, but the unadorned statement was oddly reassuring and completely in character. She trusted Ritsuko more than Gendo, however. Taking a look past her eyelashes, she wondered if Vand had picked up the language again or not. He hadn't said anything yet, but she could tell he was paying attention. To what, that Misato could not say.
Blowing air past her lips, Misato tucked her hair over her shoulders. "For now, we need to ready our defenses and take care of our wounded. As long as we keep up our guard, we can take a few days. I'm not sure how much of this we want to release to the public, but we've got more than half of Tokyo-3 outside right now. That's our people, right there."
Ishida and Kirishima both started speaking in turn, urging her to keep things circumspect. They both did not have the authority to gainsay her in the Geofront, even if the actual chains of command were starting to blur in the face of the invasion. Gendo was the one who broke the stalemate.
"Generals, Major." He didn't raise his voice, and even Vand seemed to perk up, pay closer attention. "Saying nothing is the same as saying we have nothing, and they will panic anyway. Disclose all that you can while maintaining discipline."
* * *
Responsibility chafed at her, weighed her down in a way that emotions or physical encumbrance had no meaningful comparison. Asuka was a casualty, in every sense that mattered, and Rei had been stuck with recovery efforts. When word had filtered through to the still-active Evangelions, no one blamed them for moving that much more quickly to see their tasks completed. Aida-kun stayed on to oversee the warding groups from his higher perspective. Asuka had been remanded to Ritsuko's direct care and supervision.
When Rei finally cleared the cages, pilot shower and made her way to the special-cases infirmary, she entered just as Misato stepped out of Shinji's embrace. The older woman glanced at the observation window and the MRI machine behind it. Asuka's bare feet poked out from beneath a hospital gown. Ritsuko manned the MRI console, setting the imager along its normal cycle.
Misato's voice had dropped to a low whisper. "How bad is she?"
Before Shinji could answer, Asuka's voice echoed lowly. "Get this fucking thing moving, Akagi. I need to know where my brain is."
Shinji smiled thinly, scratching the back of his head, tossing Rei an acknowledging nod. "Asuka is... Asuka-ing. As far as I can tell she's healthy, just... Changed."
"She swears more when she is upset." Rei noted. "The particulars of her condition?"
Shinji brought his hands up to his head in rough cup shapes. "She has real, functional cat ears, in addition to her normal human ears. Her sense of hearing has improved."
The window separating the MRI from the observation room rattled. "I heard that golden boy! ...proving your point goddammit."
Misato moved over to draw Rei into a hug, sinking her fingers into her still damp hair. Rei didn't really mind. They waited quietly as a monitor slowly printed a new image of Asuka's cranium and grey matter. No stranger to book knowledge, Rei had a strong grasp of what the human brain should have looked like. Asuka's brain was smaller, with complicated structures drawn through her skull allowing for the additional, expanded ear canals. Ritsuko gave Misato a wan sort of hand-waggle, good and bad.
"I was right-" Shinji's brand was out in full now. "Whatever happened, it's about as ideal a fusion between human and cat as I could think of. Everything's exactly where you'd expect..."
With the scan complete, Asuka stormed through the open door, grabbing Shinji by the collar and dragging him down to eye-level. Her new ears flattened out, practically vibrating. "I am not keeping these things!"
In his element, Shinji refused to be cowed. He broke her hold with ease and dropped his hands to her shoulders, looking her right in the eye. "And I'm not telling you to, but nothing is medically wrong. It's an adjustment, but we can all deal with it. You aren't alone."
Asuka did not cry, but she sniffled wetly regardless. Rei was there, sneaking under Shinji's arms and scooping the redhead up in a tight hug. "Not going to leave you."
The redhead wrapped her arms around Rei's middle and squeezed, hard enough to hurt, not that Rei cared. "You're not going to turn this into a joke, right? Not going to scratch my head and call me cute or anything dumb."
Misato added herself to the hug while Shinji stepped back to have a quiet word with Ritsuko. Their commanding officer's tone was light and warm. "You've always been cute, Asuka. Giving each other shit is a time-honored military tradition, but it's okay- we've got you."
"We are outside my field of expertise." Ritsuko admitted, offering Asuka the most apologetic smile she could. "But I... did own cats."
Rei blinked once, and saw Asuka's expression mirroring her own thoughts. Ritsuko's apartment was on the surface. Gently disengaging from Asuka, Rei eased forward and drew the scientist into a hug just for her. There was still some of that slight hesitance, the stiffness in Ritsuko's arms when she grappled with Rei's inherent Yui-ness, before folding her own arms around Rei's back. Misato joined a beat later, pressing her forehead against her longtime friend's.
Thoroughly supported, Ritsuko coughed lightly. "Well, my point is, I have some experience with cats and their ears. There are some future concerns, but I think Shinji and I can handle whatever comes."
"Appreciate it." Asuka murmured, one hand clutching her opposite arm, ears twitching asymmetrically. "Can we focus on something else. Clothes maybe? And what's next?"
Misato nodded, moving over to the console before pulling out a duffel bag. "Just the basics, and your jacket."
Beaming gratefully, Asuka dashed around the dividing wall to change, while Shinji raised his voice for everyone to hear. "Next up? Rest. Not joking. Almost all of us are burnt out after the past forty hours. I can go a few more days without sleep, but I don't want to push that either."
"That's not going to be easy." Misato noted. She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. "I'll build it into the rotations, but unless we want to rely on the pressure point trick..."
"Thaumaturgy is fine in moderation- "Ritsuko waved it off. "I have experiments to run and data to go over. I'll need Shinji when he's free."
"That reminds me- did they ever recover Melchior?" Misato turned as she spoke, honestly curious. She reached out and scooped Asuka up in a one-armed hug the second the girl returned, and Rei watched the new ears shift and flick under the embrace.
"Not yet- we think Melchior is still embedded in the nanocolony Angel's borrowed cyborg parts, though for all we know it was consumed weeks ago." Ritsuko shrugged. "Even if it wasn't, risks of angelic contamination..."
"Meaning we shouldn't get our hopes up." Shinji finished for her. "I'm going to take over for Kensuke and go over PenPen's notes, while we ward the Geofront to hell and back."
. "You-" He fixed them all with a dire, uncompromising stare. "are all going to rest, for at least twelve hours."
* * *
Now that he knew how to manage it, his method of ignoring sleep was perfectly safe and had only the slightest psychological impact. It was very tempting to stay up all night, off-shift from other people who would demand his attention. There were hundreds of little quirks like that, which Shinji realized set him just that much further apart from regular people. Fortunately, he'd really stopped caring about being different at some point and just decided being was challenge enough.
He'd ordered, or at least strenuously suggested that a significant portion of NERV's upper command staff and pilot corps take mandatory rest. The enemy hadn't seen fit to test their defenses yet, however. Once the worst of the injured were stabilized, he'd taken over for Kensuke just like he'd said, pointing the newest pilot to the showers and officer's quarters in Dogma without a word. Ritsuko had found the time to order the warding teams to set up more improvised soul cameras throughout the Geofront as well.
It was the first time he'd had a chance to see the latest model, though he was under the impression that the most dramatic changes were all in software. Something about Ritsuko having taught the MAGI thaumaturgy of some form or another. He believed it, but he definitely wanted to see it too. As for the camera, it really wasn't a camera so much as a highly compact and sophisticated sensor that tracked 'pattern types'. There was a resonance frequency in the macroscale about AT-fields that could be measured, so the existence of a soul had been proved fairly conclusively decades ago by Fuyutsuki-sensei.
The actual task of warding the Geofront wasn't something that needed his direct attention- he more was on-hand to troubleshoot specific issues with the Thaumaturgy, or to solve problems the regular crews ran into. As it stood, the actual task of warding the interior dome was daunting- they had to not only secure every known entrance, but start applying reinforcements both mundane and magical to the actual wall-structures themselves. Thousands of copies were run off, covering the procedures, and Ritsuko's trained staff quickly began instructing the actual warding teams on the defensive rituals.
No one questioned the inherent absurdity of an intelligent hot-springs penguin having derived and proven the formulas in real-world conditions.
One day passed into the next, and Shinji finally broke away from the defenses to check in on the vast recovery wards. Aside from the altered soldiers, everyone he could have stabilized was, and now only needed advanced treatment. His stomach churned faintly, not wanting to leave them hanging with lingering injuries. There was an unmistakable, psychological weight on the populace too, and he knew Misato was trying to round up some therapists to help them all work through the last few weeks.
He set that aside in favor of answering Ritsuko's page. He eased his way into her lab through the open door, dodging another technician as he left on some errand. Ritsuko was bent over one of the numerous consoles, coaxing answers out of the limited MAGI and chewing on an un-lit cigarette.
"Ritsuko-san." He took a seat next to her, but even then still was over a head taller. The other operators working nearby barely paid him any mind.
"I think you can just call me Ritsuko now, Shinji." She pushed her data onto the screen next to him. "I'm working on something of a hunch- think you could check my results?"
"Sure." He smiled slightly, though he was never particularly comfortable with the MAGI, or computers beyond the most basic of functions. That was more how he felt before- now if he wanted, he could likely design a computer...
Focusing on the screen, he hummed. "So it's a map of the Geofront... and this is a Pattern Green analysis?"
"That's correct." Ritsuko tapped a key and highlighted the open-air dome, before the graphics shifted to show an almost smokey pattern. "Specifically, this is your Pattern Green. If you hadn't heard, I discovered that we're actually seeing the reflection of whatever you do on our souls."
"So you're technically seeing the second-order effects of my magic... And theirs?" He pointed upwards, and she nodded.
"Not just theirs-" More key-presses changed the display, and a new color, cloud and heat map appeared, covering a bare fraction of the space Shinji had flooded over the years. "This is from our new friend, our... 'Carries-the-Storm'. I feel safe in calling him Pattern Silver or something, but it doesn't really matter."
Shinji nodded, before laying his hands on the console and punching in a few commands of his own. Raw data waited on his every need, now he just needed to interpret it. He saw the faint gleam of his brand start to shine in the monitor's reflection. "So what's your hunch?"
"The enemy tried to drill into the Geofront because I don't think they can just wave their hands and turn the armor layers to cheese." She pulled the cigarette out of her mouth and frowned at the mangled end. "I want to see if I can find out why."
"Did you find anything else about them from the pattern data?" Shinji started calling it up for himself, but he could still listen.
Ritsuko's face hardened slightly, before letting out a gusty sigh. "Not as much as I'd like- I'm starting to pick out recognizable, 'repeated' active events. Your techniques are starting to stand out for example, though in this case lets call them more 'afterimages'. The weasel's leaving them behind as well. I've seen several separate entities invoke the same basic principles... Oh I am a moron."
Shinji looked up, frowning. Then he registered what she said, quickly drawing the same conclusion she did. "I missed it myself- my techniques are discrete and identifiable. Even before that similarity, they're still using whatever... 'Pattern Green' Vand and I use..."
He slapped his face into his palm and dragged his hand down. "We knew it was magic, but we kept forgetting to ask if it was the same as my magic."
"It's really not the same, but similar. And Vand said something about a so-called Creation, though the specifics we're fairly unclear on." Ritsuko agreed, massaging her eyes beneath her glasses. "But we can safely assume that they came from where he comes from, meaning your Exaltation also came from this Creation, like... some form of magic-assembling engine."
"It'd be nice to know either way, but not really relevant..." Shinji admitted. "So there's some kind of commonality?"
"Right-" Ritsuko sucked in a deep, calming breath. "Same expression of magic used independently by different individuals at the same time in different locations. So there's a degree of standardization... maybe."
"It sounds reasonable." Shinji leaned back in his seat, nodding. "And Asuka never forgets to remind me that my powers feel too engineered to be naturally occurring. She said something about the babelfish once, and I had to agree with her."
After that, they lapsed into a fairly productive silence. Shinji quickly scrolled through the screen after screen of raw data and composed maps of the Geofront while Ritsuko started playing with pattern-recognition math. Working mostly on autopilot, Shinji couldn't help but take a moment to wonder at how he got here, working alongside a woman twice his age. One who was now essentially a peer. He outstripped her by far in medical knowledge outside her specialty, but by the same token, she was still superior in the computer sciences.
There was a pattern though in the data. Something tickled at his memory, and his eyes lit up in time with the brand on his brow shining brighter still. Ritsuko looked up, realization dawning on her face as well. As one, they brought up the map of the Geofront dome again, and Ritsuko entered a specific query. The answer came back almost immediately- there were only two sources of Pattern Green in the Geofront, and they had enough data to map both Shinij and Vand's movements both over time and space.
"It's just the two of us, and the enemy hasn't gotten in yet..." The memory nagged at him. It was something from months ago now, before even the cyborgs attacked. His eyes fell on the curve of the Geofront dome, and then it all clicked into place. "Ritsuko- can you derive the rest of the Geofront's structure from the part that's already excavated?"
She gave him an odd, speculative look, but nodded. He already knew the answer, but having her confirm it independently would be no small help. She plugged in the equations and let the computer run, revealing the result in a fraction of a second. Simple geometry was easy, after all. On the screen, the map of the Geofront complex expanded until the curves that marked out the ceiling swept down, then back inward to describe a circle. A perfect circle.
"Does this show the new sensors we put up around the dome yet? And do they detect anything through solid matter?"
"They should already be online, and yes- they wouldn't be very good sensors if they didn't." Ritsuko hummed, double-checking the system to confirm the new sensors were in place."
Shinji took over, quickly zooming in on the part of the dome that met the underground forest floor. The misty Pattern Green clouds penetrated the soil and rock, downward quite a ways... And then beyond the dome, nothing.
Ritsuko saw it too. "I was right. I was right!"
She stood up and threw her hands in the air, laughing wildly. Everyone else in the lab stopped, suddenly struck by the sight of their immediate superior dancing in place and beaming wildly. Ritsuko whipped off her glasses and pulled Shinji out of his seat before throwing her arms around him and squeezing as hard as she could.
"The Geofront is sacrosanct. There's something in here that's keeping all of your magic bottled up inside, and all of their magic locked outside!" She pointed to the screen, and how even though the 'top' of the Geofront was flat, the spherical boundary extended upwards almost all the way to the surface. Smiling, Shinji managed to gently hug her back before pushing her away with equal care.
While she calmed down, he eyed the monitors, mouth quirking down in a contemplating frown. "So... what's making it sacrosanct?"
The smile froze on Ritsuko's face, and her eyes went flat with horror. "Oh shit. Oh shit. It's the AT-field."
She turned back to the console, muttering about red filters and deactivating things that prevented false positives. The spherical map of the Geofront filled with solid, slightly pinkish red.
Ritsuko looked up at him and whispered. "Lilith."
* * *
Clean clothes, a lukewarm shower and six hours thaumaturgy-induced sleep had Misato feeling something approaching useful. Normal or even good was a ways off. She pressed the heels of her hands into eyes, sighing. Generals Ishida and Kirishima didn't look much better, despite the pressed and smartly creased uniforms. The lines of their faces dragged down to the floor, with heavy baggy eyes following close behind. Of all of them, the Commander looked the best and worst. His NERV issue jacket was lint free, and his skin was as pale as it had always been.
His black slacks were tied off at the knee, and he let his hands lay flat on the wheelchair armrests.
The little room in Central Dogma was mostly unadorned, save for a cheap table, a broken coffee machine, and a small park's worth of reports. Recovery operations were still ongoing, but at last word, Misato knew they were on their way to total coverage. Aida and Ritsuko had trained enough 'specialists' in the magical warding techniques to build up primary and secondary lines of defense around all Geofront access points. It was by no means perfect, but every hour they had to fortify was in a very real sense, whole days left alone.
So right then, Misato needed to brief and be briefed on the situation unfolding in the Geofront. She reached for her hastily composed report- more a handwritten list really, before Ishida let out a sour grunt.
"Was our..." The wizened soldier tilted his chin at the taller, blue-haired man leaning against the wall. "Guest, invited?"
Misato kept the wince off her face, but she could see Gendo's eyes slide from her to Vand. The Lunar waved jauntily, flashing straight, white teeth and saying nothing. Misato got the message loud and clear- like we could stop him. Fortunately, he seemed civil and nominally on their side. Actions spoke louder than words, but she'd already made it known that the weasel man was to be watched, and taken down if he did anything untoward.
Finally ignoring Ishida's question, Misato sucked in a quick breath and got started. "I don't have exact numbers yet- we're working on getting a full headcount, but initial estimation says we've recovered about seventy-seven percent of Tokyo-3's permanent population. This includes a significant portion of our support staff who were off-duty at the time of the invasion."
"A miracle we got even that many." Kirishima muttered.
"It puts us in a strong position to fortify and recover after any future deployments." Misato scribbled a note to herself to follow up on psychological assessment. "We need people at work in the worst way, when they're ready and not one second sooner. The bad news is still pretty bad though."
The two generals urged her on with silent looks, and Misato matched their worried looks with one of her own. "Short of sending someone up, we have no remote observation above ground. We're pretty much blind down here, mushrooms."
Ishida nodded once, glancing from his seat toward Gendo and Vand before carrying on. "Between General Kirishima's forces and the war material my men brought in, we have to handle any reasonable conventional war. We've even got enough VTOLs for a full squadron. Akagi had her breakthrough yesterday, but I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Major."
He didn't need to explain, letting Misato read between the lines at her own pace. Until they had a way of engaging the enemy on advantageous terms, there was no point in committing regular soldiers and rifles against fairytale horrors. Considering what had happened during the rescue mission, she couldn't blame him. One hand drifted towards the cross around her chest, and she nodded. From this point on and possibly til the end, it was going to be an Evangelion campaign.
She circled that 'psychologist' note a second and third time, before writing both Shinji and Asuka's name. Especially after their little throw down, Misato was sure someone, somewhere thought her pilots were about ready to have a full-on meltdown. She had to make sure it wasn't an inquisition, but it had to happen, no matter what. The other three men were focusing on each other at the moment, with Vand still iding in the shadows.
"Commander Ikari, if you'll forgive my tone, is there anything you can offer?" Kirishima did a fair job of restraining his growl, but Misato could tell it was a near thing.
Elbows propped up on the arms of his chair, Gendo laced his fingers together over his face. It lost some of the effect when not behind a desk, but the casualness spoke volumes. "The Geofront is secure."
The silence that followed was heavy, and Misato found herself glancing down at his abbreviated legs. Gendo waited, almost daring the two soldiers to question his contribution. Granted Shinji would likely take care of it eventually, but last she heard, he was still working through critical cases. Asuka had been shifted over to Ritsuko's care, under observation for something related to the transformative wave. On the heels of that note, Asuka had put in a request to try for the Pacific Fleet. She didn't discard it out of hand, but attempting a long-range deployment under the current circumstances did not look good. Asuka herself knew as much, and said so in her request.
Before anyone else could speak up, the Commander continued. "Our research staff are working."
No aggrandizement, up-selling. A normal man would have boasted about the top minds and resources at his disposal, of how answers were coming. Misato knew the man well enough to say that if he had an answer, he would've given it, but the unadorned statement was oddly reassuring and completely in character. She trusted Ritsuko more than Gendo, however. Taking a look past her eyelashes, she wondered if Vand had picked up the language again or not. He hadn't said anything yet, but she could tell he was paying attention. To what, that Misato could not say.
Blowing air past her lips, Misato tucked her hair over her shoulders. "For now, we need to ready our defenses and take care of our wounded. As long as we keep up our guard, we can take a few days. I'm not sure how much of this we want to release to the public, but we've got more than half of Tokyo-3 outside right now. That's our people, right there."
Ishida and Kirishima both started speaking in turn, urging her to keep things circumspect. They both did not have the authority to gainsay her in the Geofront, even if the actual chains of command were starting to blur in the face of the invasion. Gendo was the one who broke the stalemate.
"Generals, Major." He didn't raise his voice, and even Vand seemed to perk up, pay closer attention. "Saying nothing is the same as saying we have nothing, and they will panic anyway. Disclose all that you can while maintaining discipline."
* * *
Responsibility chafed at her, weighed her down in a way that emotions or physical encumbrance had no meaningful comparison. Asuka was a casualty, in every sense that mattered, and Rei had been stuck with recovery efforts. When word had filtered through to the still-active Evangelions, no one blamed them for moving that much more quickly to see their tasks completed. Aida-kun stayed on to oversee the warding groups from his higher perspective. Asuka had been remanded to Ritsuko's direct care and supervision.
When Rei finally cleared the cages, pilot shower and made her way to the special-cases infirmary, she entered just as Misato stepped out of Shinji's embrace. The older woman glanced at the observation window and the MRI machine behind it. Asuka's bare feet poked out from beneath a hospital gown. Ritsuko manned the MRI console, setting the imager along its normal cycle.
Misato's voice had dropped to a low whisper. "How bad is she?"
Before Shinji could answer, Asuka's voice echoed lowly. "Get this fucking thing moving, Akagi. I need to know where my brain is."
Shinji smiled thinly, scratching the back of his head, tossing Rei an acknowledging nod. "Asuka is... Asuka-ing. As far as I can tell she's healthy, just... Changed."
"She swears more when she is upset." Rei noted. "The particulars of her condition?"
Shinji brought his hands up to his head in rough cup shapes. "She has real, functional cat ears, in addition to her normal human ears. Her sense of hearing has improved."
The window separating the MRI from the observation room rattled. "I heard that golden boy! ...proving your point goddammit."
Misato moved over to draw Rei into a hug, sinking her fingers into her still damp hair. Rei didn't really mind. They waited quietly as a monitor slowly printed a new image of Asuka's cranium and grey matter. No stranger to book knowledge, Rei had a strong grasp of what the human brain should have looked like. Asuka's brain was smaller, with complicated structures drawn through her skull allowing for the additional, expanded ear canals. Ritsuko gave Misato a wan sort of hand-waggle, good and bad.
"I was right-" Shinji's brand was out in full now. "Whatever happened, it's about as ideal a fusion between human and cat as I could think of. Everything's exactly where you'd expect..."
With the scan complete, Asuka stormed through the open door, grabbing Shinji by the collar and dragging him down to eye-level. Her new ears flattened out, practically vibrating. "I am not keeping these things!"
In his element, Shinji refused to be cowed. He broke her hold with ease and dropped his hands to her shoulders, looking her right in the eye. "And I'm not telling you to, but nothing is medically wrong. It's an adjustment, but we can all deal with it. You aren't alone."
Asuka did not cry, but she sniffled wetly regardless. Rei was there, sneaking under Shinji's arms and scooping the redhead up in a tight hug. "Not going to leave you."
The redhead wrapped her arms around Rei's middle and squeezed, hard enough to hurt, not that Rei cared. "You're not going to turn this into a joke, right? Not going to scratch my head and call me cute or anything dumb."
Misato added herself to the hug while Shinji stepped back to have a quiet word with Ritsuko. Their commanding officer's tone was light and warm. "You've always been cute, Asuka. Giving each other shit is a time-honored military tradition, but it's okay- we've got you."
"We are outside my field of expertise." Ritsuko admitted, offering Asuka the most apologetic smile she could. "But I... did own cats."
Rei blinked once, and saw Asuka's expression mirroring her own thoughts. Ritsuko's apartment was on the surface. Gently disengaging from Asuka, Rei eased forward and drew the scientist into a hug just for her. There was still some of that slight hesitance, the stiffness in Ritsuko's arms when she grappled with Rei's inherent Yui-ness, before folding her own arms around Rei's back. Misato joined a beat later, pressing her forehead against her longtime friend's.
Thoroughly supported, Ritsuko coughed lightly. "Well, my point is, I have some experience with cats and their ears. There are some future concerns, but I think Shinji and I can handle whatever comes."
"Appreciate it." Asuka murmured, one hand clutching her opposite arm, ears twitching asymmetrically. "Can we focus on something else. Clothes maybe? And what's next?"
Misato nodded, moving over to the console before pulling out a duffel bag. "Just the basics, and your jacket."
Beaming gratefully, Asuka dashed around the dividing wall to change, while Shinji raised his voice for everyone to hear. "Next up? Rest. Not joking. Almost all of us are burnt out after the past forty hours. I can go a few more days without sleep, but I don't want to push that either."
"That's not going to be easy." Misato noted. She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. "I'll build it into the rotations, but unless we want to rely on the pressure point trick..."
"Thaumaturgy is fine in moderation- "Ritsuko waved it off. "I have experiments to run and data to go over. I'll need Shinji when he's free."
"That reminds me- did they ever recover Melchior?" Misato turned as she spoke, honestly curious. She reached out and scooped Asuka up in a one-armed hug the second the girl returned, and Rei watched the new ears shift and flick under the embrace.
"Not yet- we think Melchior is still embedded in the nanocolony Angel's borrowed cyborg parts, though for all we know it was consumed weeks ago." Ritsuko shrugged. "Even if it wasn't, risks of angelic contamination..."
"Meaning we shouldn't get our hopes up." Shinji finished for her. "I'm going to take over for Kensuke and go over PenPen's notes, while we ward the Geofront to hell and back."
. "You-" He fixed them all with a dire, uncompromising stare. "are all going to rest, for at least twelve hours."
* * *
Now that he knew how to manage it, his method of ignoring sleep was perfectly safe and had only the slightest psychological impact. It was very tempting to stay up all night, off-shift from other people who would demand his attention. There were hundreds of little quirks like that, which Shinji realized set him just that much further apart from regular people. Fortunately, he'd really stopped caring about being different at some point and just decided being was challenge enough.
He'd ordered, or at least strenuously suggested that a significant portion of NERV's upper command staff and pilot corps take mandatory rest. The enemy hadn't seen fit to test their defenses yet, however. Once the worst of the injured were stabilized, he'd taken over for Kensuke just like he'd said, pointing the newest pilot to the showers and officer's quarters in Dogma without a word. Ritsuko had found the time to order the warding teams to set up more improvised soul cameras throughout the Geofront as well.
It was the first time he'd had a chance to see the latest model, though he was under the impression that the most dramatic changes were all in software. Something about Ritsuko having taught the MAGI thaumaturgy of some form or another. He believed it, but he definitely wanted to see it too. As for the camera, it really wasn't a camera so much as a highly compact and sophisticated sensor that tracked 'pattern types'. There was a resonance frequency in the macroscale about AT-fields that could be measured, so the existence of a soul had been proved fairly conclusively decades ago by Fuyutsuki-sensei.
The actual task of warding the Geofront wasn't something that needed his direct attention- he more was on-hand to troubleshoot specific issues with the Thaumaturgy, or to solve problems the regular crews ran into. As it stood, the actual task of warding the interior dome was daunting- they had to not only secure every known entrance, but start applying reinforcements both mundane and magical to the actual wall-structures themselves. Thousands of copies were run off, covering the procedures, and Ritsuko's trained staff quickly began instructing the actual warding teams on the defensive rituals.
No one questioned the inherent absurdity of an intelligent hot-springs penguin having derived and proven the formulas in real-world conditions.
One day passed into the next, and Shinji finally broke away from the defenses to check in on the vast recovery wards. Aside from the altered soldiers, everyone he could have stabilized was, and now only needed advanced treatment. His stomach churned faintly, not wanting to leave them hanging with lingering injuries. There was an unmistakable, psychological weight on the populace too, and he knew Misato was trying to round up some therapists to help them all work through the last few weeks.
He set that aside in favor of answering Ritsuko's page. He eased his way into her lab through the open door, dodging another technician as he left on some errand. Ritsuko was bent over one of the numerous consoles, coaxing answers out of the limited MAGI and chewing on an un-lit cigarette.
"Ritsuko-san." He took a seat next to her, but even then still was over a head taller. The other operators working nearby barely paid him any mind.
"I think you can just call me Ritsuko now, Shinji." She pushed her data onto the screen next to him. "I'm working on something of a hunch- think you could check my results?"
"Sure." He smiled slightly, though he was never particularly comfortable with the MAGI, or computers beyond the most basic of functions. That was more how he felt before- now if he wanted, he could likely design a computer...
Focusing on the screen, he hummed. "So it's a map of the Geofront... and this is a Pattern Green analysis?"
"That's correct." Ritsuko tapped a key and highlighted the open-air dome, before the graphics shifted to show an almost smokey pattern. "Specifically, this is your Pattern Green. If you hadn't heard, I discovered that we're actually seeing the reflection of whatever you do on our souls."
"So you're technically seeing the second-order effects of my magic... And theirs?" He pointed upwards, and she nodded.
"Not just theirs-" More key-presses changed the display, and a new color, cloud and heat map appeared, covering a bare fraction of the space Shinji had flooded over the years. "This is from our new friend, our... 'Carries-the-Storm'. I feel safe in calling him Pattern Silver or something, but it doesn't really matter."
Shinji nodded, before laying his hands on the console and punching in a few commands of his own. Raw data waited on his every need, now he just needed to interpret it. He saw the faint gleam of his brand start to shine in the monitor's reflection. "So what's your hunch?"
"The enemy tried to drill into the Geofront because I don't think they can just wave their hands and turn the armor layers to cheese." She pulled the cigarette out of her mouth and frowned at the mangled end. "I want to see if I can find out why."
"Did you find anything else about them from the pattern data?" Shinji started calling it up for himself, but he could still listen.
Ritsuko's face hardened slightly, before letting out a gusty sigh. "Not as much as I'd like- I'm starting to pick out recognizable, 'repeated' active events. Your techniques are starting to stand out for example, though in this case lets call them more 'afterimages'. The weasel's leaving them behind as well. I've seen several separate entities invoke the same basic principles... Oh I am a moron."
Shinji looked up, frowning. Then he registered what she said, quickly drawing the same conclusion she did. "I missed it myself- my techniques are discrete and identifiable. Even before that similarity, they're still using whatever... 'Pattern Green' Vand and I use..."
He slapped his face into his palm and dragged his hand down. "We knew it was magic, but we kept forgetting to ask if it was the same as my magic."
"It's really not the same, but similar. And Vand said something about a so-called Creation, though the specifics we're fairly unclear on." Ritsuko agreed, massaging her eyes beneath her glasses. "But we can safely assume that they came from where he comes from, meaning your Exaltation also came from this Creation, like... some form of magic-assembling engine."
"It'd be nice to know either way, but not really relevant..." Shinji admitted. "So there's some kind of commonality?"
"Right-" Ritsuko sucked in a deep, calming breath. "Same expression of magic used independently by different individuals at the same time in different locations. So there's a degree of standardization... maybe."
"It sounds reasonable." Shinji leaned back in his seat, nodding. "And Asuka never forgets to remind me that my powers feel too engineered to be naturally occurring. She said something about the babelfish once, and I had to agree with her."
After that, they lapsed into a fairly productive silence. Shinji quickly scrolled through the screen after screen of raw data and composed maps of the Geofront while Ritsuko started playing with pattern-recognition math. Working mostly on autopilot, Shinji couldn't help but take a moment to wonder at how he got here, working alongside a woman twice his age. One who was now essentially a peer. He outstripped her by far in medical knowledge outside her specialty, but by the same token, she was still superior in the computer sciences.
There was a pattern though in the data. Something tickled at his memory, and his eyes lit up in time with the brand on his brow shining brighter still. Ritsuko looked up, realization dawning on her face as well. As one, they brought up the map of the Geofront dome again, and Ritsuko entered a specific query. The answer came back almost immediately- there were only two sources of Pattern Green in the Geofront, and they had enough data to map both Shinij and Vand's movements both over time and space.
"It's just the two of us, and the enemy hasn't gotten in yet..." The memory nagged at him. It was something from months ago now, before even the cyborgs attacked. His eyes fell on the curve of the Geofront dome, and then it all clicked into place. "Ritsuko- can you derive the rest of the Geofront's structure from the part that's already excavated?"
She gave him an odd, speculative look, but nodded. He already knew the answer, but having her confirm it independently would be no small help. She plugged in the equations and let the computer run, revealing the result in a fraction of a second. Simple geometry was easy, after all. On the screen, the map of the Geofront complex expanded until the curves that marked out the ceiling swept down, then back inward to describe a circle. A perfect circle.
"Does this show the new sensors we put up around the dome yet? And do they detect anything through solid matter?"
"They should already be online, and yes- they wouldn't be very good sensors if they didn't." Ritsuko hummed, double-checking the system to confirm the new sensors were in place."
Shinji took over, quickly zooming in on the part of the dome that met the underground forest floor. The misty Pattern Green clouds penetrated the soil and rock, downward quite a ways... And then beyond the dome, nothing.
Ritsuko saw it too. "I was right. I was right!"
She stood up and threw her hands in the air, laughing wildly. Everyone else in the lab stopped, suddenly struck by the sight of their immediate superior dancing in place and beaming wildly. Ritsuko whipped off her glasses and pulled Shinji out of his seat before throwing her arms around him and squeezing as hard as she could.
"The Geofront is sacrosanct. There's something in here that's keeping all of your magic bottled up inside, and all of their magic locked outside!" She pointed to the screen, and how even though the 'top' of the Geofront was flat, the spherical boundary extended upwards almost all the way to the surface. Smiling, Shinji managed to gently hug her back before pushing her away with equal care.
While she calmed down, he eyed the monitors, mouth quirking down in a contemplating frown. "So... what's making it sacrosanct?"
The smile froze on Ritsuko's face, and her eyes went flat with horror. "Oh shit. Oh shit. It's the AT-field."
She turned back to the console, muttering about red filters and deactivating things that prevented false positives. The spherical map of the Geofront filled with solid, slightly pinkish red.
Ritsuko looked up at him and whispered. "Lilith."
Last edited:
Still not sure why they haven't started questioning the Lunars yet.
At minimum you'd think they'd start compiling questions, and trying to figure out levels of importance.
For example 'do you know what the hell we're facing?'
At minimum you'd think they'd start compiling questions, and trying to figure out levels of importance.
For example 'do you know what the hell we're facing?'
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
I imagine it's because everyone is functioning on varying levels of *bwwuuuhh brain no function, need rest (and therapy)*
1701
Maybe, but I don't quite get that from the posts so far.
Yeah, I believe Misato and all are holding off until they get the rescuees sorted out, that they get enough rest to act rationally and not set off the potential bomb in their midst, and Shinji's available to cut through any magical tricks the Lunar does. And Shinji will want to treat the rescuees first, anyway.
Parselmaster
Silent Balancing Scale
- Location
- Mid-West, USA
Everything you write at any length is digestible to me. It's good.
Minor thing:
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Thanks @Parselmaster !
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Asuka, did you just burn yourself?
That's never going to be not weird...
The fact you're writing an Eva Fic is kind of a hint.
I have the oddest feeling that Rei is working through two things right now:
1. Whether or not she should do anything extra for her mice once Asuka comes back to housing.
2. Collecting as many cat-related double entendres that she can for when Asuka is in a better headspace.
And I did not realize that the PenPen rescue occurred before the rewrite until this update. Good to know.
1. Whether or not she should do anything extra for her mice once Asuka comes back to housing.
2. Collecting as many cat-related double entendres that she can for when Asuka is in a better headspace.
And I did not realize that the PenPen rescue occurred before the rewrite until this update. Good to know.
Chapter 43: Siege Part 4
- Location
- Gladstone, OR
Some real life issues have been kicking me in the face, but I have this here for you all.
* * *
Of all the revelations Shinji expected, that had not been one of them. Oh, he knew a smattering of the mythology. It was hard not to pick up on the ersatz-Judeo-Christian-Gnosticism mix that pervaded NERV. But above all else, Lilith, like the word 'Angel' itself, was just a code-name for something they only vaguely understood. In any case, he had practical problems to deal with, the least of which was mere injury, and among the greatest were the semi-responsive, soul-damaged victims NERV had managed to recover.
Tokyo-3 was by no means a large city, nothing like it's original namesake and vastly more populated than its decoy predecessor. In the recovery ward set aside for those too strangely hurt to treat, a dozen vast rooms housed over a thousand afflicted patients. There was a cold, humane calculus at work, something he hadn't been involved in deciding, but could see the utility. Every man, woman and child so affected had been put in chemically induced comas- ones that could be lifted, and in turn fed intravenously.
Food was going to be a concern, twelve months or so from now, so anything that kept supplies lasting longer was a positive in Shinji's mind. He'd seen hints of plans for LCL refinement processors, somehow turning the life-support suspension into a palatable nutrient slurry. From the abstract, it looked about as appetizing as eating congealed blood cakes. Fortunately they weren't dealing with that particular problem. Yet.
Walking through the rows of beds, Shinji glanced at their charts- checks were made at the start of every nurse's shift, and all trends were looking stable. No changes. Another shadow played across tile and bed, spilling through the ward. Shinji turned to face their new... guest. Vand, Carries-the-Storm. The other man eyed the beds one after the other, ignoring the sensors and readouts in favor of loud, nostril-flaring sniffs. Was he smelling something? Vand pulled his lips back with a snarl, hissing past his teeth as he reared back. Finally, he shook his head and ambled over to Shinji.
The older man raised his hands palms forward, showing silver-tipped claws and wiggling them intently. Shinji found himself rolling his eyes and offering a finger, after which Vand quickly nicked with a sharp motion and licked up the blood. Before he could speak, Shinji sighed. "You really need to pick up language or something."
"Working on it." Vand offered him a wan smirk. "Their dreams have been eaten."
"What?" Suddenly, every inch of his attention focused on Vand, eyes locked on and tracking. "Explain, rapidly."
"It's what they do- feasting on the dreams and souls." Vand reached out to touch the hand of a woman who could have recited her life story front to back, but did nothing but breathe without prompting. "They eat of us- we're more real than they are, and therefore delicious."
Shinji nodded, slowly, and his eyebrows furrowed. "And 'they'... What are they?"
The blue-haired man blinked once, twice. "You really don't know, huh? Lords of Chaos, eaters of dreams and mad kings of insanity. The cityfolk and bumpkin of Creation call them The Fair Folk."
Vand fell silent for what Shinji had to consider a suspiciously dramatic pause, and just when he was about to ask, Vand broke the silence with a word. Or maybe it was a hash of syllables. In any case, Vand uttered it with all due gravitas.
"Raksha."
Quietly, Shinji reached out to an intercom and punched in a particular code. "Yes. Misato? I think we need to hold a meeting. With everyone. Yes. Now."
* * *
NERV's central command center had been repaired since the ninja invasion, some months ago. The bullet casings and impact craters long since swept away and smoothed over. Only Melchior really carried the scars, and Ritsuko could stand in for that MAGI whenever a decision had to be made. Along the multiple levels, the surviving JSSDF staff took up one row of chairs, while Commander Ikari, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, and that cyborg Lorenz-san listened from another. Shinji stood with the other pilots, while Makinami-san and her handler from NHIS were there. Tokita, Shinji was pretty sure he was called.
Misato, Asuka and Rei were all massaging their temples, nearly in time. The throbbing pulse of a headache brought on by lack of sleep, if Shinji were to guess. Fortunately it was a problem he could solve. He reached out and silently asked permission, before quickly easing their pain with a quick pressure point manipulation. Normal people would have let the euphoria show on their faces, but those three were strong, hardened and sharpened by life.
"I don't think we can afford to spend all day asking questions." Misato began, fixing Vand with a steady look. "So we're just going to stick to the high notes here and follow up later. You're not going to cut and run on us, right?"
Vand bristled, having already taken another lick of Shinji's blood before their expanded meeting. "What kind of man do you take me for? Of course I'm not going to cut out on you."
Misato just gave him a curt nod, arms folded over her chest. "Right then. Basics. What are we fighting?"
The reply was fast, brief and somewhat unintelligible. "Raksha."
The handful of syllables made their round through the room, making about as much sense as any made-up word or phrase. Vand scratched the back of his head, smiling faintly. "Well- that's what they call themselves. It doesn't really translate into your tongue, and most people in Creation call them the Fair Folk."
Misato nodded slowly, and Shinji watched Asuka try to mutter quietly around the pronunciation. Kaji had tugged Ritsuko over to his side, whispering in urgent tones that Shinji didn't have to strain to hear. Something about anthropic principle and comparative mythology. The scratch and scrape of pen on paper blended in with the sound of key-presses, as analysts and aides took down every possible note they could.
Fuyutsuki-sensei leaned over the edge of the command platform, speaking for the other senior staffers. "So what are these 'Fair Folk'?"
Vand turned slowly in place, looking everyone in the eye as he spoke. He made it abundantly clear how he felt with every word and gesture. "Unreal horrors from beyond the shores of my world, who wrap themselves in embodied forms and shapes to eat the souls of mortal men and women."
Ever practical, Rei raised a hand and asked the obvious question. "How do you kill them?"
"You already know how to do that?" Vand paused, frowning. "You've been killing them."
General Kirishima called down from his seat on the upper balcony while Ishida took more notes. "But they keep making more and more monsters to fight with."
"Oh, you've just not been killing the right ones then..." Vand trailed off, and from where Shinji stood, the other man was clearly trying to find the right words to explain.
Misato sighed. "Okay maybe that was too big a question. Our tactics are serviceable. How can we improve our strategy?"
"I'm not entirely sure, actually." Vand spread his arms, as if to encompass the whole command center. "I've heard stories of places like this, seen things here that make too much sense. I feel like I've walked into a time of Creation I've never been. It's like living history, for me, but nothing I've ever known..."
He gradually fell silent once more, frowning again. "Sorry- I don't know how to explain. I don't know what you can do."
"But-" He raised his hand and fixed Shinji with a look and pointing finger. "I know for a fact that he's going to be your go-to guy. I am a Lunar, Steward of Creation and Chosen of Luna. Your boy Shinji there is Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. If I am the prowling teeth in the dark the edge of reality, than he is the shining beacon upon the settled lands."
"You... You know what I am?" Shinji stepped forward then, face twisting into not quite a scowl or rueful grimace. He held up a hand, pausing whatever Vand was about to say. "I think we can wait on whatever history lesson is coming but- what is a Solar?"
Vand paused, opening his mouth and inhaling loudly. Then he stopped, and his mouth snapped shut with a click. "I... Actually don't..." He let out a harsh, frustrated growl that sounded more like a wild animal than a person. "The better question is 'what is an Exalt'."
He laid a hand on his chest, fingers pressing against the liquid silver lines and designs tracing his skin. "I can tell you I'm one and I know what I am. But there are so many ways to be Exalted that there's no single answer."
He offered everyone present an apologetic look. "The fact is, we're all trying to answer that question, but I'll tell you what I do know. We broke history at least once. We kick things up like dust, whether we want to or not."
"That..." Misato shifted in place, pensive and wary. "That doesn't sound very inspiring, to be honest."
"We're not really an inspirational bunch, lady." Vand tossed her a surprisingly self-effacing grin. "It's all sort of what you make of it, you know?"
"The kind of thing we are, the things we do, aren't really something we glean much knowledge about. I could sprint like the wind, or tear that door from its hinges, but it would be meaningfully as much to me as flexing my arm, for that much I could tell you of it. Oh, you could measure by abilities, maybe attach some kind of understanding to them, because this all still follows rules...."
"But who I am? Its like describing colors to a blind man." As Vand spoke, Shinji found himself nodding, standing taller as a weight seemed to slide off his shoulders. He wasn't alone anymore, locked into this singular existence.
And Vand noticed, waving grandly in his direction. "See, he gets what I mean! You could sooner ask me the shape of my soul."
There was a long, contemplative pause, before Ritsuko let a two-note giggle slip past her lips. "We have devices that can show us our souls."
Vand turned toward Ritsuko with a flat look. "Bullshit. You all go around with no magic."
"Eh." Shinji smiled thinly. "We make do."
"As for 'Solar' well..." The Lunar cringed, one whole side of his face crinkling, shaking his head ruefully. "I only met one once, and that's rare as all get out. She was an asshole, too."
"Define asshole." Asuka urged. Her eye cut to one side, meeting his but not accusing or even suspicious.
To that, Vand just shrugged. "Uh, really sanctimonious and self-aggrandizing? Cult in her name, oathsworn retainers and bodyguards, slavishly devoted footmen? I met with her, got my business done, and got out as fast as I could. Whole place just rubbed me the wrong way."
Shinji winced, and did not fail to catch the worried look Misato tossed in his direction. Worried for him, not of him. She coughed lightly, focusing back on Vand. "Was she evil?"
"Evil?" That seemed to bring the Lunar up short. "Oh nah, nothing like that. More that she knew the score, and what she wanted out of it. She was powerful, and willing to exploit it."
"Tch, we're not asking for a personal recommendation." Asuka whispered out the corner of her mouth, but Vand clicked his tongue warningly.
"My ears are as good as yours, sweetheart. So look, I know malice, I know slavery and drugs and horrors that can sing so tenderly it kills you with heartbreak. I know that everyone does something for a reason, even if it's 'just because'. The Solar I met was... good to her people, but last I heard there was some kind of succession war and a lot of people died under her order, and that's eggs and omelettes to somebody like that. She just acted like an ass around me. A little bit of power is all some people need, goes right to their heads, you know?"
"This is all well and good." Gendo intoned from on high. "But we are straying from the point. You know our enemy, and you have vital intelligence on how to defeat them."
"I agree." Shinji stepped forward, but he made a point to look up at the higher command deck and show his brand with the fainest whisper of power. It shone unmistakably bright in the dark chamber. "I would appreciate anything you could teach me, Vand-sensei."
As Shinji said that, he bent towards the other man in a modest, respectful bow.
"Well, shit." Shinji risked a glance up, and saw Vand scratching the back of his head again. "This is just all kinds of creepy."
* * *
Of all the revelations Shinji expected, that had not been one of them. Oh, he knew a smattering of the mythology. It was hard not to pick up on the ersatz-Judeo-Christian-Gnosticism mix that pervaded NERV. But above all else, Lilith, like the word 'Angel' itself, was just a code-name for something they only vaguely understood. In any case, he had practical problems to deal with, the least of which was mere injury, and among the greatest were the semi-responsive, soul-damaged victims NERV had managed to recover.
Tokyo-3 was by no means a large city, nothing like it's original namesake and vastly more populated than its decoy predecessor. In the recovery ward set aside for those too strangely hurt to treat, a dozen vast rooms housed over a thousand afflicted patients. There was a cold, humane calculus at work, something he hadn't been involved in deciding, but could see the utility. Every man, woman and child so affected had been put in chemically induced comas- ones that could be lifted, and in turn fed intravenously.
Food was going to be a concern, twelve months or so from now, so anything that kept supplies lasting longer was a positive in Shinji's mind. He'd seen hints of plans for LCL refinement processors, somehow turning the life-support suspension into a palatable nutrient slurry. From the abstract, it looked about as appetizing as eating congealed blood cakes. Fortunately they weren't dealing with that particular problem. Yet.
Walking through the rows of beds, Shinji glanced at their charts- checks were made at the start of every nurse's shift, and all trends were looking stable. No changes. Another shadow played across tile and bed, spilling through the ward. Shinji turned to face their new... guest. Vand, Carries-the-Storm. The other man eyed the beds one after the other, ignoring the sensors and readouts in favor of loud, nostril-flaring sniffs. Was he smelling something? Vand pulled his lips back with a snarl, hissing past his teeth as he reared back. Finally, he shook his head and ambled over to Shinji.
The older man raised his hands palms forward, showing silver-tipped claws and wiggling them intently. Shinji found himself rolling his eyes and offering a finger, after which Vand quickly nicked with a sharp motion and licked up the blood. Before he could speak, Shinji sighed. "You really need to pick up language or something."
"Working on it." Vand offered him a wan smirk. "Their dreams have been eaten."
"What?" Suddenly, every inch of his attention focused on Vand, eyes locked on and tracking. "Explain, rapidly."
"It's what they do- feasting on the dreams and souls." Vand reached out to touch the hand of a woman who could have recited her life story front to back, but did nothing but breathe without prompting. "They eat of us- we're more real than they are, and therefore delicious."
Shinji nodded, slowly, and his eyebrows furrowed. "And 'they'... What are they?"
The blue-haired man blinked once, twice. "You really don't know, huh? Lords of Chaos, eaters of dreams and mad kings of insanity. The cityfolk and bumpkin of Creation call them The Fair Folk."
Vand fell silent for what Shinji had to consider a suspiciously dramatic pause, and just when he was about to ask, Vand broke the silence with a word. Or maybe it was a hash of syllables. In any case, Vand uttered it with all due gravitas.
"Raksha."
Quietly, Shinji reached out to an intercom and punched in a particular code. "Yes. Misato? I think we need to hold a meeting. With everyone. Yes. Now."
* * *
NERV's central command center had been repaired since the ninja invasion, some months ago. The bullet casings and impact craters long since swept away and smoothed over. Only Melchior really carried the scars, and Ritsuko could stand in for that MAGI whenever a decision had to be made. Along the multiple levels, the surviving JSSDF staff took up one row of chairs, while Commander Ikari, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, and that cyborg Lorenz-san listened from another. Shinji stood with the other pilots, while Makinami-san and her handler from NHIS were there. Tokita, Shinji was pretty sure he was called.
Misato, Asuka and Rei were all massaging their temples, nearly in time. The throbbing pulse of a headache brought on by lack of sleep, if Shinji were to guess. Fortunately it was a problem he could solve. He reached out and silently asked permission, before quickly easing their pain with a quick pressure point manipulation. Normal people would have let the euphoria show on their faces, but those three were strong, hardened and sharpened by life.
"I don't think we can afford to spend all day asking questions." Misato began, fixing Vand with a steady look. "So we're just going to stick to the high notes here and follow up later. You're not going to cut and run on us, right?"
Vand bristled, having already taken another lick of Shinji's blood before their expanded meeting. "What kind of man do you take me for? Of course I'm not going to cut out on you."
Misato just gave him a curt nod, arms folded over her chest. "Right then. Basics. What are we fighting?"
The reply was fast, brief and somewhat unintelligible. "Raksha."
The handful of syllables made their round through the room, making about as much sense as any made-up word or phrase. Vand scratched the back of his head, smiling faintly. "Well- that's what they call themselves. It doesn't really translate into your tongue, and most people in Creation call them the Fair Folk."
Misato nodded slowly, and Shinji watched Asuka try to mutter quietly around the pronunciation. Kaji had tugged Ritsuko over to his side, whispering in urgent tones that Shinji didn't have to strain to hear. Something about anthropic principle and comparative mythology. The scratch and scrape of pen on paper blended in with the sound of key-presses, as analysts and aides took down every possible note they could.
Fuyutsuki-sensei leaned over the edge of the command platform, speaking for the other senior staffers. "So what are these 'Fair Folk'?"
Vand turned slowly in place, looking everyone in the eye as he spoke. He made it abundantly clear how he felt with every word and gesture. "Unreal horrors from beyond the shores of my world, who wrap themselves in embodied forms and shapes to eat the souls of mortal men and women."
Ever practical, Rei raised a hand and asked the obvious question. "How do you kill them?"
"You already know how to do that?" Vand paused, frowning. "You've been killing them."
General Kirishima called down from his seat on the upper balcony while Ishida took more notes. "But they keep making more and more monsters to fight with."
"Oh, you've just not been killing the right ones then..." Vand trailed off, and from where Shinji stood, the other man was clearly trying to find the right words to explain.
Misato sighed. "Okay maybe that was too big a question. Our tactics are serviceable. How can we improve our strategy?"
"I'm not entirely sure, actually." Vand spread his arms, as if to encompass the whole command center. "I've heard stories of places like this, seen things here that make too much sense. I feel like I've walked into a time of Creation I've never been. It's like living history, for me, but nothing I've ever known..."
He gradually fell silent once more, frowning again. "Sorry- I don't know how to explain. I don't know what you can do."
"But-" He raised his hand and fixed Shinji with a look and pointing finger. "I know for a fact that he's going to be your go-to guy. I am a Lunar, Steward of Creation and Chosen of Luna. Your boy Shinji there is Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. If I am the prowling teeth in the dark the edge of reality, than he is the shining beacon upon the settled lands."
"You... You know what I am?" Shinji stepped forward then, face twisting into not quite a scowl or rueful grimace. He held up a hand, pausing whatever Vand was about to say. "I think we can wait on whatever history lesson is coming but- what is a Solar?"
Vand paused, opening his mouth and inhaling loudly. Then he stopped, and his mouth snapped shut with a click. "I... Actually don't..." He let out a harsh, frustrated growl that sounded more like a wild animal than a person. "The better question is 'what is an Exalt'."
He laid a hand on his chest, fingers pressing against the liquid silver lines and designs tracing his skin. "I can tell you I'm one and I know what I am. But there are so many ways to be Exalted that there's no single answer."
He offered everyone present an apologetic look. "The fact is, we're all trying to answer that question, but I'll tell you what I do know. We broke history at least once. We kick things up like dust, whether we want to or not."
"That..." Misato shifted in place, pensive and wary. "That doesn't sound very inspiring, to be honest."
"We're not really an inspirational bunch, lady." Vand tossed her a surprisingly self-effacing grin. "It's all sort of what you make of it, you know?"
"The kind of thing we are, the things we do, aren't really something we glean much knowledge about. I could sprint like the wind, or tear that door from its hinges, but it would be meaningfully as much to me as flexing my arm, for that much I could tell you of it. Oh, you could measure by abilities, maybe attach some kind of understanding to them, because this all still follows rules...."
"But who I am? Its like describing colors to a blind man." As Vand spoke, Shinji found himself nodding, standing taller as a weight seemed to slide off his shoulders. He wasn't alone anymore, locked into this singular existence.
And Vand noticed, waving grandly in his direction. "See, he gets what I mean! You could sooner ask me the shape of my soul."
There was a long, contemplative pause, before Ritsuko let a two-note giggle slip past her lips. "We have devices that can show us our souls."
Vand turned toward Ritsuko with a flat look. "Bullshit. You all go around with no magic."
"Eh." Shinji smiled thinly. "We make do."
"As for 'Solar' well..." The Lunar cringed, one whole side of his face crinkling, shaking his head ruefully. "I only met one once, and that's rare as all get out. She was an asshole, too."
"Define asshole." Asuka urged. Her eye cut to one side, meeting his but not accusing or even suspicious.
To that, Vand just shrugged. "Uh, really sanctimonious and self-aggrandizing? Cult in her name, oathsworn retainers and bodyguards, slavishly devoted footmen? I met with her, got my business done, and got out as fast as I could. Whole place just rubbed me the wrong way."
Shinji winced, and did not fail to catch the worried look Misato tossed in his direction. Worried for him, not of him. She coughed lightly, focusing back on Vand. "Was she evil?"
"Evil?" That seemed to bring the Lunar up short. "Oh nah, nothing like that. More that she knew the score, and what she wanted out of it. She was powerful, and willing to exploit it."
"Tch, we're not asking for a personal recommendation." Asuka whispered out the corner of her mouth, but Vand clicked his tongue warningly.
"My ears are as good as yours, sweetheart. So look, I know malice, I know slavery and drugs and horrors that can sing so tenderly it kills you with heartbreak. I know that everyone does something for a reason, even if it's 'just because'. The Solar I met was... good to her people, but last I heard there was some kind of succession war and a lot of people died under her order, and that's eggs and omelettes to somebody like that. She just acted like an ass around me. A little bit of power is all some people need, goes right to their heads, you know?"
"This is all well and good." Gendo intoned from on high. "But we are straying from the point. You know our enemy, and you have vital intelligence on how to defeat them."
"I agree." Shinji stepped forward, but he made a point to look up at the higher command deck and show his brand with the fainest whisper of power. It shone unmistakably bright in the dark chamber. "I would appreciate anything you could teach me, Vand-sensei."
As Shinji said that, he bent towards the other man in a modest, respectful bow.
"Well, shit." Shinji risked a glance up, and saw Vand scratching the back of his head again. "This is just all kinds of creepy."