Destiny: Gospel of a New Genesis [Evangelion/Destiny]

[Savato93]

Yeah, I've been noting that Yui is fucking things up for a lot of people. Zeruel may not have condemned Humanity so quickly and easily if she hadn't tried to speak for everyone and stayed hidden. He probably would still be against them, sure, but they could have had more time to make their case without her very existence pissing him off.

 

[Roaming_Guardian]

Yeah, I've been noting that Yui is fucking things up for a lot of people. Zeruel may not have condemned Humanity so quickly and easily if she hadn't tried to speak for everyone and stayed hidden. He probably would still be against them, sure, but they could have had more time to make their case without her very existence pissing him off.

Click to shrink...

I had a whole explanation for why this was a MONUMENTALLY bad idea. But Sufficient Velocity wouldn't let me post it and deleted it. Sufice to say being anything related to the hive in front of the newly titled God of Murderhobos was a bad idea and Yui is not known for good ideas.

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

The young man flexed his fist. "...you knew who I was. You knew..."

(The moment that he felt the Light of Yui's Ghost - so intimately familiar to him now - enter his Observatory, he recognized the sensation of a new spiritual connection. He turned, recognizing the familiar Plug Suit, and the face of his only son. At long last, she had found him. His Scenario was still viable!)​

"...and you didn't say anything." Shinji's nostrils flared. "Why?"

"What would it have accomplished?"

Shinji's fist lashed out again; with a seamless movement, Gendo grabbed onto his arm and flipped him over, sending him into the air. The young man landed seamlessly on his feet, glaring angrily at him. "What kind of answer is that?!"

"An honest one," bluntly commented Fuyutsuki; the orange Ghost hovered over by Shinji's Ghost, as they watched the proceedings with rapt eyes.

"But it doesn't explain anything. He never explained anything. Never! And...!" His breathing was hard and heavy, as he wrestled with something primal within him. Something harsh and furious. Finally, he settled for an angry glare. "...nothing's changed. But after what I saw...I understand why you always kept secrets. Why you never said anything."

Such melodrama, for its own sake; Gendo knew there was no ulterior motive behind it, other than for Shinji to blatantly advertise his disappointment. Yes, I get it, you're angry and upset. You're not telling me anything new. "Why don't you tell me exactly what you now know, so we can actually have a conversation?"

"...first time for everything," bitterly said Shinji. And so he began to speak.

xxxx

There was a sucking sensation, as Shinji was ripped away from his teammates. The sensation of their Light became remote...but his own remained stalwart, sheltered by the titanic presence of Unit-01 within him. ' Hold on, son...trying to navigate!' There was the odd impression of titanic hands, reaching down to direct them, to control their movements through time...and they slipped through-

xxxx

-they were strangely unbound. Free-floating. Witnesses to events that they had been bound to, directly or indirectly.

xxxx

"The work that we're doing will change the world, son." Yui Ikari knelt down in front of her no-longer-a-toddler; just barely past the age of three, the young boy looked up at her with that youthful idolization. "It's going to change a lot...and it's quite scary, too! So you'll be living with Mr. and Mrs. Nomura while we do our work, okay?"

In the distance - while Yui was assuaging her young child - they could see Gendo Ikari speaking quietly with the Japanese couple in question, exchanging forms and an unmarked envelope laden with cash. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter. I trust you'll be discreet."

"Of course, Ikari-san!" replied Mr. Nomura with a polite bow. "We will take care of the boy. And I trust the agreement will take care of any other expenses...?"

"You will receive a monthly stipend after the initial monitoring period. Do keep in mind that any incidents will result in swift disciplinary action."

"Of course, of course! You have nothing to fear."

And so it went, as Shinji Ikari was taken by Mr and Mrs. Nomura. The young child watched them docilely - somewhat confused? - from over the shoulder of Mrs. Nomura. Because Yui and Gendo were watching him - with Yui waving delicately - he did not feel afraid, or scared. But there was a lingering uneasiness that still manifested on the child's face.

Yui sighed as their vehicle drove away. "...well, that's settled then." She turned towards her husband with a smile. "Back to work then, honey! Naoko has a new experiment with the Light using sample H-23 taken from LILITH, and I don't want to miss it!"

"Of course, dear."

xxxx

He felt indignant at the sight. What kind of flippant attitude was that?!

His mother was rather nonchalant. ' It was the truth though. Our work did involve dangerous things. And we were going to be so wrapped up in it, there would be no time left over to watch over you. Besides, I had been kept out of the loop long enough as is due to spending my time taking care of you during those early years, and I couldn't keep bringing you into NERV due to the inadvertent dangers you were bound to get exposed to, and I was really missing the daily grind of experimentation and analysis-'

That's not helping your case!

' What case? Am I on trial?'

...you can't be serious.

' I most certainly am being serious! Did I do something wrong?'

 

[Roaming_Guardian]

"An honest one," bluntly commented Fuyutsuki; the orange Ghost hovered over by Shinji's Ghost, watching the proceedings with rapt eyes.

Click to shrink...

The mental image of a Ghost with two eyes amuses me.

Also, Yui, have some fucking shame. It's time to Stahp

 

[Thalton]

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THAT WOMEN?

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THAT WOMEN?

Click to shrink...

Well, even in canon,

Spoiler

Yui's big overarching plan involved becoming one with Evangelion so that she could be an eternal testament to the existence of mankind, one that would exist even after all the stars burned out.

We're talking about a woman whose canon baseline involved looking at a giant cyborg made from alien tissue, and thinking 'I wanna BE one.'

 

[Timerider]

Gendo simply has no shame whatsoever. Even now he refuses to treat Shinji as anything other than a whiney child.
The only good thing about him being a Guardian is the fact that you can kill him over and over in increasingly convoluted and over-the-top-ways and he keeps getting back up for more.
Also Yui...

' What case? Am I on trial?'

...you can't be serious.

' I most certainly am being serious! Did I do something wrong?'

Click to shrink...

YOU HAVE DONE EVERYTHING WRONG.
After all this, you still have the sheer gall to ask that question...
I'm just utterly speechless.

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Shinji grunted, and focused on trying to move ahead. The seductive pull of his own soul was ignored, as he tried to forge on to the metaphysical bonds he had with his sources, his proverbial creators: his mother and father. Focusing on that spiritual bond, he followed them-

xxxx

"Do you ever think LILITH will wake up?" asked Yui, staring up at the white Giant, seemingly comatose and unmoving. "For all the material we've pulled from her, you'd think that would trigger something."

"If the creature wants to let us poke around, that's her business!" exclaimed Naoko Akagi, peering through some microscope of some kind. Various workstations littered the area around Terminal Dogma, as 'trusted' technicians moved about in hazmat suits. "At any rate, we're almost ready to create the control mechanism for Project E."

"Well, that's a relief." Yui slowly turned away, and began making her way back through the winding tunnels that connected Terminal Dogma with the less secure wings above. She ignored the odd little tingle that ran down her spine, as well as the odd shadow that seemed just a tad too dark; the deeper depths of the Geofront were rife with psychological phenomena that could play havoc on people's minds. Fortunately, Dr. Akagi's trio of MAGI provided some psychic shielding.

She soon found herself in her husband's office, surrounded by paperwork. As usual. "Anything new happen while I was in Terminal Dogma?"

"Yes. Dr. Alton Bray committed suicide yesterday."

"...seriously?" Yui sighed, rubbing at her scalp. "There's another one of our lead engineers. That's three in as many months."

"I told you that this place has a tendency to inspire madness in those without the necessary conviction."

"Was word already sent to Clovis Bray?"

"He was one of the first that I called. He was...less than enthused about the death of his nephew. He's going to demand an inquiry, which he won't be getting. The Old Men want to keep our work under wraps for a little while longer."

Yui huffed. "It doesn't seem like a logical move. If Project E is so necessary to fight the monsters that are out in this vast universe of ours, why keep it secret? It's not like keeping extraterrestrial life a secret is even needed, now that mankind knows of the Traveler."

"You could always ask your own father."

"You know he never tells me anything."

"Hmm." He shuffled another paper, taking a brief look on it. "Another update from GEHIRN's Exo Project. They ran into another roadblock."

"They're still trying to get that to work? They've been wrestling with the problem of how to tie the soul to inorganic materials for over a decade now!"

"And they'll likely keep trying. It's not like they're lacking in funding." As if inspired by something, he reached for a stack of folders, grabbing the top one. "I've been thinking about Dr. Bray's replacement. I'm thinking we should go for Ritsuko Akagi."

"...Dr. Akagi's daughter?"

As Yui flipped through the folder - detailing the younger woman's academic resume, curriculum vitae, and abstracts of some of her authored papers - he elaborated, "She is technically qualified. And I'm hoping that she'll be a stabilizing influence."

"On her mother, you mean?"

"Well, I wasn't going to say it explicitly."

Yui laughed airily. "Don't worry. I love how brilliant Dr. Akagi is, but she can get a little...intense."

"That's funny, coming from you."

"Oh, p'shaw! Anyhow, when's the last time you scrounged up some time to go and see our son? It's been three months since we left him with the Nomuras."

"I've been busy. Dealing with the administration of NERV is considerably taxing."

"And you do an amazing job of it, honey. But I'm sure one day won't kill you."

"I've kept tabs on the situation; he seems to be fine. However, this report to the Instrumentality Committee has a more pressing deadline." He glanced up over his glasses. "You could always visit him."

Yui sighed dramatically. "I know, but I've got to go and oversee the materials testing for our prototype Evangelion armor, check up on the development of the protein chains, train some of our newer technicians on how to properly splice and manipulate Lilithian tissue..." She kept rattling off things to do, working herself into an ever higher mania, until she practically floated out of the office on a sea of technobabble and scientific enthusiasm.

Gendo smirked, inwardly marveling at how vigorous his wife could be-

xxxx

' I wasn't being flippant. It was a dangerous place to be. And I definitely didn't think that exposing you to it would have helped at all, given your relatively undeveloped stage. '

...the entire time I was with Mr. and Mrs. Nomura, you and father never visited. Not once!

' In all fairness, there were some extenuating circumstances in my particular case- '

And not a single phone call from father until I was five years old! And you! I...I can't even recall your voice from back then! My last memory of you was of you waving as you sent me away!

' ...in all fairness, there were extenuating circumstances, and I had this unfortunate habit of getting into what would be called a groove, and just plugging away at research and experimentation for literal days, surviving on copious amounts of coffee-'

Shinji ignored her - it felt like a gaping wound was beginning to open in the pit of his stomach - and pressed forward.

 

[Timerider]

She's not even listening to him. All she has are excuses.
Disgusting, really.

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

She's not even listening to him. All she has are excuses.
Disgusting, really.

Click to shrink...

But she's being completely factual! What more could you want from her?

 

[Timerider]

But she's being completely factual! What more could you want from her?

Click to shrink...

Basic human empathy.
The fact that she didn't even understand that what she did hurt Shinji is inexcusable.
Even now she's saying "I was too busy to be bothered with you." And STILL doesn't realize what that means.
Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if this ends with a conversation like this:
"I don't ever want to see you again."
"But I'm your ghost! You'll die without me!"
"I don't care. And honestly, neither do you."

 

[StatelessGem]

Basic human empathy.
The fact that she didn't even understand that what she did hurt Shinji is inexcusable.
Even now she's saying "I was too busy to be bothered with you." And STILL doesn't realize what that means.
Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if this ends with a conversation like this:
"I don't ever want to see you again."
"But I'm your ghost! You'll die without me!"
"I don't care. And honestly, neither do you."

Click to shrink...

Even if it did end that way, Shinji would probably never be let out on a mission ever again, because without being a Sunsinger he can't come back without his Ghost (from my perspective Self Rezzing doesn't need a Ghost, please correct me if this is wrong).

Unless he's able to figure out a way to bring himself back from death he's kinda hosed. He'd be a liability on the battle field. Relatively speaking.

Of course this being GONG, Ultra is gonna bring out either the feels or something that will have us foaming at the mouth.

Because Shinji is the MC. And this is a fusion of Destiny and EVA.

Those series don't have ANYTHING or ANYONE go down quiet.

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

He felt something different-

xxxx

This was a big test. It was the first test of the Project E prototype...Unit-00. A spindly, naked humanoid with dry skin, it was a far cry from what it would eventually become. But the important things were there: the Core that contained the Light of the Traveler, powering the creature; the soul that would serve as the animating principle; the mechanical rig by which one could interface with said soul...and finally, the Pilot. "Is she ready?" asked Yui.

"But of course!" boasted Naoko. "Consider her the latest example of my genius!"

"We get it, Dr. Akagi, you're a proverbial polymath," droned Gendo, peering intently at a computer monitor. "But the Committee has provided a lot of capital for this particular endeavor; we need to have some tangible results."

The burgundy-haired woman snorted."Ah, you're such a worrywart! This will be a breeze."

"Let's not tempt fate more than we already have." Yui leaned over towards the microphone, and turned it on. "Bring her in."

Beyond the reinforced glass, a heavy door slid open; escorted by four men in armored gear, a young girl walked forward in the primitive precursor of a Plug Suit. Bearing blue hair and red eyes - three of them - she bore a stoic expression. Yui smiled and spoke, "Are you ready Rei?" Her response was a simple nod-

xxxx

Wait! That was Ayanami!

' Hold on, avoiding a Vex Mind!'

A sudden swerve, and a severe lunge; the foreign presence that had settled upon them suddenly faded.

' We're clear.'

...mother. That was Ayanami! She had three eyes! What's going on?!

'...oh. I see. You never learned about her physical origins, did you...referencing your memories...'

I'm not comfortable with you in my head right now.

'...that's right, you never did! Well, no point in not taking care of that right now. She had three eyes because she's part Hive.'

...what.

' You seem surprised. You already knew that Evangelions were made from LILITH...who, as you learned in Old Japan, was actually a Hive deity named Nokris. Our experiments in those days weren't just restricted to Evangelion, you know.'

...WHAT.

' It was actually a legitimate concern regarding how Evangelion was going to be controlled, so we eventually decided to capitalize on a Fuyutsuki-Hofstede bridge that would maximize the efficiency of the body-soul connection; Nokris's soul was relatively easy to work with due to the lack of an A.T. Field, so carving off a piece to plug into Unit-00 was simple enough, and Rei was able to synchronize with it given the nature of her creation...unfortunately, Rei's soul couldn't be duplicated beyond the physical form that she currently inhabited, so our initial plan for piloting the Evangelions afterward had to be revised-'

MOTHER!

' Yes?

You're not making sense! Ayanami being...part human and part Hive...and all this talk about there being duplicates?! Start marking sense!

' Well, in that case...'

xxxx

A dark chamber, with a singular tube in the middle. A young girl is floating in a central vat, surrounded by LCL. In the vast tank that this chamber was separated from, multiple iterations of the blue-haired girl could be seen: all in various stages of physiological development, from tiny infants to artificially-aged adults.

Naoko Akagi sighed, throwing a bunch of papers into the air. "We've hit a dead end. We simply can't extend her soul to more than one body at a time; she doesn't have the metaphysical structure for it."

Yui Ikari grimaced. "Damn...that was our most efficient shot to controlling the Evangelions, too. We may have Unit-00, but if SEELE's predictions are correct, then the Traveler is going to attract a lot of unpleasantness to Earth during our lifetimes. We need more than just one." She sighed, looking wistfully at the lifeless shells floating by the glass walls, before turning to the Original; her hands were pressed against the glass tube, and her three red eyes were looking at them with that mysteriously curious expression. "A shame. We learned an awful lot about soul transference and cross-species genetic splicing with her..." She turned on her heels, walking away with hands in her lab coat.

"You want me to dispose of the extras?"

"Of course not! That'd be wasteful; this way, if something does happen to Rei, she'll have a backup body ready. It's functional immortality, as far as she's concerned! And if it's about monetary concerns, we'll just file the extra nutrient jelly under a relatively obscure research group's budget, and nobody will be the wiser."

Naoko shrugged. "You're the boss. Just don't blame me when the Committee starts griping about expense overruns."

"I'll just throw my husband at them, and that'll be that."

Naoko snorted, before all good humor left her gaze. "...you think you'll be able to come up with something that will allow us to control Unit-01 and beyond?"

Yui smirked. "I'll think of something." And so she left the dim chamber-

xxxx

' ...so, I hope that clarifies things for you! At least as far as the duplicate part goes.'

...what.

' Now you're starting to repeat yourself-'

The entire timeline suddenly began to boil with bitter anger.

' Careful! You'll draw the Vex towards us-!'

Did my father know?

' Know what?'

...that there was more than one Ayanami?

' Of course he did. We both approved that pet project of Naoko's-'

The bitterness began to fade, replaced by deep-seated disbelief.

' Shinji?'

All this time...I thought Ayanami had died back then...and that it was because I was too weak...and she had the means to survive...and no one. Ever. TOLD ME.

' Well...if it'll make you feel any better, that particular iteration that you fought alongside with during the Cataclysm did die. But her soul would have simply attached itself to a suitable backup.'

That lit a fire under the young Ikari, and he dove deeper into the timestream. He had to find out. He had to know more. For once in his life, he was going to get some answers, and he damn well DESERVED them!

 

[Timerider]

How is it humanly possible to be this emotionally oblivious?

 

[StatelessGem]

How is it humanly possible to be this emotionally oblivious?

Click to shrink...

Unfortunately, that might just plain old stupidity.

But honestly?

It IS humanly possible to BE that emotionally oblivious.

It makes you wonder if she really cares about her son as a person, or just as a living science experiment that she interacts with.

......Basically Yui is just very dense. And not in the funny way.

 

[Timerider]

I really expect to see Shinji ask the question no child should ever consider;
"Did you ever love me at all?"

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

He pushed through, to a font of anxiety and bewilderment-

xxxx

"...so. Another volunteer had a fatal spiritual hemorrhage?"

Yui Ikari blearily looked up from her desk, surrounded by various notebooks and stray papers bearing frenzied scribbles and odd observations. "Yeah. Unit-00 basically ate his soul."

Gendo, holding a cup of cold coffee, looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "...so taking another piece of LILITH's soul for Unit-01 is out of the question."

Her husband's words prompted Yui to petulantly swat a pile of notepads to the floor, creating a flurry of paper. "We absolutely have to have a soul to serve as the animating principle. Without it, we'd have to keep the Evangelion on proverbial life support, and its responsiveness would be practically useless for combat. We've already tried a preliminary synchronization on Unit-01 without a soul, but the residual metaphysical effects of the Eva's Lilithian flesh always erodes the test pilot's A.T. Fields..." Not exactly the most pleasant task, to wash primordial ooze out of the Test Plugs. "...the Light in Unit-01's Core should protect the Pilot from that, but as Naoko has established, the Light can't be channeled without a soul to embody it!"

Gendo waved a small piece of paper. "I got an e-mail from the branch in Berlin. Your colleague has an idea of her own."

Yui swiped the printout, pulling out some reading glasses - what a wretched time for her vision to start going bad! - and focusing intently on the words. "From Dr. Sohryu, huh...? Hmm..." She paused. "...but we'd already tried the possibility of a human soul, the Evangelion simply rejected it...it was too small, too fundamentally dissimilar to the biological vessel..." She read further down. "...oh...oh, that's BRILLIANT! Utilizing the Light's unifying properties, if the test soul was inundated with the Traveler's energy, then a metaphysical implantation could be forced! The Light would serve as the anchor for the connection!"

"Shall I send out another inquiry for volunteers?"

"Not going to happen honey, because I know who it's going to be."

"Oh?"

She smiled, pointing at herself. "Me!"

Gendo stared. Removed his glasses, rubbing at his eyes. Placed them back on. "...that's incredibly risky. Not to mention foolish. I would even go so far as to say stupid. Which is not a word I'd normally apply to you, because you're not stupid."

"Sorry dear, but I've already started working out the logistics. It would accomplish a lot of things for us!"

"This whole affair is what volunteers are for. And signed waivers! You're too important to the Project!" His unspoken words said far more: too important to him, too precious, too brilliant-!

"No no, that's just it! A lot of our volunteers have been low-level grunts, who signed up because the money that NERV offered could go towards their families, or their own debts. Classy notions, but those poor fellows weren't abundant in what you would call imagination. Just think of the amount of insight I'd have into the world as the animating principle of an Evangelion! The knowledge we could gain, the sheer discovery!" Yui turned towards Gendo, beaming brightly at him. "Ooh! Another benefit! We've already got enough statistical samples to conclude that the older an individual is, the less likely they are to synchronize with someone else's soul; which means that the most viable Pilot candidate would actually be Shinji-kun! Just imagine it: him and me, bound together in combat against the horrors of outer space! I'd have so much time to catch up with him! It's literally PERFECT!"

"...and the fact your soul would be bound to a gant abomination, and no longer to a human body?"

"With all of the stuff Naoko's learned about transferring souls from the First Child, being able to transfer me to another human body wouldn't be out of the question..." She sighed fondly. "Not exactly the same as becoming a giant robot, but it's the next best thing! Another childhood dream, crossed off of the list!"

"..."

"Oh don't look at me like that, I'm only kidding."

"..."

"...okay, I'm only forty percent kidding...or maybe thirty percent...?"

"...Fuyutsuki's stories of your college days make so much sense to me now." Sighing, the chief administrator of NERV looked at her with a weary expression. "If you truly believe this to be our best option, going forward..."

"Can't talk right now honey, I need to check my figures," muttered Yui, writing furiously in a clean notebook. "This is going to be fantastic!"

xxxx

...

' ...okay, in retrospect, I probably got caught up in the heat of the moment there.'

...mother. WHAT THE HELL.

' ...come to think, I really did get overly excited about that...we actually had the whole thing arranged in only four days!'

xxxx

There was just one more thing to do before the Contact Experiment could be conducted.

Yui - clad in something akin to a Plug Suit - stood in the midst of a small, spherical pod of reinforced glass and transparent polymers. Various tubes and pipes connected the sphere to a large tank suspended above her. "All right...HIT ME!"

Then, with a whirring of motors and next-generation engines, the entire pod was flooded with Light. The ethereal energy - flowing in a way that couldn't quite be described as either a liquid, gas, or plasma, it was too dynamic - swirled around her form, obscuring her from the view of Gendo Ikari and the various technicians on hand.

However, she still had the presence of mind to speak. "...ooh! Someone, write this down! I have discovered that bathing in the Traveler's Light is ticklish!"

xxxx

It was a strange feeling, to see these events, and come away feeling less and less angry. The fury had burned out, leaving naught but sorrowful ashes. What did it say about the whole scenario, that he now looked at his mother, and felt only pity?

' ...well, it was ticklish.'

...you're actually crazy, aren't you?

' Oh, come on. I've been called that plenty of times!'

Mother. That's not a good thing.

' ...it could be, depending on the circumstances...you know, come to think of it, I can't recall ever denying that I was crazy...'

...I liked how you were before we found Unit-01 again.

' A very understandable sentiment. Personally, I've concluded that every single scrap of maternal instinct or impulse was left behind in my body during the Contact Experiment. Speaking of which!'

They suddenly slid through-

 

[Timerider]

I feel very much like Shinji does now. Not even surprised at this point.

 

[Savato93]

Am I a bad person for wanting Yui to suffer before this story ends?

 

[Timerider]

Am I a bad person for wanting Yui to suffer before this story ends?

Click to shrink...

Define suffer.
Personally I want to see her get utterly rejected by Shinji. Tactical fallout aside, she'd be a ghost without a Guardian, and she would be totally alone aside from Gendo.
At this point, I can't see how their relationship could survived all this. Shinji is realizing that his mother is legitimately insane, never truly loved him as a mom, and has zero human empathy.
I don't think he'll end up hating her, but there is no way he could ever trust her.

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

The Contact Experiment had...not gone according to plan. Unit-01's Core had violently rejected Yui Ikari...but it had been successful in one way: part of her soul was now bound within the titanic creature. One way or another, the fate of Yui - and thus, the fates of Shinji and himself - were now bound to Evangelion.

But now...things had changed.

Gendo Ikari stared quietly at the comatose body of what was now referred to 'in-house' as the Fragment; to the rest of the world, Yui Ikari was assumed dead.

Her plans were left to him to carry out, to try and make things work. Because SEELE was beginning to move in more esoteric ways...and all the while, violence was inexplicably on the rise all throughout the world. In isolated areas, to be sure...but it formed a pattern.

Evangelion needed to work. It had to work. And hopefully, one day...the various plans and ideas swirling through his head would coagulate, forming a Scenario that he could work with. Something that could actually reunite Yui's soul.

"One day." He quietly rubbed her forehead, and walked out of the sealed medical ward, deep within Terminal Dogma.

The proceeding years were...colorless. Yet driven. Evangelion continued to develop; as field tests began, he began working with the Dead Sea Tablets on SEELE's behalf. He knew their designs involved something nefarious, but the final picture still eluded him; regardless, he worked with what he had available. And all the while, he internalized the knowledge of the ancient war they described - that cosmic struggle, the unending strife between the 'Sky' and the 'Deep' - and wondered if the world was teetering on the precipice.

Until...one day, in 2010, he received an unusual visitor.

He looked up with shock as an Exo suddenly appeared in a flash of light; the model was ridiculously advanced compared to what GEHIRN currently possessed. "What the hell? How did you get in here?!"

The Exo spoke quietly, with gleaming red eyes and an unbelievably familiar voice. "Hello, Professor...hmm. This would...be the first time, I believe. Chronologically speaking."

"Answer my questions. Who are you, and how did you teleport in here? Are you with the Committee?"

"No. You may call me the Stranger. I am...someone close to you. Or at least, this current manifestation will be."

"What are you talking-?"

With unnerving speed, she grabbed his arm. "We have much to discuss."

"What are-?!"

xxxx

A vicious hand reached for them, from above and beyond.

' Hang on!'

Onward and forward they moved, slipping through timelines...and all the while, Shinji thought about that voice.

' ...I think we lost the Vex. They're starting to narrow in on us more.'

...mother. That voice was Ayanami's. I'd recognize it anywhere.

'...there's a reason for that.'

They pushed back through the current-

xxxx

"I will see you again...take care of yourself, sir." And then the Stranger was gone.

Gendo Ikari sat quietly in his office. The expression in his eyes was akin to...utter shock. Befuddlement. Confusion. Perhaps even terror. All of that, overshadowed by grim conviction. He reached for his phone, and picked it up. "...Fuyutsuki. Come to my office...no, it can't wait. The Scenario needs...some adjustments."

And that's when his door opened, and in stepped Rei Ayanami...and not a relatively human copy, who had been engineered such that her third eye wouldn't manifest. This was the Original. And despite her youthful appearance, she was looking at him with a sense of knowing.

"...on second thought, Fuyutsuki, let's schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning. Something else has come up." He quietly hung up, looking at the young girl with tension that had not previously existed.

"...you have met her, I presume?" said the young girl.

"...yes."

"Then it is time that you speak."

"With whom?"

"You will see."

Gendo Ikari calmly felt for the presence of the sidearm in his jacket pocket, and quietly followed the young girl. Down they went, into Terminal Dogma, through secret corridors that only a select few knew of. In this time of morning, no one attended to LILITH, shackled quietly in its depths.

The two stood before the white Giant...and he couldn't help but inwardly marvel at the creature's minute movements. He knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it was LOOKING at him. Clearing his throat, he spoke with outward confidence and unwavering will. "We have given you the codename of LILITH...but I've just learned that you have another name, Nokris."

There was booming giggle that emanated from the creature.

"Aiat. I am indeed named Nokris."​

"...my horizons have been opened up a great deal. And the role you play is...significant, it would seem. Enough so that your presence on this planet is questionable. What is your purpose on this world? And how do you fit into the designs of SEELE?"

The creature snorted.

"Aiat! Others may scheme and plot, but none can approach my patience! The Blasphemous Vision encompasses all that will help it obtain fruition."​

The Stranger had made oblique references to a certain Vision. He needed more information. "What is this Vision?"

The creature chuckled, and he briefly wondered what sort of world he had stumbled into.

"I have dreamed of an end to the war between the Sky and the Deep. I have dreamed of an ultimate power that can dominate anything, and everything. I have dreamed of a way that lies between Formless and Form!"​

Behind the purple mask, fashioned by SEELE to ostensibly quiet her psychic capacity (a laughable idea, Gendo now mused, in the face of this creature's presence), a triad of eyes burned with blue fire.

"And the creature you have named Evangelion is the key to it all."​

 

[Timerider]

Hmm...
Not only is Shinji discovering the messed-up nature of his family, he's also starting to pick up Rei's trail.
Btw, did Shinji and Yui see that last bit with Nokris?

 

[Roaming_Guardian]

At this point I honestly can't tell if these revelations are making things better or worse. Going to err on the side of worse and add more tallies.

 

[StatelessGem]

At this point I honestly can't tell if these revelations are making things better or worse. Going to err on the side of worse and add more tallies.

Click to shrink...

Prolly a safe bet all considered.

I'm kinda hoping Shinji emotionally snaps enough to drive the point home to Yui.

 

[Ultra Sonic 007]

They were suddenly ripped away.

No. Go back! I have to know what they were talking about!

' My control over our journey is less precise than I'd like it to be.'

Mother...Nokris was a Hive deity. Father and Rei being tied so closely to her doesn't concern you at all?!

' Well, given that no one involved with Project E really knew about the history of the Hive on the upfront? Not really, given all that's happened since.'

What do you-?

' Hang on!'

They delved back in, focusing on their mutual bond to Gendo Ikari-

xxxx

Nokris was silent once more. Gendo stared silently, his orange shades showing nothing of his expression.

Rei must have noticed his unease, for she said, "The universe is so much bigger than you thought it was."

"That would be putting it mildly," he responded with a serenity that was not truly his. The sheer magnitude of Nokris's Blasphemous Vision, and the role that Rei Ayanami would play...the presence of the Vex, the power of the Traveler, the inevitable moment when they would catch the eyes of darker forces...and humanity was blithely walking into it. The Old Men wouldn't care, because they would ultimately get what they wanted, damn the rest of mankind. But warning everyone would be equally problematic, as they wouldn't have the means to handle it properly. The chaos would only feed into the frenzy instigated by Nokris's draconic children. Speaking of which, "The uptick in violence over these past years...the work of Nokris's eldest, I presume?"

"Indeed. She will soon create more. Far more. The process is rather interesting, but you won't be able to stop it. It is not purely physical."

"Of course it's not." There was that first impulse to try and destroy Nokris, to be done with it...but the Giant had made it more than clear that her silence and stillness had been out of consent. She would rise and attack before any first strike could be implemented. Notwithstanding the possibility that their current capabilities would be insufficient to harm her. Or the fact that she was allied with a bloody time traveler.

There were no good options.

"Are you having second thoughts, Professor?"

So he defaulted to selfish pragmatism. It had gotten him this far. "Of course not, Rei." If he played his cards right...there was a possibility of coming out ahead of this. And that was a big 'if'. Perhaps, he would uncover a more efficient way of uniting Yui's soul. But he needed to learn more. "Merely thinking of the possibilities." He looked down at the little girl, who was no longer a mere scientific curiosity or Test Pilot of Unit-00...but a dangerous player in her own right. "After all, what use would there be in merely destroying that which makes us feel unpleasant? Especially if it meant becoming something greater?"

She smiled. "And this is why I'm grateful that you are the Commander of NERV. You are...practical."

xxxx

Why is Ayanami acting like this? What happened to her?!

' Believe it or not, she's more complicated than you realize.'

...that's present tense. Does this have something to do with that distress call from Old Japan?

' Ah. That. Well...that was actually Naoko Akagi's Ghost. Another iteration of Rei Ayanami, as it turned out.'

...say what now.

' I believe it was to draw us to Old Japan so we could reclaim Unit-01. Apparently, you and Unit-01 are necessary for whatever Rei's ultimate goal is.'

...and you never bothered to tell me?!

' What would be the point, when I didn't have all of the details? It would have only caused needless anxiety, and you still wouldn't have been able to change anything.'

But YOU knew! And you never told me!!

' As I understood, parents keep things from their children all the time if they think it's in their best interest.'

The sheer audacity of his mother - saying such words! - was enough to shock him into silence, even after all of this.

' Yes, I'm realizing I'm rather lacking in the parenting department. Let me start somewhere! '

Through the timestream they moved-

xxxx

An empty grave, amidst a field of tombstones. A father and son, staring at carved words.

It was the year 2014. The last anniversary of Yui Ikari's 'death', before the fateful war against the dragons would begin...not that either of them knew it at the time.