When your career's hit a dead end and you literally get Reassigned to Antarctica you take what upbeatness you can. Plus why do you think Mari's constantly humming or mumbling the lyrics to pop songs?
Mari: "Oh cool! Rolling old-school with the SDAT! Got any neat songs?"
"Doc, you can't just go dropping giant Earth-shattering things like that!"
Heck stroked his beard.
"You gave him the always angry all the time speech didn't you?"
The girl sighed.
"Yes. And I scared him like I do with everyone because I'm the weird girl from the middle of nowhere who's creepy. Yes, I know that you don't think I'm creepy but you build giant angel robot monsters for a living so that doesn't count."
"Well, he seems nice."
"Which is why you shouldn't have started doing that whole rambling thing you always do! He's been friendly and kind and I nearly got him killed and you just went on about his mom and it's just this big mess."
Heck wrapped his arm around Mari's shoulders.
"Maybe it is right now, but making new friends and trying new things always comes with that risk. Like I always say-"
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I know."
"How about we invite your new friends and the Major to have dinner with us? Nothing like a nice family dinner to sort everything out."
Mari puffed out her cheeks.
"It'll be an awkward family dinner."
That got a small chuckle from the doctor.
"Perhaps. How about you get changed and I'll see to making reservations somewhere?"
The girl let out another sigh and took off for the locker room.
Rei stood in front of her locker, her white plugsuit sitting crumpled near her feet as the Sixth Child continued talking at a rather impressive clip complete with hand gestures. It was, different from the usual economy of words and actions she was used to from the Commander and Dr. Akagi, even Ikari-kun was more restrained than this.
"…And anyway I'm sorry for just bouncing in getting up in your face and…"
The blue-haired girl continued to stare blankly. The Sixth Child was somehow still speaking seeming about unrelated things. Commander Ikari had made mention before of people being unable to truly understand each other due to the metaphysical walls they built. Were Rei more inclined to metaphor she might think that the girl in front of here was wielding the verbal equivalent of a battering ram. Wait, she stopped. She's looking at us like we're supposed to say something.
"Uh, Rei? Are you off in your own little world there?"
Rei stared for a moment.
"Yes."
The Sixth Child's head tilted slightly.
"Oh, okay I do that sometimes too. What I was trying to ask is if you wanted to join me, Shinji, and Dr. Heck, and Major Katsuragi for dinner?"
"Yes?"
"Great!"
Mari took off humming a cheery song with her clothes tucked under her arm leaving Rei wondering what exactly she had just agreed to.
I like Heck and Mari's relationship here. He is trying to be emotionally supportive but is still quite selfish and focused on his own stuff. Also Mari calling him gave me a very Marty and Doc Brown from back to the future vibe. Mari and Rei bonce off each other well as a wild girl and a straight man. I kinda get the impression Mari is kinda testing Rei's limits in a way, seeing what it would take to get a reaction. She wants to establish some boundaries since she is afraid her weirdness will alienate her new friend.
A sea of tan NERV uniforms, the dark suits of salarymen, and various workers of the city packed the small restaurant. The party of the pilots, Dr. Heck, and Misato sat tucked away at a corner table.
"So, Major Kusanagi."
"Katsuragi."
"Apologies, I appreciate you taking care of Mari while I was indisposed. I know it was on short notice. Well, you didn't have any idea we were coming at all with how abrupt our transfer was. Anyway, thank you for joining us for dinner, its the least I can do to repay you."
"Thanks, I guess? She certainly seems…spirited?"
Across the table, the Sixth Child was busily building a tower from the cup of chopsticks as Rei blankly stared at the sight while Shinji fiddled with his hopelessly tangled earbuds.
"She comes by it naturally, her mother was the same way. Granted, growing up on a converted container ship in the middle of nowhere leads to a lot of pent-up energy."
The clattering of a falling tower, followed by the sound of a startled Shinji having a small pile of chopsticks land on him punctuated that statement. Misato stared at the scene as Rei reached over and grabbed a pair of chopsticks out of Shinji's shirt pocket and nonchalantly started to dig into her bowl of ramen.
"Well, it's nice to see that Shinji's making new friends. He's pretty shy, I'd thought he'd never find anyone."
Heck gave a knowing laugh.
"I'm just glad that Mari found such a nice young man, I was beginning to lose h-"
There was a sharp smack of a chopstick bouncing off of flesh, thrown by a furiously blushing Mari with an equally embarrassed Shinji staring down at his lap. Heck rubbed his forehead.
"I was joking, Mari. Also, violence isn't-"
Mari made a grasping motion with her hand, the boy sitting next to her sighed and pull a chopstick that had managed to lodge itself behind his ear and handed it to her.
"Okay, perhaps I went a little too far this time. I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted! Sorry about that, I tried to aim for somewhere that wouldn't hurt so much."
"Well, all that time you spent in the marksmanship simulator on the trip over certainly seems to have paid off."
Misato stared for a moment, unsure of how exactly to react or what to say. It made sense that putting a teenager in a giant death machine and ordering them to kill would lead to…outbursts. But it wasn't something that she was entirely comfortable with thinking about. She decided that the best course of action was to just disregard it and move on.
"Well it's getting late, thank you for dinner, Dr. Heck."
"You're most welcome Major. Before you go I'm afraid I must impose on you again, I've yet to get my quarters assigned to me at the Geofront, if it wouldn't be too much trouble could Mari stay with you for one more night?"
The Major thought for a moment, the first night hadn't been too bad and it wasn't much worse than the German.
"Not a problem we'd be happy to have her."
A megawatt smile lit up the Sixth Child's face as she wrapped her arms around a bemused Shinji and Rei who was still preoccupied with her bowl of ramen.
Geofront, Commander's Office
"We run these synch tests to help learn more about how the link works in hopes that one day we'll be able to undo what happened."
The video feed froze as Gendo removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a defeated sigh.
"I wouldn't let it bother you, it isn't like you haven't given the boy more than enough reasons to despise you. It's something that you've always had a talent for."
"It gives Heck leverage over him, which could endanger our plans for Unit-01."
Fuyutsuki laughed.
"And to think less than a day ago you were calling him a washed-up old fool."
The younger man scowled.
"While I enjoy your counsel Sensei, do you have anything useful to add or are you just here to mock me?"
"I'm here because we have larger problems than your relationship with your son to worry about."
The older man placed his hand on the Commander's desk and a set of images of a masked giant, clad in a skintight suit spread out across the surface.
"Our sources have indicated that Tabgha Base is nearing completion of the Mark.06, which means that SEELE will have their so-called 'True Evangelion' before us. We can be on the launch out of Tanegashima next week to confirm these reports."
"There's a slight problem there Sensei, it will be blatantly obvious that we're not here."
"I might have a solution to that."
Tapping another folder on the desk brought up a spread of schematics, project files and a picture of a dark-skinned man with a rather pinched expression on his face in a dark suit with what looked to be a rather ungainly-looking machine behind him.
"The Americans have managed to complete their alternative to the Evangelion. They call it Jet Alone, and because of their permanent seat on the Security Council they're seeking to hold war-games against our forces."
Gendo stared at Fuyutsuki with a rare look of confusion.
"That thing will be reduced to a pile of scrap metal the minute any of our units look at it."
A knowing smirk crossed the Sub-Commander's face as he rested his hand on his old student's shoulder.
"Perhaps we can make things a little more interesting?"
A megawatt smile lit up the Sixth Child's face as she wrapped her arms around a bemused Shinji and Rei who was still preoccupied with her bowl of ramen.
Aww really cute image of the three here. I like the way your Mari interacts with the other pilots, I really get the impression she is coming to trust them.
"The Americans have managed to complete their alternative to the Evangelion. They call it Jet Alone, and because of their permanent seat on the Security Council they're seeking to hold war-games against our forces."
See how much Heck respects you? He got yor name right! ...At least a few letters, anyway! And the right number of syllables! That's even better than the time he called his ward Melanie!
Misato stared at the scene as Rei reached over and grabbed a pair of chopsticks out of Shinji's shirt pocket and nonchalantly started to dig into her bowl of ramen.
Is it good or bad that I recognize that scene from the English, flipped version of the manga? Pretty certain from the floppy comic, too, not the graphic novel format.
This has been quite an enjoyable story. I cannot help but imagine that Shinji's reaction to Mari's "It's good I'm not seeing things again!" line was him kicking himself about that being a perfect comeback and not thinking it up himself.
Silence. Rei adjusted her position in her seat and gingerly removed her hands from the controls as not to disturb the massive rifle resting in Unit-00's massive hands. The titanic machine sat in a kneeling position on the Chiba docks, staring down the length of a cannon that looked more at home strapped to a battleship, its barrel rested on the shoulder of the familiar purple bulk of Unit-01.
"Ikari-kun?"
Shinji's voice echoed through the comms.
"S-sorry Rei, I was thinking about something else."
"I require your targeting data."
"O-okay. Uh, wind is coming in from the northwest at twenty kilometers per hour. Hey Rei? That thing Dr. Heck mentioned about my mother maybe being still inside Unit-01. Y-you didn't hear or see anything in here when you piloted it did you? I mean, there's nothing actually inside the Eva right?"
The soft scream of a small child echoed at the edge of the girl's hearing, she quickly brushed it away.
"I have not heard or seen anything out of the ordinary in Unit-01."
"Oh."
"That is not to say that it is impossible that you might hear something."
Shinji let out a sigh.
"Thanks for trying to make me feel better Rei."
A small smile crossed Rei's face.
"You are welcome, but please stay focused. I don't wish to hit Mari-chan by mistake."
"Wait, Mari-chan? If I'm Ikari-kun shouldn't Mari be Makinami-chan?"
"I…was not aware of her surname."
"Oh. Uh, Rei? Could I be Shinji-kun then?"
"No. Ikari-kun is better."
Yokosuka Naval Base, Tokyo Bay
"…you are to simply put up a fight long enough for the Jet Alone to not look like a complete embarrassment and then Units 00 and 01 will kneecap the machine with the Light Gas Gun from their position across the bay."
A tired, nicotine-deprived Ritsuko Akagi, dressed in a rather scratchy suit stared down a rather excited looking Mary...no Marie…Mari, whatever the brat her replacement that dropped her down to being a glorified IT technician brought with him was called.
"But it's just a hunk of metal without an AT Field, Unit-05 could probably blow it up if I looked at it funny."
The blonde let out a sigh.
"The Americans paid a lot of money to their politicians to build that hunk of metal, and if we want to keep getting funding from them we need to make them think that they didn't waste all of that taxpayer money on another useless toy."
Mari gave her usual deflating balloon sound.
"That really sucks the joy out of having a giant robot fight."
A man's voice interrupted the pair's conversation.
"I know, right? I can think of about twenty billion reasons why giant robot fights are awesome."
The source of the voice walked over and sat down in a chair, he was an older but still somewhat handsome man with a square jaw and slightly greying brown hair. Next to him stood a dark-skinned man in an equally dark suit wearing a pair of dark sunglasses.
"Jack Langley, Langley Defense Systems. This is my associate Dr. Stern, the brainchild behind our bouncing baby war machine."
A smirk crossed Stern's face as he spoke in a smooth, deep voice as he offered his hand to Ritsuko.
"It's been a long time since Hamburg, Rits. I'm surprised that you're still with NERV."
Ritsuko managed a forced smile.
"Stern, I see you got tired of waiting for a spot on Project E."
"Let's just say that Mr. Langley is a little more open-minded than the old men at the IPEA. You should consider the private sector Rits, it's a little more fulfilling than spending your time among the relics of the past."
"Well, I could never leave my family, even if they're three copies of my mother's brain living in a supercomputer."
Langley let out a small, awkward cough at that and turned to Mari.
"Apologies miss, Jack Langley pleasure to meet you and you are?"
Mari started to open her mouth only to notice Dr. Akagi giving her a subtle glare out of the corner of her eye.
"M-Mari Illustrious Makinami, the pilot of Provisional Unit-05."
Stern's smug look fell from his face.
"Provisional? Ikari sent us one of Heck's failed prototypes against us? We promised the brass a super robot fight, not a subpar robot fight!"
Mari felt her knuckles pop and she clenched her fist.
"It's not a failure! Unit-05 killed the last Angel and it's going to reduce your stupid waste of money into a pile of scrap metal!"
Stern's angry retort was cut short by the sound of Langley chuckling.
"Oh, you and my daughter would get along like a house on fire. Tell you what, instead of us arguing in front of the brass and shareholders how about we get down to brass tacks and do this?"
Tokyo Bay
Provisional Unit-05 sat in the bay, gently bobbing up and down on its four mechanical legs in mimicry of its fidgeting pilot. Across from the Eva stood Jet Alone. Its squat, flat head sat in an upper body that looked more like a tank perched atop a massive segmented torso. The water around its long, spindly legs bubbled from the heat coming off the machine. Rei's monotone voice echoed through Mari's entry plug.
"Mari-chan, we are in position. Please try to keep Jet Alone behind you, I would rather not shoot you."
"Aww, Rei. I didn't know you cared!"
"Ikari-kun asked me not to."
"Oh."
Dr. Akagi's image appeared in the corner of Mari's eye.
"Also, don't go for the head, Stern isn't prone towards common sense so the nuclear fission reactor that powers Jet Alone is stored in the upper torso. We don't want to go irradiating the entire bay."
"You know, we're about to have an actual fight between two giant robots here and all you guys seem to be really down about it. Also, why is that giant hunk of junk not moving? I want to just beat it up already!"
Ritsuko let out a sigh.
"Patience, the machine has to boot first. Then you can enjoy your mindless violence."
A spasm of movement went through Jet Alone as power surged through its actuators and the faint growl of hydraulics pressurizing could be heard as it slowly started moving towards Unit-05…until it turned around in a slightly drunken stumble and started walking towards the exit of the bay.
"Hey! I'm right over here! Come on! This is a giant robot fight, you can't just go running away!"
Shinji mumbled under his breath at the Sixth Child's frustration.
"It's what I'd do."
Mari ignored her companion's snark and dove towards the rival mech, tackling it into the water with the sound of grinding metal and cracking ceramic. Quickly shifting the Eva's bulk to straddle the mech, she drew her Progressive Knife to stab at the machine's boxy head.
"Alright! I have got you now you overgrown toaster! DIE!"
As the blade plunged down there was a sudden flash of light, followed by a loud ringing sound that flooded the senses.
"What?! Oh come on, I thought this thing wasn't supposed to even have an AT Field!"
The girl's outrage was cut short when a second bright flash of light that sent the cobbled together Eva flying. Mari's world went black for a moment, she wasn't sure how long she was out for but she was awoken by a woman's synthesized voice echoing throughout the plug.
"Patten Blue confirmed. Updating IFF. New target designation, Iruel."
Cold, Stern. Cold. If it makes you feel better, the plan is for Mari to make it look like a good fight! Just because your brainchild is no match for a sub-par Eva doesn't mean-
"The Americans paid a lot of money to their politicians to build that hunk of metal, and if we want to keep getting funding from them we need to make them think that they didn't waste all of that taxpayer money on another useless toy."
Since competition between the various nerv branches... let alone NERV and outside competitors is so high, there is a big risk of a war game becoming an actual battle fast.
Also oooh, possesed Jet Alone. this is very interesting. Also also Langley is funny, It's weird seeing him and Stern act as business partners here too.
Yep, Langley and Stern are UN/NERV employees from @Alex_Zen's fic Beauty and the Beast. In that fic he's Asuka Langley Soryu's dad, he's Shikinami's dad in this universe. Part of the reason Asuka got a spot in Project E and a captaincy in the European Air Force is that her father's the CEO of a major defense contractor.
This story has a lot of immigrants from other SV fics. Dr. Heck, for instance, is usually a SEELE mook that Kaworu first killed in @Susano's fic Neon Metathesis Evangelion and went on to be a running gag in a number of other related fics.
Rei cares but in her own Rei way. Show!Rei only referred to Asuka as 'The Second Child' or 'The Pilot of Unit-02' (which might have been because she knew Gendo saw her as expendable to his plans) so Mari getting to be Mari-chan is a bit of a step up.
Another fun chapter. I do like how Mari gets a more familiar name than Shinji from Rei simply due to the fact that Rei didn't know Mari's last name.
Not quite certain why the other EVAs are around to kneecap Jet Alone if Unit-05 is already there for a fight.
As for Rei and hearing things in her EVA....
*Unauthorized omake scene after the cross-sync experiments. Mari, Rei, Asuka, Shinji, and Misato are all sitting around a table, sipping tea.*
Mari turns to Shinji. "So, any differences between Unit-00 and 01?"
"Well, it smells like Rei-"
"Eww, pervert," exclaims Asuka, as Misato tries not to spray the table while laughing.
"That is consistent with my experience in Unit-01," states Rei. "It smelled like Ikari-kun."
"Surrounded by perverts," mutters Asuka.
"Also...." Shinji glances at Rei for a moment. "I... heard a voice? Like a little girl, screaming. Just at the edge of my hearing."
An awkard silence permeated the room for a moment as Shinji sipped his tea. Mari, ever valiant, breaks the silence again. "Anything in particular she was screaming, or just screaming?"
Shinji swished his tea for a moment. "Well, some of it was, well, she was in pain. And some of it was something about an 'old hag'. But mostly...." a deep breath.... "mostly she was screaming at me to call her 'big sister'."
"That is also consistent of my experiences in Unit-00," said Rei, nodding. After a moment, she frowned. "Do not call her big sister. She gets unsufferable if you do."
Mari's first fight had Unit-05 tear its own arm off and beat the Angel with it (yes, it was Shinji in the co-pilot's seat doing it but nobody's asked him to explain what happened) so you want a degree of caution when dealing with a nuclear reactor that could irradiate a populated area.
Langley's daughter (Asuka) is in the Eva program. Jet Alone is not really useful for fighting Angels since it doesn't have an AT-Field but you don't want to tell the rich guy who's involved tangentially with Project E this. Unit-05 is meant as a bit of a snub but the idea is for it to put up enough of a fight to show the military and Langley's shareholders that it's not totally useless...but also to take it down without Mari turning it to scrap metal.
I also wanted to have a fight with everybody because giant robot fights are good.
"That is also consistent of my experiences in Unit-00," said Rei, nodding. After a moment, she frowned. "Do not call her big sister. She gets insufferable if you do."
"Why is my Jet Alone acting like it's in The Exorcist?"
Stern removed his sunglasses and contemplated the question for a few moments.
"It's entirely possible that this Angel exists as a sentient cloud of nan-"
Langley let out a familiar, annoyed sigh.
"Don't say nanomachines! It's always nanomachines with you!"
The other man stared at his shoes.
"…at least it's plausible this time."
Meanwhile, in the middle of the bay Unit-05 with a rather annoyed Mari at the controls was clinging to Jet Alone's leg like a toddler as it tried to stop it from walking out of the bay.
"Come on! Why won't you fight me?! Mr. Bonejangles wanted to fight me! Quit being such a killjoy!"
Shinji and Rei's faces popped up in the corner of Mari's HUD.
"M-maybe it just wants to go to the Geofront? All of the other Angels seem to want to."
"Mari-chan, you should try to lead the target closer to us. If it gets outside of our umbilical cable range we will be unable to intercept."
Yanking back on the control levers, Unit-05's wheels went into full reverse, kicking up sediment and seaweed from the floor of the bay. The display certainly looked impressive but Iruel remained unmoved.
"Yeah, I don't think anything short of tearing this stupid thing's legs off is going to stop it. Maybe I can just squeeze this one a little tighter and pop it off before it's AT-Field can-"
There was a sudden resonant, ringing sound and a flash of an orange hexagonal pattern sent Unit-05 flying across the bay, its tentacle-like arms still snugly wrapped around Jet Alone's leg before ungracefully crashing headfirst back into the water. The Sixth Child let out a pained groan.
"Ooowww. Never mind."
Rei let out a sigh and hefted the barrel off of Unit-01's shoulder, grunting slightly at the extra weight.
"Ikari-kun, go help Mari-chan. Try to bring the target closer to me, I do not wish to hit the reactor."
"S-shouldn't we wait for Dr. Akagi to give us orders?"
"Dr. Akagi's job is to state the obvious, not give orders."
"Oh."
"Do not worry, I will be right behind you."
Unit-01 rushed forward towards the Angel, its umbilical cord dropping into the bay with a loud crash. Shinji could hear the sound of his heart pounding in his ears as he felt the weight of the seawater pushing against his legs with every stride, at the rate he was going he'd run out of power before he'd even reach Mari and the possessed machine.
"Shinji? Are you still there?"
"Dr Akagi?"
"Iruel is attempting to walk Jet Alone to the Geofront, the MAGI are reporting a high probability that the Angel may intend to overload the reactor to blast through its defenses. We're-"
An unfamiliar man's voice took over.
"Jack Langley, Langley Defense Systems, nice to meet you son. We're working on using that fancy supercomputer you guys have to mess with the GPS signals Jet Alone uses to navigate. Odds are that our little hitchhiker is using it to find its way to your base."
"Shinji, this is Dr. Akagi again we're sending the signal now. Jet Alone's internal guidance should be telling it that Tokyo-3 is in your direction. You and Unit-05 will have to take down the AT Field. Are you seeing anything?"
The armless Unit-05 stood up, seaweed, mud, and water sloughing off of its armor.
"Hey Puppy, it might just be the concussion but is the Angel moonwalking towards us?"
The Angel had indeed reversed course but had decided not to physically turn around. Mari waved the fleshy, still-sparking stumps of her Eva's arms at the lumbering machine while shouting defiantly at it. Time was running out and he was still so far away, so he kept charging forward.
"Mari! We have to drop its AT Field so Rei can shoot it like we were supposed to!"
A disconcerting giggle rang out over the comms.
"M-Mari?"
"No worries Puppy I saw this in a movie once!"
Soon Unit-05, umbilical still trailing behind it began scuttling around in circles, tripping the advancing Angel up in the cabling. Mari quickly mounted the topped machine and started grasping at the machine's torso with her four spindly legs. Orange light flared across the skyline as their AT Fields clashed between each other. Iruel refused to stay down for long as it staggered back to its feet with the Eva's legs still tightly wrapped around it, groaning metal and the crystalline ringing off the barriers separating the two rang out across the bay. Shinji was almost there, just a few more moments and he'd be able to help, as the distance between them closed he could start to make out small cracks in the Angels' field, it was all going to be over soon he just had to-
"Operational time expended, low-power mode engaged."
The image of the battlefield faded from color into low-resolution black and white as the monotone voice of the computer rattled off Unit-01's shutdown sequence. Shinji shouted as he yanked at the control sticks.
"Come on! Move! It's not like you haven't ignored running out of batteries before!"
Unit-01 remained silent. On the screen, the boy could see Iruel struggling to disentangle the still struggling Unit-05 from itself. Then, there was a blinding flash followed by a massive cracking sound and a gust of wind that sent Unit-01 toppling over. Shinji felt his head crash against the headrest of his pilot's seat. The world went dark when he awoke that the entry plug was a lot more claustrophobic than before and that the jagged edge of a piece of olive green armor plate emblazoned with the NERV logo was inches away from his face. Another monotone warning, slightly garbled came over the plug's intercom.
"Warning, high levels of ionizing radiation detected. Please seek medical attention."
Mari's voice rasped over comms.
"Hey Puppy, you okay?"
"M-Mari? What happened? I'm okay but I've got this huge hunk of metal wedged into my plug."
The girl let loose a small coughing fit and resumed speaking.
"I broke through Jet Iruel…whatever it's called's AT Field and Rei shot it with that really big rifle of hers. I don't know what it was but man did it pack a punch, went through me and the dumb robot like a hot knife through butter. I think it went a bit high though, the Geiger counter in here's going tickety tick like crazy."
"Is…is it dead?"
"Pretty sure it is. It's not trying to walk off on me or anything and I'm still parked right on top of it."
Shinji let out a sigh of relief.
"That's good."
"Yep, we won! Yay!"
"So I guess we just have to wait for Dr. Akagi now?"
"I guess so. Hey is she a medical doctor? Because I can't feel my legs."
