- Location
- Surrey
Kyoko: ...Maybe I should've just used the 'Delete' command instead of the 'Metsu Hadoken' command....
Two Souls [NGE]
- Thread starter Boreas Anemos
- Start date
Kyoko: ...Maybe I should've just used the 'Delete' command instead of the 'Metsu Hadoken' command....
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
"Where don't really need to be insane, alcoholic, or drug-addicted, but it certainly eases the burden.""Welcome to NERV!"
Well, she is button-mashing, after all. She found some useful things in her quest, but a book conveniently titled "User's Manual to Your Subconscious Mind and the Art of Mindscape Shaping" was not among them
Chapter 7.4.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
The day of Kyoko Soryu is going quite well. Day of Ritsuko Akagi, not so much.
================================================================
Chapter 7., part 4.
The elevator door opened with a whirr befitting their weight. Ritsuko Akagi hesitated just for a moment before stepping into the cold air of the Cages; the cold gave her goose bumps. She stopped and took a deep breath, surveying the usual darkness, punctuated only by the dim directional and warning lights felt almost oppressive.
'Unit-02. Attach the equipment, investigate the problem, record the data, detach the equipment, leave this place. Let's-'
Ritsuko twitched when a strange whirring sound came from behind her; it took her just a second – and a frantic turn – to realise that it was the elevator door closing behind her. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!' she chastised herself. 'Get a grip of yourself, you stupid old woman. They're not plotting against you, they can't harm you. The monsters are asleep, caged!'
With a determined look on her face, she started pushing the cart on the path towards Unit-02 sector. But no matter her determination, her heart was still pounding.
Kyoko was walking. The partially ruined garden was still behind her, but she paid it no attention. Minor changes were taking place around her as she was recalling the memories from her childhood travels with her parents: a hill raising, a tree appearing, a stream of water emerging, a bush growing.
She stopped and took a long look around. Something felt wrong. Taking a few steps back, she surveyed the area: the forest, a path that meandered through it, trees, bushes-
She looked up at the bush that was standing next to her path and her hand met her face, realising her error. She remembered them as a child would – larger than her. Embarrassed by such a simple mistake, she reached out to make them smaller, but that was the moment a realisation struck her. She recalled words her minister liked to quote far too often for her taste:
"Als ich in Kind war, redete ich wie ein Kind, dachte wie ein Kind und urteilte wie ein Kind."
He was using them as an argument that his pupils' way of thinking was something they would simply grow out of. But now, it was not the only meaning.
'This is clearly a week of enlightenment for me, for better or worse. Thank you, Herr Heinemann' she thought, her head still spinning from the clarity of thought. 'I don't know whether you reached the Heaven you promised to the good children, the torment you promised those that forgot their homework… or perhaps still spread the Word in the world that needs it more than ever. But the seed you planted has just sprouted.'
She left the path and climbed a hill that suddenly emerged next to her. And with a smile, she started her work, seeing with eyes of an adult.
Yui Ikari was walking her version of the forest, a little bit more orderly and far less changing. She was peeking into bushes, peering between trees, perusing the high grass. "Come out, come out, wherever you are" she chanted, trying to sound friendly. "I will not harm you, I promise" she added.
There was no response but some distant rustling of leaves.
After a while, she sat on an old, moss-covered bench. "I guess I lost my touch with children" she sighed. "Or perhaps Shinji was less of a… well, he was definitely more social" she sighed, recalling the ever-curious and easygoing kid. With that, her thoughts turned darker. 'Not so much now. When I get out of this and my dear Gendo is still alive, he's going to hear a few kind words about raising children. Shinji, at least, was likely growing somewhere normal, if away from actual parentage. Gods alone know how this odd girl was raised.'
She shook her head.
'Talking about odd, what can I do with the oddity I have here? It responds poorly to being exposed, it feeds surreptitiously so luring with food is not an option… unless I place traps around feeders, but considering how feral it is, I may end up with it hurting itself when captured. Hm. 'It', or 'her'? It was clearly a dress, dirty and ragged as at it was…'
She sighed and rose. 'I'm thinking too much. Hunting blue-haired girls, round two, comm-'
She stopped mid-step. Something was happening in the Cages. She extended her senses; the sounds were relatively minor: this was not a commotion; it was just some minor activity. She risked a peek and noticed a silhouette in white cloak passing her while heading towards another Cage; identifying Dr Akagi from her gait and blonde hair was trivial, especially that few people would be in the Cages at night.
'She's heading to Unit-02. What have you done, Soryu?'
She pondered whether to warn her I-don't-know-who-you-are-now, but decided against it. 'If this some minor disturbance, I may end up exacerbating it; if it is something major, Soryu will know someone is heading towards her anyway.'
She kept watching, noticing with some amusement that the good doctor Akagi was more than twitchy.
Ritsuko Akagi took a shortcut through the Unit-01 cage; it was the shortest way from that particular elevator and spared her doing a longer route with several turns, some of them with back to Unit-02.
She questioned the wisdom of that choice soon after she entered the presence of Unit-01.
She knew that Evangelions could not normally move in their dormant state. Isolated incidents were just that – incidents, caused by extremely unusual circumstances. Those did not apply now. The monsters were sleeping.
But she could not shake the feeling that Unit-01 moved its head just on the verge of perception as she entered. She could also not shake the irrational feeling that she was being watched.
She rushed past the sleeping giant, her muscles tensing with every step and her skin crawling. The door was opening far too slowly for her taste, and the sound of the door's closing was a melody to her ears. A long creak that followed – something she would normally write off as a normal consequence of metal walls moving after being minutely shaken by the door opening and closing – suddenly sent shivers down her spine.
"Oh for fuck's sake, Ritsuko, get a grip, woman!" she chastised herself loudly. "You're not a kid that hides in the closet from the fear of monsters!" she added and resumed her brisk walk towards Unit-02. Next door opened and she stepped into the correct Cage and beheld the red-armoured monstrosity.
"Be good, and it won't take long" she addressed the Evangelion, aware how stupid it sounded. There was, thankfully, no response, even if she half-expected it. She set the lights down and started the procedure of exposing the Core.
Kyoko Soryu was standing on a tall hill, making slow, smooth gestures. Every gesture changed something in the landscape: raising a hill, making a lake, creating or removing a forest. Not every move worked out as she intended; the most recent one actually felled the forest and turned it into a post-hurricane landscape instead of just removing it and replacing it with a grassland.
Finally, she surveyed the area and smiled.
'Now, I need a castle' she thought, only to stop herself. 'No. I am not a prince or some knight. I am a woman of science. And who would be a woman of science in the past?' she smiled to herself and stepped into the forest she just shaped. It was quite generic, of course, as she paid no attention to details. As she walked, minor things kept changing around her, adjusting to her concept of a forest.
The sounds and sensations coming from outside her body drowned in the elation of being able to finally shape her reality; they were unimportant in the face of everything around her obeying her commands.
Ritsuko Akagi was working as fast as she could without losing the precision of measurements. Knowing the Core architecture and ports by heart certainly helped, as did the motivation that once she is done with it, she will be able to leave the Cages with her conscience clean; well, as clean as it could be after everything she has ever done for Project E. Thus, her work progressed quickly.
The problem is that the readings showed nothing unusual. They were in the green again, and nothing indicated any significant instability in the Core. Unit-02 was perfectly fine.
Ritsuko cursed under her breath. 'Another anomaly, another undebuggable disturbance. Why does it keep happening?' she pondered. 'And what if this happens in combat? Asuka is unstable enough without her mother acting up.'
She began to move the measuring equipment to set up the final stage of the checks. She performed those measurements tens of times before, if not hundreds, thus her movements were routine; this made the glaring red "danger" she suddenly saw on the screen confusing. She blinked in confusion and returned her eyes to the connections. Half a second later she yanked two of them out, her hands shaking. 'Akagi, get a grip. You almost delivered an electric shock to the Core. This was a basic mistake, what is wrong with you?'
She slowly put the connections in order, noticing her hands were still shaking. She bit her lip, forcing herself to focus. Two minutes later the screen indicated a green "ready". She started the sequence and rested her back against Unit-02 armour, taking a deep breath.
Suddenly, there was a loud creak and the Cages began to shake. She jumped up, turned as fast as she could, and saw herself facing two pairs of luminescent green eyes, staring directly at her. The mouth of Unit-02 creaked open and its restrains started to buckle as the monster started its jerky movements.
Ritsuko just stood there, tethered to the ground with fear. 'The beast is unleashed' was her only conscious thought; the rest of her mind was filled with screams she could not let out. She could only stare powerlessly as Unit-02 finally tore one of her hands free and used it to remove the rest of its restrains.
Seconds that felt like hours later, the Eva let out a deafening roar and brought the hand down on Ritsuko's head.
She woke with a start, her heart pounding audibly and painfully in her chest, her breath ragged, her skin covered in cold sweat. She staggered to her feet as quickly as her shaky legs allowed and stared at Unit-02's head.
It was dark as everything else in the Cages; the only lights around her were the always-on emergency lighting – and her equipment, currently giving a green "finished" readout. She was standing there, unmoving, for a whole minute, doing her best to calm herself down.
Finally, not letting the giant red head from her field of view, she yanked out the connectors with shaking hands and closed the Core's shielding. Throwing the equipment haphazardly onto the cart, she rushed out, once more taking the shortcut.
After listening for a while and hearing nothing, Yui Ikari returned to wandering the paths carefully and scanning the area – this time without much conviction. But this was soon interrupted by a hiss of the door; Yui reflexively focused her senses outwards.
Dr Ritsuko Akagi was moving across the galley with a speed that was certainly unsafe in a workplace with such disregard towards railings and other safeties as NERV universally presented. It was doubly unsafe as she was pushing a cart full of equipment in front of her.
'What did you do to her, Soryu?' Yui pondered, amused with seeing the haughty doctor in clear distress. 'I hope this was nothing that would get us into trouble' a darker thought clouded the amusement.
She shook it off. 'If it was important, Soryu would not remain silent' she concluded. 'But to be absolutely sure…'
She sat down on a bench and extended her thoughts outwards. It was something she has not done for a while. Not since she found her possible-partner-in-conspiracy, who now was kind-of-estranged-friend.
She felt the familiar mind of Unit-02 immediately, only to realise it sounded somehow different; focusing her senses, she realised it now felt far smoother, far more harmonious. The dissonant tones were almost gone; while it was no symphony, the melody and the aftertaste were certainly far more pleasing. She withdrew quickly; perceiving like this was always confusing at best, exhausting at worst – even if the sensations were positive or even pleasant.
Feeling the need to make sure everything was in order, she turned her attention towards the other mind, the ball of fury, confusion, and anger she rather not touch. It was, of course, still there and still angry – but slightly changed as well. 'I neglected the monitoring. Foolish me.'
She refocused at her new target. It tasted like electricity, its edges ragged and hurting; the melody did not really deserve that label – it was dissonant and painful to hear. But there were rare moments of clarity, rare notes that were harmonious, that tasted like honey in the sea of needles and barbed wire.
She stared into this abyss of confusion and dissonance for a moment, trying to understand the reason for this change. Failing to see any pattern, she started to withdraw.
In that moment, the abyss stared back.
Yui Ikari was staring into
something
that was focusing all its attention at her.
Her only respite stopping her from panicking was the fact that it felt like facing something scary, but somehow equal – this was not a snake-versus-mouse situation, it felt more akin to two predators accidentally meeting and having a stand-off.
With all her will, she forced herself to withdraw.
The air around her smelled familiar. The wet wood of the bench felt good under her hands. The cicadas were singing in the bushes. She was home. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
A pair of red irises were staring at her; the face that framed them was mere centimetres away. The unblinking eyes expressed nothing but intense curiosity.
================================================================
I intended to have the Angel attack, but it seems to be a little bit delayed. Also, I intened the part about the abyss sound a bit different, but decided that would be too much. Decide for yourself which one would work better.
The German quote is from 1 Cor 13,11; Einheitsueberzetsung, Herder 1998
================================================================
Chapter 7., part 4.
The elevator door opened with a whirr befitting their weight. Ritsuko Akagi hesitated just for a moment before stepping into the cold air of the Cages; the cold gave her goose bumps. She stopped and took a deep breath, surveying the usual darkness, punctuated only by the dim directional and warning lights felt almost oppressive.
'Unit-02. Attach the equipment, investigate the problem, record the data, detach the equipment, leave this place. Let's-'
Ritsuko twitched when a strange whirring sound came from behind her; it took her just a second – and a frantic turn – to realise that it was the elevator door closing behind her. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!' she chastised herself. 'Get a grip of yourself, you stupid old woman. They're not plotting against you, they can't harm you. The monsters are asleep, caged!'
With a determined look on her face, she started pushing the cart on the path towards Unit-02 sector. But no matter her determination, her heart was still pounding.
***
Kyoko was walking. The partially ruined garden was still behind her, but she paid it no attention. Minor changes were taking place around her as she was recalling the memories from her childhood travels with her parents: a hill raising, a tree appearing, a stream of water emerging, a bush growing.
She stopped and took a long look around. Something felt wrong. Taking a few steps back, she surveyed the area: the forest, a path that meandered through it, trees, bushes-
She looked up at the bush that was standing next to her path and her hand met her face, realising her error. She remembered them as a child would – larger than her. Embarrassed by such a simple mistake, she reached out to make them smaller, but that was the moment a realisation struck her. She recalled words her minister liked to quote far too often for her taste:
"Als ich in Kind war, redete ich wie ein Kind, dachte wie ein Kind und urteilte wie ein Kind."
He was using them as an argument that his pupils' way of thinking was something they would simply grow out of. But now, it was not the only meaning.
'This is clearly a week of enlightenment for me, for better or worse. Thank you, Herr Heinemann' she thought, her head still spinning from the clarity of thought. 'I don't know whether you reached the Heaven you promised to the good children, the torment you promised those that forgot their homework… or perhaps still spread the Word in the world that needs it more than ever. But the seed you planted has just sprouted.'
She left the path and climbed a hill that suddenly emerged next to her. And with a smile, she started her work, seeing with eyes of an adult.
***
Yui Ikari was walking her version of the forest, a little bit more orderly and far less changing. She was peeking into bushes, peering between trees, perusing the high grass. "Come out, come out, wherever you are" she chanted, trying to sound friendly. "I will not harm you, I promise" she added.
There was no response but some distant rustling of leaves.
After a while, she sat on an old, moss-covered bench. "I guess I lost my touch with children" she sighed. "Or perhaps Shinji was less of a… well, he was definitely more social" she sighed, recalling the ever-curious and easygoing kid. With that, her thoughts turned darker. 'Not so much now. When I get out of this and my dear Gendo is still alive, he's going to hear a few kind words about raising children. Shinji, at least, was likely growing somewhere normal, if away from actual parentage. Gods alone know how this odd girl was raised.'
She shook her head.
'Talking about odd, what can I do with the oddity I have here? It responds poorly to being exposed, it feeds surreptitiously so luring with food is not an option… unless I place traps around feeders, but considering how feral it is, I may end up with it hurting itself when captured. Hm. 'It', or 'her'? It was clearly a dress, dirty and ragged as at it was…'
She sighed and rose. 'I'm thinking too much. Hunting blue-haired girls, round two, comm-'
She stopped mid-step. Something was happening in the Cages. She extended her senses; the sounds were relatively minor: this was not a commotion; it was just some minor activity. She risked a peek and noticed a silhouette in white cloak passing her while heading towards another Cage; identifying Dr Akagi from her gait and blonde hair was trivial, especially that few people would be in the Cages at night.
'She's heading to Unit-02. What have you done, Soryu?'
She pondered whether to warn her I-don't-know-who-you-are-now, but decided against it. 'If this some minor disturbance, I may end up exacerbating it; if it is something major, Soryu will know someone is heading towards her anyway.'
She kept watching, noticing with some amusement that the good doctor Akagi was more than twitchy.
***
Ritsuko Akagi took a shortcut through the Unit-01 cage; it was the shortest way from that particular elevator and spared her doing a longer route with several turns, some of them with back to Unit-02.
She questioned the wisdom of that choice soon after she entered the presence of Unit-01.
She knew that Evangelions could not normally move in their dormant state. Isolated incidents were just that – incidents, caused by extremely unusual circumstances. Those did not apply now. The monsters were sleeping.
But she could not shake the feeling that Unit-01 moved its head just on the verge of perception as she entered. She could also not shake the irrational feeling that she was being watched.
She rushed past the sleeping giant, her muscles tensing with every step and her skin crawling. The door was opening far too slowly for her taste, and the sound of the door's closing was a melody to her ears. A long creak that followed – something she would normally write off as a normal consequence of metal walls moving after being minutely shaken by the door opening and closing – suddenly sent shivers down her spine.
"Oh for fuck's sake, Ritsuko, get a grip, woman!" she chastised herself loudly. "You're not a kid that hides in the closet from the fear of monsters!" she added and resumed her brisk walk towards Unit-02. Next door opened and she stepped into the correct Cage and beheld the red-armoured monstrosity.
"Be good, and it won't take long" she addressed the Evangelion, aware how stupid it sounded. There was, thankfully, no response, even if she half-expected it. She set the lights down and started the procedure of exposing the Core.
***
Kyoko Soryu was standing on a tall hill, making slow, smooth gestures. Every gesture changed something in the landscape: raising a hill, making a lake, creating or removing a forest. Not every move worked out as she intended; the most recent one actually felled the forest and turned it into a post-hurricane landscape instead of just removing it and replacing it with a grassland.
Finally, she surveyed the area and smiled.
'Now, I need a castle' she thought, only to stop herself. 'No. I am not a prince or some knight. I am a woman of science. And who would be a woman of science in the past?' she smiled to herself and stepped into the forest she just shaped. It was quite generic, of course, as she paid no attention to details. As she walked, minor things kept changing around her, adjusting to her concept of a forest.
The sounds and sensations coming from outside her body drowned in the elation of being able to finally shape her reality; they were unimportant in the face of everything around her obeying her commands.
***
Ritsuko Akagi was working as fast as she could without losing the precision of measurements. Knowing the Core architecture and ports by heart certainly helped, as did the motivation that once she is done with it, she will be able to leave the Cages with her conscience clean; well, as clean as it could be after everything she has ever done for Project E. Thus, her work progressed quickly.
The problem is that the readings showed nothing unusual. They were in the green again, and nothing indicated any significant instability in the Core. Unit-02 was perfectly fine.
Ritsuko cursed under her breath. 'Another anomaly, another undebuggable disturbance. Why does it keep happening?' she pondered. 'And what if this happens in combat? Asuka is unstable enough without her mother acting up.'
She began to move the measuring equipment to set up the final stage of the checks. She performed those measurements tens of times before, if not hundreds, thus her movements were routine; this made the glaring red "danger" she suddenly saw on the screen confusing. She blinked in confusion and returned her eyes to the connections. Half a second later she yanked two of them out, her hands shaking. 'Akagi, get a grip. You almost delivered an electric shock to the Core. This was a basic mistake, what is wrong with you?'
She slowly put the connections in order, noticing her hands were still shaking. She bit her lip, forcing herself to focus. Two minutes later the screen indicated a green "ready". She started the sequence and rested her back against Unit-02 armour, taking a deep breath.
Suddenly, there was a loud creak and the Cages began to shake. She jumped up, turned as fast as she could, and saw herself facing two pairs of luminescent green eyes, staring directly at her. The mouth of Unit-02 creaked open and its restrains started to buckle as the monster started its jerky movements.
Ritsuko just stood there, tethered to the ground with fear. 'The beast is unleashed' was her only conscious thought; the rest of her mind was filled with screams she could not let out. She could only stare powerlessly as Unit-02 finally tore one of her hands free and used it to remove the rest of its restrains.
Seconds that felt like hours later, the Eva let out a deafening roar and brought the hand down on Ritsuko's head.
She woke with a start, her heart pounding audibly and painfully in her chest, her breath ragged, her skin covered in cold sweat. She staggered to her feet as quickly as her shaky legs allowed and stared at Unit-02's head.
It was dark as everything else in the Cages; the only lights around her were the always-on emergency lighting – and her equipment, currently giving a green "finished" readout. She was standing there, unmoving, for a whole minute, doing her best to calm herself down.
Finally, not letting the giant red head from her field of view, she yanked out the connectors with shaking hands and closed the Core's shielding. Throwing the equipment haphazardly onto the cart, she rushed out, once more taking the shortcut.
***
After listening for a while and hearing nothing, Yui Ikari returned to wandering the paths carefully and scanning the area – this time without much conviction. But this was soon interrupted by a hiss of the door; Yui reflexively focused her senses outwards.
Dr Ritsuko Akagi was moving across the galley with a speed that was certainly unsafe in a workplace with such disregard towards railings and other safeties as NERV universally presented. It was doubly unsafe as she was pushing a cart full of equipment in front of her.
'What did you do to her, Soryu?' Yui pondered, amused with seeing the haughty doctor in clear distress. 'I hope this was nothing that would get us into trouble' a darker thought clouded the amusement.
She shook it off. 'If it was important, Soryu would not remain silent' she concluded. 'But to be absolutely sure…'
She sat down on a bench and extended her thoughts outwards. It was something she has not done for a while. Not since she found her possible-partner-in-conspiracy, who now was kind-of-estranged-friend.
She felt the familiar mind of Unit-02 immediately, only to realise it sounded somehow different; focusing her senses, she realised it now felt far smoother, far more harmonious. The dissonant tones were almost gone; while it was no symphony, the melody and the aftertaste were certainly far more pleasing. She withdrew quickly; perceiving like this was always confusing at best, exhausting at worst – even if the sensations were positive or even pleasant.
Feeling the need to make sure everything was in order, she turned her attention towards the other mind, the ball of fury, confusion, and anger she rather not touch. It was, of course, still there and still angry – but slightly changed as well. 'I neglected the monitoring. Foolish me.'
She refocused at her new target. It tasted like electricity, its edges ragged and hurting; the melody did not really deserve that label – it was dissonant and painful to hear. But there were rare moments of clarity, rare notes that were harmonious, that tasted like honey in the sea of needles and barbed wire.
She stared into this abyss of confusion and dissonance for a moment, trying to understand the reason for this change. Failing to see any pattern, she started to withdraw.
In that moment, the abyss stared back.
***
Yui Ikari was staring into
something
that was focusing all its attention at her.
Her only respite stopping her from panicking was the fact that it felt like facing something scary, but somehow equal – this was not a snake-versus-mouse situation, it felt more akin to two predators accidentally meeting and having a stand-off.
With all her will, she forced herself to withdraw.
***
The air around her smelled familiar. The wet wood of the bench felt good under her hands. The cicadas were singing in the bushes. She was home. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
A pair of red irises were staring at her; the face that framed them was mere centimetres away. The unblinking eyes expressed nothing but intense curiosity.
================================================================
I intended to have the Angel attack, but it seems to be a little bit delayed. Also, I intened the part about the abyss sound a bit different, but decided that would be too much. Decide for yourself which one would work better.
Yui Ikari was staring into s̛̭̘̗̫̜̪̮̩͚̉͆̅̊̃̇̿͊͜͠ǫ̛͓͖͇͇̤̳̖͓̯̈̔̆͆̈́͂̓͑̕m̧̧̛̙͇͉͚̬̮̖͖͐̏̀̌̑̾̄̕͘ë̟̜͈̜͖̗͇̭̼́̇̓̈́̇͊͆͒͂͊ͅť̢̖̩͉̭͚̹̱͚̞̏̄̽̈́͌̑̑̅̈́h̰̦͔͚̖̮͇͙̦̤́̔́͑̿͛́̔̚͠i̧̛̞̭̰̙͓̫̫͚̙̎͌̌̀̄̃̃̆̃ņ̡̛̰̫̻͇̤̹͉̑̑̀͌̒͆͑͝͝ͅģ̠̰̰͕̻͙̦̝͐̔͊̆͆̌͊̾̈͜͠ that was focusing all its attention at her.
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- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
You'd think Ritsuko would find an excuse to have someone go with her on a trip to check the Evas, or better yet, make someone else entirely go do it. She's having nightmares enough already about the 80m monsters she oversees without adding a perfect horror movie setup to the atmosphere.
'More social' is not a phrase you see applied to Shinji....um. Ever. Boy, did Gendo leaving him at the train station mess him up...
Careful, Yui. Rei I is literally not all there...
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
Not many competent people with her there in the dead of the night, and waiting until morning means losing the data. And to trust her painstakingly calibrated equipment to a lowly technician? Unthinkable. To risk someone going with her and noticing her twitchiness? Even worse.
Ritsuko's kind of trapped here between pride and fear - and thus in a very bad place. I did not intend for her to have so much stagetime, but this thread kept growing as a side-effect of protagonists' actions - thus has its place here (and is not big enough to gain its own spin-off, as A/S stuff does).
He looks quite curious and interested in a few scenes (one scene? can't recall now) we see him at four (just before Yui's Contact Experiment). And I think it's even canon (or at least heavily implied in canon) that exactly this abandonment has messed him up royally.
Well, Yui is aware that something is wrong with that soul, but there's not exactly a manual how to interpret the soul readings... but she might just have enough common sense to know that anything that tastes like barbed wire should be approached with some caution.
- Location
- Australia, mate
Tone down the Zalgo and that could work. s̰ͅo͓̲̠̭͉̯̯͝m̮̪e̢̤̠̫̥͖th͈i̜n̛̙̱͇g̭͇̞̖̱̠͞ͅ works here because it's the first time happening and its a little bit of a surprise.
Save s̵̸̤͍̙͔͉̳͍̼͍̯̩͇̙̹̦̪̗̗̾̌ͣ͂ͥ̒̃̄̄̊̎ͮͯ̊̋ͭ́̚͢͝ŏ̸̢͍̺͖̤̦̱̦̫͎̪̜͕̹̹͈̏̌ͧ́̋ͬ͡m̴̧̡͎͕͚͖͇̖̹̦̆͊̒ͥͣͥ͋̓͛̾͛̓͡e̶̛̩̳̗̱͙̞ͣ̇̓̊ͮ͊̌̎̔͑ͯ̏̄́͠t̸͂͌ͨ̆̎̔͗́҉̡̧̠͔̭͕͉̱̮̼͚̻̞͈̤͎͔̺̰̣́h̨̖̫͖͙̖̣͋̐̎ͥ̉ͬ̅ͧ̐ͩ̾̄ͣ̓͆̔ͩ̚͢į̸̶̶̼̮̮͙̫̩͉̼̟͙̝͇͋ͩͦͯ̎̇̿ͪ͌̒ͨ͘n̨̿̔ͮ̑̾͛ͦͣ҉̵̠͓̖͕̻̙̰͈̠̗̳͇͎̝̱̼̬̘͜g̴̭̠̯͔͓͖̰̳̘̭̥͈͇̞̩̼̰ͬ͛̆ͫ̀͆̂̔̍͗͘͟͜ for when it's a lot nastier.
- Location
- The State of Denial
At least it wasn't written on the b̶͓̉a̸̓͜c̶͓̀k̵̯͆ ̸̪̈́o̶͗͜f̴̹̂ ̵̟̃a̵͓͘ ̵͚̇b̴͔̀ṳ̵̑s̷̝̈ ̶̥͑s̴̲̓e̵̲͝a̶͍͊t̴͎̽. Those tend to smell funny after a bit.
- Location
- Surrey
Ritsuko Akagi and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Headpat.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
Fair point, although the first one is a little too soft for the effect I had in mind (Yui was not overwhelmed, but certainly shocked). Although it - no surprise to anyone who reads my stuff - gives me an idea for a short one <scribbels furiously>
Definitely not. No. No way. Souls are not like buses.
That'd be a very short short story.
- Location
- Australia, mate
I don't know how you're doing your Zalgo text, but I use eeemo.net for mine. You can basically customise it there.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
Thanks for the tip, I was using fsymbols.com - their customisation is quite similar. I just used the default.
The jury is still out on whether it will be useful and used, considering that this story goes to FFN and AO3 as well, who may have opinions about messing up their layouts. On the other hand, if a layout can be messed with Zalgo text... a Quality Assurance friend of mine was checking my work that way, especially on mobile devices. It was a fun thing to proof against.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
I have more concerns about "people can read it without having their browsers broken", as I don't think any site would ban or even give any crap over unusual font in posted work (as long as I don't try to break the layout intentionally, of course, but that's asshole (or QA) territory). I guess if I tried - for example - put Zalgo text into a thread name on SV (assuming it would be possible at all and the interface itself would not tell me to go away), someone would object and give me at least a slap on the wrist.
Sad as it is, FFN still provides greater exposure (or cheats on view statistics, but I doubt that's the case). So, while I greatly prefer AO3 (for myriads of reasons, I cannot think of anything useful to me that FFN has and AO3 does not) and some works go only there, ignoring FFN means losing more than a half of the audience. And my works are not famous enough for people to seek them out no matter where they are
Last edited:
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Yui Ikari.
Common Sense.
.....
doubt.jpg
Chapter 7.5.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
The day of Kyoko Soryu is quite fine, but mostly absent from this part.
================================================================
Chapter 7., part 5.
Ritsuko Akagi breathed her breath of relief only once the heavy door of the elevator closed behind her. She mentally cursed the regulations regarding the Cages lighting cycle, regulations she herself set up based on her barely verified hypotheses about Evangelion biology. She was resentful of the Unit-02, angry at the stupid regulations, but first and foremost – furious at herself and her own weakness.
'Surrendering to primal fears, like some caveman, like a pitiful child. What should I do next time, bring food and incense as an offering? Perhaps with some grease or fresh paint to appease them?' she scoffed. 'Perhaps even build an altar with little plastic figurines of Evangelions and put the offerings there?'
The elevator finally stopped at its destination; she rolled the cart into its place and took the data storage unit out.
The relatively short ride did little to calm her heart rate down; it remained high when she entered her office. Once she unlocked the consoles, it spiked up even higher: the readings for Unit-00 was in the low yellow range, while those for Unit-01 were approaching red.
She slammed her hand on the keyboard with enough force to displace a few keys; the pain made her mind slightly clearer. "Fucking monsters" she muttered. "What is it now?"
Yui Ikari, completely unaware of the emotions she was causing, had certainly something to take care of.
"Hello, little one" she tried, her voice unsure. "I saw you here before. And…" she hesitated. "And I apologise for being rude. For stripping the bushes."
The girl clearly heard her, but it was not clear whether she understood what was being said. She tilted her head from side to side and kept staring at Yui with unblinking red eyes; eyes that definitely looked too big for her face.
"What is your name?" Yui tried again. "It is Rei, isn't it?"
The girl broke eye contact and before Yui could react, she grabbed her palm with her small hands. She shoved something in it before breaking into a sprint with a speed befitting a cheetah. She disappeared among the rustling leaves, leaving nothing but dust in her wake.
Yui blinked the confusion away with some effort, then looked at the object that was so unexpectedly shoved in her hand.
It was a small string of interwoven daisies.
At the same time, Kyoko Soryu was playing around with wood, stone, and mortar. She was working on her dream home without a care in the world.
The foundations of a small cottage were already placed, and the walls were rising. She was giving it far more attention than all the large forest; after all, this was supposed to be her home.
'And if Ikari and I come to terms again, I'd rather have her enjoy the place as well' she admitted to herself. 'Even if it is as far from her vision of home as possible…'
The walls were rising slowly, but surely. Kyoko Soryu was satisfied.
Ritsuko Akagi was standing in her office, staring at the slowly dropping readings, trying to find a will to act on it despite fatigue slowly overtaking her. But when the indicators finally dropped to green again, Ritsuko has already decided. 'There's no chance I'm going down there again. Not today. Not to chase ghosts and spectres again.'
Having replaced the keys in the keyboard she damaged, she sat at her console. She found and adjusted the script she wrote to mock the Eva vital readings and started to fabricate the data for the last half an hour for Unit-00 and Unit-01. This time, the moral aspect of what she was doing vanished under the weight of her exhaustion. Those were most likely sensor glitches or inconsequential spikes. They did vanish pretty quickly, after all.
She purged the logs of the incidents, remembering to change control logs as well, and replaced them with the mock readings, interspacing them with ALL NORMAL in all the right places.
'It's true what they say: it gets easier the second time' she noticed with dismay. 'What am I doing with my life…'
Further thoughts on the matter were interrupted by another bout of fatigue washing over her. She took a few deep breaths and forced herself to finish the log forgery, making sure nothing was missing. 'Not that anyone except me and perhaps Maya would be able to detect it. And the girl is not going to talk even if she finds out.'
She ran a manual consistency check on all logs and verified that her forgery was not detectable via automatic means, and finally closed the logging system. The system clock was showing 04:02.
Slumping in her chair, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes just for a moment.
"Doctor? Doctor Akagi? Are you all right?"
The voice was familiar, but muffled, as if coming from a distance.
"She's not responding, Hyuga, call the medical team! Now!"
'Maya?'
"I'm-" Ritsuko managed despite her throat feeling like sandpaper. "I'm fine. Don't make a fuss, I just-"
The memories rushed back, causing her to shiver. Night trip to the Cages, the alert, the cover-up. 'I just closed my eyes for a second… what time is it?'
She finally opened her eyes and looked around. The clock was showing 7:57.
"Fuck" she mumbled.
"Sempai?"
Ritsuko shook her head and noticed a slightly cold sensation in her sinuses. She raised her hand to her nose only for it to come down bloodied. 'Wonderful, just wonderful. What's next? Bring it, Universe. Knowing my luck, an Angel will come knocking in 3… 2… 1…'
"Sempai? You're bleeding! Hyuga, I told you to get the medics!"
'Well, I guess an Angel now would be a blessing' she noted wryly and rose from her chair. "I'm fine, Maya. Just tired. Hyuga, don't call anyone, that's an order. I'll just go fix myself."
"But sempai-"
"Maya, you have work to do" Ritsuko brushed the girl off a little harsher than she intended. "There are some data to analyse for you, see the vitals reading from Unit-02 from manuals last night."
"Y-yes, sempai" Maya Ibuki retreated, dejected. A look on her face made Ritsuko feel genuine guilt.
'Sure, Ritsuko, kick the puppy. Kick the only person in the world who does not see you for the fraud you are, literally the last person that still cares for you for some unfathomable reason' she thought bitterly on her way out. 'You even had to send you cat away because you had no time to take care of her, and Maya still clings to you. Yes, kick her, it's not that she's going to resent you or anything.'
Taking a longer, but far emptier path through the side corridors, she finally reached her apartment in the bowels of the NERV HQ. It was quite luxurious by post-Second Impact standards, especially in terms of size and security, but all that luxury was going to waste with Ritsuko spending most of her time at work. It was, in essence, serving as a glorified bedroom for her.
Closing the door behind herself with a soft hiss of the basic environmental seal, she rested her back against them and sighed heavily. The thing that weighed on her shoulders the most was the fact that this was not an end of her day – it was actually the beginning of another.
With a visible effort, she started to move towards the bathroom. 'First things first. I need to hydrate, and then I can get around to present some illusion of being a decent human being. "Not smelling like a pile of compost" is a good start on that path.'
Yui Ikari was still sitting on the bench, staring at the strangest gift she has ever received – and that was true even considering that her parents and the man she called 'the teacher' had some strange ideas what an appropriate present for a child was. She still vividly remembered a gift she received for her twelfth birthday: a small book, beautifully calligraphed in letters similar to the Hebrew alphabet, but older and unknown except for scholars like the teacher. A beautiful object for sure, but also an obligation she could not understand at the time. She pushed that thought aside.
The gift she received just a few moments ago was something different, almost opposite. It was a simple string of yellow-white flowers, a bit too short to form a garland – or perhaps not, depending on whose head was it supposed to fit. The daisies connected in a simple, imperfect, and inconsistent manner, but the whole construction was clearly representing an effort – and despite its imperfection, it was holding together just fine. It was also given without ceremony, without reverence, in an almost panicked hurry – and with clear emotion.
'I understood you, little one, or so I thought. I thought you angry, bloodthirsty, mindless. But there's something else… but how to get to it?'
She moved the string of flowers in her fingers. A thought struck her, and she smiled. Shortening the sleeves of her dress with a thought, she wrapped the daisies around her right wrist twice, connecting the endings and turning it into a bracelet. 'If I gave someone a gift, I would love to see them wear it. I think I can assume this true for everybody.'
She rose from the bench.
'Also, as this was not given from any particular occasion, I suppose I would expect a gift in return. The big question is… what is an appropriate present for a feral child? I don't think a colouring book would be right…'
Ritsuko Akagi emerged from her bathroom feeling somehow better. Several cycles of hot and cold showers have woken her up and removed some tension. It also reminded her how hungry she was.
Her kitchen was simple, compared to the rest of the place – she had absolutely no need for any fancy cooking equipment, considering her lack of time for such frivolities. Aside from a rather expensive coffee machine, it contained an autocook and a lot of ready-to-go food packages – a technology based on military MREs, slightly adjusted to be more palatable to the field personnel that was accompanying the UN forces in the post-Impact world.
She threw one of the packs into the machine, added water, and started up the coffee maker. Soon after, she was enjoying a meal that tasted like fresh scrambled eggs with bacon but looked like particularly badly made porridge.
She stopped paying attention to such details long ago. It was hot and it tasted fine.
Done with her food, she disposed of the single-use plate and reached to the pharmacy cabinet. She considered the situation for about two seconds, then reached for the medicine bottle identical to one she kept in her desk drawer – except this one was almost full – and fished a pill. Washing it down with a great-tasting and scalding-hot coffee, she took a deep breath knowing that soon the temporary weakness will pass – and she will be ready to face anything.
Perhaps even an Angel.
Kyoko Soryu was sitting in a rocking chair, admiring her work. The place was, of course, not even half-finished – the cabin walls were raised, but the roof was absent, letting her stare at the star-filled sky – and the chair was the only furniture present.
"And on the seventh day, He rested" Kyoko quoted loudly and giggled. "Yes, Herr Heinemann, I remember how you yelled at me when I asked: 'why then you teach on the seventh day, instead of resting?' You started to explain that it's about Saturday, and I… I was being a smartass then, wasn't I?" she recalled with a smile.
"Of course, our Lord would have finished the work before resting" she kept musing, idly adjusting the stars to look anything like the sky she remembered. "But I don't think it's a standard I should measure myself with." Finally, she had to accept that she remembered nearly nothing about how the constellations should look like and left it as something that would most likely be titled "Night sky as seen from an Earth-like planet, artist's impression".
'Still beautiful to behold. I hope Ikari would not mind a cup of tea under the starlight' a thought passed through her mind; she too late realised this idea made her sad. 'I wish-'
A sudden rush of sensations interrupted her train of thought.
"Attention all personnel" she registered a focused voice from outside. "Combat activation in progress. All non-essential personnel are to clear the Cages immediately. I repeat. Combat activation in progress."
'And here we go again. I wonder what mess awaits us this time' she sighed. 'Well, that's my work now, anyway, willing or not. On the bright side, I will see Asuka again' Kyoko smiled to herself, bracing herself for the activation.
A Cage away, Yui Ikari's pondering was interrupted by the same sensations. 'Well. Mysteries and reciprocity will have to wait. I hope this one will be quick to dispose of and we could return to important things.'
She sighed.
'Well, not 'we', at least not right now.'
She shook that thought off and focused on the activation routine.
================================================================
Finally, we get to the Angel attack. Let's see how well are all the characters prepared to face this one.
================================================================
Chapter 7., part 5.
Ritsuko Akagi breathed her breath of relief only once the heavy door of the elevator closed behind her. She mentally cursed the regulations regarding the Cages lighting cycle, regulations she herself set up based on her barely verified hypotheses about Evangelion biology. She was resentful of the Unit-02, angry at the stupid regulations, but first and foremost – furious at herself and her own weakness.
'Surrendering to primal fears, like some caveman, like a pitiful child. What should I do next time, bring food and incense as an offering? Perhaps with some grease or fresh paint to appease them?' she scoffed. 'Perhaps even build an altar with little plastic figurines of Evangelions and put the offerings there?'
The elevator finally stopped at its destination; she rolled the cart into its place and took the data storage unit out.
The relatively short ride did little to calm her heart rate down; it remained high when she entered her office. Once she unlocked the consoles, it spiked up even higher: the readings for Unit-00 was in the low yellow range, while those for Unit-01 were approaching red.
She slammed her hand on the keyboard with enough force to displace a few keys; the pain made her mind slightly clearer. "Fucking monsters" she muttered. "What is it now?"
***
Yui Ikari, completely unaware of the emotions she was causing, had certainly something to take care of.
"Hello, little one" she tried, her voice unsure. "I saw you here before. And…" she hesitated. "And I apologise for being rude. For stripping the bushes."
The girl clearly heard her, but it was not clear whether she understood what was being said. She tilted her head from side to side and kept staring at Yui with unblinking red eyes; eyes that definitely looked too big for her face.
"What is your name?" Yui tried again. "It is Rei, isn't it?"
The girl broke eye contact and before Yui could react, she grabbed her palm with her small hands. She shoved something in it before breaking into a sprint with a speed befitting a cheetah. She disappeared among the rustling leaves, leaving nothing but dust in her wake.
Yui blinked the confusion away with some effort, then looked at the object that was so unexpectedly shoved in her hand.
It was a small string of interwoven daisies.
***
At the same time, Kyoko Soryu was playing around with wood, stone, and mortar. She was working on her dream home without a care in the world.
The foundations of a small cottage were already placed, and the walls were rising. She was giving it far more attention than all the large forest; after all, this was supposed to be her home.
'And if Ikari and I come to terms again, I'd rather have her enjoy the place as well' she admitted to herself. 'Even if it is as far from her vision of home as possible…'
The walls were rising slowly, but surely. Kyoko Soryu was satisfied.
***
Ritsuko Akagi was standing in her office, staring at the slowly dropping readings, trying to find a will to act on it despite fatigue slowly overtaking her. But when the indicators finally dropped to green again, Ritsuko has already decided. 'There's no chance I'm going down there again. Not today. Not to chase ghosts and spectres again.'
Having replaced the keys in the keyboard she damaged, she sat at her console. She found and adjusted the script she wrote to mock the Eva vital readings and started to fabricate the data for the last half an hour for Unit-00 and Unit-01. This time, the moral aspect of what she was doing vanished under the weight of her exhaustion. Those were most likely sensor glitches or inconsequential spikes. They did vanish pretty quickly, after all.
She purged the logs of the incidents, remembering to change control logs as well, and replaced them with the mock readings, interspacing them with ALL NORMAL in all the right places.
'It's true what they say: it gets easier the second time' she noticed with dismay. 'What am I doing with my life…'
Further thoughts on the matter were interrupted by another bout of fatigue washing over her. She took a few deep breaths and forced herself to finish the log forgery, making sure nothing was missing. 'Not that anyone except me and perhaps Maya would be able to detect it. And the girl is not going to talk even if she finds out.'
She ran a manual consistency check on all logs and verified that her forgery was not detectable via automatic means, and finally closed the logging system. The system clock was showing 04:02.
Slumping in her chair, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes just for a moment.
***
"Doctor? Doctor Akagi? Are you all right?"
The voice was familiar, but muffled, as if coming from a distance.
"She's not responding, Hyuga, call the medical team! Now!"
'Maya?'
"I'm-" Ritsuko managed despite her throat feeling like sandpaper. "I'm fine. Don't make a fuss, I just-"
The memories rushed back, causing her to shiver. Night trip to the Cages, the alert, the cover-up. 'I just closed my eyes for a second… what time is it?'
She finally opened her eyes and looked around. The clock was showing 7:57.
"Fuck" she mumbled.
"Sempai?"
Ritsuko shook her head and noticed a slightly cold sensation in her sinuses. She raised her hand to her nose only for it to come down bloodied. 'Wonderful, just wonderful. What's next? Bring it, Universe. Knowing my luck, an Angel will come knocking in 3… 2… 1…'
"Sempai? You're bleeding! Hyuga, I told you to get the medics!"
'Well, I guess an Angel now would be a blessing' she noted wryly and rose from her chair. "I'm fine, Maya. Just tired. Hyuga, don't call anyone, that's an order. I'll just go fix myself."
"But sempai-"
"Maya, you have work to do" Ritsuko brushed the girl off a little harsher than she intended. "There are some data to analyse for you, see the vitals reading from Unit-02 from manuals last night."
"Y-yes, sempai" Maya Ibuki retreated, dejected. A look on her face made Ritsuko feel genuine guilt.
'Sure, Ritsuko, kick the puppy. Kick the only person in the world who does not see you for the fraud you are, literally the last person that still cares for you for some unfathomable reason' she thought bitterly on her way out. 'You even had to send you cat away because you had no time to take care of her, and Maya still clings to you. Yes, kick her, it's not that she's going to resent you or anything.'
Taking a longer, but far emptier path through the side corridors, she finally reached her apartment in the bowels of the NERV HQ. It was quite luxurious by post-Second Impact standards, especially in terms of size and security, but all that luxury was going to waste with Ritsuko spending most of her time at work. It was, in essence, serving as a glorified bedroom for her.
Closing the door behind herself with a soft hiss of the basic environmental seal, she rested her back against them and sighed heavily. The thing that weighed on her shoulders the most was the fact that this was not an end of her day – it was actually the beginning of another.
With a visible effort, she started to move towards the bathroom. 'First things first. I need to hydrate, and then I can get around to present some illusion of being a decent human being. "Not smelling like a pile of compost" is a good start on that path.'
***
Yui Ikari was still sitting on the bench, staring at the strangest gift she has ever received – and that was true even considering that her parents and the man she called 'the teacher' had some strange ideas what an appropriate present for a child was. She still vividly remembered a gift she received for her twelfth birthday: a small book, beautifully calligraphed in letters similar to the Hebrew alphabet, but older and unknown except for scholars like the teacher. A beautiful object for sure, but also an obligation she could not understand at the time. She pushed that thought aside.
The gift she received just a few moments ago was something different, almost opposite. It was a simple string of yellow-white flowers, a bit too short to form a garland – or perhaps not, depending on whose head was it supposed to fit. The daisies connected in a simple, imperfect, and inconsistent manner, but the whole construction was clearly representing an effort – and despite its imperfection, it was holding together just fine. It was also given without ceremony, without reverence, in an almost panicked hurry – and with clear emotion.
'I understood you, little one, or so I thought. I thought you angry, bloodthirsty, mindless. But there's something else… but how to get to it?'
She moved the string of flowers in her fingers. A thought struck her, and she smiled. Shortening the sleeves of her dress with a thought, she wrapped the daisies around her right wrist twice, connecting the endings and turning it into a bracelet. 'If I gave someone a gift, I would love to see them wear it. I think I can assume this true for everybody.'
She rose from the bench.
'Also, as this was not given from any particular occasion, I suppose I would expect a gift in return. The big question is… what is an appropriate present for a feral child? I don't think a colouring book would be right…'
***
Ritsuko Akagi emerged from her bathroom feeling somehow better. Several cycles of hot and cold showers have woken her up and removed some tension. It also reminded her how hungry she was.
Her kitchen was simple, compared to the rest of the place – she had absolutely no need for any fancy cooking equipment, considering her lack of time for such frivolities. Aside from a rather expensive coffee machine, it contained an autocook and a lot of ready-to-go food packages – a technology based on military MREs, slightly adjusted to be more palatable to the field personnel that was accompanying the UN forces in the post-Impact world.
She threw one of the packs into the machine, added water, and started up the coffee maker. Soon after, she was enjoying a meal that tasted like fresh scrambled eggs with bacon but looked like particularly badly made porridge.
She stopped paying attention to such details long ago. It was hot and it tasted fine.
Done with her food, she disposed of the single-use plate and reached to the pharmacy cabinet. She considered the situation for about two seconds, then reached for the medicine bottle identical to one she kept in her desk drawer – except this one was almost full – and fished a pill. Washing it down with a great-tasting and scalding-hot coffee, she took a deep breath knowing that soon the temporary weakness will pass – and she will be ready to face anything.
Perhaps even an Angel.
***
Kyoko Soryu was sitting in a rocking chair, admiring her work. The place was, of course, not even half-finished – the cabin walls were raised, but the roof was absent, letting her stare at the star-filled sky – and the chair was the only furniture present.
"And on the seventh day, He rested" Kyoko quoted loudly and giggled. "Yes, Herr Heinemann, I remember how you yelled at me when I asked: 'why then you teach on the seventh day, instead of resting?' You started to explain that it's about Saturday, and I… I was being a smartass then, wasn't I?" she recalled with a smile.
"Of course, our Lord would have finished the work before resting" she kept musing, idly adjusting the stars to look anything like the sky she remembered. "But I don't think it's a standard I should measure myself with." Finally, she had to accept that she remembered nearly nothing about how the constellations should look like and left it as something that would most likely be titled "Night sky as seen from an Earth-like planet, artist's impression".
'Still beautiful to behold. I hope Ikari would not mind a cup of tea under the starlight' a thought passed through her mind; she too late realised this idea made her sad. 'I wish-'
A sudden rush of sensations interrupted her train of thought.
"Attention all personnel" she registered a focused voice from outside. "Combat activation in progress. All non-essential personnel are to clear the Cages immediately. I repeat. Combat activation in progress."
'And here we go again. I wonder what mess awaits us this time' she sighed. 'Well, that's my work now, anyway, willing or not. On the bright side, I will see Asuka again' Kyoko smiled to herself, bracing herself for the activation.
***
A Cage away, Yui Ikari's pondering was interrupted by the same sensations. 'Well. Mysteries and reciprocity will have to wait. I hope this one will be quick to dispose of and we could return to important things.'
She sighed.
'Well, not 'we', at least not right now.'
She shook that thought off and focused on the activation routine.
================================================================
Finally, we get to the Angel attack. Let's see how well are all the characters prepared to face this one.
Last edited:
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Couldn't hurt, really?
Helping plan the end of the world because the guy you have a crush on hits all the buttons in your Electra Complex?
....wait, you didn't actually want an answer to that, did you?
Boy, some healthy habits there, Ritsuko. Less than 4 hours of sleep in a bad chair, waking with a nosebleed, then going on to work some more with an MRE and pep pills. Good thing no one's life is riding on you.
....oh, shit. :/
Lets see... where are we on Angels?
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
Lᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ Mᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ Cᴜʟᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴄᴇ. Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇᴀᴋ ꜰʟᴇsʜ sʜᴀʟʟ ᴘᴇʀɪsʜ.Couldn't hurt, really?
Last thing Ritsuko needs is to start hearing voices that answer her questions....wait, you didn't actually want an answer to that, did you?
Well, you can criticize her habits, but you must admit they are a sign of serious workplace dedication!
Not that Gendo will ever appreciate that. For him, giving 110% all the time seems to be the norm expected of everyone in NERV. Talk about bad boss.
Coming right in! Smile to the endless void!
Oh, this one will be fun to describe from the kids' perspective
Chapter 7.6.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
The day of Kyoko Soryu has turned exciting. Well, everyone's day is exciting when there's an Angel attack!
================================================================
Chapter 7., part 6.
Major Misato Katsuragi burst into the control room, alarms blaring all around her.
"You're late. Where the hell have you been?" Dr Akagi immediately snapped at her.
"I'm sorry, I don't live here, you know" she barked back without thinking, then immediately turned to the bridge staff, ignoring the angry look from her friend. "What's going on? What about the radar observation centre at Fuji?"
"They didn't detect it" Lt. Aoba reported. "It just suddenly appeared directly above us."
"Pattern Orange. No AT Field detected" Lt. Hyuga added.
"What do you mean?" Dr Akagi interjected angrily. "Are you reading it right? What else can this be?"
"The Magi are withholding judgement" Lt. Ibuki replied with a hint of anxiety. "We… don't know."
"And the Commander is away. Wonderful" Major Katsuragi sighed. "Keep observing it and inform me the second the Pilots arrive" she commanded.
"Yes, ma'am!" the technicians replied in near-unison.
Kyoko touched Asuka's mind the moment the girl connected to Unit-02 systems. It was filled with many emotions, as usual, but what was unusual was the lack of excitement; dominant emotion was annoyance so strong it bordered on anger. Right now, it was suppressed by Asuka's professional focus on combat, but it boiled just below that surface. What was even stranger, it was not directed at the Angel.
'What happened, daughter?' she probed carefully. 'Tell me, we have a moment before-'
Asuka twitched. Brief confusion flashed through her mind for a moment; she looked around, tense and suspicious.
'Foolish me, that was too loud, too brazen. She's combat-ready, too aware. Once more, with care…'
Kyoko put a few images in her mind's eye, projecting them at her daughter in sequence, spaced by a few seconds: Misato Katsuragi (positive reaction, some annoyance included), the school (lot of annoyance, lot of frustration, some pride), Unit-01 (not much of a reaction, maybe some anger), face of Shinji (burst of emotions)-
A chaotic series of memories flashed before Kyoko: time spent together, some minor fights, a few kisses with accompanying floods of emotions, more serious but passing conflicts, evenings spent together on the couch… 'Oh my. They've gone further than I thought' she realised, feeling familiar pangs of regret of not being able to be a part of Asuka's life and not learning it the proper way. 'But something went wrong, didn't it? Why are you angry?'
Thoughts were interrupted by the usual bout of nausea during the – mercifully short – launch; the Evangelions have reached the surface. Fortunately for Kyoko, relaying the commands to Unit-02 muscles barely required effort on her part; it actually worked better when she was not thinking about it. Re-focusing on Asuka's mood she realised her daughter has something in mind; her anger was slowly turning into a mean mood, directed at Shinji.
'Uh oh. This cannot be good. What went wrong, daughter?'
"Can you all hear me?" Major Katsuragi's voice came over the comms, interrupting Kyoko's pondering. "I've sent you all the target's data. That's all we know right now. Approach it carefully and observe its reactions, and, if possible, lure it into the airspace outside the city limits. One of you take point and the other two are backup, got that?"
"Ma'am? I think Shinji ought to take point!" Asuka replied in a surprisingly cheerful voice. Kyoko suppressed her surprise; this was not like her.
"What?" Shinji reacted, barely audible over the comms; his face was far more expressive.
"Well, this is a job for the high-scoring, utterly fearless, Number One synch-rate holder, right?" Asuka goaded. "Or don't you feel up to it, Shinji-chan?"
'Now now, daughter' Kyoko directed a thought at her. 'Let me guess, it's not just relationship' she paused to consider how strange this word sounded when thinking about her own daughter 'trouble, is it? You lost to him and now you're bitter? That's not very sporty, is it?'
"Asuka?" Shinji probed carefully. "Are you sure about that?"
"Well, you're the Number One now, shouldn't you act like it?" she kept going. "Besides, a little front-line experience is good for you!"
The Major's wince in response to that statement went unnoticed.
"All right, I'll do it! But no complains later about handing me a free kill, Asuka!" Shinji's voice was determined but somewhat amused.
"Hey, you two…" Major Katsuragi interjected.
"You said it, didn't you? 'You're the Number One'?" Shinji addressed her directly.
"Well that was…" the Major started to protest.
"And Asuka's right, she's already good, and I need more experience!" Shinji's voice was growing enthusiastic by the second.
"That's the spirit, just don't f-mess it up, 'Number One'" Asuka's tone turned mocking in the last words. "Unit-02 will back him up" she declared in more professional tone.
"Unit-00 will back him up as well" Rei stated in her usual, flat voice.
The atmosphere in the command centre was rather sombre. "Damn kids, running with it…" Major Katsuragi frowned.
"Let's hope he doesn't kill someone with this cavalier attitude" Doctor Akagi grumbled.
"I'm going to have to chew him out when he gets back. And Asuka as well, for this goading" Major Katsuragi frown deepened.
"Well, sounds like a job for a guardian" Doctor Akagi agreed with a note of annoyance and returned to her readings, ignoring Katsuragi's death glare.
The Evangelions were skulking – for the lack of a better word that would fit huge bipedal war-machines hiding behind buildings – around the city, surreptitiously tracking the movements of the levitating sphere.
"Ayanami, Asuka, are you in position yet?" Shinji inquired; his voice was lowered to a whisper for no practical reason.
"Not yet" came from Unit-00.
"Patience, Number One, don't get yourself tied in knots" Asuka replied, her voice somewhat amused. "We have more ground to cover. And I'm out of cable, switching to station twenty-five!"
'I'm never going to get used to this' Kyoko thought to herself when she felt the odd sensation of the power plug ejection and replacement. 'It feels like changing gloves, but also like drinking water' she mused while Asuka was repositioning herself. 'Far more attention should've been given to sensory input conversion… but I guess 'getting it working' and 'making it stronger' was higher on the priority list than the souls' comfort.'
"I am in position" Rei notified after about a minute.
"So am I" Asuka added twenty seconds later. "You know what to do, Third. Let's hope this will work out better than the last time" she added bitterly.
"Hey, what was that supposed to-" Shinji started.
"Asuka, Shinji, you're doing it again! Stop your banter and focus on the combat situation!" a chiding voice came over the comms from the command centre.
"Yes, ma'am!" Shinji snapped back and kept moving.
Eight minutes and two power connectors switches later, Lt. Ibuki spoke up: "Ma'am, sempai, there's a problem."
"Yes, Maya?" Doctor Akagi looked at her wearily.
"Despite Pilot Ikari's attempts to circle the target, the sphere is still heading towards the centre of the city. It seems not to react to Evangelions at all, even if Unit-01 was out of cover for several seconds."
"Great. Perhaps we should start some dance routine to get its attention?" Doctor Akagi replied; Lt. Ibuki frowned.
"Sempai?"
"Never mind" Dr Akagi shook her head. "Misato? It's your command, but I'd say we should get its attention."
Major Katsuragi pondered for a moment. "Agreed. Shinji" she opened the comms. "Fire a double on the sphere and be ready for a counterattack; Unit-00, Unit-02, be ready to provide backup."
"Yes, ma'am! Engaging the target!" Shinji declared, leaning out of his cover and aiming his pistol at the levitating sphere. Two seconds later, two shots headed towards the target.
The sphere promptly vanished just before the bullets hit it. A black spot appeared from nowhere under Shinji's Evangelion feet.
"Fuck!" Ritsuko Akagi exclaimed. The command staff exchanged glances – it was uncharacteristic for the doctor to use expletives in the past, but recently this has been slowly changing. There was no time to dwell on that, thought – the Angel Alert lit up, with the accompanying deafening sirens and a surprised "What?" from Major Katsuragi.
"Pattern blue!" Lieutenant Hyuga reported. "Angel confirmed!" he continued. "Directly beneath Unit-01!"
"A shadow?" Shinji panicked and started firing at the black void that was quickly spreading from beneath his feet. The bullets disappeared, leaving only momentary waves in the void. "What is this? It's weird!"
"Shinji, get out of there! Shinji?!" Major Katsuragi half-ordered, half-pleaded.
"Ikari?" joined a worried voice of Rei.
'He needs you' Kyoko directed her thoughts at Asuka whose head was swarming with conflicting thoughts.
'That's a messy mix of feelings… hostility, pity, attachment, care… desire?'
Kyoko shook the emotions she was receiving off and focused on the current situation. 'Save him. You can't leave him alone. He saved you, didn't he?' she summoned the emotions felt when Unit-02 was barely saved inside the volcano and directed them at Asuka.
'When this is over, I'm going to kill him' was the only, semi-conscious response. Kyoko felt the familiar determination radiating from her daughter – a fire she recognised all too well.
"Miss Misato, what is going on?" panicked voice of Shinji was dominating the comms. The command centre was staring in horror, unable to assist. "Miss Misato? Asuka? Ayanami? Where's the backup? Miss Misato?! Can you hear me? Asuka? Are you there?"
Asuka had already ejected the power connector and was sprinting at full speed towards Unit-01. "Stop screaming, idiot, I'm on my fucking way!" Asuka's angry, but also focused voice cut through the sounds of panic. "Just grab to something and stop yelling, you distract me!"
That voice was enough for Major Katsuragi to recover her faculties. "Eject the plug! Send the signal!" she ordered. "Asuka, stand back!" followed through the comms – and was promptly ignored; Unit-02 was rapidly approaching the growing dark surface, cracking asphalt and shattering glass with the force of displaced air.
Panicked "It's not working! No response!" from Lt. Ibuki made Major Katsuragi just stare at the screens again until she realised Unit-02 was almost atop of Unit-01.
"Asuka, retreat! That's an order!" she yelled.
"I can catch him!" Asuka protested vehemently. "It's just… a… few… more…" she strained – and she was right. Within seconds Unit-02 grabbed Unit-01's hand firmly and pulled. "Ha! Hey idiot, I told you I won't let you down-"
Asuka's triumphant bragging died suddenly, turning into an indistinct yell or surprise. A building beneath her feet gave in and her foot got caught in the blackness. "Ah, Scheisse!"
"Asuka!!!" Misato abandoned any pretence of composure.
A stream of vile German curses and colourful epithets directed towards the Angel was the only response. Had Misato not been preoccupied with the situation, she would have certainly wondered where did Asuka learn such flowery vocabulary – but she was far too terrified at the moment, as she could only stare helplessly as both Evangelions sank beneath the surface. The impossible sea became still again.
================================================================
Next time: whatever happens inside the belly of the beast! No fanservice, though: it's difficult to do fanservice when you have two people locked in their Units in an endless void (although I am sure some people would manage).
People who follow this story might've noticed that updates have became less frequent recently; this was caused by a) my changing work situation that leaves little time for anything else b) other projects in the same fandom (some results are (or will be) visible on AO3, others will appear on SV first) c) my beta-reader having left for Asia for a while. Still, I'm trying to maintain the two updates a month. Stay tuned.
================================================================
Chapter 7., part 6.
Major Misato Katsuragi burst into the control room, alarms blaring all around her.
"You're late. Where the hell have you been?" Dr Akagi immediately snapped at her.
"I'm sorry, I don't live here, you know" she barked back without thinking, then immediately turned to the bridge staff, ignoring the angry look from her friend. "What's going on? What about the radar observation centre at Fuji?"
"They didn't detect it" Lt. Aoba reported. "It just suddenly appeared directly above us."
"Pattern Orange. No AT Field detected" Lt. Hyuga added.
"What do you mean?" Dr Akagi interjected angrily. "Are you reading it right? What else can this be?"
"The Magi are withholding judgement" Lt. Ibuki replied with a hint of anxiety. "We… don't know."
"And the Commander is away. Wonderful" Major Katsuragi sighed. "Keep observing it and inform me the second the Pilots arrive" she commanded.
"Yes, ma'am!" the technicians replied in near-unison.
***
Kyoko touched Asuka's mind the moment the girl connected to Unit-02 systems. It was filled with many emotions, as usual, but what was unusual was the lack of excitement; dominant emotion was annoyance so strong it bordered on anger. Right now, it was suppressed by Asuka's professional focus on combat, but it boiled just below that surface. What was even stranger, it was not directed at the Angel.
'What happened, daughter?' she probed carefully. 'Tell me, we have a moment before-'
Asuka twitched. Brief confusion flashed through her mind for a moment; she looked around, tense and suspicious.
'Foolish me, that was too loud, too brazen. She's combat-ready, too aware. Once more, with care…'
Kyoko put a few images in her mind's eye, projecting them at her daughter in sequence, spaced by a few seconds: Misato Katsuragi (positive reaction, some annoyance included), the school (lot of annoyance, lot of frustration, some pride), Unit-01 (not much of a reaction, maybe some anger), face of Shinji (burst of emotions)-
A chaotic series of memories flashed before Kyoko: time spent together, some minor fights, a few kisses with accompanying floods of emotions, more serious but passing conflicts, evenings spent together on the couch… 'Oh my. They've gone further than I thought' she realised, feeling familiar pangs of regret of not being able to be a part of Asuka's life and not learning it the proper way. 'But something went wrong, didn't it? Why are you angry?'
Thoughts were interrupted by the usual bout of nausea during the – mercifully short – launch; the Evangelions have reached the surface. Fortunately for Kyoko, relaying the commands to Unit-02 muscles barely required effort on her part; it actually worked better when she was not thinking about it. Re-focusing on Asuka's mood she realised her daughter has something in mind; her anger was slowly turning into a mean mood, directed at Shinji.
'Uh oh. This cannot be good. What went wrong, daughter?'
"Can you all hear me?" Major Katsuragi's voice came over the comms, interrupting Kyoko's pondering. "I've sent you all the target's data. That's all we know right now. Approach it carefully and observe its reactions, and, if possible, lure it into the airspace outside the city limits. One of you take point and the other two are backup, got that?"
"Ma'am? I think Shinji ought to take point!" Asuka replied in a surprisingly cheerful voice. Kyoko suppressed her surprise; this was not like her.
"What?" Shinji reacted, barely audible over the comms; his face was far more expressive.
"Well, this is a job for the high-scoring, utterly fearless, Number One synch-rate holder, right?" Asuka goaded. "Or don't you feel up to it, Shinji-chan?"
'Now now, daughter' Kyoko directed a thought at her. 'Let me guess, it's not just relationship' she paused to consider how strange this word sounded when thinking about her own daughter 'trouble, is it? You lost to him and now you're bitter? That's not very sporty, is it?'
"Asuka?" Shinji probed carefully. "Are you sure about that?"
"Well, you're the Number One now, shouldn't you act like it?" she kept going. "Besides, a little front-line experience is good for you!"
The Major's wince in response to that statement went unnoticed.
"All right, I'll do it! But no complains later about handing me a free kill, Asuka!" Shinji's voice was determined but somewhat amused.
"Hey, you two…" Major Katsuragi interjected.
"You said it, didn't you? 'You're the Number One'?" Shinji addressed her directly.
"Well that was…" the Major started to protest.
"And Asuka's right, she's already good, and I need more experience!" Shinji's voice was growing enthusiastic by the second.
"That's the spirit, just don't f-mess it up, 'Number One'" Asuka's tone turned mocking in the last words. "Unit-02 will back him up" she declared in more professional tone.
"Unit-00 will back him up as well" Rei stated in her usual, flat voice.
***
The atmosphere in the command centre was rather sombre. "Damn kids, running with it…" Major Katsuragi frowned.
"Let's hope he doesn't kill someone with this cavalier attitude" Doctor Akagi grumbled.
"I'm going to have to chew him out when he gets back. And Asuka as well, for this goading" Major Katsuragi frown deepened.
"Well, sounds like a job for a guardian" Doctor Akagi agreed with a note of annoyance and returned to her readings, ignoring Katsuragi's death glare.
***
The Evangelions were skulking – for the lack of a better word that would fit huge bipedal war-machines hiding behind buildings – around the city, surreptitiously tracking the movements of the levitating sphere.
"Ayanami, Asuka, are you in position yet?" Shinji inquired; his voice was lowered to a whisper for no practical reason.
"Not yet" came from Unit-00.
"Patience, Number One, don't get yourself tied in knots" Asuka replied, her voice somewhat amused. "We have more ground to cover. And I'm out of cable, switching to station twenty-five!"
'I'm never going to get used to this' Kyoko thought to herself when she felt the odd sensation of the power plug ejection and replacement. 'It feels like changing gloves, but also like drinking water' she mused while Asuka was repositioning herself. 'Far more attention should've been given to sensory input conversion… but I guess 'getting it working' and 'making it stronger' was higher on the priority list than the souls' comfort.'
"I am in position" Rei notified after about a minute.
"So am I" Asuka added twenty seconds later. "You know what to do, Third. Let's hope this will work out better than the last time" she added bitterly.
"Hey, what was that supposed to-" Shinji started.
"Asuka, Shinji, you're doing it again! Stop your banter and focus on the combat situation!" a chiding voice came over the comms from the command centre.
"Yes, ma'am!" Shinji snapped back and kept moving.
***
Eight minutes and two power connectors switches later, Lt. Ibuki spoke up: "Ma'am, sempai, there's a problem."
"Yes, Maya?" Doctor Akagi looked at her wearily.
"Despite Pilot Ikari's attempts to circle the target, the sphere is still heading towards the centre of the city. It seems not to react to Evangelions at all, even if Unit-01 was out of cover for several seconds."
"Great. Perhaps we should start some dance routine to get its attention?" Doctor Akagi replied; Lt. Ibuki frowned.
"Sempai?"
"Never mind" Dr Akagi shook her head. "Misato? It's your command, but I'd say we should get its attention."
Major Katsuragi pondered for a moment. "Agreed. Shinji" she opened the comms. "Fire a double on the sphere and be ready for a counterattack; Unit-00, Unit-02, be ready to provide backup."
"Yes, ma'am! Engaging the target!" Shinji declared, leaning out of his cover and aiming his pistol at the levitating sphere. Two seconds later, two shots headed towards the target.
The sphere promptly vanished just before the bullets hit it. A black spot appeared from nowhere under Shinji's Evangelion feet.
"Fuck!" Ritsuko Akagi exclaimed. The command staff exchanged glances – it was uncharacteristic for the doctor to use expletives in the past, but recently this has been slowly changing. There was no time to dwell on that, thought – the Angel Alert lit up, with the accompanying deafening sirens and a surprised "What?" from Major Katsuragi.
"Pattern blue!" Lieutenant Hyuga reported. "Angel confirmed!" he continued. "Directly beneath Unit-01!"
"A shadow?" Shinji panicked and started firing at the black void that was quickly spreading from beneath his feet. The bullets disappeared, leaving only momentary waves in the void. "What is this? It's weird!"
"Shinji, get out of there! Shinji?!" Major Katsuragi half-ordered, half-pleaded.
"Ikari?" joined a worried voice of Rei.
***
'He needs you' Kyoko directed her thoughts at Asuka whose head was swarming with conflicting thoughts.
'That's a messy mix of feelings… hostility, pity, attachment, care… desire?'
Kyoko shook the emotions she was receiving off and focused on the current situation. 'Save him. You can't leave him alone. He saved you, didn't he?' she summoned the emotions felt when Unit-02 was barely saved inside the volcano and directed them at Asuka.
'When this is over, I'm going to kill him' was the only, semi-conscious response. Kyoko felt the familiar determination radiating from her daughter – a fire she recognised all too well.
***
"Miss Misato, what is going on?" panicked voice of Shinji was dominating the comms. The command centre was staring in horror, unable to assist. "Miss Misato? Asuka? Ayanami? Where's the backup? Miss Misato?! Can you hear me? Asuka? Are you there?"
Asuka had already ejected the power connector and was sprinting at full speed towards Unit-01. "Stop screaming, idiot, I'm on my fucking way!" Asuka's angry, but also focused voice cut through the sounds of panic. "Just grab to something and stop yelling, you distract me!"
That voice was enough for Major Katsuragi to recover her faculties. "Eject the plug! Send the signal!" she ordered. "Asuka, stand back!" followed through the comms – and was promptly ignored; Unit-02 was rapidly approaching the growing dark surface, cracking asphalt and shattering glass with the force of displaced air.
Panicked "It's not working! No response!" from Lt. Ibuki made Major Katsuragi just stare at the screens again until she realised Unit-02 was almost atop of Unit-01.
"Asuka, retreat! That's an order!" she yelled.
"I can catch him!" Asuka protested vehemently. "It's just… a… few… more…" she strained – and she was right. Within seconds Unit-02 grabbed Unit-01's hand firmly and pulled. "Ha! Hey idiot, I told you I won't let you down-"
Asuka's triumphant bragging died suddenly, turning into an indistinct yell or surprise. A building beneath her feet gave in and her foot got caught in the blackness. "Ah, Scheisse!"
"Asuka!!!" Misato abandoned any pretence of composure.
A stream of vile German curses and colourful epithets directed towards the Angel was the only response. Had Misato not been preoccupied with the situation, she would have certainly wondered where did Asuka learn such flowery vocabulary – but she was far too terrified at the moment, as she could only stare helplessly as both Evangelions sank beneath the surface. The impossible sea became still again.
================================================================
Next time: whatever happens inside the belly of the beast! No fanservice, though: it's difficult to do fanservice when you have two people locked in their Units in an endless void (although I am sure some people would manage).
People who follow this story might've noticed that updates have became less frequent recently; this was caused by a) my changing work situation that leaves little time for anything else b) other projects in the same fandom (some results are (or will be) visible on AO3, others will appear on SV first) c) my beta-reader having left for Asia for a while. Still, I'm trying to maintain the two updates a month. Stay tuned.
- Location
- supernatural
Great chapter and also we're patient.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Tsk tsk, Asuka. I'd have hoped that even getting as far as you and Shinji evidently have would have allayed your insecurity/rivalry as a Pilot at least a little. Guess it's mixing with a bit of uncertainty or relationship turbulence to push it back to a similar point for this, though. Sad...
This is exactly one of the things Misato was worried about in opposing their being together in A&T: What do you do if a couple within a unit can't keep relationship issues out of the way in battle? Distractions and sniping at each other could be a critical flaw at a life-threatening moment, and then...
Hey, it worked last time, Ritsuko!
It was even you who gave Kaji's thumbdrive to Misato for it!
College is educational!
- Location
- Australia, mate
Hmm. Considering the nature of Leliel's... interior, are the two Evas still going to be together or will they have 'drifted' apart?
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
Thank you! I'm actually counting on that patience
The next side-story will explain her mood here, but it's sufficient to say that they're not in the best place right now. Yes, it's sad - but it's how they are.
They were sniping at each other in canon, too
But that's generally true - also, she's likely afraid the Dulcinea Effect would kick in, driving them to recklessness (and, in this particular case, it did, just in reverse, with the Asuka being the rescuing hero and Shinji being the damsel in distress).
Not that she knows about their we-don't-admit-it's-a-relationship yet. They're careful and - contrary to A&T - don't have much activity to hide at home.
As Asuka's degree is not stated in canon (AFAIK), one of the possible assumption is German literature (although I believe something like Theroretical Physics is more likely). Regardless, just living on college grounds with all the students and trying to fit in (as Asuka is prone to do) would make her learn a lot of pretty colorful language.
They fell in holding hands (Unit-02 caught Unit-01, see Asuka's exclamation before she started to spew expletives), so they're going to end up in the same place, possibly still connected.
But! Your question reminded me about wondering what exactly is the space inside Leliel, and a tentative answer is a "3-dimensional torus with finite radius" (so, like the usual, 2-dimensional, tube-like torus but instead of wrapping a surface, you wrap space). It is, in essence, a self-contained microuniverse without gravity and where all three dimensions wrap on each other. Which means that if you have a scanner with sufficient range and power and the environment itself does not dampen your scans, you will eventually locate yourself somewhere in the distance (and even be able to shoot at yourself).
Good luck imagining how it looks from the outside; that's why I love advanced matemathics: it breaks your mind faster than the sight of Adam would. There's little reason to explore it in Two Souls (this is not a nerd-out fanfic, it's a relationship/for-want-of-a-nail fanfic), but that's an interesting tidbit to explore for anyone interested in delving into physics of Angels.
Chapter 7.7.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
The day of Kyoko Soryu is spent with her family. Well, a part of it.
================================================================
Chapter 7., part 7.
The void stretched uniformly in all directions without any detectable object other than Unit-01. 'This feels quite like my falling into the cold waters before… well, before I fixed myself. Except nobody is drowning. Let's be thankful for small blessings.'
She focused on Asuka; the girl was fuming with anger, but in her professional approach she made sure to switch life-support mode and perform an initial scan of the surroundings. Not that the results made any sense.
Sudden onset of the life-support mode felt strangely unpleasant, like suddenly losing control. Kyoko's entire body was slowly powering down. A small blessing was that the Core and electronics were running on normal power; she also noticed with some interest that the recording systems were being deactivated as well.
'I guess this makes sense, this is not exactly a vital system. Sorry, Doctor Akagi. You're not going to learn much about what will transpire here', she chuckled internally. 'Not that we know how to get out from here, anyway…' she realised grimly. 'I wonder how would that feel when the power runs out entirely?'
Channel 8, silent since the last combat situation, cracked to life and interrupted that dark thought.
"What is your status, Soryu?" a focused, but also clearly worried voice of Yui Ikari inquired. "Is everything in working order?"
"I've been better", Kyoko quipped, setting her previous grievances aside in face of their situation. "But I've been far worse, too. No damage worth mentioning, but my daughter is being furious at everyone at once, your son in particular. And so far, the sensor readings are quite useless."
"Same here, any distance-measuring instruments display errors, except when I aim them at you" Yui replied. "So… thank you for dropping in with a welcome company" her voice was tinged with amusement "but I guess we're now both stuck here. Wherever 'here' is, of course" she paused, her tone ponderous. "And my son is feeling guilty… let's comfort and calm both of them down first, shall we? And then we'll discuss what to do. Short-range communication is a low-energy system, so I suggest we stick to it instead… visiting."
"Agreed. I don't think we're going anywhere, so there's time", Kyoko smiled weakly over the line. "Talk to you la-"
"Hold on, one more thing", Yui noticed. "Are you in life-support mode?"
"Yes", Kyoko focused on the sensation. "Asuka made sure of that."
"Roger that. Now, good luck with your daughter", the communication ceased.
Kyoko's focus returned to Asuka. The girl was done with the emergency procedures and her focus was slowly turning into anxiety. The next sensor sweep had only one result: it made her frustration grow. "Great, I was hoping it was sensor malfunction", she grumbled. "But no, I'm the belly of the beast… I wonder which one of us is Jonah and which way is Nineveh?"
Kyoko chuckled. 'I wasn't aware you were paying attention in the Bible class, darling… or was it more about Klassische Literatur? Whichever it was, it is an apt metaphor… but dwelling on it will bring us no good.'
She reached to Asuka carefully.
'It is not done. He still needs you. He's alone out there, but he will not take the first step. You know how he is, daughter…'
Asuka frowned.
"Hey, idiot, you there?" she probed over the comms.
Outside
"What is it, Ritsuko?" Major Katsuragi approached Doctor Akagi as she was going over another scan of the target.
"Hell if I–" Dr Akagi burst out loud before reducing her volume to normal as heads in the command centre turned, only to ignore her with trained aside looks. "Hell if I know, Misato. Readings indicate there's nothing out there, literally. This sphere is intangible to anything we scan it with, and the shadow is so perfectly black that it absorbs hundred percent of the radiation; we measure nothing back."
"Ritsuko, for fuck's sake. I remember something from my physics class; even black holes evaporate", Misato challenged.
The doctor raised her eyebrows. "That's the titbit you remembered? First, this is a hypothesis at best. Second, black hole science doesn't apply here. This is something else, if this was a black hole, we'd be dead long ago from gravity and all fun kinds of radiation", she took off her glasses and rubbed her face. "This is something… else."
"I heard that ten seconds ago already. Give me something. Can we, I don't know, throw them batteries? A lifeline?" Major's voice started to sound desperate.
"I. Don't. Know", the doctor stated. "The cabling to Unit-01 was cut clean, we pulled it out. Also, the remnants of the buildings stopped sinking, so either they hit some kind of bottom – which I doubt – or the shadow has some kind of surface tension and Evas were heavy enough to break it. I don't know."
"What do you know?" Misato pressed.
"One thing for sure, if you don't stop pestering me and won't let me work, I'm not going to give you anything useful, Major!" Doctor Akagi blurted out, her volume higher than it should be in private conversation.
Major Katsuragi took a step back, shock on her face. "Of course, Doctor", she finally replied, her voice far colder.
She turned on the spot. "Hyuga, we're taking a closer look, take all the mobile scanning gear you can and meet me on Landing Pad B. Aoba, request a copter for me and clear a flight plan with UN forces air control. Ibuki, keep an open channel to the copter at all times and report any Angel reactions", she barked out commands and marched out of the bridge.
"Yes, ma'am!" shouted in unison followed her.
Doctor Ritsuko Akagi slumped in her chair. 'This could've gone better. I guess.'
The conversation between Evangelions was slightly less vitriolic – at least from one side.
"…so, I only blame you for panicking", Asuka was finishing her monologue. "And if you apologise now, I'm going to hit you in your face", she threatened.
'Not what I had in mind, daughter, but at least you are talking…' Kyoko chuckled.
"I'm-" he started.
"Your. Face", came in a near-growl.
"Asuka, you're in life-support. You cannot move your hands", Shinji remarked. Kyoko could hear a smirk in that voice; this was new.
Asuka's eyes narrowed. "Oh, shut the fuck up, smartass, great help you are", she barked. Kyoko noticed without surprise that she actually liked his jab. 'Not that this is the best way to communicate that…'
"I'm so–"
Asuka punched the comm switch so hard that the entire haptic panel display fizzled out. For Kyoko, it felt like a short bout of migraine; she shook it off. Asuka's emotions were boiling under the surface; Kyoko could feel Asuka's frustration as well as her own. 'Definitely not what I had in mind, daughter. I was hoping you were on better terms already, or that you were at least used to his habits…'
Asuka started another sensor cycle just to keep herself busy. Kyoko sighed. 'Long is the road, and hard, isn't it, Asuka?'
Kyoko waited until both her and Asuka's emotions burned out, then carefully tuned into them; she started to carefully probe with images. A few minutes into the process she suddenly retreated, trying her best to mask her surprise and confusion. 'This is the problem? Gott, I hope I was not so… bad with my emotions then…'
She paused and reflected on some choices she made. 'Well, not much better, I guess', she realised. 'Well… this should be relatively easy to fix. Let's–'
"Soryu, do you have a moment?" Channel 8 cracked to life.
'Nice timing, Ikari…' Kyoko suppressed her annoyance. "I was about to… well, try to fix the problem you're likely aware of", she replied in the relatively composed voice.
"If you're talking about what's going on between your daughter and my son, we both need to work on it, yes – but we should wait with that", Yui stated, her voice concerned.
"Do explain, please?" Kyoko frowned.
"This requires some… intervention, and for that, they should not be too conscious, lest they remember too much" Yui elaborated and paused, pondering something for a moment. "At least this is what I think. Your opinion?" she managed, her tone sounding slightly forced.
Kyoko took a deep breath. "What if they rescue us first?"
Yui chuckled. "They won't, I think. They are left with one Unit at the moment, and from what both you and I saw, it is not the best one. This Angel didn't have a visible Core, either, so they have no target", she paused. "All right, to make it short: I believe we need to open the Angel up. From the inside. It actually gave us a tremendous opportunity by swallowing two of us."
Kyoko suddenly felt dizzy; she steadied herself, aware this could not be a physical sensation. "Wait. There's nothing here to grasp on. We're on reserve power. How do you propose we do that?"
"Oh, quite simply", Yui's knowing smile was audible over the comms. "We'll do what a certain man claiming divine parentage did when He encountered something He didn't like."
"I'm… sorry", Kyoko's voice expressed utter confusion. "You got me lost here. Are you suggesting we should defeat the Angel with kindness and 'go forth and sin no more'?"
A giggle responded on the other side. "No. It's more about the 'flipping tables in the Temple' part."
"Oh. That. I don't think I have a whip", Kyoko was unconvinced.
"We don't need one. We'll just get really, really angry", Yui's voice relayed her smile.
Kyoko froze, realisation dawning upon her. "You want us to trigger berserk."
"Yes. You do remember how?"
"Of course. Well, this will solve the power issue. What then?" Kyoko kept expressing her doubts.
"We're inside the Angel. AT Fields exist to stay outside", Yui kept explaining. "Correct me if I'm going the wrong way, but I think this should at least inconvenience the Angel, perhaps even enough to make it, well, vomit us – if you forgive the picture. If we're lucky, it will injure it grievously enough for us to walk out. So, worst-case scenario, we give it indigestion and signal people outside we're still alive. Best-case scenario, we do a neat chest burst and solve the problem."
"That's a… bold plan", Kyoko remarked.
"We don't exactly have many options", Yui countered, her voice firm. "As you noticed, we're running on reserves – and we have our kids to protect."
"This is exactly why I am… worried. This sounds like all-or-nothing – and if we fail, they may die", Kyoko replied.
"Soryu…" Yui started again, this time with a softer but concerned voice. "I know this sounds risky – because it is risky. But the only alternative I see – aside ideas like 'one of self-destructs and the other escapes in the process', which will kill somebody – is to sit tight and wait for the rescue. And while we have a chance of surviving total power loss, they will suffocate", she paused. "And as said before, this is an Angel. The only weapons capable of defeating Angels are Evas. And that's us, and we're literally inside the target. I can't imagine a better attack vector, actually."
Kyoko sighed. "You might be right. But I'd still prefer to wait a while."
"Agreed", Yui replied immediately. "My boy is trying to sleep, and once he succumbs to it, I will try to soothe him. Knowing the fireball that is your daughter, she'll be harder to wait out, but she will tire eventually. And…" she paused. "You are better with Evangelions biology, I believe, tell me, after how long will LCL become dangerous? I don't think we have the full thirteen-fourteen hours the batteries indicators show."
Kyoko pondered for a moment, recalling the technical specifications of the Entry Plug design. "If those were built as I remember them, twelve hours at most, even if the filters and pumps work uninterrupted. It will get unpleasant sooner, though – but that should not be toxic. There's plenty of oxygen in the liquid", she reassured Yui. "But if the machinery gives in sooner, it will cut the remaining time in half, if not worse. The original Plug was designed to operate for no longer than four hours with filtering running at full power; it seems the design has been improved but the volume of LCL is about the same… and you can only do so much with filters."
"I see. Well, we will know something is wrong with them the moment something starts happening. The plugsuits have health sensors, just look into the sensor feeds – there's the 'Pilot' subcategory", Yui informed.
Kyoko followed her directions and nodded. "Roger that. All right… we open the channel when conditions inside any of us get dangerous to kids."
"Yes. But before you go…" Yui trailed off.
"Yes?"
"I… I just want to say I'm sorry, Soryu. And that I miss you", Yui admitted, her voice cracking just a bit. "You were–"
"Ikari", Kyoko interrupted her. "Please. Let's focus on getting everyone out of here alive. Afterwards… afterwards, we will talk. This or another way, all right? For now… I don't hold a grudge or anything. Just some… anger. Bitterness, maybe. But now…"
"Survival. Yes. You're right, Soryu", Yui's voice returned to normal. "Again. I'm sorry for going soft, I'll–"
"We'll talk. And please, don't pick your son's habits", Kyoko's voice gained a note of amusement. "My daughter wants to choke him for apologising all the time, and I don't want to get the same impulse about you."
"All right" Kyoko could swear there was a hint of embarrassment in Yui's voice. "We re-establish contact on the first negative medical signal or any situation change. Until then – Unit-01 out."
The channel went silent.
Kyoko turned her attention back to Asuka and realised the origin of minor bouts of pain she had been experiencing in the last few minutes. She let out a sigh. 'Anger management issues do run in the family, no doubt about that…'
Outside
"Doctor, I've got–" Major Katsuragi barged into the improvised workroom just as Ritsuko was about to close the pill bottle. A loud curse cut the air as Ritsuko startled, scattering the contents across the floor. She jumped to collect the pills; Misato, without much thinking, put her papers on the desk and moved to assist.
"Leave it, I've got this", Ritsuko barked, annoyed and borderline panicked. Misato almost obliged before noticing the label on the bottle.
"Rits, what the hell?" she asked in an incredulous voice.
"Give me that!" Ritsuko barked at her and made a motion to grab the bottle.
"Why in God's name are you taking amphetamines?"
Ritsuko's eyes narrowed at her. "Great, now go out and yell it from the top of the Headquarters. Give me the bottle", she reached. "It's just medicine. We have a crisis on our hands, you know? I need to be alert."
"That's a fucking addictive drug, Rits, not a medicine", Misato's voice sounded both angry and concerned. "And not a very light drug, to boot. How long–"
"Get off your fucking high horse, Miss I-Am-Totally-Not-Hungover-Every-Morning. Don't you dare lecture me on substances", Doctor Akagi stared at her, unflinching.
Misato stopped in her tracks, looking as if she was just struck across her face. She dropped the bottle on the floor, stood up, and turned around. Not even looking back at Ritsuko, she pointed to the file she brought. "Report from all the scanners in the area plus anything Hyuga gathered on my flight. Digital version is attached. You know what to do with it, I think, and hurry with it. The briefing is in an hour. Remember, the clock is ticking, I expect you to have some answers."
Ritsuko gritted her teeth but said nothing.
"See you there, Doctor. Try not to have a psychotic episode until then, I heard they happen when you take too many of those", Misato said coldly before closing the tarp behind her. Doctor Akagi just sat there, her head low; moments later, she started collecting the scattered pills again.
================================================================
The belly of the beast continues to hold the Evas! Next time: can they get out without ruining the paint on Evas? Will Ritsuko survive the crisis? Will Asuka finally smash the control panel to pieces? Stay tuned for fanservice!
- minor Christian reference that can be perceived as mildly irreverent
- description of drug use
Chapter 7., part 7.
The void stretched uniformly in all directions without any detectable object other than Unit-01. 'This feels quite like my falling into the cold waters before… well, before I fixed myself. Except nobody is drowning. Let's be thankful for small blessings.'
She focused on Asuka; the girl was fuming with anger, but in her professional approach she made sure to switch life-support mode and perform an initial scan of the surroundings. Not that the results made any sense.
Sudden onset of the life-support mode felt strangely unpleasant, like suddenly losing control. Kyoko's entire body was slowly powering down. A small blessing was that the Core and electronics were running on normal power; she also noticed with some interest that the recording systems were being deactivated as well.
'I guess this makes sense, this is not exactly a vital system. Sorry, Doctor Akagi. You're not going to learn much about what will transpire here', she chuckled internally. 'Not that we know how to get out from here, anyway…' she realised grimly. 'I wonder how would that feel when the power runs out entirely?'
Channel 8, silent since the last combat situation, cracked to life and interrupted that dark thought.
"What is your status, Soryu?" a focused, but also clearly worried voice of Yui Ikari inquired. "Is everything in working order?"
"I've been better", Kyoko quipped, setting her previous grievances aside in face of their situation. "But I've been far worse, too. No damage worth mentioning, but my daughter is being furious at everyone at once, your son in particular. And so far, the sensor readings are quite useless."
"Same here, any distance-measuring instruments display errors, except when I aim them at you" Yui replied. "So… thank you for dropping in with a welcome company" her voice was tinged with amusement "but I guess we're now both stuck here. Wherever 'here' is, of course" she paused, her tone ponderous. "And my son is feeling guilty… let's comfort and calm both of them down first, shall we? And then we'll discuss what to do. Short-range communication is a low-energy system, so I suggest we stick to it instead… visiting."
"Agreed. I don't think we're going anywhere, so there's time", Kyoko smiled weakly over the line. "Talk to you la-"
"Hold on, one more thing", Yui noticed. "Are you in life-support mode?"
"Yes", Kyoko focused on the sensation. "Asuka made sure of that."
"Roger that. Now, good luck with your daughter", the communication ceased.
Kyoko's focus returned to Asuka. The girl was done with the emergency procedures and her focus was slowly turning into anxiety. The next sensor sweep had only one result: it made her frustration grow. "Great, I was hoping it was sensor malfunction", she grumbled. "But no, I'm the belly of the beast… I wonder which one of us is Jonah and which way is Nineveh?"
Kyoko chuckled. 'I wasn't aware you were paying attention in the Bible class, darling… or was it more about Klassische Literatur? Whichever it was, it is an apt metaphor… but dwelling on it will bring us no good.'
She reached to Asuka carefully.
'It is not done. He still needs you. He's alone out there, but he will not take the first step. You know how he is, daughter…'
Asuka frowned.
"Hey, idiot, you there?" she probed over the comms.
***
Outside
"What is it, Ritsuko?" Major Katsuragi approached Doctor Akagi as she was going over another scan of the target.
"Hell if I–" Dr Akagi burst out loud before reducing her volume to normal as heads in the command centre turned, only to ignore her with trained aside looks. "Hell if I know, Misato. Readings indicate there's nothing out there, literally. This sphere is intangible to anything we scan it with, and the shadow is so perfectly black that it absorbs hundred percent of the radiation; we measure nothing back."
"Ritsuko, for fuck's sake. I remember something from my physics class; even black holes evaporate", Misato challenged.
The doctor raised her eyebrows. "That's the titbit you remembered? First, this is a hypothesis at best. Second, black hole science doesn't apply here. This is something else, if this was a black hole, we'd be dead long ago from gravity and all fun kinds of radiation", she took off her glasses and rubbed her face. "This is something… else."
"I heard that ten seconds ago already. Give me something. Can we, I don't know, throw them batteries? A lifeline?" Major's voice started to sound desperate.
"I. Don't. Know", the doctor stated. "The cabling to Unit-01 was cut clean, we pulled it out. Also, the remnants of the buildings stopped sinking, so either they hit some kind of bottom – which I doubt – or the shadow has some kind of surface tension and Evas were heavy enough to break it. I don't know."
"What do you know?" Misato pressed.
"One thing for sure, if you don't stop pestering me and won't let me work, I'm not going to give you anything useful, Major!" Doctor Akagi blurted out, her volume higher than it should be in private conversation.
Major Katsuragi took a step back, shock on her face. "Of course, Doctor", she finally replied, her voice far colder.
She turned on the spot. "Hyuga, we're taking a closer look, take all the mobile scanning gear you can and meet me on Landing Pad B. Aoba, request a copter for me and clear a flight plan with UN forces air control. Ibuki, keep an open channel to the copter at all times and report any Angel reactions", she barked out commands and marched out of the bridge.
"Yes, ma'am!" shouted in unison followed her.
Doctor Ritsuko Akagi slumped in her chair. 'This could've gone better. I guess.'
***
The conversation between Evangelions was slightly less vitriolic – at least from one side.
"…so, I only blame you for panicking", Asuka was finishing her monologue. "And if you apologise now, I'm going to hit you in your face", she threatened.
'Not what I had in mind, daughter, but at least you are talking…' Kyoko chuckled.
"I'm-" he started.
"Your. Face", came in a near-growl.
"Asuka, you're in life-support. You cannot move your hands", Shinji remarked. Kyoko could hear a smirk in that voice; this was new.
Asuka's eyes narrowed. "Oh, shut the fuck up, smartass, great help you are", she barked. Kyoko noticed without surprise that she actually liked his jab. 'Not that this is the best way to communicate that…'
"I'm so–"
Asuka punched the comm switch so hard that the entire haptic panel display fizzled out. For Kyoko, it felt like a short bout of migraine; she shook it off. Asuka's emotions were boiling under the surface; Kyoko could feel Asuka's frustration as well as her own. 'Definitely not what I had in mind, daughter. I was hoping you were on better terms already, or that you were at least used to his habits…'
Asuka started another sensor cycle just to keep herself busy. Kyoko sighed. 'Long is the road, and hard, isn't it, Asuka?'
Kyoko waited until both her and Asuka's emotions burned out, then carefully tuned into them; she started to carefully probe with images. A few minutes into the process she suddenly retreated, trying her best to mask her surprise and confusion. 'This is the problem? Gott, I hope I was not so… bad with my emotions then…'
She paused and reflected on some choices she made. 'Well, not much better, I guess', she realised. 'Well… this should be relatively easy to fix. Let's–'
"Soryu, do you have a moment?" Channel 8 cracked to life.
'Nice timing, Ikari…' Kyoko suppressed her annoyance. "I was about to… well, try to fix the problem you're likely aware of", she replied in the relatively composed voice.
"If you're talking about what's going on between your daughter and my son, we both need to work on it, yes – but we should wait with that", Yui stated, her voice concerned.
"Do explain, please?" Kyoko frowned.
"This requires some… intervention, and for that, they should not be too conscious, lest they remember too much" Yui elaborated and paused, pondering something for a moment. "At least this is what I think. Your opinion?" she managed, her tone sounding slightly forced.
Kyoko took a deep breath. "What if they rescue us first?"
Yui chuckled. "They won't, I think. They are left with one Unit at the moment, and from what both you and I saw, it is not the best one. This Angel didn't have a visible Core, either, so they have no target", she paused. "All right, to make it short: I believe we need to open the Angel up. From the inside. It actually gave us a tremendous opportunity by swallowing two of us."
Kyoko suddenly felt dizzy; she steadied herself, aware this could not be a physical sensation. "Wait. There's nothing here to grasp on. We're on reserve power. How do you propose we do that?"
"Oh, quite simply", Yui's knowing smile was audible over the comms. "We'll do what a certain man claiming divine parentage did when He encountered something He didn't like."
"I'm… sorry", Kyoko's voice expressed utter confusion. "You got me lost here. Are you suggesting we should defeat the Angel with kindness and 'go forth and sin no more'?"
A giggle responded on the other side. "No. It's more about the 'flipping tables in the Temple' part."
"Oh. That. I don't think I have a whip", Kyoko was unconvinced.
"We don't need one. We'll just get really, really angry", Yui's voice relayed her smile.
Kyoko froze, realisation dawning upon her. "You want us to trigger berserk."
"Yes. You do remember how?"
"Of course. Well, this will solve the power issue. What then?" Kyoko kept expressing her doubts.
"We're inside the Angel. AT Fields exist to stay outside", Yui kept explaining. "Correct me if I'm going the wrong way, but I think this should at least inconvenience the Angel, perhaps even enough to make it, well, vomit us – if you forgive the picture. If we're lucky, it will injure it grievously enough for us to walk out. So, worst-case scenario, we give it indigestion and signal people outside we're still alive. Best-case scenario, we do a neat chest burst and solve the problem."
"That's a… bold plan", Kyoko remarked.
"We don't exactly have many options", Yui countered, her voice firm. "As you noticed, we're running on reserves – and we have our kids to protect."
"This is exactly why I am… worried. This sounds like all-or-nothing – and if we fail, they may die", Kyoko replied.
"Soryu…" Yui started again, this time with a softer but concerned voice. "I know this sounds risky – because it is risky. But the only alternative I see – aside ideas like 'one of self-destructs and the other escapes in the process', which will kill somebody – is to sit tight and wait for the rescue. And while we have a chance of surviving total power loss, they will suffocate", she paused. "And as said before, this is an Angel. The only weapons capable of defeating Angels are Evas. And that's us, and we're literally inside the target. I can't imagine a better attack vector, actually."
Kyoko sighed. "You might be right. But I'd still prefer to wait a while."
"Agreed", Yui replied immediately. "My boy is trying to sleep, and once he succumbs to it, I will try to soothe him. Knowing the fireball that is your daughter, she'll be harder to wait out, but she will tire eventually. And…" she paused. "You are better with Evangelions biology, I believe, tell me, after how long will LCL become dangerous? I don't think we have the full thirteen-fourteen hours the batteries indicators show."
Kyoko pondered for a moment, recalling the technical specifications of the Entry Plug design. "If those were built as I remember them, twelve hours at most, even if the filters and pumps work uninterrupted. It will get unpleasant sooner, though – but that should not be toxic. There's plenty of oxygen in the liquid", she reassured Yui. "But if the machinery gives in sooner, it will cut the remaining time in half, if not worse. The original Plug was designed to operate for no longer than four hours with filtering running at full power; it seems the design has been improved but the volume of LCL is about the same… and you can only do so much with filters."
"I see. Well, we will know something is wrong with them the moment something starts happening. The plugsuits have health sensors, just look into the sensor feeds – there's the 'Pilot' subcategory", Yui informed.
Kyoko followed her directions and nodded. "Roger that. All right… we open the channel when conditions inside any of us get dangerous to kids."
"Yes. But before you go…" Yui trailed off.
"Yes?"
"I… I just want to say I'm sorry, Soryu. And that I miss you", Yui admitted, her voice cracking just a bit. "You were–"
"Ikari", Kyoko interrupted her. "Please. Let's focus on getting everyone out of here alive. Afterwards… afterwards, we will talk. This or another way, all right? For now… I don't hold a grudge or anything. Just some… anger. Bitterness, maybe. But now…"
"Survival. Yes. You're right, Soryu", Yui's voice returned to normal. "Again. I'm sorry for going soft, I'll–"
"We'll talk. And please, don't pick your son's habits", Kyoko's voice gained a note of amusement. "My daughter wants to choke him for apologising all the time, and I don't want to get the same impulse about you."
"All right" Kyoko could swear there was a hint of embarrassment in Yui's voice. "We re-establish contact on the first negative medical signal or any situation change. Until then – Unit-01 out."
The channel went silent.
Kyoko turned her attention back to Asuka and realised the origin of minor bouts of pain she had been experiencing in the last few minutes. She let out a sigh. 'Anger management issues do run in the family, no doubt about that…'
***
Outside
"Doctor, I've got–" Major Katsuragi barged into the improvised workroom just as Ritsuko was about to close the pill bottle. A loud curse cut the air as Ritsuko startled, scattering the contents across the floor. She jumped to collect the pills; Misato, without much thinking, put her papers on the desk and moved to assist.
"Leave it, I've got this", Ritsuko barked, annoyed and borderline panicked. Misato almost obliged before noticing the label on the bottle.
"Rits, what the hell?" she asked in an incredulous voice.
"Give me that!" Ritsuko barked at her and made a motion to grab the bottle.
"Why in God's name are you taking amphetamines?"
Ritsuko's eyes narrowed at her. "Great, now go out and yell it from the top of the Headquarters. Give me the bottle", she reached. "It's just medicine. We have a crisis on our hands, you know? I need to be alert."
"That's a fucking addictive drug, Rits, not a medicine", Misato's voice sounded both angry and concerned. "And not a very light drug, to boot. How long–"
"Get off your fucking high horse, Miss I-Am-Totally-Not-Hungover-Every-Morning. Don't you dare lecture me on substances", Doctor Akagi stared at her, unflinching.
Misato stopped in her tracks, looking as if she was just struck across her face. She dropped the bottle on the floor, stood up, and turned around. Not even looking back at Ritsuko, she pointed to the file she brought. "Report from all the scanners in the area plus anything Hyuga gathered on my flight. Digital version is attached. You know what to do with it, I think, and hurry with it. The briefing is in an hour. Remember, the clock is ticking, I expect you to have some answers."
Ritsuko gritted her teeth but said nothing.
"See you there, Doctor. Try not to have a psychotic episode until then, I heard they happen when you take too many of those", Misato said coldly before closing the tarp behind her. Doctor Akagi just sat there, her head low; moments later, she started collecting the scattered pills again.
================================================================
The belly of the beast continues to hold the Evas! Next time: can they get out without ruining the paint on Evas? Will Ritsuko survive the crisis? Will Asuka finally smash the control panel to pieces? Stay tuned for fanservice!
- Location
- Australia, mate
Oooff, it's terrible to see Misato and Ritsuko basically revert to being strangers. They're barely even co-workers at this point.
- Location
- On a powder keg, next to a fire
It's painful to write, too, but it is a logical consequence of the events. Please note that Ritsuko didn't even present her "rescue plan" (a breaking point for them in canon) to Misato yet.
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