“Okay,”
Kaji yells, looking over his shoulder to find the gigantic red ball
still in pursuit, “Go-kun, you're
Misato's new car?”
“That
is correct. I am remote controlling the car with Miss Katsuragi's
assistance. I can, however, multitask so we can hold this
conversation while we evasively drive.”
Behind
them, two of the wings drag into the ground, grinding up the asphalt
behind them as Misato screams. A dip, and the Angel rises again,
floating directly above the car.
“That's
not good,” Kaji says, “Must go faster. Must go faster. Go go go
go go!”
“Shut
up!” Misato yells, “Go-kun! Don't you have weapons?!”
“No,
this avatar body is, unfortunately, unarmed.”
“What
do you mean you don't have weapons?!” Misato screams, “I thought
the Ree
modified you!”
Under
a low bridge the car speeds, girdirs passing over a few meters above
their heads. And as they pass the bridge, the entire bridge
disintegrates explosively as Anael crashes through, the absent minded
pursuit of the Angel giving no heed to such paltry obstacles as
bridges and roads. Kaji shrieks in a particularly unmanly fashion as
chunks of rubble and metal impact the road right behind them.
“That
would be besides the point, Miss Katsuragi. This is only an avatar
body, not an evangelion, and therefor unable to create or deploy an
AT Field.”
“That
didn't stop you with Zeruel!” Kaji yells, as gravel peppers the
trunk of the car.
“I
will remind you that I was sixty meters tall, had plasma cannons, and
an S2 engine then. Right now, I'm a car,”
Go-kun says, sharper, as the car swerves to avoid a girder which
spears the road in front of them, “Oh,
and I will remind you as well that worked out so well then, too,
outside of Zeruel blasting
my legs off.”
The
pedal presses down, a plume of flame shooting out of the Zonda's
exhaust as it accelerates down the road. Bouncing through the air
behind them, Anael keeps pace with relaxed ease, spinning with her
eye still focused on the car and the people within. Or at least,
until the ground shakes.
A
purple foot steps past the car, and the Mark-01 growls as it clears
the mountains, charging at the Angel.
“Misato,
get clear!” Shinji yells, Hikari screaming behind him as she holds
onto the armrests, “This is the Mark-01! We're engaging the
Angel-”
Which
is when Anael plows straight through the Mark-01, still in pursuit of
the car.
The
other Evangelions clear the horizon, Unit-00 hefting up an
Evangelion-scale chaingun an aiming it at the Grigori. Both
progressive knives drawn, Zwei charges towards Anael, all three
Evangelions extending glowing walls of light towards the red sphere.
And
then the wings spin, and the air around Anael glows red and white.
“What
was that?” Yui asks, “What the Hell was that?”
“Angel's
giving off some sort of Anti-AT Field,” Makoto reports, “Uh...no
change in vitals for any of the pilots!”
Kyoko
and Yui turn to each other, shrugging, as Ritsuko walks over to
Maya's station. A quick, quiet discussion between the two, and Akagi
turns back to the two heads of project E.
“It
seems to be some sort of defensive field,” she says, “It's
disabling the Evangelions and interacting with their AT Fields. It
looks like it did this right when the Evangelions deployed their AT
Fields.”
Yui
nods.
“So,
not like Lilith's Anti-AT Field,” she says, “But to what effect?”
The
three Evangelions freeze. In Unit-02, Uri winces, squirming in his
seat. Behind him, Kiri twiddles her thumbs, looking from side to
side as the sound of Zwei's breathing becomes louder and louder.
In
the Mark-01, the entire Evangelion goes silent, the Mark-01 falling
to a kneeling position.
“Uh...huh,”
Shinji says, “Ichi? Are you alright?”
“No!”
the voice shouts, “That
feels weird! Take over, older me!”
And
in Unit-00, Touji looks from side to side as he hears giggling from
the seat immediately in front of him.
“...Rei?”
he asks.
In
the main pilot seat, hands on the controls, Rei smiles from ear to
ear.
“I
feel the need!” she shouts, “The need!”
And
her head turns a full one hundred and eighty degrees to stare at
Touji with glowing red eyes.
“To
breed.”
The
red sphere shimmers, seemingly dissolving into a cloud of crimson and
gold. A flash, the material folding in upon itself, into a single
point as a sphere of golden light forms around it, and the Angel is
gone.
“What
was that?” Yui demands, “Report!”
“Angel's
just...disappeared,” Aoba reports, the long haired bridge
lieutenant looking between the Big Screen and the console in front of
him, “MAGI read a massive AT Field spike right before it
disappeared. MAGI believes it has the ability to cloak!”
“AT
Field was the highest density on record outside of ADAM,” Maya
adds, “It was blocking light, radiation, particles! We can't find
the Angel!”
“Recall
the Evangelions,” Yui orders, “Pilots! Report!”
Shinji's
face is one of dumbstruck shock. Uri is squirming in his seat,
visibly uncomfortable. And the seat for Unit-00 is empty. The
silence is broken by the ear-splitting, horrifying scream.
Alarms
blare, and the back of Unit-00's neck shoots off before the entry
plug fires out like a bullet, streaking through the air before
skipping across the lake next to Tokyo-3 and hitting the automated
retrieval boat, sinking it.
“Premature
ejection?” Akagi asks.
Yui
sighs, nodding.
“We
need to talk to Touji about that.”
“Mom?”
Shinji
asks, “You
need to set up a VR link with Ichi's Core. Right now.”
“The
AT field affected me,” Uri says, wiping the LCL from his damp hair
as he paces in front of the monitor, standing in the nondescript,
white room, “So, since I am affected due to being an Angel, I am
consigning myself to the modular rooms until it can be determined I
am not compromised. I hope Miss Kiri didn't mind piloting Zwei back
to the Cages herself.”
“I
see,”
Kyoko says, her face on the monitor, sitting in her office, “Isn't
this the same room you and Ikari were consigned to in the dream
world?”
“By
Asuka, after we got into a fist fight, yes,” he explains, and
sighs, “I figure the rooms, as they are on rails, can be moved
deeper in NERV if I show signs of being controlled by the Angel.
What has Junior said?”
“That
there is a difference between 'not hostile' and 'not dangerous'.
We're still trying to figure out where the Angel is and what she
wanted. We'll let you know what we find out.”
The
screen blinks out, leaving Uri as he sits on the bedroll, crosses his
legs, and closes his eyes to meditate.
Activating
VR Link.
Participants:
Ikari, Shinji; Ikari, Ichi; Ikari, Yui.
Environment:
NERVia.
The
world fades into a castle courtyard, white and gold stones as high as
the eyes can see. Two people appear at first. Shinji quickly looks
around, face set and unreadable. Yui appears almost ghostlike, only
her hands and face fully coherent in the world around them.
“I
couldn't get an immersion tube prepped in time,” Yui explains, “So
I'm just using a VR interface. Shinji, what's wrong?”
“I'll
show you,” Shinji responds, “Ichi! Get out here!”
Two
forms shimmer into existence. One is the normal, six year old Ichi,
shifting from side to side with an embarrassed look on her face.
Shimmering into existence next to her is also Ichi. Twelve years
old, her black hair tied into two long pigtails, shifting from one
foot to the other as Shinji marches to her.
“Okay,
wait,” she says, “I can explain-”
Her
protests and explanations are silenced as Shinji pulls her into a
hug, crushing her against him as Ichi watches with a wide smile.
“I,”
Yui says, “I...wait, Shinji, what happened?”
Releasing
Ichi, he holds her at arms length, a genuine, toothy grin on his
face.
“Okay,”
he says, “How?
I thought, when the dream ended, that you were gone.”
Ichi,
the older Ichi, shrugs.
“Hey,”
she says, “Like I told you. I'm a God.”
Clad
in her orange and black plugsuit, Hikari's face is a mix of worry and
anger as the retrieved plug is open and Rei hops out. Whistling, Rei
skips over to Hikari, landing on both feet and lolling back and
forth.
“Rei,”
Hikari starts, “Did you...to Touji?”
Rei
steps back, hands in front of her, as if to ward off the accusations
via looking hurt. Or by using her AT Field.
“Oh,
no!” she says, “I'd never do that!”
Hikari
nods, shoulders relaxing.
“Good,
because I-”
“That
would interfere with my master plan!” Rei continues, “Because if
I made Touji cheat on you, I'd have to pair up another pair of
friends!”
Hikari
tilts her head. Rei takes this as a sign to continue, even as the
other workers in the hangar stop to watch.
“Wee~ell,”
Rei continues, “I paired up you and Touji so you'd have babies
and I would ship your babies
with Shinji and Asuka's babies
for
MOAR
BABIES.”
Rei
tilts her head, smiling.
“'Kay?”
Hikari
slowly nods. As does the rest of the staff, as a pale while Touji is
helped out of the plug.
“Aaa~anyway,
I gotta go down and cordon myself off in the testing rooms!” Rei
says, skipping past Hikari, “Gotta follow procedures! And stuff!
And junk! And protocaaaaaaaaaaal-”
And
Rei disappears through the hangar doors.
A
knock. Uri ends his meditation and walks across the room, pulling
tighter the cord of the sweatpants that are his sole article of
clothing, and opens the door. Still clad in her plugsuit, smile open
and toothy, Rei meets his eyes. Quickly ascertaining the
circumstances behind this situation, Uri shuts the door.
“Oh
dear,” he says. Rei can create an AT field. She was piloting an
Evangelion and was within the blast radius of the Angel's attack.
This
is very bad.
He
walks across the room to the exit door on the other side and opens
it. Rei stands in the doorway before him, and without hesitation, he
slams the door shut again. Walking over to the monitor, he clicks it
on, folding out the controls underneath it to open a line to Central
Dogma and hopefully Mother.
Which
is when the pale fist bursts through the door, feeling around before
seizing the latch and unlocking it. Eyes wide, frozen in place by
something he would later realize is terror, he watches as Rei opens
the door...and smiles, narrowing her eyes upon him.
“Ayanami,”
he says, “What...what are you doing?”
“Babies.”
Her
voice comes in reverb, deeper and more alien than it should be. She
stalks towards him, and in reflex he extends his hand, a sword of
molten orange light appearing in his hand, which he waves in front of
him.
“Ooooh,”
Rei purrs, “Big swooooord.”
Her
eyes flash, and his sword breaks, hanging in front of him.
“Ayanami,”
he says, slowly backing away, grabbing his shirt from the bedroll and
pulling it on, “This...this isn't a good idea! I remember reading
this in books! The man is supposed to initiate things like this!
You're not the man!”
Rei
smiles wider, hands unclenched, fingers curled like claws.
“You'll
be the man,” she purrs, “I'll
be the Rei.”
“Well,”
the twelve year old Ichi says, “Since I'm sort of the lower half of
Lilith, I'm kind of immune to Arael stabbing us in the brains. So, I
sort of came into existence in
the dream, and sort of went dormant when the dream ended until I
started talking with Lil'Me after Shinji beat up Gothulhu.”
She
lolls back and forth on her feet.
“Sort
of.”
She
smiles, almost a mirror to the relieved smile on Shinji's face, who
is sitting on a stone bench in the virtual world with the six year
old Ichi next to her, arm wrapped around his littler sister's
shoulders.
Yui,
on the other hand, is standing and listening to the twelve year old
Ichi explain the reasons for her existence. Which, Shinji muses, has
to be something along the weird side.
“So,
I don't understand,” Yui says, arms folded, gaze alternating
between the two different versions of her daughter, “I...you said
you're a God?”
“Ascended
Lilithian life form, S2 organ from an Angel, full realization of my
latent power,” Teen!Ichi says, flexing her arms with a smirk,
“Well, in the Dream Arael was messing with what I could do, so all
I could do was teleport, fly, and blast Tamiel in the face. Now, I'm
pretty much the Super Eva. I mean, I smacked the living crap
out of Gothulhu, didn't I?”
“Arguably,
I had something to do with that,” Shinji says.
“Me,
too,” Little Ichi adds.
“Anyway,”
Teen!Ichi continues, scratching her head, “Lil'Me called me out
because the Angel hit us with a yucky stuff beam, and it wasn't fun.
But I didn't get affected. So, I'm kinda curious if Third Me got hit
by it, instead.”
Yui
cocks an eyebrow. And she purses her lips as the ground shakes,
shuddering, the water in the fountain rippling.
“Third.
Me.” Yui says.
The
teenage Ichi shifts back and forth on her feet.
“Well,
since I'm a God, I'm also a Trinity,” she says, “So I'm Ichi the
Cute,” she gestures at the six year old, who waves, as Shinji looks
past his mother with eyes as wide as saucers, “Ichi the Brat,”
the teenager points to herself, and points to past Yui, “And Ichi
the God Machine.”
Yui
turns. Overshadowing them, hissing steam from the vents on either
size of its featureless, mask like face, colored purple and green by
what is apparently marker and paint, the Beast looks down on them.
“So,
yeah,” Ichi says, “We figured out what his deal was. It's kind
of cool.”
Backing
away, hands in front of him, Uri carefully keeps his eyes on Rei as
she slowly walks towards him, matching his pace as he circles the
room. She is smiling, teeth showing, eyes narrowed on him, as he
clears his throat and tries to make a beeline to the door.
“Sempai!”
Maya announces, eyes focused on the console in front of her, two
floors above, “I'm reading two AT Fields in the Detox rooms! Uri
and Rei have both activated their S2 organs!”
“Ayanami,”
he says, “We're not in our right minds, and we really should
consider that the Angel has unduly effected our emotional state-”
Rei
throws her head back and howls, bending her knees and flipping
through the air at Uri. Landing feet first on his chest, she grabs
his collar and tears, ripping off his shirt before flipping back and
landing in a crouch. Rising, slowly, she sniffs at the air, a rumble
escaping her throat before she charges.
Holding
up his hands, Uri's eyes glow and a wall of gold light appears, Rei
slamming into it with a growl and snort.
“Uri's
thrown up an AT Field!” Maya shouts, “He's blocked off Rei! As
long as he keeps that up, she can't touch him!”
Rei's
eyes glow, and she digs both hands into the field, Uri tilting his
head as she growls and hisses.
“Rei's
deployed her own AT Field!” Maya shouts, “She's eroding Uri's
own!”
“She's
not doing that,” Ritsuko responds, hand on Maya's shoulder and
leaning over to stare at her console, “She's breaking through it!”
With
a roar, Rei breaks the field, tearing it open like tissue paper.
And
sees the room empty and the hole in the wall where Uri managed to
break through while she was busy busting his field.
“Aww,”
she says, and hops up and into the waiting ventilation duct.
On
the screen, the back of the red giant opens, servos and gears
whirring as the white rod shoots out of the brace around the gigantic
cyborg's neck. And then it shakes with a squeak of its pilot, and
spins back in place. Followed by more questions over the speakers on
when they're going to let her out.
“I'm
still
trying to figure out why Zwei isn't letting Miss Harasima go,”
Kyoko sighs, tapping her fingers on the conference table, “My guess
is that Zwei either believes she is Asuka due to the similar
personality, or he wishes to mate with her.”
Across
the table from her, Ritsuko and Yui both suck their teeth.
“I'm
going to hope for the former,” Yui says, “And maybe have a large
hose ready if it's the latter. Do we know what
caused this?”
Kyoko
sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
“From
what I can tell,” she explains, “The attack of the Angel
interacted with the AT Fields of the Evangelions, which caused them
to...well...behave differently.”
“Uri
exited the Evangelion as soon as it was obvious the Angel was gone,
and exiled himself to the detox facilities,” Ritsuko adds, “So
did Rei. If you can project an AT Field, apparently it affects you.”
Yui
nods.
“Unit-00?”
“Has
been attempting to hack the internet servers of the MAGI to download
all
porn,” Ritsuko says, sipping her coffee, “The Ree are redirecting
her, and I had Maya upload her own porn collection to start her off
slow.”
Yui
nods. Tilts her head, narrows her eyes, but nods.
“I...see,”
she says, “And Ichi?”
A
hologram comes up as the conference table glows, revealing a
wireframe image of the Mark-01. And it centers, shifts and zooms to
a small dot, positioned in the lower abdomen.
“It's
been growing at a steady rate since the attack,” Ritsuko explains,
several images of the mass at different sized appearing, “It was,
at first, the size of a pinhead. It's currently as large as a
bowling ball.”
Yui's
jaw opens and closes, working out the words.
“How?”
she asks, “Who?
Is it...is it Shinji?”
“What.”
The
two scientists turn to Kyoko, who slowly rubs the bridge of her nose
and snaps off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.
“No,”
she says, “No no no. God no. You honestly don't believe the
Mark-01 is pregnant.
Do you?”
She
slides her glasses back on, and stares at them. And sighs, shoulders
slumping.
“Yes.
Yes, you do.”
The
entry plug slides back out. Then the back of Zwei's neck shudders
again, and the spins back in. The cage goes silent once again,
followed by the steady crackle of the speakers on the Evangelion's
neck.
“H-hello?
Can s-someone let me out?”
Knees
pumping, Uri runs, pulling on the t-shirt as he runs out and into the
hallway. Bare feet on the metal floors, he runs in swift strides,
sharp breaths as he runs from the fate he escaped from. He knows he
is in the lower levels of NERV, so he needs to find an elevator. Or
a lift. Or stairs. And he needs to escape.
Or
at least, try to, before he turns the corner and slams into a rather
surprised Shinji, sending them both tumbling down in a mess of arms,
legs, and swears, rolling to a stop in front of Mari.
“Huh,”
she says, adjusting her glasses, “Two sweaty eva pilots rolling
around on the floor. Someone could make a fan comic out of that.”
Uri
and Shinji glance at each other, and Shinji rolls off Uri, both
sitting up and then standing, making a point to not touch. Clearing
his throat, Shinji scratches the back of his head, and looks his
girlfriend's brother up and down, as Mari smirks. Hands on her hips,
dressed in her plugsuit, she looks up as something moves overhead.
“Is
that Rei?” Shinji asks, “'Cause I came down here to check up on
Rei.” He glances at Uri. “Was Rei in there with you?”
Uri
shudders.
“Ah,
right,” Mari says, “Doctor Sohryu did say that the Angel was
affecting the Evas and the Nephilim. So I guess since Uri was
feeling a bit hot under the collar...”
More
clattering in the ductwork above. More giggling.
“Oh
dear,” Shinji says, “That can't be good.”
“Ayanami,”
Uri says, eyes following the sounds of the gigling, “Ayanami
is...different. She stated she wished to...”
He
shudders. Again. And then twitches, turning from Mari to Shinji.
Mari frowns. Shinji's eyes go wide.
“O...kay,”
Shinji says, “Let's get you somewhere safe, Uri.”
“I
am an Angel, Ikari,” Uri snaps, “I am more than capable of
protecting myself.”
“Uri,”
Shinji says, grabbing Uri by the shoulders, “Rei is sex crazed, in
the ductwork, and trying
to mate with you.”
“I
will, however, welcome more protection,” Uri responds, “Let's
go.”
Kaji yells, looking over his shoulder to find the gigantic red ball
still in pursuit, “Go-kun, you're
Misato's new car?”
“That
is correct. I am remote controlling the car with Miss Katsuragi's
assistance. I can, however, multitask so we can hold this
conversation while we evasively drive.”
Behind
them, two of the wings drag into the ground, grinding up the asphalt
behind them as Misato screams. A dip, and the Angel rises again,
floating directly above the car.
“That's
not good,” Kaji says, “Must go faster. Must go faster. Go go go
go go!”
“Shut
up!” Misato yells, “Go-kun! Don't you have weapons?!”
“No,
this avatar body is, unfortunately, unarmed.”
“What
do you mean you don't have weapons?!” Misato screams, “I thought
the Ree
modified you!”
Under
a low bridge the car speeds, girdirs passing over a few meters above
their heads. And as they pass the bridge, the entire bridge
disintegrates explosively as Anael crashes through, the absent minded
pursuit of the Angel giving no heed to such paltry obstacles as
bridges and roads. Kaji shrieks in a particularly unmanly fashion as
chunks of rubble and metal impact the road right behind them.
“That
would be besides the point, Miss Katsuragi. This is only an avatar
body, not an evangelion, and therefor unable to create or deploy an
AT Field.”
“That
didn't stop you with Zeruel!” Kaji yells, as gravel peppers the
trunk of the car.
“I
will remind you that I was sixty meters tall, had plasma cannons, and
an S2 engine then. Right now, I'm a car,”
Go-kun says, sharper, as the car swerves to avoid a girder which
spears the road in front of them, “Oh,
and I will remind you as well that worked out so well then, too,
outside of Zeruel blasting
my legs off.”
The
pedal presses down, a plume of flame shooting out of the Zonda's
exhaust as it accelerates down the road. Bouncing through the air
behind them, Anael keeps pace with relaxed ease, spinning with her
eye still focused on the car and the people within. Or at least,
until the ground shakes.
A
purple foot steps past the car, and the Mark-01 growls as it clears
the mountains, charging at the Angel.
“Misato,
get clear!” Shinji yells, Hikari screaming behind him as she holds
onto the armrests, “This is the Mark-01! We're engaging the
Angel-”
Which
is when Anael plows straight through the Mark-01, still in pursuit of
the car.
The
other Evangelions clear the horizon, Unit-00 hefting up an
Evangelion-scale chaingun an aiming it at the Grigori. Both
progressive knives drawn, Zwei charges towards Anael, all three
Evangelions extending glowing walls of light towards the red sphere.
And
then the wings spin, and the air around Anael glows red and white.
“What
was that?” Yui asks, “What the Hell was that?”
“Angel's
giving off some sort of Anti-AT Field,” Makoto reports, “Uh...no
change in vitals for any of the pilots!”
Kyoko
and Yui turn to each other, shrugging, as Ritsuko walks over to
Maya's station. A quick, quiet discussion between the two, and Akagi
turns back to the two heads of project E.
“It
seems to be some sort of defensive field,” she says, “It's
disabling the Evangelions and interacting with their AT Fields. It
looks like it did this right when the Evangelions deployed their AT
Fields.”
Yui
nods.
“So,
not like Lilith's Anti-AT Field,” she says, “But to what effect?”
The
three Evangelions freeze. In Unit-02, Uri winces, squirming in his
seat. Behind him, Kiri twiddles her thumbs, looking from side to
side as the sound of Zwei's breathing becomes louder and louder.
In
the Mark-01, the entire Evangelion goes silent, the Mark-01 falling
to a kneeling position.
“Uh...huh,”
Shinji says, “Ichi? Are you alright?”
“No!”
the voice shouts, “That
feels weird! Take over, older me!”
And
in Unit-00, Touji looks from side to side as he hears giggling from
the seat immediately in front of him.
“...Rei?”
he asks.
In
the main pilot seat, hands on the controls, Rei smiles from ear to
ear.
“I
feel the need!” she shouts, “The need!”
And
her head turns a full one hundred and eighty degrees to stare at
Touji with glowing red eyes.
“To
breed.”
The
red sphere shimmers, seemingly dissolving into a cloud of crimson and
gold. A flash, the material folding in upon itself, into a single
point as a sphere of golden light forms around it, and the Angel is
gone.
“What
was that?” Yui demands, “Report!”
“Angel's
just...disappeared,” Aoba reports, the long haired bridge
lieutenant looking between the Big Screen and the console in front of
him, “MAGI read a massive AT Field spike right before it
disappeared. MAGI believes it has the ability to cloak!”
“AT
Field was the highest density on record outside of ADAM,” Maya
adds, “It was blocking light, radiation, particles! We can't find
the Angel!”
“Recall
the Evangelions,” Yui orders, “Pilots! Report!”
Shinji's
face is one of dumbstruck shock. Uri is squirming in his seat,
visibly uncomfortable. And the seat for Unit-00 is empty. The
silence is broken by the ear-splitting, horrifying scream.
Alarms
blare, and the back of Unit-00's neck shoots off before the entry
plug fires out like a bullet, streaking through the air before
skipping across the lake next to Tokyo-3 and hitting the automated
retrieval boat, sinking it.
“Premature
ejection?” Akagi asks.
Yui
sighs, nodding.
“We
need to talk to Touji about that.”
“Mom?”
Shinji
asks, “You
need to set up a VR link with Ichi's Core. Right now.”
“The
AT field affected me,” Uri says, wiping the LCL from his damp hair
as he paces in front of the monitor, standing in the nondescript,
white room, “So, since I am affected due to being an Angel, I am
consigning myself to the modular rooms until it can be determined I
am not compromised. I hope Miss Kiri didn't mind piloting Zwei back
to the Cages herself.”
“I
see,”
Kyoko says, her face on the monitor, sitting in her office, “Isn't
this the same room you and Ikari were consigned to in the dream
world?”
“By
Asuka, after we got into a fist fight, yes,” he explains, and
sighs, “I figure the rooms, as they are on rails, can be moved
deeper in NERV if I show signs of being controlled by the Angel.
What has Junior said?”
“That
there is a difference between 'not hostile' and 'not dangerous'.
We're still trying to figure out where the Angel is and what she
wanted. We'll let you know what we find out.”
The
screen blinks out, leaving Uri as he sits on the bedroll, crosses his
legs, and closes his eyes to meditate.
Activating
VR Link.
Participants:
Ikari, Shinji; Ikari, Ichi; Ikari, Yui.
Environment:
NERVia.
The
world fades into a castle courtyard, white and gold stones as high as
the eyes can see. Two people appear at first. Shinji quickly looks
around, face set and unreadable. Yui appears almost ghostlike, only
her hands and face fully coherent in the world around them.
“I
couldn't get an immersion tube prepped in time,” Yui explains, “So
I'm just using a VR interface. Shinji, what's wrong?”
“I'll
show you,” Shinji responds, “Ichi! Get out here!”
Two
forms shimmer into existence. One is the normal, six year old Ichi,
shifting from side to side with an embarrassed look on her face.
Shimmering into existence next to her is also Ichi. Twelve years
old, her black hair tied into two long pigtails, shifting from one
foot to the other as Shinji marches to her.
“Okay,
wait,” she says, “I can explain-”
Her
protests and explanations are silenced as Shinji pulls her into a
hug, crushing her against him as Ichi watches with a wide smile.
“I,”
Yui says, “I...wait, Shinji, what happened?”
Releasing
Ichi, he holds her at arms length, a genuine, toothy grin on his
face.
“Okay,”
he says, “How?
I thought, when the dream ended, that you were gone.”
Ichi,
the older Ichi, shrugs.
“Hey,”
she says, “Like I told you. I'm a God.”
Clad
in her orange and black plugsuit, Hikari's face is a mix of worry and
anger as the retrieved plug is open and Rei hops out. Whistling, Rei
skips over to Hikari, landing on both feet and lolling back and
forth.
“Rei,”
Hikari starts, “Did you...to Touji?”
Rei
steps back, hands in front of her, as if to ward off the accusations
via looking hurt. Or by using her AT Field.
“Oh,
no!” she says, “I'd never do that!”
Hikari
nods, shoulders relaxing.
“Good,
because I-”
“That
would interfere with my master plan!” Rei continues, “Because if
I made Touji cheat on you, I'd have to pair up another pair of
friends!”
Hikari
tilts her head. Rei takes this as a sign to continue, even as the
other workers in the hangar stop to watch.
“Wee~ell,”
Rei continues, “I paired up you and Touji so you'd have babies
and I would ship your babies
with Shinji and Asuka's babies
for
MOAR
BABIES.”
Rei
tilts her head, smiling.
“'Kay?”
Hikari
slowly nods. As does the rest of the staff, as a pale while Touji is
helped out of the plug.
“Aaa~anyway,
I gotta go down and cordon myself off in the testing rooms!” Rei
says, skipping past Hikari, “Gotta follow procedures! And stuff!
And junk! And protocaaaaaaaaaaal-”
And
Rei disappears through the hangar doors.
A
knock. Uri ends his meditation and walks across the room, pulling
tighter the cord of the sweatpants that are his sole article of
clothing, and opens the door. Still clad in her plugsuit, smile open
and toothy, Rei meets his eyes. Quickly ascertaining the
circumstances behind this situation, Uri shuts the door.
“Oh
dear,” he says. Rei can create an AT field. She was piloting an
Evangelion and was within the blast radius of the Angel's attack.
This
is very bad.
He
walks across the room to the exit door on the other side and opens
it. Rei stands in the doorway before him, and without hesitation, he
slams the door shut again. Walking over to the monitor, he clicks it
on, folding out the controls underneath it to open a line to Central
Dogma and hopefully Mother.
Which
is when the pale fist bursts through the door, feeling around before
seizing the latch and unlocking it. Eyes wide, frozen in place by
something he would later realize is terror, he watches as Rei opens
the door...and smiles, narrowing her eyes upon him.
“Ayanami,”
he says, “What...what are you doing?”
“Babies.”
Her
voice comes in reverb, deeper and more alien than it should be. She
stalks towards him, and in reflex he extends his hand, a sword of
molten orange light appearing in his hand, which he waves in front of
him.
“Ooooh,”
Rei purrs, “Big swooooord.”
Her
eyes flash, and his sword breaks, hanging in front of him.
“Ayanami,”
he says, slowly backing away, grabbing his shirt from the bedroll and
pulling it on, “This...this isn't a good idea! I remember reading
this in books! The man is supposed to initiate things like this!
You're not the man!”
Rei
smiles wider, hands unclenched, fingers curled like claws.
“You'll
be the man,” she purrs, “I'll
be the Rei.”
“Well,”
the twelve year old Ichi says, “Since I'm sort of the lower half of
Lilith, I'm kind of immune to Arael stabbing us in the brains. So, I
sort of came into existence in
the dream, and sort of went dormant when the dream ended until I
started talking with Lil'Me after Shinji beat up Gothulhu.”
She
lolls back and forth on her feet.
“Sort
of.”
She
smiles, almost a mirror to the relieved smile on Shinji's face, who
is sitting on a stone bench in the virtual world with the six year
old Ichi next to her, arm wrapped around his littler sister's
shoulders.
Yui,
on the other hand, is standing and listening to the twelve year old
Ichi explain the reasons for her existence. Which, Shinji muses, has
to be something along the weird side.
“So,
I don't understand,” Yui says, arms folded, gaze alternating
between the two different versions of her daughter, “I...you said
you're a God?”
“Ascended
Lilithian life form, S2 organ from an Angel, full realization of my
latent power,” Teen!Ichi says, flexing her arms with a smirk,
“Well, in the Dream Arael was messing with what I could do, so all
I could do was teleport, fly, and blast Tamiel in the face. Now, I'm
pretty much the Super Eva. I mean, I smacked the living crap
out of Gothulhu, didn't I?”
“Arguably,
I had something to do with that,” Shinji says.
“Me,
too,” Little Ichi adds.
“Anyway,”
Teen!Ichi continues, scratching her head, “Lil'Me called me out
because the Angel hit us with a yucky stuff beam, and it wasn't fun.
But I didn't get affected. So, I'm kinda curious if Third Me got hit
by it, instead.”
Yui
cocks an eyebrow. And she purses her lips as the ground shakes,
shuddering, the water in the fountain rippling.
“Third.
Me.” Yui says.
The
teenage Ichi shifts back and forth on her feet.
“Well,
since I'm a God, I'm also a Trinity,” she says, “So I'm Ichi the
Cute,” she gestures at the six year old, who waves, as Shinji looks
past his mother with eyes as wide as saucers, “Ichi the Brat,”
the teenager points to herself, and points to past Yui, “And Ichi
the God Machine.”
Yui
turns. Overshadowing them, hissing steam from the vents on either
size of its featureless, mask like face, colored purple and green by
what is apparently marker and paint, the Beast looks down on them.
“So,
yeah,” Ichi says, “We figured out what his deal was. It's kind
of cool.”
Backing
away, hands in front of him, Uri carefully keeps his eyes on Rei as
she slowly walks towards him, matching his pace as he circles the
room. She is smiling, teeth showing, eyes narrowed on him, as he
clears his throat and tries to make a beeline to the door.
“Sempai!”
Maya announces, eyes focused on the console in front of her, two
floors above, “I'm reading two AT Fields in the Detox rooms! Uri
and Rei have both activated their S2 organs!”
“Ayanami,”
he says, “We're not in our right minds, and we really should
consider that the Angel has unduly effected our emotional state-”
Rei
throws her head back and howls, bending her knees and flipping
through the air at Uri. Landing feet first on his chest, she grabs
his collar and tears, ripping off his shirt before flipping back and
landing in a crouch. Rising, slowly, she sniffs at the air, a rumble
escaping her throat before she charges.
Holding
up his hands, Uri's eyes glow and a wall of gold light appears, Rei
slamming into it with a growl and snort.
“Uri's
thrown up an AT Field!” Maya shouts, “He's blocked off Rei! As
long as he keeps that up, she can't touch him!”
Rei's
eyes glow, and she digs both hands into the field, Uri tilting his
head as she growls and hisses.
“Rei's
deployed her own AT Field!” Maya shouts, “She's eroding Uri's
own!”
“She's
not doing that,” Ritsuko responds, hand on Maya's shoulder and
leaning over to stare at her console, “She's breaking through it!”
With
a roar, Rei breaks the field, tearing it open like tissue paper.
And
sees the room empty and the hole in the wall where Uri managed to
break through while she was busy busting his field.
“Aww,”
she says, and hops up and into the waiting ventilation duct.
On
the screen, the back of the red giant opens, servos and gears
whirring as the white rod shoots out of the brace around the gigantic
cyborg's neck. And then it shakes with a squeak of its pilot, and
spins back in place. Followed by more questions over the speakers on
when they're going to let her out.
“I'm
still
trying to figure out why Zwei isn't letting Miss Harasima go,”
Kyoko sighs, tapping her fingers on the conference table, “My guess
is that Zwei either believes she is Asuka due to the similar
personality, or he wishes to mate with her.”
Across
the table from her, Ritsuko and Yui both suck their teeth.
“I'm
going to hope for the former,” Yui says, “And maybe have a large
hose ready if it's the latter. Do we know what
caused this?”
Kyoko
sighs, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
“From
what I can tell,” she explains, “The attack of the Angel
interacted with the AT Fields of the Evangelions, which caused them
to...well...behave differently.”
“Uri
exited the Evangelion as soon as it was obvious the Angel was gone,
and exiled himself to the detox facilities,” Ritsuko adds, “So
did Rei. If you can project an AT Field, apparently it affects you.”
Yui
nods.
“Unit-00?”
“Has
been attempting to hack the internet servers of the MAGI to download
all
porn,” Ritsuko says, sipping her coffee, “The Ree are redirecting
her, and I had Maya upload her own porn collection to start her off
slow.”
Yui
nods. Tilts her head, narrows her eyes, but nods.
“I...see,”
she says, “And Ichi?”
A
hologram comes up as the conference table glows, revealing a
wireframe image of the Mark-01. And it centers, shifts and zooms to
a small dot, positioned in the lower abdomen.
“It's
been growing at a steady rate since the attack,” Ritsuko explains,
several images of the mass at different sized appearing, “It was,
at first, the size of a pinhead. It's currently as large as a
bowling ball.”
Yui's
jaw opens and closes, working out the words.
“How?”
she asks, “Who?
Is it...is it Shinji?”
“What.”
The
two scientists turn to Kyoko, who slowly rubs the bridge of her nose
and snaps off her glasses, rubbing her eyes.
“No,”
she says, “No no no. God no. You honestly don't believe the
Mark-01 is pregnant.
Do you?”
She
slides her glasses back on, and stares at them. And sighs, shoulders
slumping.
“Yes.
Yes, you do.”
The
entry plug slides back out. Then the back of Zwei's neck shudders
again, and the spins back in. The cage goes silent once again,
followed by the steady crackle of the speakers on the Evangelion's
neck.
“H-hello?
Can s-someone let me out?”
Knees
pumping, Uri runs, pulling on the t-shirt as he runs out and into the
hallway. Bare feet on the metal floors, he runs in swift strides,
sharp breaths as he runs from the fate he escaped from. He knows he
is in the lower levels of NERV, so he needs to find an elevator. Or
a lift. Or stairs. And he needs to escape.
Or
at least, try to, before he turns the corner and slams into a rather
surprised Shinji, sending them both tumbling down in a mess of arms,
legs, and swears, rolling to a stop in front of Mari.
“Huh,”
she says, adjusting her glasses, “Two sweaty eva pilots rolling
around on the floor. Someone could make a fan comic out of that.”
Uri
and Shinji glance at each other, and Shinji rolls off Uri, both
sitting up and then standing, making a point to not touch. Clearing
his throat, Shinji scratches the back of his head, and looks his
girlfriend's brother up and down, as Mari smirks. Hands on her hips,
dressed in her plugsuit, she looks up as something moves overhead.
“Is
that Rei?” Shinji asks, “'Cause I came down here to check up on
Rei.” He glances at Uri. “Was Rei in there with you?”
Uri
shudders.
“Ah,
right,” Mari says, “Doctor Sohryu did say that the Angel was
affecting the Evas and the Nephilim. So I guess since Uri was
feeling a bit hot under the collar...”
More
clattering in the ductwork above. More giggling.
“Oh
dear,” Shinji says, “That can't be good.”
“Ayanami,”
Uri says, eyes following the sounds of the gigling, “Ayanami
is...different. She stated she wished to...”
He
shudders. Again. And then twitches, turning from Mari to Shinji.
Mari frowns. Shinji's eyes go wide.
“O...kay,”
Shinji says, “Let's get you somewhere safe, Uri.”
“I
am an Angel, Ikari,” Uri snaps, “I am more than capable of
protecting myself.”
“Uri,”
Shinji says, grabbing Uri by the shoulders, “Rei is sex crazed, in
the ductwork, and trying
to mate with you.”
“I
will, however, welcome more protection,” Uri responds, “Let's
go.”