“Wh-why do you have a N-NERV
grade holographic communicator?”
Annette pauses. The six year
old girl, who nonetheless sounds like a mixture of Zeruel and ADAM,
wisely pauses in her own discussion, sensing that this is a
conversation for grown-ups, so she instead turns her attention to the
free-floating MP-Eva plushie.
Pulling the pen out of her
mouth, Annette inspects it for a moment before tucking it behind her
ear.
“I have connections.”
The
room is not normal.
That is the main conclusion Asuka has come to. In addition to the
pad at the middle of the room, and the wires connecting it to the
plastic, crescent shaped desk upon which three monitors and three
glowing blue CPUs are mounted on, there are wires covering the
entire, bright pink wall.
The walls are still pink. The
bed is big and soft, with way too many pillows, the night stand
holding a sealed, closed, unused diary. Everything says this is a
girl's room. But then there is the massive computer display, the
work stations, the equipment more set up for professional hackers
than sixteen year old girls.
“S-so,” Asuka says,
pointedly ignoring the computer set up that costs more than Misato's
old apartment, “U-Uri hasn't been talking, but I think
he's...um...worried about you.”
Annette nods, rising with the
sound of popping joints, running her hands through her hair and
walking over to her night stand. Taking out a black book from the
draw, she sits on her bed, flipping through it.
“Um...well, I wanted to see
how you were,” Asuka says, “We've n-never gotten to really
talk...”
“No, we never have,” Annette
says with a sigh, flopping onto the bed, “I'm your boyfriend's
cousin, you're my 'boyfriend's' sister,” she says with airquotes,
“And we've never really met.”
There
is another six year old girl appearing behind OMEGA,
tugging her shoulder.
“'Meg,”
the girl says, her voice a sound like crystals ringing in unison,
“C'mon!
Almacia's
getting in trouble!”
“And that is...” Asuka asks.
“Delta,” Annette responds,
flipping through the book, “I'm pretty good at telling them all
apart. So, what's your question?”
The girls are gone. In the
background of the projector, she can swear she can see a line of six
to eight year olds filing past, whispering.
“Um...how exactly d-do you
know them?” Asuka asks, scratching her head, “What...what
exactly...”
Annette coughs, leaning back,
tenting her fingers in front of her face.
“Well, it started some time
ago, at Chairman Kihl's funeral,” she explains, “Or as I like to
call it,”
Epic Pony Saving Prana
Two weeks ago.
“So, Annette, how have you
been?”
“Less...talking,” the blonde
girl puffed, thanking providence that she wore flats to the funeral,
“More...running! How...could...he...?”
“How could he set the stables
on fire and let loose wolves on them?” Kaworu asks, annoyingly not
out of breath despite running at a full, desperate sprint alongside
her, “I imagine easily. All he would need would be access to fire
and wolves. Annette, this is the...man...who put a Cherubim in
Unit-03. He...look, get on my back.”
“F-F-Okay!” Her feet leave
the ground, and thankfully she grabs Kaworu's shoulders, still mildly
annoyed on how he can be running at full sprint without being tired
or out of breath. Breathing heavily, the spots in front of her eyes
slowly disappear. While maid work involved a lot of running around,
it rarely involved frantic sprints.
“So, if it isn't rude to ask,”
Kaworu says, casually, “How are things with you and Uri? And how
have you been adjusting to being back home with your parents? It
must be nice to see them...or at least have proper parents-”
“Save...save your breath for
running!”
Of course, that was more from
anger at both questions than anything. Uri's been too busy piloting
Zwei to pay any attention to her, and her parents are...well, a
sensitive matter.
It took her a while to accept
that the two old people were her parents, whom she hadn't been in the
same room with for ten years.
And then they turned the corner,
and Annette sees it. She sees the mountains in the distance, and the
mountains move. In the darkness of night, she sees the massive
shapes and hears the flapping of massive, impossible wings, the
terrified whinnies of the horses and the howls of the wolves, the
beating of wings a chorus over their terrified song. The mountains
walk, or stumble, the ragged noise of breath in time with the sounds
of destruction.
Annette shrieks. Kaworu comes
to a steady stop, carefully put her down, and then folds his arms and
clears his throat.
“Ahem!” he shouts, tapping
his foot.
The first of the white giants
unfolds itself from the no-longer-on-fire stable, turning as the
second giant lands, the massive wings blocking out the light
pollution from Berlin. It bends down to one knee, and speaks with a
booming voice which hammers the minds and senses.
“UM,”
it starts, “UH.
HELLO, DADDY.”
“Daddy?” Annette hisses at
Kaworu.
“I'll explain in a bit. What
are you doing here, Meg?”
“PONIES!
AND DOGGIES!”
“...okay,
OMEGA,
let's try this again,” Kaworu sighs, “What are you and...” He
glances at the second MP-Evangelion, “Delta doing out here? You
know you aren't allowed out without supervision.”
The second MP-Evangelion steps
forward, wringing its hands in an action that would be adorable if it
weren't sixty meters tall and had a mouth full of blunt teeth and no
eyes.
“Daddy?”
Annette asks, “Mind explaining?”
“I'll get around to it,”
Kaworu responds with a shrug, “I'm waiting.”
“Um,”
it starts, the voice having an underlying shriek and hiss to it,
“Well...uh...we
heard some horses were in trouble, so we came out here to help save
them! Yes. That's it.”
The boy stared up at the two
giants.
“Don't lie,” he says, “You
were going to kidnap the horses and tell everyone they were eaten by
wolves. Which you also took. The horses are Annette's and you have
to give them back.”
Delta's head sinks down, a sigh
like scraping crystals escaping.
“Yes,
Daddy.”
“NO!
MINE!”
“Meg...”
“MINE!”
Somehow, the voice of the primordial giant sounded like it was
pouting. With a sigh, Annette pulls on Kaworu's shirt sleeve,
pulling him aside.
“Kaworu,” she says in that
warning voice she rarely has to use, “I know you just got a
girlfriend but...”
She gestures to the two giants.
“Really?”
The boy blushes, pink spreading
on his pale features.
“Oh.
Um. Well, if it helps they aren't biological
children. They're fork-based AIs that are based on Kei's and my
neural data,” he explains, “They're subjectively six, but were
raised in fast-time. In Evangelions.”
“I see,” Annette says, not
really, “I...well, I thought since you and Kei aren't strictly
human, that you...”
She unconsciously crosses her
legs.
“Ow.”
“Oh, don't worry about that.
We're using protection.”
The blonde facepalms.
“Kaworu, remember our many
chats about things you don't say in public? This is one of them.”
“Oops.”
“WHAT
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”
The two turn back to the
Evangelions, which despite the lack of eyes were staring at them.
“BABIES,
maybe?”
Delta asks, “Cause
they were talking about us.”
Kaworu blinks, sighs.
“Yes, exactly. We were
talking about that, but before the diversion. Meg. Those are not
your horses.”
“MY
PONIES!”
the MP-Eva insists, the terrified whinnies in her left hand
indicating that she did believe possession was nine tenths of the
law.
“No, Meg, they are not.”
“ARE
TOO!”
“08-EF EVA0, I am your father
and I am telling you that you may not steal Annette's horses.”
“B-B-BUT
I WANNA PET! A REAL ONE! IT'S NOT F-FAIR!”
Which is when Kaworu and Annette
were privileged to witness the embarrassment of an MP-Evangelion
crying at you. Annette sighs, resisting the urge to steeple her
fingers, and tugs on Kaworu's sleeve.
“Listen,” she called out to
the...little girl. They very large little girl. With no eyes, flat
teeth in a gaping maw, and flower decorated armor, “Right. What
was her name, Omega?”
“Yes,
OMEGA.”
he
responds, looking slightly lost.
“Right.
OMEGA.
I'm Annette, and I'm...well, I'm your mother's cousin, and I looked
after your father when he was very young.”
Delta looks down, her serpentine
neck curving to let her stare eyelessly at the two.
“Ooh!
Really?” she
asks, enthusiasm and alienness evident in her voice, “What
was he like? Does that mean you're like the F8s for us?”
“Ef...eights?” Annette asks,
“Fates?”
“Their brothers and sisters,”
Kaworu explains, “Subjectively older AIs in the Berlin MAGI.”
“...right,” Annette sighs.
“They aren't the same type of
AI according to Kei,” Kaworu continues, “But they are aged in
fast time too and-”
“Got it,” she says, flapping
him quiet, “Maybe. I think. Anyway. Anyway, I guess I am like
him, because I looked after him, too.”
“Oo!
Cool!”
Delta squeals, making Annette cover her ears at the scraping
crystalline shriek, “That
means you must be really smart and cool, just like them!”
“NUH
UH,”
OMEGA
pouts, “YOU'RE
JUST TRYING TO MAKE ME LIKE HER. BUT THE DOGGIES AND PONIES ARE
MINE!”
“Well, actually, I don't care
about the wolves...”
“Really?
But they're doggies, and they're cute and fluffy and I licked one
and it tasted funny.”
“...right,”
Annette says, and turns back to OMEGA,
“Right. Well, OMEGA,
I need to talk to you about the horses. Can you be a...big...girl
and talk grown up about them?”
“MINE!”
“See, that's not very mature,”
Annette responds, “Pets are a big responsibility. I remember when
your father got his first kitten.”
“Don't bring that up,”
Kaworu says with a shudder.
“KITTY,
DADDY?”
Kaworu remains silent.
“And so I have to be sure.
Where do you live?”
“DOES
THAT MATTER?”
“Yes it does,” Annette
responds, “You see, a horse has to have a lot of space to be happy.
It needs a lot of outdoor time and a lot of grass.”
“UM.”
“We
live in the hangars underneath NERV-Berlin,”
Delta says, cheerfully, “And
we have lots of space and people to help us take care of the horses!
And there's all the stuff we have there, like our lances and our
spare armor and we could just have the maintenance people who help
brush our teeth plant grass and stuff...”
“Okay,”
Annette responds, “Okay. So, OMEGA,
would you really want your horses to be unhappy?”
“BUT...BUT...PONIES...”
she says, her primordial voice heartbroken.
“But that's why I need you to
be a big girl,” Annette says, “Firstly, you have all your new
doggies to look after. Have you checked to make sure that they're
alright?”
“UH
HUH. I PRACTICED PICKING THINGS UP AND EVERYTHING SO I WOULDN'T HURT
THEM. I WOULDN'T WANT THEM TO EAT THE PONIES.”
She presented her right hand, from where the terrified howls could
be heard. “THAT
WOULD BE MEAN.”
“...right. See, that's what
I'm looking for. You're a good girl. Isn't she, Kaworu?” A nudge
to his ribs to make him agree.
“Yes, she is, but-”
Another elbow to silence him.
“See, you are,” Annette
says, “And that's why I need you to be brave and strong for me.
You and your sister-”
“Well, nine of them in that
batch,” Kaworu interrupts, “There are actually several hundred
more-”
“Sisters,”
Annette continues, directing a glare at Kaworu, “Have a new job.
You see, OMEGA,
I can't easily move the horses back to where I live in Japan, and I
certainly don't have the space to properly care for them. So they're
going to keep living here with your Daddy. But your Daddy is very,
very silly and not good with animals, so I'm going to ask you to help
look after my horses and make sure they're happy and well cared for.
And I will be checking up often, okay?”
“R-REALLY?”
OMEGA
booms, eyes she doesn't have wide.
“Yes.”
The
lips of the behemoth flutter. Then, “THANK
YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I PR-PROMISE I'LL LOOK AFTER THEM IN THE
BEST POSSIBLE WAY AND BRUSH THEM AND CARE FOR THEM AND MAKE SURE
THEY'RE THE HAPPIEST PONIES EVER!”
A deep breath, which pushes the trees back, and “THANK
YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU YOU'RE THE BEST AUNTY EVER AUNTY ANNETTE AND
I PROMISE I'LL NEVER LET YOU DOWN EVER!”
Annette smiles. Yes, the voice
was...not...that of a child's but it definitely had a child's
enthusiasm.
“Okay. So, will you put them
down?”
“We
put our the fire. Else they wouldn't have a place to live.”
“KAY.”
The giant lowers her hand that
does not have wolves, releasing the horses. The horses collapse,
terrified and exhausted, but a cursory examination from Annette
confirms they are all fine, just relieved.
“Okay,” Kaworu adds, “I
think it's time for you to head home. If the maintenance staff find
you not in your hangars, they could tell your mother, and you don't
want her to find out.”
“'Kay,
Daddy!”
Delta says, unfurling her wings, “It
was really nice to meet you, Aunty Annette! We promise not to let
you down!”
“THANK
YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU-”
And the two MP-Evangelions take
off, Annette holding onto Kaworu to keep the sudden wind from tossing
her like a rag doll. And then they are gone, and there are only two
people and several terrified horses.
“Well,” she says, “I leave
for a few weeks and you have a girlfriend and you're already a
father.”
“I think it was inevitable,”
Kaworu responds, “As you would put it, Kei is just as dorky as I
am. We connected. She does remind me of you.”
“Yes,” Annette says with a
shrug, “Well, we are related. And remember how there are things
you don't say to people?”
“Saying my friend reminds me
of my girlfriend is one?”
“Yes.”
“Whoops.”
The two begin walking back, at a
more sedate pace. Well, that went well. She made what appeared to
be a little girl very happy. She also has apparently won the loyalty
of nine Evangelions. Not bad for a night's work.
“And Kaworu? I think someone
should tell the Second Branch there will be wolves in the hangar.”
“...really,” Asuka says,
sitting on the bed across from her, “I'm...not sure I needed to
know all this. Wolves. And horses. And...um...huh. W-what
happened to his cat?”
“We don't talk about it.”
The door opens after a brief
knock, Alicia walking in with her hand clamped around Yui's wrist.
“...so I wanted you to talk
with her,” Alicia says, “If you want to help, then we all need to
talk-”
OMEGA,
Delta, and another girl in a six year old sized plugsuit crowd at the
projector.
“GRANDMA!”
they shout.
Alicia begins to sputter.
“Grandma?”
she
asks, “They're six!
And last I checked, Rei and Kei were both six...teen...Yui, what
have they been getting up to?”
“Relax,”
Yui says, shrugging, “They're not biological,
they're Fork-based AIs based on the neural patterns of one of my
eight clone daughters.”
Silence blankets the room.
“You're not helping, Aunt
Yui,” Annette chimes in.
grade holographic communicator?”
Annette pauses. The six year
old girl, who nonetheless sounds like a mixture of Zeruel and ADAM,
wisely pauses in her own discussion, sensing that this is a
conversation for grown-ups, so she instead turns her attention to the
free-floating MP-Eva plushie.
Pulling the pen out of her
mouth, Annette inspects it for a moment before tucking it behind her
ear.
“I have connections.”
The
room is not normal.
That is the main conclusion Asuka has come to. In addition to the
pad at the middle of the room, and the wires connecting it to the
plastic, crescent shaped desk upon which three monitors and three
glowing blue CPUs are mounted on, there are wires covering the
entire, bright pink wall.
The walls are still pink. The
bed is big and soft, with way too many pillows, the night stand
holding a sealed, closed, unused diary. Everything says this is a
girl's room. But then there is the massive computer display, the
work stations, the equipment more set up for professional hackers
than sixteen year old girls.
“S-so,” Asuka says,
pointedly ignoring the computer set up that costs more than Misato's
old apartment, “U-Uri hasn't been talking, but I think
he's...um...worried about you.”
Annette nods, rising with the
sound of popping joints, running her hands through her hair and
walking over to her night stand. Taking out a black book from the
draw, she sits on her bed, flipping through it.
“Um...well, I wanted to see
how you were,” Asuka says, “We've n-never gotten to really
talk...”
“No, we never have,” Annette
says with a sigh, flopping onto the bed, “I'm your boyfriend's
cousin, you're my 'boyfriend's' sister,” she says with airquotes,
“And we've never really met.”
There
is another six year old girl appearing behind OMEGA,
tugging her shoulder.
“'Meg,”
the girl says, her voice a sound like crystals ringing in unison,
“C'mon!
Almacia's
getting in trouble!”
“And that is...” Asuka asks.
“Delta,” Annette responds,
flipping through the book, “I'm pretty good at telling them all
apart. So, what's your question?”
The girls are gone. In the
background of the projector, she can swear she can see a line of six
to eight year olds filing past, whispering.
“Um...how exactly d-do you
know them?” Asuka asks, scratching her head, “What...what
exactly...”
Annette coughs, leaning back,
tenting her fingers in front of her face.
“Well, it started some time
ago, at Chairman Kihl's funeral,” she explains, “Or as I like to
call it,”
Epic Pony Saving Prana
Two weeks ago.
“So, Annette, how have you
been?”
“Less...talking,” the blonde
girl puffed, thanking providence that she wore flats to the funeral,
“More...running! How...could...he...?”
“How could he set the stables
on fire and let loose wolves on them?” Kaworu asks, annoyingly not
out of breath despite running at a full, desperate sprint alongside
her, “I imagine easily. All he would need would be access to fire
and wolves. Annette, this is the...man...who put a Cherubim in
Unit-03. He...look, get on my back.”
“F-F-Okay!” Her feet leave
the ground, and thankfully she grabs Kaworu's shoulders, still mildly
annoyed on how he can be running at full sprint without being tired
or out of breath. Breathing heavily, the spots in front of her eyes
slowly disappear. While maid work involved a lot of running around,
it rarely involved frantic sprints.
“So, if it isn't rude to ask,”
Kaworu says, casually, “How are things with you and Uri? And how
have you been adjusting to being back home with your parents? It
must be nice to see them...or at least have proper parents-”
“Save...save your breath for
running!”
Of course, that was more from
anger at both questions than anything. Uri's been too busy piloting
Zwei to pay any attention to her, and her parents are...well, a
sensitive matter.
It took her a while to accept
that the two old people were her parents, whom she hadn't been in the
same room with for ten years.
And then they turned the corner,
and Annette sees it. She sees the mountains in the distance, and the
mountains move. In the darkness of night, she sees the massive
shapes and hears the flapping of massive, impossible wings, the
terrified whinnies of the horses and the howls of the wolves, the
beating of wings a chorus over their terrified song. The mountains
walk, or stumble, the ragged noise of breath in time with the sounds
of destruction.
Annette shrieks. Kaworu comes
to a steady stop, carefully put her down, and then folds his arms and
clears his throat.
“Ahem!” he shouts, tapping
his foot.
The first of the white giants
unfolds itself from the no-longer-on-fire stable, turning as the
second giant lands, the massive wings blocking out the light
pollution from Berlin. It bends down to one knee, and speaks with a
booming voice which hammers the minds and senses.
“UM,”
it starts, “UH.
HELLO, DADDY.”
“Daddy?” Annette hisses at
Kaworu.
“I'll explain in a bit. What
are you doing here, Meg?”
“PONIES!
AND DOGGIES!”
“...okay,
OMEGA,
let's try this again,” Kaworu sighs, “What are you and...” He
glances at the second MP-Evangelion, “Delta doing out here? You
know you aren't allowed out without supervision.”
The second MP-Evangelion steps
forward, wringing its hands in an action that would be adorable if it
weren't sixty meters tall and had a mouth full of blunt teeth and no
eyes.
“Daddy?”
Annette asks, “Mind explaining?”
“I'll get around to it,”
Kaworu responds with a shrug, “I'm waiting.”
“Um,”
it starts, the voice having an underlying shriek and hiss to it,
“Well...uh...we
heard some horses were in trouble, so we came out here to help save
them! Yes. That's it.”
The boy stared up at the two
giants.
“Don't lie,” he says, “You
were going to kidnap the horses and tell everyone they were eaten by
wolves. Which you also took. The horses are Annette's and you have
to give them back.”
Delta's head sinks down, a sigh
like scraping crystals escaping.
“Yes,
Daddy.”
“NO!
MINE!”
“Meg...”
“MINE!”
Somehow, the voice of the primordial giant sounded like it was
pouting. With a sigh, Annette pulls on Kaworu's shirt sleeve,
pulling him aside.
“Kaworu,” she says in that
warning voice she rarely has to use, “I know you just got a
girlfriend but...”
She gestures to the two giants.
“Really?”
The boy blushes, pink spreading
on his pale features.
“Oh.
Um. Well, if it helps they aren't biological
children. They're fork-based AIs that are based on Kei's and my
neural data,” he explains, “They're subjectively six, but were
raised in fast-time. In Evangelions.”
“I see,” Annette says, not
really, “I...well, I thought since you and Kei aren't strictly
human, that you...”
She unconsciously crosses her
legs.
“Ow.”
“Oh, don't worry about that.
We're using protection.”
The blonde facepalms.
“Kaworu, remember our many
chats about things you don't say in public? This is one of them.”
“Oops.”
“WHAT
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”
The two turn back to the
Evangelions, which despite the lack of eyes were staring at them.
“BABIES,
maybe?”
Delta asks, “Cause
they were talking about us.”
Kaworu blinks, sighs.
“Yes, exactly. We were
talking about that, but before the diversion. Meg. Those are not
your horses.”
“MY
PONIES!”
the MP-Eva insists, the terrified whinnies in her left hand
indicating that she did believe possession was nine tenths of the
law.
“No, Meg, they are not.”
“ARE
TOO!”
“08-EF EVA0, I am your father
and I am telling you that you may not steal Annette's horses.”
“B-B-BUT
I WANNA PET! A REAL ONE! IT'S NOT F-FAIR!”
Which is when Kaworu and Annette
were privileged to witness the embarrassment of an MP-Evangelion
crying at you. Annette sighs, resisting the urge to steeple her
fingers, and tugs on Kaworu's sleeve.
“Listen,” she called out to
the...little girl. They very large little girl. With no eyes, flat
teeth in a gaping maw, and flower decorated armor, “Right. What
was her name, Omega?”
“Yes,
OMEGA.”
he
responds, looking slightly lost.
“Right.
OMEGA.
I'm Annette, and I'm...well, I'm your mother's cousin, and I looked
after your father when he was very young.”
Delta looks down, her serpentine
neck curving to let her stare eyelessly at the two.
“Ooh!
Really?” she
asks, enthusiasm and alienness evident in her voice, “What
was he like? Does that mean you're like the F8s for us?”
“Ef...eights?” Annette asks,
“Fates?”
“Their brothers and sisters,”
Kaworu explains, “Subjectively older AIs in the Berlin MAGI.”
“...right,” Annette sighs.
“They aren't the same type of
AI according to Kei,” Kaworu continues, “But they are aged in
fast time too and-”
“Got it,” she says, flapping
him quiet, “Maybe. I think. Anyway. Anyway, I guess I am like
him, because I looked after him, too.”
“Oo!
Cool!”
Delta squeals, making Annette cover her ears at the scraping
crystalline shriek, “That
means you must be really smart and cool, just like them!”
“NUH
UH,”
OMEGA
pouts, “YOU'RE
JUST TRYING TO MAKE ME LIKE HER. BUT THE DOGGIES AND PONIES ARE
MINE!”
“Well, actually, I don't care
about the wolves...”
“Really?
But they're doggies, and they're cute and fluffy and I licked one
and it tasted funny.”
“...right,”
Annette says, and turns back to OMEGA,
“Right. Well, OMEGA,
I need to talk to you about the horses. Can you be a...big...girl
and talk grown up about them?”
“MINE!”
“See, that's not very mature,”
Annette responds, “Pets are a big responsibility. I remember when
your father got his first kitten.”
“Don't bring that up,”
Kaworu says with a shudder.
“KITTY,
DADDY?”
Kaworu remains silent.
“And so I have to be sure.
Where do you live?”
“DOES
THAT MATTER?”
“Yes it does,” Annette
responds, “You see, a horse has to have a lot of space to be happy.
It needs a lot of outdoor time and a lot of grass.”
“UM.”
“We
live in the hangars underneath NERV-Berlin,”
Delta says, cheerfully, “And
we have lots of space and people to help us take care of the horses!
And there's all the stuff we have there, like our lances and our
spare armor and we could just have the maintenance people who help
brush our teeth plant grass and stuff...”
“Okay,”
Annette responds, “Okay. So, OMEGA,
would you really want your horses to be unhappy?”
“BUT...BUT...PONIES...”
she says, her primordial voice heartbroken.
“But that's why I need you to
be a big girl,” Annette says, “Firstly, you have all your new
doggies to look after. Have you checked to make sure that they're
alright?”
“UH
HUH. I PRACTICED PICKING THINGS UP AND EVERYTHING SO I WOULDN'T HURT
THEM. I WOULDN'T WANT THEM TO EAT THE PONIES.”
She presented her right hand, from where the terrified howls could
be heard. “THAT
WOULD BE MEAN.”
“...right. See, that's what
I'm looking for. You're a good girl. Isn't she, Kaworu?” A nudge
to his ribs to make him agree.
“Yes, she is, but-”
Another elbow to silence him.
“See, you are,” Annette
says, “And that's why I need you to be brave and strong for me.
You and your sister-”
“Well, nine of them in that
batch,” Kaworu interrupts, “There are actually several hundred
more-”
“Sisters,”
Annette continues, directing a glare at Kaworu, “Have a new job.
You see, OMEGA,
I can't easily move the horses back to where I live in Japan, and I
certainly don't have the space to properly care for them. So they're
going to keep living here with your Daddy. But your Daddy is very,
very silly and not good with animals, so I'm going to ask you to help
look after my horses and make sure they're happy and well cared for.
And I will be checking up often, okay?”
“R-REALLY?”
OMEGA
booms, eyes she doesn't have wide.
“Yes.”
The
lips of the behemoth flutter. Then, “THANK
YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I PR-PROMISE I'LL LOOK AFTER THEM IN THE
BEST POSSIBLE WAY AND BRUSH THEM AND CARE FOR THEM AND MAKE SURE
THEY'RE THE HAPPIEST PONIES EVER!”
A deep breath, which pushes the trees back, and “THANK
YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU YOU'RE THE BEST AUNTY EVER AUNTY ANNETTE AND
I PROMISE I'LL NEVER LET YOU DOWN EVER!”
Annette smiles. Yes, the voice
was...not...that of a child's but it definitely had a child's
enthusiasm.
“Okay. So, will you put them
down?”
“We
put our the fire. Else they wouldn't have a place to live.”
“KAY.”
The giant lowers her hand that
does not have wolves, releasing the horses. The horses collapse,
terrified and exhausted, but a cursory examination from Annette
confirms they are all fine, just relieved.
“Okay,” Kaworu adds, “I
think it's time for you to head home. If the maintenance staff find
you not in your hangars, they could tell your mother, and you don't
want her to find out.”
“'Kay,
Daddy!”
Delta says, unfurling her wings, “It
was really nice to meet you, Aunty Annette! We promise not to let
you down!”
“THANK
YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU-”
And the two MP-Evangelions take
off, Annette holding onto Kaworu to keep the sudden wind from tossing
her like a rag doll. And then they are gone, and there are only two
people and several terrified horses.
“Well,” she says, “I leave
for a few weeks and you have a girlfriend and you're already a
father.”
“I think it was inevitable,”
Kaworu responds, “As you would put it, Kei is just as dorky as I
am. We connected. She does remind me of you.”
“Yes,” Annette says with a
shrug, “Well, we are related. And remember how there are things
you don't say to people?”
“Saying my friend reminds me
of my girlfriend is one?”
“Yes.”
“Whoops.”
The two begin walking back, at a
more sedate pace. Well, that went well. She made what appeared to
be a little girl very happy. She also has apparently won the loyalty
of nine Evangelions. Not bad for a night's work.
“And Kaworu? I think someone
should tell the Second Branch there will be wolves in the hangar.”
“...really,” Asuka says,
sitting on the bed across from her, “I'm...not sure I needed to
know all this. Wolves. And horses. And...um...huh. W-what
happened to his cat?”
“We don't talk about it.”
The door opens after a brief
knock, Alicia walking in with her hand clamped around Yui's wrist.
“...so I wanted you to talk
with her,” Alicia says, “If you want to help, then we all need to
talk-”
OMEGA,
Delta, and another girl in a six year old sized plugsuit crowd at the
projector.
“GRANDMA!”
they shout.
Alicia begins to sputter.
“Grandma?”
she
asks, “They're six!
And last I checked, Rei and Kei were both six...teen...Yui, what
have they been getting up to?”
“Relax,”
Yui says, shrugging, “They're not biological,
they're Fork-based AIs based on the neural patterns of one of my
eight clone daughters.”
Silence blankets the room.
“You're not helping, Aunt
Yui,” Annette chimes in.