- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Let Unit-01 finish the job.
Rei Ayanami Raising Project
- Thread starter Sutekh
- Start date
Dumah VIII: To Be Continued
[X] Let Unit-01 finish the job.
It is an awful sight.
Unit-01 runs on all fours at Unit-00+02 and grabs its two lower arms, nearly knocking the amalgamation to the ground. Unit-00+02 flails and uses its other two arms to plunge both its Progressive Knives into Unit-01's back. Unit-01 lets out an eerie, vaguely human-sounding howl and crushes both of the lower arms' humeri in its fists with a crunching sound. Black blood leaks between its fingers. The Glaive and Smash Hawk fall to the ground. Unit-00+02 contorts in pain and recoils, trying to pull itself from Unit-01's iron grip, but it cannot break free. It stabs Unit-01 over and over in the back with its two good arms, but without much effect.
Unit-01 finally lets go of the lower two arms, which fall limply to Unit-00+02's side. Bits of bone poke out from the ruined armor. The sight is nauseating. Unit-01 snatches the Smash Hawk from the floor of and plunges it into its foe's throat so violently that the axe partially decapitates it. Unit-00+02 makes a gurgling sound and pitches over, twitching. But Unit-01 is not finished with it yet.
It picks up the Sonic Glaive and thrusts it into Unit-00+02's stomach, then raises its leg and forces the weapon through its body with a mighty stomp, pinning it to the ground. The shaft of the weapon snaps from the impact. Sparks crackle from the broken end. Unit-00+02 reaches up frantically to try to pull the Glaive out of itself. Its hands slip over the surface of the shaft, which is slick with blood. Unit-01 then takes up the Smash Hawk a final time to separate Unit-00+02's head from its shoulders. It kicks its enemy's head like a soccer ball into the pool of LCL. The orange liquid becomes cloudier as black blood bubbles up from below.
Unit-00+02 stops moving after that.
Its grim task done, Unit-01 briefly turns to look at you and Gendo. A thrill of terror travels down your body. You're unable to move your legs. But it turns around and begins climbing the body of the Angel, which is still looking down at the carnage in serene silence. When it reaches its target, Unit-01 destroys the last of the Angel's cores by crushing it within its fist.
The entire world goes black around you.
You feel a strange weightlessness before gravity returns. You fall backwards on your butt in surprise. You're on the bridge in Central Dogma, right where you were standing when the Angel "exploded". The rest of the bridge staff is around you, some also on the floor, in a similar state of confusion. It's quiet.
You take a moment to regain your bearings and help a few staff members to their feet. Ritsuko comes up to you with an exhausted expression. Systems have returned to normal. The time is currently 1740 hours, six days since the Angel appeared. Gendo walks up to you and pulls Ritsuko aside to give her cryptic instructions regarding Terminal Dogma. You set to work trying to obtain more information about your present circumstances.
Unit-01 is where it was during the initial attack, in the cages. Shinji has been discovered inside and removed to the medical wing for assessment. He appears to have no serious injuries. Unit-00 is next to it in the adjacent cage. The missing Cleanup and Intelligence staff have yet to be found.
You reach out to the nearest JSSDF base located outside Tokyo-3 to see if you can get through to anyone. After a tense moment, your call connects. The operator on the other end sounds shocked to hear your voice. You hear him chatting with someone standing next to him before he puts Subcommander Fuyutsuki on the phone. Hello Major, it's good that you're back among the living.
Fuyutsuki explains that contact was lost with NERV HQ around six days ago during an Angel attack, with the exception of JSSDF soldiers participating in the operation, NERV personnel on the surface, and—you hear someone shrilly asking Fuyutsuki to give her the phone—the pilots of Units-00 and -02. Fuyutsuki sounds weary. After the Angel apparently disintegrated itself, Rei and Asuka discovered that communications with HQ were lost. Upon further investigation, the entire staff of Central Dogma and the population of Tokyo-3 had mysteriously vanished. NERV and JSSDF personnel were split between the empty city of Tokyo-3 and the secondary facility at Matsushiro, Tokyo-2. Apparently, there was some debate about whether to abandon the Geofront, with one side arguing that there isn't enough staff available to operate it and the other side wholly unwilling to give up the facility, so this was the compromise. There's palpable annoyance in Fuyutsuki's voice.
NERV's Public Relations branch in Matsushiro has been working with the Japanese government to facilitate a cover-up to avoid any form of mass panic resulting from humanity's foremost defense force suddenly vanishing overnight. Asuka has actually been a really great help at making public appearances with Unit-02 over the last week. Fuyutsuki's been impressed by her uncharacteristic professionalism in handling that campaign.
The other pilot is stationed in Tokyo-3, and she has been informed to report to the Geofront. She should be with you shortly. Fuyutsuki has several things to take care of now that the situation has been resolved. He's looking forward to reading the report. You groan and thank him for keeping things in good order while you and Gendo were away. Of course, Major Katsuragi. Fuyutsuki hangs up.
You hear a quiet voice from behind you. Major…?
It's Rei. She looks disheveled and a little haggard. It appears your absence was not kind to her. You greet her warmly. It is good to see you, Major. It's subtle, but you see the corners of her lips turn upwards. Her body language, while still very tense, relaxes somewhat. Rei explains she's been keeping the apartment orderly in your absence. It's just been her and Pen2. You breathe a sigh of relief. Your beloved pet is fine, enough to be a mild nuisance, according to Rei. You pat her head and thank her for holding down the fort. Rei seems surprised and confused by this gesture, but she doesn't seem to hate it.
She asks after Shinji and the Commander, in that order. You tell her Shinji's back in the medical ward having some minor injuries looked at and being evaluated for contamination. You're not exactly sure where Gendo went, as he is no longer on the bridge. Neither is Ritsuko. You end up telling her he went off with Ritsuko somewhere. Rei's smile disappears. She sees. She is not to seek them right now, then. You blink a few times, unsure what she means. Rei says she's going to go see Shinji. You tell her you're not sure he's been cleared for visitors, but Rei simply walks away. You shake your head. You have a feeling Rei wouldn't let that stop her.
You spend the next few hours doing boring administrative work regarding the transfer of Unit-02 back to NERV HQ, coordinating with PR, and fielding unpleasant phone calls. Rei reappears on the bridge shortly after leaving to inform you she is going home. She looks upset. You're concerned, but you have a lot going on right now. You say you'll try to be home on time, and you can eat dinner together. Rei says she would enjoy that before leaving.
At some point, your plans to go home at a reasonable hour get scuppered by a debriefing meeting called by Gendo. Only Shinji is present among the pilots. He looks tired. Rather than the struggle session they usually devolve into, most of the meeting is devoted to Ritsuko and the other technical staff trying to make sense of what even happened to all of you.
It's not entirely certain, but it appears that the Angel's apparent self-destruction functioned similar to a "photograph" of reality in the immediate area. It was able to recreate most of the Hakone Caldera and its environs by using this method, though evidently imperfectly, hence the discrepancies in the geography and layout of Tokyo-3, and issues with finer visual data like printed text. It also struggled to recreate data on systems in the Geofront, but less so, possibly due to binary being simpler to store and copy for whatever mechanism it used. It is hypothesized that the minor damage Asuka managed to do to its body prior to the Angel detonating caused these errors to occur, possibly even including the gradual deterioration of the landscape. Nonetheless, it managed to have strong control over NERV's facilities by manipulating its bootleg copy of MAGI, and were it not for the vigorous countermeasures taken by Ritsuko and her technical staff once the Angel became hostile, there's a very real chance nobody here would still be alive.
It was then able to transport most living things located directly beneath it (i.e., NERV and the civilian population) into this copy it made, which likely became part of the Angel's body, in a sense. In other words, the Angel basically became an imperfect pocket dimension in which it imprisoned you and NERV's other staff that were below surface. It recreated any lifeforms that were on the surface as best it could. It's uncertain exactly how, but it seems to have loosely copied some personality traits, though imprecisely, hence why some personnel felt "off". It seems the Angel only had limited control of exactly what these constructs would do, as they did not cause any issues beyond minor interpersonal squabbles.
This last part is a lie, of course, but it's mostly for your and Gendo's benefit, given how both of you decided to shut down any infighting when the subject came up. In fairness to you, the Angel itself brought up the topic, possibly as a means of causing infighting.
The Angel's aims in executing this form of offensive (rather than simply killing all of you once trapped) are unknown.
You try not to think too hard about the nonsense "Rei" told you down in the Angel's Terminal Dogma.
You listen for a while about some more boring technical stuff the MAGI managed to pick up and how Ritsuko is planning to write some software that can theoretically detect such an attack in the future, though you personally highly doubt another Angel would use the same technique. It's not like they've had too much in common beyond being a pain in the ass.
You end up dragging yourself home well after Rei has gone to bed. However, one of your roommates has waited up for you. Pen2 slams into you with a loud wark. You pick him up and give him a squeeze. You missed him.
Within a couple of days, you have your other two pilots back under your roof. Shinji is no worse for wear, at least not physically. He doesn't remember much of what happened after Unit-01 went berserk. But he's noticeably more reserved than usual, and seems to be actively avoiding both Rei and Asuka, much to both of the girls' chagrin. Asuka is her usual crabby self. The real Asuka still wears her eyepatch and squabbles with her roommates over petty annoyances. It's something of a relief, honestly. "Asuka's" unusually good behavior until towards the end of your ordeal was unnerving.
One change has been that it does appear that your Westphalian settlement between the two girls seems to have had some effect on their relationship. It's far from friendly, but Rei is quick to back down and apologize when she transgresses on Asuka's laundry list of terms and conditions and Asuka does let up with only minimal grousing when Rei points out that she's getting worked up over something that was not in the agreement. It's very weird.
You realize one evening that you never did take the pilots out for that dinner you promised them two Angel attacks ago. You're kind of surprised nobody's held you to it, but you figure that Shinji and Rei didn't care and Asuka was pretty withdrawn between the attacks, so nobody brought it up to you. You probably could let it go and nobody would bother you about it, but it doesn't feel right.
You decide to bite the bullet and take out a hefty sum of money from your bank account to handle the steak dinner. It hurts you on a spiritual level, but you did send three children into what could only be described as hell on earth, so needs must. Asuka lords it over you for the next forty or so minutes as you ride a train to another town. Despite Asuka insisting the place she selected is a fancy steakhouse, Rei accompanies you, for some reason.
When you reach the address, however, you only find a dinky little ramen place. At first you wonder if somehow Asuka is struggling with some kind of language barrier, but it becomes clear that Asuka was just messing with you and had planned long in advance to do something like this. Asuka says she realizes that you're kind of broke (the cost of feeding three kids and a penguin and the payments on your cars do eat pretty heavily into your disposable income) and decided it'd be best to go somewhere that isn't going to bankrupt you, loath as she is to pass up all the free wagyu steaks she could eat. Also, Rei did kind of kill the Angel, so she should probably also be able to accompany you.
Rei orders garlic ramen with no pork, whereas Asuka makes it so you can't rest too easy. She orders the most expensive thing on the menu, an extra-large shark's fin ramen bowl with roast pork. Shinji just orders a standard roast pork ramen. You do the same. The meal won't be cheap, but it certainly is well below what you expected to pay tonight. Rei and Asuka sit next to each other, which is unusual for them, and Shinji firmly puts you in between him and them, sitting on the far end of the bench.
You spend most of the evening listening to Asuka talk about her experience with Tokyo-2, and while NERV HQ can't compete with NERV Berlin, of course, she certainly prefers it to NERV Matsushiro. She mostly complains about how Tokyo-2 residents are rude and unfriendly compared to Tokyo-3 and the general confusion about the ambiguous situation. Rei doesn't say much of anything, which Asuka starts to get annoyed by, but Rei says a) she has nothing to add to Asuka's assessment of Tokyo-2, as she was not there for very long and b) Rei is eating, and she is allowed to eat in peace, per the agreement. You don't actually remember that term, suggesting the two of them have been negotiating in your absence. You're not sure if that's good or bad. Asuka groans and says, fine, whatever.
You inform the girls about what happened to you and the other NERV staff, though leave out some of the gorier details of the battle to avoid triggering any unpleasant recollections in Shinji. Rei makes an unusual expression you figure might be disgust upon learning about her double. It's very subtle, but her eyebrows draw together and her nose crinkles slightly. Asuka seems angry about something using her likeness to be so argumentative and unreasonable. Uh-huh. Well, anyway, she hopes people at NERV don't think less of her, right Shinji?
Oh, uh, yeah, right, Shinji says, clearly distracted. Asuka's hackles rise, and you're worried she's going to chew him out, but Rei puts her hand on Asuka's shoulder and shakes her head, and then points to the bowl of ramen in front of her. Asuka clicks her tongue and goes back to eating. She does tell Rei not to touch her without permission. Rei apologizes quietly.
This is going to take some getting used to.
You eat in amiable silence for the rest of the meal. Once you return home, you find two messages on your answering machine.
One is a message from Ritsuko, stating that she is going to be borrowing Rei Ayanami for two weeks starting next week for important work on the Dummy Plug System. Rei does not look particularly pleased about this development, and you can see discomfort in her body language. Asuka seems a bit put out Rei's getting put on this project.
The other is a message from Fuyutsuki, informing you that in 48 hours, you are going to be meeting with the Steering Committee to answer some questions about what happened. You are to represent NERV in the best light possible. Commander Ikari will fill you in tomorrow. Good night, Major.
Ah, shit.
Still, you decide not to let this unwelcome development ruin your evening. You march the pilots into the living room for a rousing showdown of DDR. Which Rei and Asuka crush you at. Before they get into some kind of petty disagreement about whether Rei's dancing technique was strictly legal, or something. As you watch the two girls argue (mostly Asuka confidently caviling about Rei's posture or something while Rei stares blankly at her, projecting similar annoyance as one would find in a mildly displeased housecat) while Shinji awkwardly slinks out of the room, you think to yourself.
You really do still have your work cut out for you, don't you? Pen2 hands you a beer.
It is an awful sight.
Unit-01 runs on all fours at Unit-00+02 and grabs its two lower arms, nearly knocking the amalgamation to the ground. Unit-00+02 flails and uses its other two arms to plunge both its Progressive Knives into Unit-01's back. Unit-01 lets out an eerie, vaguely human-sounding howl and crushes both of the lower arms' humeri in its fists with a crunching sound. Black blood leaks between its fingers. The Glaive and Smash Hawk fall to the ground. Unit-00+02 contorts in pain and recoils, trying to pull itself from Unit-01's iron grip, but it cannot break free. It stabs Unit-01 over and over in the back with its two good arms, but without much effect.
Unit-01 finally lets go of the lower two arms, which fall limply to Unit-00+02's side. Bits of bone poke out from the ruined armor. The sight is nauseating. Unit-01 snatches the Smash Hawk from the floor of and plunges it into its foe's throat so violently that the axe partially decapitates it. Unit-00+02 makes a gurgling sound and pitches over, twitching. But Unit-01 is not finished with it yet.
It picks up the Sonic Glaive and thrusts it into Unit-00+02's stomach, then raises its leg and forces the weapon through its body with a mighty stomp, pinning it to the ground. The shaft of the weapon snaps from the impact. Sparks crackle from the broken end. Unit-00+02 reaches up frantically to try to pull the Glaive out of itself. Its hands slip over the surface of the shaft, which is slick with blood. Unit-01 then takes up the Smash Hawk a final time to separate Unit-00+02's head from its shoulders. It kicks its enemy's head like a soccer ball into the pool of LCL. The orange liquid becomes cloudier as black blood bubbles up from below.
Unit-00+02 stops moving after that.
Its grim task done, Unit-01 briefly turns to look at you and Gendo. A thrill of terror travels down your body. You're unable to move your legs. But it turns around and begins climbing the body of the Angel, which is still looking down at the carnage in serene silence. When it reaches its target, Unit-01 destroys the last of the Angel's cores by crushing it within its fist.
DUMAH
~Fin~
~Fin~
The entire world goes black around you.
You feel a strange weightlessness before gravity returns. You fall backwards on your butt in surprise. You're on the bridge in Central Dogma, right where you were standing when the Angel "exploded". The rest of the bridge staff is around you, some also on the floor, in a similar state of confusion. It's quiet.
You take a moment to regain your bearings and help a few staff members to their feet. Ritsuko comes up to you with an exhausted expression. Systems have returned to normal. The time is currently 1740 hours, six days since the Angel appeared. Gendo walks up to you and pulls Ritsuko aside to give her cryptic instructions regarding Terminal Dogma. You set to work trying to obtain more information about your present circumstances.
Unit-01 is where it was during the initial attack, in the cages. Shinji has been discovered inside and removed to the medical wing for assessment. He appears to have no serious injuries. Unit-00 is next to it in the adjacent cage. The missing Cleanup and Intelligence staff have yet to be found.
You reach out to the nearest JSSDF base located outside Tokyo-3 to see if you can get through to anyone. After a tense moment, your call connects. The operator on the other end sounds shocked to hear your voice. You hear him chatting with someone standing next to him before he puts Subcommander Fuyutsuki on the phone. Hello Major, it's good that you're back among the living.
Fuyutsuki explains that contact was lost with NERV HQ around six days ago during an Angel attack, with the exception of JSSDF soldiers participating in the operation, NERV personnel on the surface, and—you hear someone shrilly asking Fuyutsuki to give her the phone—the pilots of Units-00 and -02. Fuyutsuki sounds weary. After the Angel apparently disintegrated itself, Rei and Asuka discovered that communications with HQ were lost. Upon further investigation, the entire staff of Central Dogma and the population of Tokyo-3 had mysteriously vanished. NERV and JSSDF personnel were split between the empty city of Tokyo-3 and the secondary facility at Matsushiro, Tokyo-2. Apparently, there was some debate about whether to abandon the Geofront, with one side arguing that there isn't enough staff available to operate it and the other side wholly unwilling to give up the facility, so this was the compromise. There's palpable annoyance in Fuyutsuki's voice.
NERV's Public Relations branch in Matsushiro has been working with the Japanese government to facilitate a cover-up to avoid any form of mass panic resulting from humanity's foremost defense force suddenly vanishing overnight. Asuka has actually been a really great help at making public appearances with Unit-02 over the last week. Fuyutsuki's been impressed by her uncharacteristic professionalism in handling that campaign.
The other pilot is stationed in Tokyo-3, and she has been informed to report to the Geofront. She should be with you shortly. Fuyutsuki has several things to take care of now that the situation has been resolved. He's looking forward to reading the report. You groan and thank him for keeping things in good order while you and Gendo were away. Of course, Major Katsuragi. Fuyutsuki hangs up.
You hear a quiet voice from behind you. Major…?
It's Rei. She looks disheveled and a little haggard. It appears your absence was not kind to her. You greet her warmly. It is good to see you, Major. It's subtle, but you see the corners of her lips turn upwards. Her body language, while still very tense, relaxes somewhat. Rei explains she's been keeping the apartment orderly in your absence. It's just been her and Pen2. You breathe a sigh of relief. Your beloved pet is fine, enough to be a mild nuisance, according to Rei. You pat her head and thank her for holding down the fort. Rei seems surprised and confused by this gesture, but she doesn't seem to hate it.
She asks after Shinji and the Commander, in that order. You tell her Shinji's back in the medical ward having some minor injuries looked at and being evaluated for contamination. You're not exactly sure where Gendo went, as he is no longer on the bridge. Neither is Ritsuko. You end up telling her he went off with Ritsuko somewhere. Rei's smile disappears. She sees. She is not to seek them right now, then. You blink a few times, unsure what she means. Rei says she's going to go see Shinji. You tell her you're not sure he's been cleared for visitors, but Rei simply walks away. You shake your head. You have a feeling Rei wouldn't let that stop her.
You spend the next few hours doing boring administrative work regarding the transfer of Unit-02 back to NERV HQ, coordinating with PR, and fielding unpleasant phone calls. Rei reappears on the bridge shortly after leaving to inform you she is going home. She looks upset. You're concerned, but you have a lot going on right now. You say you'll try to be home on time, and you can eat dinner together. Rei says she would enjoy that before leaving.
At some point, your plans to go home at a reasonable hour get scuppered by a debriefing meeting called by Gendo. Only Shinji is present among the pilots. He looks tired. Rather than the struggle session they usually devolve into, most of the meeting is devoted to Ritsuko and the other technical staff trying to make sense of what even happened to all of you.
It's not entirely certain, but it appears that the Angel's apparent self-destruction functioned similar to a "photograph" of reality in the immediate area. It was able to recreate most of the Hakone Caldera and its environs by using this method, though evidently imperfectly, hence the discrepancies in the geography and layout of Tokyo-3, and issues with finer visual data like printed text. It also struggled to recreate data on systems in the Geofront, but less so, possibly due to binary being simpler to store and copy for whatever mechanism it used. It is hypothesized that the minor damage Asuka managed to do to its body prior to the Angel detonating caused these errors to occur, possibly even including the gradual deterioration of the landscape. Nonetheless, it managed to have strong control over NERV's facilities by manipulating its bootleg copy of MAGI, and were it not for the vigorous countermeasures taken by Ritsuko and her technical staff once the Angel became hostile, there's a very real chance nobody here would still be alive.
It was then able to transport most living things located directly beneath it (i.e., NERV and the civilian population) into this copy it made, which likely became part of the Angel's body, in a sense. In other words, the Angel basically became an imperfect pocket dimension in which it imprisoned you and NERV's other staff that were below surface. It recreated any lifeforms that were on the surface as best it could. It's uncertain exactly how, but it seems to have loosely copied some personality traits, though imprecisely, hence why some personnel felt "off". It seems the Angel only had limited control of exactly what these constructs would do, as they did not cause any issues beyond minor interpersonal squabbles.
This last part is a lie, of course, but it's mostly for your and Gendo's benefit, given how both of you decided to shut down any infighting when the subject came up. In fairness to you, the Angel itself brought up the topic, possibly as a means of causing infighting.
The Angel's aims in executing this form of offensive (rather than simply killing all of you once trapped) are unknown.
You try not to think too hard about the nonsense "Rei" told you down in the Angel's Terminal Dogma.
You listen for a while about some more boring technical stuff the MAGI managed to pick up and how Ritsuko is planning to write some software that can theoretically detect such an attack in the future, though you personally highly doubt another Angel would use the same technique. It's not like they've had too much in common beyond being a pain in the ass.
You end up dragging yourself home well after Rei has gone to bed. However, one of your roommates has waited up for you. Pen2 slams into you with a loud wark. You pick him up and give him a squeeze. You missed him.
Within a couple of days, you have your other two pilots back under your roof. Shinji is no worse for wear, at least not physically. He doesn't remember much of what happened after Unit-01 went berserk. But he's noticeably more reserved than usual, and seems to be actively avoiding both Rei and Asuka, much to both of the girls' chagrin. Asuka is her usual crabby self. The real Asuka still wears her eyepatch and squabbles with her roommates over petty annoyances. It's something of a relief, honestly. "Asuka's" unusually good behavior until towards the end of your ordeal was unnerving.
One change has been that it does appear that your Westphalian settlement between the two girls seems to have had some effect on their relationship. It's far from friendly, but Rei is quick to back down and apologize when she transgresses on Asuka's laundry list of terms and conditions and Asuka does let up with only minimal grousing when Rei points out that she's getting worked up over something that was not in the agreement. It's very weird.
You realize one evening that you never did take the pilots out for that dinner you promised them two Angel attacks ago. You're kind of surprised nobody's held you to it, but you figure that Shinji and Rei didn't care and Asuka was pretty withdrawn between the attacks, so nobody brought it up to you. You probably could let it go and nobody would bother you about it, but it doesn't feel right.
You decide to bite the bullet and take out a hefty sum of money from your bank account to handle the steak dinner. It hurts you on a spiritual level, but you did send three children into what could only be described as hell on earth, so needs must. Asuka lords it over you for the next forty or so minutes as you ride a train to another town. Despite Asuka insisting the place she selected is a fancy steakhouse, Rei accompanies you, for some reason.
When you reach the address, however, you only find a dinky little ramen place. At first you wonder if somehow Asuka is struggling with some kind of language barrier, but it becomes clear that Asuka was just messing with you and had planned long in advance to do something like this. Asuka says she realizes that you're kind of broke (the cost of feeding three kids and a penguin and the payments on your cars do eat pretty heavily into your disposable income) and decided it'd be best to go somewhere that isn't going to bankrupt you, loath as she is to pass up all the free wagyu steaks she could eat. Also, Rei did kind of kill the Angel, so she should probably also be able to accompany you.
Rei orders garlic ramen with no pork, whereas Asuka makes it so you can't rest too easy. She orders the most expensive thing on the menu, an extra-large shark's fin ramen bowl with roast pork. Shinji just orders a standard roast pork ramen. You do the same. The meal won't be cheap, but it certainly is well below what you expected to pay tonight. Rei and Asuka sit next to each other, which is unusual for them, and Shinji firmly puts you in between him and them, sitting on the far end of the bench.
You spend most of the evening listening to Asuka talk about her experience with Tokyo-2, and while NERV HQ can't compete with NERV Berlin, of course, she certainly prefers it to NERV Matsushiro. She mostly complains about how Tokyo-2 residents are rude and unfriendly compared to Tokyo-3 and the general confusion about the ambiguous situation. Rei doesn't say much of anything, which Asuka starts to get annoyed by, but Rei says a) she has nothing to add to Asuka's assessment of Tokyo-2, as she was not there for very long and b) Rei is eating, and she is allowed to eat in peace, per the agreement. You don't actually remember that term, suggesting the two of them have been negotiating in your absence. You're not sure if that's good or bad. Asuka groans and says, fine, whatever.
You inform the girls about what happened to you and the other NERV staff, though leave out some of the gorier details of the battle to avoid triggering any unpleasant recollections in Shinji. Rei makes an unusual expression you figure might be disgust upon learning about her double. It's very subtle, but her eyebrows draw together and her nose crinkles slightly. Asuka seems angry about something using her likeness to be so argumentative and unreasonable. Uh-huh. Well, anyway, she hopes people at NERV don't think less of her, right Shinji?
Oh, uh, yeah, right, Shinji says, clearly distracted. Asuka's hackles rise, and you're worried she's going to chew him out, but Rei puts her hand on Asuka's shoulder and shakes her head, and then points to the bowl of ramen in front of her. Asuka clicks her tongue and goes back to eating. She does tell Rei not to touch her without permission. Rei apologizes quietly.
This is going to take some getting used to.
You eat in amiable silence for the rest of the meal. Once you return home, you find two messages on your answering machine.
One is a message from Ritsuko, stating that she is going to be borrowing Rei Ayanami for two weeks starting next week for important work on the Dummy Plug System. Rei does not look particularly pleased about this development, and you can see discomfort in her body language. Asuka seems a bit put out Rei's getting put on this project.
The other is a message from Fuyutsuki, informing you that in 48 hours, you are going to be meeting with the Steering Committee to answer some questions about what happened. You are to represent NERV in the best light possible. Commander Ikari will fill you in tomorrow. Good night, Major.
Ah, shit.
Still, you decide not to let this unwelcome development ruin your evening. You march the pilots into the living room for a rousing showdown of DDR. Which Rei and Asuka crush you at. Before they get into some kind of petty disagreement about whether Rei's dancing technique was strictly legal, or something. As you watch the two girls argue (mostly Asuka confidently caviling about Rei's posture or something while Rei stares blankly at her, projecting similar annoyance as one would find in a mildly displeased housecat) while Shinji awkwardly slinks out of the room, you think to yourself.
You really do still have your work cut out for you, don't you? Pen2 hands you a beer.
To Be Continued
つづく
つづく
Mazeka
You must be joking
- Location
- United States
I'm assuming that's imitation shark fin, or are there still a few sharks left in the Pacific?
So... What happened to those expedition guys who disappeared?
Also we should do something to acknowledge Asuka in her PR work.
Also we should do something to acknowledge Asuka in her PR work.
Last edited:
- Location
- USA
Well. Shinji is fucked in the head, but somehow Rei and Asuka managed an entire week by themselves without ripping eachother to shreds so...
Progress?
Also damn, only a few days back and Ritsukos already in on the Dummy Plugs.
Progress?
Also damn, only a few days back and Ritsukos already in on the Dummy Plugs.
Hiatus
This concludes the first half of the Rei Ayanami Raising Project. We are now roughly where Episode 13 leaves off in the series, with some differences in the order of events. You have now slain 9 Angels. The Angels have incurred 43,251 civilian casualties, and 2,235 JSSDF/NERV casualties. Rei has killed 5 Angels. Asuka has killed 3 Angels. Shinji has killed 2 Angels.
I will be going on a short (roughly a month) hiatus in order to plan for the second half and recharge a bit. But fear not, I will not be leaving you hanging. Around once a week or so, I will be posting a shorter piece that is non-voting to tide you over. I already have a few written for this in advance.
I will also be going back to revise some earlier posts. There will be no changes in content. I'm mostly going through to edit for terminological consistency (for example, in very early posts I used the "JSDF", rather than the "JSSDF"), to fix spelling mistakes and missing words, and most importantly to me, to remove pleonasms from my prose, as I'm very prone to them and cannot always get all of them out. It's a fault of my writing style that deeply frustrates me. But rest assured, I'm not going to cheat by altering plot details or descriptions ex post facto. It's purely stylistic polish that will be added.
After I return, we will be getting right into the thick of it with an unpleasant encounter involving the Human Instrumentality Committee...
Thank you for continuing to read. Every view and reaction I get on my posts really makes this all feel worthwhile.
Until next time!
I will be going on a short (roughly a month) hiatus in order to plan for the second half and recharge a bit. But fear not, I will not be leaving you hanging. Around once a week or so, I will be posting a shorter piece that is non-voting to tide you over. I already have a few written for this in advance.
I will also be going back to revise some earlier posts. There will be no changes in content. I'm mostly going through to edit for terminological consistency (for example, in very early posts I used the "JSDF", rather than the "JSSDF"), to fix spelling mistakes and missing words, and most importantly to me, to remove pleonasms from my prose, as I'm very prone to them and cannot always get all of them out. It's a fault of my writing style that deeply frustrates me. But rest assured, I'm not going to cheat by altering plot details or descriptions ex post facto. It's purely stylistic polish that will be added.
After I return, we will be getting right into the thick of it with an unpleasant encounter involving the Human Instrumentality Committee...
Thank you for continuing to read. Every view and reaction I get on my posts really makes this all feel worthwhile.
Until next time!
Take all the time that you need! I really appreciate all the work that you've put into this story you've shared with us, especially the incredibly imaginative angels.
FourthWall
Love & Destroy
- Location
- Chiraq
Damn, Misato's got a date with SEELE. At least they probably won't have her do it naked like they did to Ritz. 
- Location
- Irradiated Wasteland
It's Alive!
Good that there is no pilot in Entry Plug, right?
So, Dummy Plug or getting Third Impact sooner? You have to be a dick, even when absent Gendo?
Crap.
Shit, we are in the Second Layer of Matrix.
Interesting change of prorities, maybe she is getting saner.
Yet. Also let's see what is the fallout of those minor squabbles.
Second Layer guys.
Well, it is like Misato's hostelry in her car: genuine synthetic leather.
There is a minor typo somewhere, because 5+3+2 is 10.
Last edited:
Solark
sun-chaser
I knew we should've cheered, look how disappointed it is now that we didn't.
I still think that NERV should have the procedures in place to deal with such situations. And it's not Misato (we) who should be managing/initiating them, it's Ritsuko and her team. Yes, less stuff for players to worry about, but we're not Gendo after all, reasonable responsibility limits are justified.
No hug for Rei after all the shit we witnessed? Let's have our brain checked, maybe we're worse off than we thought after all.
Actually they're doing so much better that I think it's us who were making things worse, possibly by just existing in their proximity.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Well, we made it to the end of the first half without everyone dying! Take all the time you need on the hiatus, and I'll look forward to the return.
Also, by fighter pilot rules Rei's an ace - though, given how tempramental the Evas are, I'd use the First World War standard of 3, not 5, kills, conveniently making Asuka one too and avoiding problems.
Also, by fighter pilot rules Rei's an ace - though, given how tempramental the Evas are, I'd use the First World War standard of 3, not 5, kills, conveniently making Asuka one too and avoiding problems.
Solark
sun-chaser
The numbers themselves would still be a problem I believe, so I wouldn't start painting little angels silhouettes on the EVAs just yet.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Damn, we were standing for six days straight? I'm surprised we could get back up right afterwards.
We should do something nice for her as reward for this. Maybe finally take her on a Japanese metal show like we discussed way back?
Yes! Progress!
Oh.
Ooooh.
She's aware of Gendo and Ritsuko's little fun times. That must be awkward.
Yeah, after everything that happened, that's not a surprising reaction. We should probably try a delicate approach when dealing with this.
Hmmm. What if we bring Asuka in as emotional support for Rei during her time in the project?
Do we have a breakdown of which angel attacks caused casualties and amounts?
...or is that listed on the relevant threadmarks and I need to go hunting...
Solark
sun-chaser
I just realized that if we had deployed Shinji back at the initial attack, we'd have probably had a game over since all 3 EVAs with us would've been fake.
Oh, does anyone get why the angel stopped short of striking back at Asuka back then? That's probably the only point still bothering me.
Oh, does anyone get why the angel stopped short of striking back at Asuka back then? That's probably the only point still bothering me.
The Sixth Angel was killed by Rei and Asuka piloting Unit-02 simultaneously.
There would have been contingencies if that happened, don't worry.
I mean, it was. Pretty much most things involving the MAGI get resolved by Ritsuko, though it often takes some time for narrative purposes; e.g. the Tenth Angel's dimensions were handled by Ritsuko acting on her own accord to recalibrate MAGI's aiming parameters to allow Rei to shoot the Angel properly.
A lot of the research info was probably gonna get handed over to Misato anyway, it's just the players decided to be really hands on in the process.
Most of the options during this Angel encounter were write-ins.Oh, NERV already does that for PR purposes. The Eva that gets the kill gets a little logo of the Angel and the pilot gets a stripe on their plugsuit. I think I mentioned this a while ago. It's so PR can reissue new merchandise constantly with the updated designs.
Last edited:
III. Azazel. 138 civilian casualties and 31 JSSDF casualties.
IV. Sariel. 0 civilian casualties. 8 JSSDF casualties.
V. Arakiel. 3 civilian casualties. 53 JSSDF casualties.
VI. Ananiel. 0 civilian casualties. One third of Pacific Fleet lost.
VII. Kokabiel. 0 civilian casualties. 13 JSSDF casualties.
VIII. Tamiel. 0 civilian casualties. 52 JSSDF casualties.
IX. Sathariel. 3 civilian casualties. 41 NERV casualties.
X. Uriel. 43107 civilian casualties (non-Tokyo-3). 2013 JSSDF casualties.
XI. Dumah. 0 civilian casualties. 24 NERV casualties.
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So Rei + Asuka got a + on their mental health and coopearation, while Shinji got a bit of experience and a hefty dose of Asuka/Rei related trauma.
Kind of reverse to how it was, with both girls hating each other and hogging Shinji's time.
Honestly just glad it ended well (enough).
Kind of reverse to how it was, with both girls hating each other and hogging Shinji's time.
Honestly just glad it ended well (enough).
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Huh. That's better than i thought it would be. I mean, don't get me wrong. Its awful lot of dead people, but it's kinda nice to know we didn't cause a lot of civilian deaths. And the only reason Uriel got so many people was because he passed by Mishima before coming to Tokyo-3.
- Pronouns
- He
Tbh despite our misplays, we've done quite well compared to canon. It's taken 9 Angels for an Eva to get a kill while berserking.
Speaking of, poor Shinji. It's gonna take him a couple weeks to trust the reality of the situation, if he ever does again. Who can blame the kid.
Sutekh, the way you wrote 01 murdering fake!00+02 was phenomenal, the contrast between berserk-01's hyperviolence and our normal combat actions really stood out.
Props to Rei and Asuka for holding down the fort. Glad they've reached an equilibrium based on written boundaries, which isn't too bad.
Speaking of, poor Shinji. It's gonna take him a couple weeks to trust the reality of the situation, if he ever does again. Who can blame the kid.
Sutekh, the way you wrote 01 murdering fake!00+02 was phenomenal, the contrast between berserk-01's hyperviolence and our normal combat actions really stood out.
Props to Rei and Asuka for holding down the fort. Glad they've reached an equilibrium based on written boundaries, which isn't too bad.
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him
...did we explain the "he had to kill murderously convincing doppelgangers" bit yet? Hm.
Asuka thinks of herself as an unusually short grad student, but she has all the self-awareness of a middle schooler.
I dunno what you imagined, but my mental image of Misato's "warm greeting" included a hug.
Asuka would make a joke questioning what emotions she could support, but would probably agree.
We've handled these Angel things better than I thought we had been. JSSDF casualties have been up consistently inconsistent, but almost all of the casualties after the first attack have been civilians.
Uriel? What's that?
Videogamer921
oh god it’s him
- Location
- 10th circle of Hell; Ohio
- Pronouns
- He/Him
we're past the halfway point, and no one important has died yet! I'd say this calls for a celebration.
We should also celebrate on the fact that our kids have yet to enter catatonia from the horrors of war. And they're marginally more emotionally stable!
Shinji is having an off day ignore him.
We should also celebrate on the fact that our kids have yet to enter catatonia from the horrors of war. And they're marginally more emotionally stable!
- Location
- Irradiated Wasteland
All's right with the world then.
Or beer.