So someone on the discord asked about the Red seas and the cause behind them -
Thanks to satellite imagery, it was possible to see that the change in the ocean's coloration spread across the ocean in the aftermath of the original impact, taking somewhere between 85-90 days to spread entirely. The actual cause of the red waters is still something of a scientific curiosity even 20 years later. The leading theory is that it is some kind of microbial life that has managed to elude detection. As while the water is red, it is not caused by a algea or anything like that, and once removed from the ocean over a period of 45 minutes the red color will fade and you will be left with almost completely pure water. Somehow, whatever process removes the color from the water also removes the vast majority of the salt, going from the 35 parts per thousand that Sea water has to roughly 10 parts per million.
Additionally, other methods of desalinating the water will equally reduce the red color in the water. So there is clearly a connection there, but the exact mechanisms and reasons are still unknown.
Well... good(?) news on that front is that there have been a few new species of Algae and sea weeds seen growing in the oceans that seem to be thriving in the new red waters.
Which may have to do with the extinction of several species of filter feeders and the like removing their largest and most dangerous predators. Things like that are happening all over the world after the world wide destruction and chaos changed all sorts of environments and ecosystems. They have been in just as much trouble as the rest of the world as various populations were culled, leaving openings for new niches to develop and new interactions to come to the forefront.
One of those alterations is the fact that the atmospheric oxygen levels have increased by around an eighth of a percent, which has made fires more common, but also seems to be having some effect on insect life. Cicadas are bigger now.
Anything freshwater and inland came out mostly okay, as did a lot of aquariums and zoos and the like that were in-land.
But while the seas turning red did time up with massive reports of dead aquatic life washing up on shores and the like, the majority of the deaths seem to have been from the impact itself and the tidal waves.
While in the first two years of the impact, a lot of people thought that the oceans were wiped clean of all life, as soon as people started traveling the ocean again after determining that the red water wasn't poisonous, evidence of marine life started appearing.
There's actually been a concerted effort to save some of the species that now live only in captivity to try and return individuals to the ocean. This has been met with mostly limited success for many reasons.
As a person with a degree in marine biology, thank you for addressing what i consider to be Evangelions most pants-on-head stupid worldbuilding plot point.
Seriously if all sea life died, we'd be so beyond fucked the Angels would never really have been a problem.
It bears remembering that just even if only a small fraction of a continent's total land area is inundated, that's often going to contain a lot of the big cities, agricultural land, and general economic activity. Highland areas far from the sea tend to be generally less-than in those regards.
For instance, if sea levels rise by 60-70 meters abruptly... Well, while there's a big belt of land in China that's flooded in this scenario, the vast majority of the country is still there. Except that China loses the land inhabited by something close to half its population, because there are just so many big cities either directly on the ocean, or a moderate distance upriver from the ocean in a place where they get flooded out when the lower part of the river valley turns into a ria.
I'm not familiar enough with the economics and population distribution of African countries to comment much on what happens to them in this situation.
"WE REPEAT – Attention all passengers. Today at 13:21 PM a special State of Emergency is being declared for the entire Kanto Region, with Tokai City at the epicenter. All residents should calmly and quickly evacuate to their designated shelters." The canned voice of the artificial intelligence is no help as you try to search through the empty halls of the train station. Back and forth you trawl through the halls, hunting for someone… anyone. Even an automated system might be able to help…
You've been searching through the halls for more than a few minutes now, and nothing. There isn't a single person to be found. If this were any other situation, this would be infuriating. Even in Inaba, you could always find someone around when you needed to. Even in the middle of the night there were people working at the gas station and the old resort. But this is a state of emergency, as the automatic system has been repeating over the air. Everyone is huddled down in the bunkers, and it might honestly be a good idea for you to do the same.
But if you head to the bunkers, then you are certainly going to be late for your meeting with your father.
Not that you know where the Bunkers are anyways, so that might just be a waste of time regardless.
At the moment, there really isn't anything else that you can do other than continue searching for a phone. You'd use your own, but you had accidentally packed up your charging cords a few days ago, and it's been dead for a while now.
With a quiet huff you start moving through the halls again, only pausing for a short break at the restroom. Once you've done your business, you make sure to wash your hands and take a moment to check your appearance over in the mirror.
This is going to be the first time in over a decade that you see your father. At this point, it'd almost be more accurate to say that you are meeting your father for the first time. And first impressions are important. So you don't want to look like a complete mess.
[ ][Me] Strawberry
- You have an appreciation of American music, particularly rock and pop and will listen to them when you have the time. You even have some merch from some of those bands from back before the Second Impact. A lot of their music is more hopeful than modern music, and you prefer it.
[ ][Me] Short Hair
- You've never really liked the way that longer hair felt on your neck, so you've kept your hair shorter. It keeps it out of your eyes too, which is nice.
[ ][Me] Shoulder Length
- You've always enjoyed the feel of longer hair, and it really helps keep people from mistaking you for a boy. That's always annoying.
[ ][Me] Overalls
- With a bit of a shorter haircut, you've managed to both keep your hair off your neck, as well as keep it out of your eyes all without cutting it short. You've never been the most talkative person, and because of that you never really managed to make all that many friends. Hopefully you can change that here.
[ ][Me] Punk Witch
+1 EVA point
- Preferring black, purple, and green you tend to stand out on any day where you aren't dressed for school. You're hair is growing longer, and there is something about this twin tail style that you've gotten that is just… familiar even if you can't remember why.
[ ][Me] Space Case
+1 EVA Point
- You've got a collection of space themed shirts and plenty of space memorabilia that will end up on the walls of your room. Globes and maps of the solar system, artwork of distant worlds and images of what alien life might actually be like. You'd love to meet alien life and try to communicate with it.
[ ][Me] Petite
+1 EVA points
- As much as you hate to admit it, one of the other things complicating your search through the station is the fact that… That you have little legs. You… Aren't very tall. At just 4'10", you were the shortest person in your class back in Inaba, and that is probably still going to be true here in Tokyo Novus. Which means that people are going to rest their elbows on your head again…
Even as you try your best to clean yourself up, you can tell that this is a lost cause. You were thrown about the cabin earlier when the UN tanks started firing at the ocean. Your clothes are wrinkled and crumpled from that, and you seem to have cut your arm. Probably against the wood of the armrest or something. Your sleeve is torn, and there is blood staining your new shirt.
You bought this shirt specifically to try and impress your father.
That's just great.
This is exactly what you didn't want to happen. Once your hands are clean, you carefully wash your face, trying to get any of the dust and dirt that were thrown around without smudging your make-up.
You aren't wearing much, not today at least, because…
Well, because your father abandoned a son. And now he has a daughter. Perhaps that idle thought of this being more a first meeting has more to it than you'd really be willing to admit. You do manage to get a little bit of the blood out of your sleeve, but even so this shirt is a lost cause.
That's… Honestly, that just sums up this entire trip. You've put in all this effort for someone who couldn't even be bothered to be in your life for a decade, and everything is being ruined by things completely outside of your control. Grumbling slightly, you head back into the halls, continuing your search for the exit. Or a phone. Either would work at the moment.
As you finally head down the steps of the train station, you spot a phone. "Oh, thank god." You mutter as you hurry across the street. Everything so far has just been one issue after another, so it is so nice for something to finally go your-
"Due to the state of special emergency, all phone lines are currently disabled. Please try again later."
The moment that you pick up the phone, a pre-recorded message starts to play.
No… yeah. That is about what you should have expected. Being hopeful for things to go differently just isn't going to pan out. At least, not until you meet your father.
"Seriously…" You mutter softly as you stare at the handset that continues to repeat its warning. "That is utterly useless." You don't even bother returning the phone to the cradle, just letting it hang down as you head over to the steps out front.
As you start to settle down on the steps, you perk up - hearing a rumbling in the distance. You'd recognize the sound of a car anywhere, but this sounds like it is getting close, and fast. All at once a car comes around the corner at the end of the block, the tires squealing as they slide across the asphalt, and even as the car comes to a stop less than a dozen feet in front of you, the door is already swinging open. There in the front seat is the woman from the picture. Uhhh… Her name is Ms. Katsuragi, you think."
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Shinji, but we've got to go! NOW!. Get in, GET IN!" The woman yells, sounding more than a little panicked. Something about this is familiar, almost like a dream, and every instinct that you have is screaming at you that Ms. Katsuragi is right. You don't have the time.
You move, practically diving from where your spot into the far side of the car, twisting as you land to start to pull yourself up into a sitting position. Even before the door closes, Ms. Katsuragi is already pulling the car into reverse. You only barely manage to get it closed before she twists the wheel, spinning the entire car around.
Ms. Katsuragi's little blue car screams through the streets without a care in the world for the street lights, the signs or the speed limit. She takes turns fast, barely even slowly as she approaches and you swear that she stomps on the accelerator the moment that she gets through the worst of the turn. You've never seen someone drive like this before.
For a moment you almost start to wonder why she's driving like this, but as you do you start to hear it.
The UN tanks had been firing at something off in the ocean when you first arrived, but once you reached Tokai city itself everything had gone quiet. But even over the roar of the little blue car's engine, you can hear the thundering roar of tank shots.
Whatever it is that they are firing at…
It's getting closer. Speeding around another curve you watch as Ms. Katsuragi weaves around a parked military vehicle with a sort of ease that seems unreal. You can barely tell what is going on at all around the car, but Ms. Katsuragi seems to be in total control. How in the world is she keeping track of the blur that is the world outside?
That isn't the only military vehicle that you see either. Here and there there are other military transports parked along the side of the road, but you don't see a single living soul.
The sounds of combat are getting closer.
Finally, Ms. Katsuragi makes one final turn, where you can feel yourself lifting up as two of the tires rise up off the ground, and you can see the road head out straight and leave the city behind. At the same time, you spot something in the rear view mirror.
That… Turning in your seat, you stare through the back window.
A… thing for lack of a better term slowly lumbers through the streets of the city, towering high above the buildings.
All around it aging fighter jets scream through the skies, banking wide before unleashing missiles and gunfire at the towering giant of darkness. Closer, more modern UN VTOL fighters juke and dodge the incoming missiles as they unleash their own munitions at the towering monster.
Explosions rain down on the creature, peppering it with heat and flames, but even from where you sit in the back of Ms. Katsuragi's car, you can tell that that isn't doing much. If it is doing anything at all. Moving with speed faster than you can track, the creature's arm snaps up, grabbing hold of one of the VTOL's with one claw, before slowly crushing it. You can't hear the screams of the people onboard dying, but it seems clear to you that that was not a kind way to die.
The worst thing of all of this is the fact that the monster seems to be marching directly towards you, but Ms. Katsuragi's driving does have one advantage to it, as with each passing moment the creature fades further and further away. It isn't long before you end up turning onto the highway, cutting a more direct path towards Tokyo Novus. One advantage of this is the fact that you are no longer in the most direct path of the creature, and in fact you can try and watch the battle from the window. At least for the moment.
The creature continues to march forwards, not making a sound despite its sheer size. There are no roars or growls the likes of which you've seen in old Kaiju movies.
The creature lumbers forwards, reaching the top of one of the hills close to Tokai city, and slowly passes to the other side. The towering monster seems to be practically ignoring the UN forces, treating them with all the respect that you might treat a fly. Suddenly, something on Ms. Katsuragi's dashboard starts to beep, and with a shout of "Fuck!" The older woman slams on the breaks. She twists the wheel, spinning the car wildly about, hard enough that the only reason that you aren't thrown completely free is because of your seatbelt. The tires screech as the whole thing comes to a stop, now facing the other way. Ms. Katsuragi reaches over and opens the glove box.
Pulling out a pair of binoculars, she looks over in the direction of the attacking monster, before you see all the color drain out of her face. "Fuck! They're using an N2 Mine! Are they insane? Get down!" Instincts born of the disaster drills that you went through at school make you move before your mind really processes the exact words being said.
Dropping your head between your knees you cover your neck with your hands as Ms. Katsuragi throws herself over you. There is a moment where nothing seems to happen, before the whole of the sky off in the direction of the towering monster becomes pure light. Even with your eyes closed the light is bright enough to hurt, and you have to adjust to cover it better.
Still… Everything is silent. Sound moves slower than light, but the sound is also-
THOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
The roar is deafeningly loud as the sheer force of the explosion starts to drag Ms. Katsuragi's car off to one side. Then, you feel the car start to lift the same way that the train does, and with horror you realize that you are about to-
The car tumbles, and with it the world seems to rock and spin, as the blinding brightness flips from side to side faster than you can keep track of, even as you slam against the seat and then rise up towards the roof, only to slam against your seat again. Everything twists and turns, and your stomach feels like it is tying itself in knots.
Finally after you start to feel like you are going to vomit, the twisting comes to an end. The light in the distance dims, and as you and Ms. Katsuragi struggle against the winds, you both manage to peer out through off towards the source.
Even from here, kilometers away from the explosion, you can still feel a tinge of heat. If that's not from the car tumbling.
Up until now, the skies had been the same bright brilliant blue that they always are, but in this moment the sky from the horizon to the peak of the world has been painted in golds and red and oranges. Almost like a collage of sunsets and sunrises, all painted over a field of flames.
Whatever that thing was… It has to be dead now. Right? There's no way that anything could survive something like…
Oh… god
Nothing could have survived that. "The entire city is gone, isn't it." You say quietly.
"..."Ms. Katsuragi looks over at you, and even though you can't see behind her sunglasses, you're sure that she's realizing exactly the same thing that you are. "If there was anyone out and about, then at the very least it would have been painless."
Before you have a chance to say another word, Ms. Katsuragi moves. In a single swift and smooth motion she places her hands against the door of the car and vaults over and over it, flipping over one full time to end with her feet on the ground outside of the car. There's not a chance in the world that you'd be able to do something like that, but you still manage to crawl out from the wreck all the same.
Ms. Katsurugi looks over to you, before she gives you a faint, soft smile. "Are you alright?" She asks, before blinking. This might actually be the first time that she's actually had the chance to really see you. Everything before this was either the rush of the woman's driving as she tried to escape the… The now gone city of Tokai, or tumbling in the explosion.
Nevertheless, you have to side of the car for a moment, one hand to your mouth as you try to both parse the fact that an entire city is gone, as well as the sheer confusion and nausea of being thrown around like that. "I'll… I'll be fine once my stomach stops flipping."
Ms. Katsuragi gives a faint chuckle, smiling kindly. "You'll be fine in a few moments then." And she is right. It doesn't take long at all before the worst of the dizziness fades. Seeing you stand up again, your father's… Whatever Ms. Katsuragi is to your father, the woman leans up against the roof of her car. "Could I get a bit of help?" She asks.
Obviously, because you aren't getting anywhere with her car on its side. The two of you lean, and as you shout a short "On three! Three!" Before the both of you push with everything that you have. After a few moments of pushing and shoving the car slowly starts to tip. Then, it reaches the point of no return, and gravity takes care of the rest.
"Thanks. I couldn't have done that without you." Ms. Katsuragi says, but honestly speaking, you're almost certain that she could have. Dusting her hands against each other, Ms. Katsuragi looks over to you.
"I mean, if anyone should be thanking anyone, then I should be thanking you for picking me up, Ms. Katsuragi. If you hadn't been there…"
The sky at your back is still burning red, and there aren't any words to explain just what she managed to do for you.
"Please." The woman says with a laugh. "Call me Misato, alright? Anyone who survives an explosion in a tumbling car has earned at least that much. It's nice to finally meet you Shinji Ikari." As she says that, Misato pauses for a moment, glancing over your clothes and your face, before she sighs. "Uhh… Well, that's the name on your father's file. Is there a different name that you'd prefer to go by instead?"
"It's still Shinji." You say with a smile, happy to see that someone is willing to make that first step to try and connect with you. You weren't sure that anyone would. "Just using different kanji."
Thankfully, the majority of the damage to Miss Misato's car seems to be cosmetic, so it just takes a few minutes of checking to make sure that everything is good before you end up back on the road again.
By that point the worst of the explosion has disappeared, but the skies are still red off in that direction. Probably from the sheer amount of smoke and smog in the air. What's really wild is that you can see a glow between two of the mountains in the distance.
The car stutters and groans as it moves, but it moves. "So the good news," Misato starts, "Is that we are quite close to the nearest SSE, and my position will allow us to take it directly to our destination. So we might still manage to arrive on time, despite everything else."
That's… probably good to hear, even if you are starting to worry about the nature of all of this. It seems that your father has been paying so little attention to you that he never updated your file with the information that you sent to him. And why he simply told you to handle the transfer paperwork yourself.
You never had the highest of expectations for this meeting with your father, but everything that you are learning now just makes it all the more obvious that he isn't paying you any attention. Which makes him calling for you out of the blue all the more suspicious.
"And, I know that this whole situation is… Something. But if you have any questions, then feel free to ask them. I'll try to answer them as accurately and honestly as I can. "
If you are being honest with yourself, your first instinct is to refuse. Your uncle refused to answer any of the questions that you had about your parents for years now, and you can't imagine that that is going to change now. So that's one line questions already down the drain. Then there was the paperwork that your father sent you. Nearly all of it was redacted out, which means that you don't have the context as to what his position is, or even where he works.
Maybe Misato knows why you are here, but given the fact that the file she had on you was out of date and inaccurate, can you really trust any information that she gives you?
And wouldn't that be a mess of a thing to say?
Though, on the other hand… Miss Misato is clearly high enough up the chain of whatever is going on around here that she was trusted with the responsibility of picking you up. And if she'd messed that up, you'd be dead. So there is a very real chance that she might actually have the kind of clout to have the answers to some of your questions, and she might even be willing to tell you the truth.
[ ][Questions] "No… No I think I'm fine for the moment.
[ ][Questions] "I do have one thing I was hoping you might be able to explain to me.
+ 1 EVA point
Choose 1
- [ ] Ask about your father. What kind of person he is, and what his position is.
- [ ] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
- [ ] Ask about what an N2 mine even is
- [ ] Ask about why you've been summoned.
- [ ] Ask what the point of sending paperwork that is more redactions than words even is
[ ][Questions] "I do have a couple things that I'd like to know."
+ 2 EVA points
Choose 2
- [ ] Ask about your father. What kind of person he is, and what his position is.
- [ ] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
- [ ] Ask about what an N2 mine even is
- [ ] Ask about why you've been summoned.
- [ ] Ask what the point of sending paperwork that is more redactions than words even is
[ ][Questions] "Where would I even begin?"
+ 3 EVA points
Choose 3
- [ ] Ask about your father. What kind of person he is, and what his position is.
- [ ] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
- [ ] Ask about what an N2 mine even is
- [ ] Ask about why you've been summoned.
- [ ] Ask what the point of sending paperwork that is more redactions than words even is
Unfortunately, this part requires a good bit of... following the canon state of things, but you'll have your first chance to spend EVA points in the next update and start to really twist things into a new direction from here on out.
[X][Me] Short Hair
[X][Me] Shoulder Length
[X][Me] Space Case
[X][Me] Petite
I'll let someone come up with plans first before voting for the rest.
[X][Questions] "Where would I even begin?"
-[X] Ask about why you've been summoned.
-[X] Ask what the point of sending paperwork that is more redactions than words even is
-[X] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
[X] Question Plan Immediate Priorities
[x][Questions] "Where would I even begin?"
- [x] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
- [x] Ask about what an N2 mine even is
- [x] Ask about why you've been summoned.
I will also choose to ask many questions. But also, only the immediately important questions.
Which are, abridged and in a different order.
Was that a nuke that exploded nearby and will I die from radiation sickness?
Why am I here in the same postal code as that monster?
And what is that monster anyway?
Edit. Equally abridged answers (joke)
One. It's not a nuke. Don't worry about radiation.
Two, you are here because you are needed to fight that monster. Sorry if it's a bit heavy but other options are... objectively suboptimal. You're going to see, if I know your father well.
Three, some idiot decided to call them Angels which has unfortunate religious connotations anyone with common sense would have tried to avoid. But the short story is, one of those monsters exploded in Antarctic twenty years ago and we need this one dead before it explodes in the middle of Japan. So, sorry, but running away isn't really an option, the worst case scenario erases all of Japan at minimum.
[X][Questions] "Where would I even begin?"
+ 3 EVA points
- [x] Ask about your father. What kind of person he is, and what his position is.
- [x] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
- [x] Ask about what an N2 mine even is
- [x] Ask about why you've been summoned.
- [x] Ask what the point of sending paperwork that is more redactions than words even is
I....Don't see why someone made a plan format, the three questions sets are already plans.
Also Immediate Priorities is broken, and an empty vote.
Two, you are here because you are needed to fight that monster. Sorry if it's a bit heavy but other options are... objectively suboptimal. You're going to see, if I know your father well.
She actually doesn't quite know that.
It was a shock to her as I recall that they were fielding Shinji the second they arrived with no training of any kind.
Also, she buys Shinji a phone he doesn't use, so interesting to note we already have a phone.
[X][Questions] "Where would I even begin?"
-[X] Ask about why you've been summoned.
-[X] Ask what the point of sending paperwork that is more redactions than words even is
-[X] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
I have to say I'm a little confused on what we're supposed to be doing for the second part of the vote? My immediate reaction was that with the Question headers going roughly one>couple>many questions was that the further down the option we picked was, the more questions we could ask. Likely matching the number of EVA points gained since that would result in a nice scale of 0, 1, 2, and 3 questions asked. But nowhere does it actually say a specific amount of questions we can ask, so it meant to be more of a personality vote where we get the same total number of questions in each, it's just how we ask them?
[X][Me] Shoulder Length
[X][Me] Space Case
We will look very cute with this. Also space stuff.
[X] Question Plan Immediate Priorities
[x][Questions] "Where would I even begin?"
- [x] Ask about the giant monster that you barely managed to escape being exploded with
- [x] Ask about what an N2 mine even is
- [x] Ask about why you've been summoned.
[x] Shoulder Length
[x][Questions] "I do have one thing I was hoping you might be able to explain to me.
- [x] Ask what the point of sending paperwork that is more redactions than words even is
