From: eltf@hotmail.com (Eliot Lefebvre) Subject: [Eva][FanFic] Neon Epoch Evangelion: Episode 3 X-Moderation-Queue-Date: 22 May 2002 13:11:24 -0700 Pre-story warning, once again! This fanfic is an original take on GAINAX's "Shin Seiki Evangelion." It contains alternative characters, plots, and a different overriding internal logic. It is intended, from the beginning, to be different. This includes different Children and different histories. In short: if the mere thought of someone other than Shinji in the cockpit of EVA-01 makes you queasy, you are in -entirely- the wrong place. Any and all flames stemming from this alteration will be mocked mercilessly. You have been warned. And, once again, the update comes late. Sigh. For what it's worth, this largely stems from moving into a new apartment, combined with the fact that at the moment my DSL connection is proving to be anything but fast and reliable. Here's hoping that things normalize soon with the next batch starting up in June. ]++[ ]+ ELECTRONIC TRANSCENDENCE PRODUCTIONS +[ presents ]+ NEON EPOCH +[ ]+ E V A N G E L I O N +[ ]+ EPISODE 3: CHORUS SINGS WINTER +[ By Eliot "Lostfactor" Lefebvre Based off of "Shin Seiki Evangelion" by GAINAX ]++[ How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe. - DANIEL 10:17 ]++[ Ryo's hands gripped the smooth metal of the cockpit's handles, felt the nylon seat soft behind him despite the soaking of the entire chamber with LCL. The cockpit was still dark, only an audio feed established to his Evangelion, synchronization not yet started and an uneasy sensation of peace permeating the air. Above the unit, the observation deck was bustling with activity, technicians preparing for EVA-00's first activation on record - even though Ryo could see none of it, he knew it was happening, felt almost reassured by the silent knowledge of its presence. Anyone else would have been nervous, sitting in the uncomfortable liquid and waiting for some kind of communication, but Ryo barely batted an eyelash, knowing that he would be notified as soon as his interaction was required. "Katsuragi should have been here," muttered Ritsuko, hurriedly sipping coffee from a white china mug before setting it down atop a computer terminal and checking the display. "Even if it is only a technical activation of the unit, that's something that she should be present for. Especially considering that Ryo's our only asset if the Angels attack prematurely." "I informed Captain Katsuragi that her presence would not be necessary at this test," replied Gendou, his gaze never shifting for a moment from the orange Evangelion unit sitting below him. The fluid had been drained from the holding cell that it was stored in, the catwalk and other restraints retracted, leaving only the unit standing alone. "We still have certain questions about this unit's reliability. It is possible that it will need to be scrapped. Depending on the outcome of this test, we will form a plan of action as far as mandatory attendance goes." He paused. "Is the unit ready for synchronization?" "All systems are prepared," replied Ritsuko, standing from the computer display and glancing around the room. She stepped towards the lone microphone towards the front of the room, knowing that in lieu of Misato's presence it became her task to direct the pilot. "Ryo, we're going to begin synchronization. Are you ready?" "Yes," came the flat reply. The boy's tone always disturbed Ritsuko, almost as if he were mocking her, despite the fact she knew he was doing no such thing. She pushed the thought out of her head, flashing a quick hand signal to the other technicians on deck. The last few restraints on the Eva snapped loose, and power began to surge through the gigantic cord plugged into the back, making the unit stir for a moment as it started activating. "Pilot's lifesigns are stable," noted one of the technicians, the sound of tapping keyboards filling the room as the unit slowly began to accept its pilot. "Machine appears to be fully ready for synchronization." "Good," replied Ritsuko, feeling more confident about the test than before. Despite the fact that Tokyo-3 was the world headquarters of NERV, it had disturbed her slightly that only the first two Evangelion units were housed at the facility, as if it were the most expendable part of the organization. Knowing that EVA-00 was working properly did wonders for her sense of safety. "We'll bring the pilot up to the standard operating level of 45%, try to maintain it for a few minutes, then shut down the unit." Sitting within the Eva, Ryo could finally see the world around him, the machine's external cameras finally active. It was only interesting from an academic point of view - the massive teal room had only one distinguishing feature, the skybox that sat at roughly eye level with the Eva unit. Ritsuko's voice came over the radio, but he only paid partial attention to her statements, knowing the bulk of what she was explaining to him - that he needed to focus on the machine as he'd been taught, that he would begin to expand his perception to the Eva's. Moving his mind outwards, feeling the Eva's limbs begin to emerge at the corner of his mind, he felt the sudden tickle of something else, as if another human were breathing down his neck. "Ritsuko, I'm getting the sense of another person in here," he noted, remaining calm despite the disturbing nature of the sensation. "Is everything all right?" Ritsuko paled slightly at Ryo's statement, looking towards Gendou for some kind of reassurance. The commander remained immobile, staring at the machine with a gaze that seemed neither approving nor hateful. "I think so, Ryo. Remember, you're dealing with the earliest unit, so there are some eccentricities to the machine that hadn't been fixed yet. The production models -" Before Ritsuko could say another word, the other end of the communication line snapped off with a hiss of static, and Ritsuko looked out of the control box to see the machine suddenly twitching in an almost human manner, moving in a way that it shouldn't have been. "Feed lines to the cockpit have been lost!" shouted one side of the room, drawing Ritsuko's attention immediately. "Establish a feed with the pilot immediately!" she shouted, moving away from the window towards the lone available console. Hitting a few keys, she brought up the synchronization rate monitor, wondering what was going wrong. The rate seemed to be flowing perfectly normally, slightly faster than what had been predicted for the prototype unit but otherwise unsurprising. "No response from any attempts! The machine is refusing all outside contact!" There was the sound of more keystrokes as Ritsuko looked up, saw the Eva rearing to its full height, gripping its head as though it were in pain. The giant's lone red lens of an eye stared at her for one piercing moment, then jerked away, the thing's hands gripping its head as it shook. "Machine appears to be under another individual's control! Its AT Field is unfolding!" Looking up, Ritsuko saw the thing stabilize on its feet, hands lifting away from its head as it stared at the skybox. "Cut the power," ordered the commander, remaining perfectly stable as the machine seemed to finally take notice of Gendou's position. Then Ritsuko could only gape as the Evangelion formed a fist and hurled it towards the skybox, driving at the structure with all its might. For all that she knew the observation deck was strong enough to withstand such a blow, Ritsuko found herself suddenly very afraid and feeling very helpless. Then the blow hit, the box folding inwards ever so slightly with the force of the impact. Ritsuko flung herself down behind the console as the tearing noise filled the air, then looked up to see the massive machine throwing another punch, Gendou's position unchanged. Panic struck, and Ritsuko quickly keyed in a quick series of commands, hearing the loud hiss from the dock that indicated the machine's power supply had been jettisoned. "Power cut off!" she shouted, wondering how many of the technicians were still monitoring their stations. "Thirty seconds of power remaining in the machine!" "Eject the entry plug," Gendou said, his command louder than before but still perfectly calm. The Eva slammed its fists against the skybox again and again, the reinforced windows spiderwebbing and beginning to break apart, Ikari remaining unmoving all the while. The Eva's upper back split open, and the long white tube of the entry plug shot out, but still the machine moved for a moment longer, pushing its hands towards Gendou as if the commander were the devil himself. Watching the great giant's hands shatter throught the glass, Ritsuko could feel herself freezing, knowing that in an instant the unit would break through the window and kill them all. And then the unit ceased to move at all, hands frozen in a death-grip around the commander's position. Gendou stared at them for a second longer, then turned and headed towards the stairwell down into the floor level of the holding bay. "Get a medical team to the entry plug immediately," he barked, not even taking notice of the still-cowering technicians. "Begin to analyze the data on this activation; see what went wrong." Down at the floor of the chamber lay the entry plug, looking almost like refuse that the Eva had discarded. Inside, Ryo writhed, trying to maintain focus despite the pain. The LCL felt like liquid fire, clogging his lungs and burning him apart from the inside. He pushed against the upper hatch of the cockpit, trying not so much to get out as to simply drain the horrible burning liquid. But it was sealed tight, and it took ten minutes for the medical team to pop open the seal, while the LCL casually burnt him away, covered in blood and scorches... ]++[ In the depths of Central Dogma, Ryo Ayanami woke from his memories, the notion of wishing to forget escaping him. His life consisted of routines, of the simple patterns that he'd grown accustomed to, and recalling the day that he suffered his injuries had become a routine as much as awakening to the fluorescent lights and pale white walls of the hospital. For a week before Neil Richelieu had arrived at Tokyo-3, he'd lay in bed, waking when his body had enough sleep, contemplating nothing for hours until he was fed, sleeping, awaiting moments when the commander desired to talk to him. Then Neil had broken the routine with his brief and sudden arrival, an arrival that would have been a welcome relief from boredom if Ryo truly understood the concept of being bored. By Ryo's estimation, it had been at least four days since Neil had departed, and Ryo had noticed a marked change in the doctor's tone since then, almost as if they were contemptuous of Ryo's continued presence even as they commented on his amazing healing. They would stand over him in their white coats, telling him that he had healed third-degree burns when they had expected he'd be lucky to even walk again, all the while clearly wishing that it was Neil instead. Ryo would have felt jealous, perhaps even said something, if it had bothered him. Regardless of their emotions towards him, he would be released eventually, and return to service as an Evangelion pilot. Something in the air told him that today would be that day. He no longer felt the residual burning pain in his lungs from the LCL, no longer had a dull ache seeping through his limbs, no longer tried to remain perfectly still to ease the pain of motion. The doctors, in their angry tones, had told him his recovery was amazing, that no human should have healed the injuries he'd suffered so quickly. It was an academic footnote to him, of only minor consequence. As before, he stared at the ceiling, simply waiting, knowing that time would pass and he would be given a new routine to follow. A creak came from the door of the room, and he turned his head to look at the door, pain finally absent from the motion. The light spilling out from the hallway seemed unimaginably bright for a moment, the only break being the dark silhouette of one of the doctors. "Get up," he ordered, resent barely concealed beneath his voice. "You're being released." ]++[ "It looks empty," Nieve announced, staring down from the catwalk to the bottom of the holding bay. There were still traces of the odd-colored liquid that had filled it before dripping towards the bottom, looking more viscous than Nieve could remember it seeming. "Every day for the past few years, I'd come in here and see it standing here, as if we were old friends. Now it's gone." She smiled at herself, looking over at Kaji. "I sound silly, don't I?" "Only a little," he replied as she rose to her feet, her heels clicking against the thin metal of the catwalk. While she had the freedom to wear what she chose, he had to wear the deep blue jumpsuit of the Intelligence division of NERV, a suit that he loathed with a passion and had informed Nieve of more than once. "But it'll be fine. In a few days, we'll be in Japan, and then you'll get to see if all that practice in EVA-02 was worth the time." "Hmmph." Nieve shrugged, stepping around Kaji towards the sliding door out of the holding bay. "I'm wondering if all the time we've spent sitting around here was worth it." The doors slid open on her approach, Kaji a few feet behind her. She smiled to herself, hoping that he was admiring the low back on her dress instead of just following her as an officer. "It took days just to get the transfer order put through. We should have moved faster." Kaji chuckled, hearing the hiss of the doors shutting behind him as Nieve continued down the corridor heedlessly. "As I remember, it wasn't us putting through the transfer paperwork, it was me." He shrugged. "Considering the immense amounts of money put into NERV, it makes sense that the UN would want to know what we're doing with the machines." "No, I would think that they'd want to get the machine where it can be useful as fast as possible," she replied, sounding frustrated. She stopped before an elevator, pressing a button on the side and waiting impatiently for the machine to bring the car to the appropriate level. "By the time we get there, the Angels could have been exhausted completely. That would make the expense of EVA-02 worthless." The elevator dinged, and Nieve stepped in as the doors slid open, Kaji following behind her as she pressed the button to bring them to the surface. "I'm afraid you're going to have to wait even longer to get into a combat situation, much as you're looking forward to it," he replied, drawing an irritated stare from Nieve immediately. "We're also responsible for the transport of the Sixth Child from Africa. EVA- 05 is being transported to the nearest possible rendezvous point over land, and we'll pick both of them up before heading to Japan." "You're kidding, right?" asked Nieve, staring at Kaji for a second, obviously hoping that his statement wasn't true. He shook his head, provoking an irritated growl from Nieve as she slammed her fist against the side of the elevator. "God damn it, that's pointless! They could airlift the pilot and the machine from NERV's headquarters there! It's taking longer for us to get there anyways, and now they're just slowing us down!" "UN policy is to try and keep the Evas in groups of two during transportation, in case something attacks the transport." Kaji offered another shrug as Nieve continued to fume, crossing her arms angrily across her chest and gritting her teeth. "Cheer up. I'm sure that the two Children who are there can keep everything under control until you get there." "Are you insane? The First Child hasn't even seen combat yet, and the only reason the Third Child managed to get away from the Third Angel with his life is because something happened to the machine." Kaji's eyes widened slightly at Nieve's second statement, obviously not expecting her to be aware of the specifics of EVA-01's first battle. "The techs let me review a transcript of the battle. From what you told me, I thought that the Third Child had won through skill, not luck." "Give him a little more credit than that," replied Kaji, seeming a little hurt by Nieve's statement for reasons she couldn't discern. "Neil didn't have any training in the Eva, but he did manage to beat the Angel. Even if the victory wasn't flawless, it's better than nothing." Nieve said nothing, simply sulking against the wall for a moment, trying to think up a way to get to Tokyo faster than she'd been scheduled to. "Could we go on ahead?" she asked, turning towards Kaji and softening her expression somewhat. "I mean, as long as the convoy picks up EVA-05, it will get transported. So why can't we just move on ahead with EVA-02?" "Because we're not allowed to," replied Kaji. The tone was familiar to Nieve, carrying the subtle implication that his tolerance was running low. "Nieve, you'll get there in due time, and I'm certain that your machine will have more than enough work to do once we get there. Relax for a minute." "I seem to be the only once concerned about this," she muttered bitterly, turning her gaze away from Kaji indignantly. She knew that she wasn't a political leader, that she couldn't have the sway of an entire country, but she also knew that without the Children the Evas were essentially useless. She knew how important she was to the entire project, and knowing that she didn't have any control over the situation at all made her angrier than she'd expected. Kaji said something to try and calm her down, but she wasn't listening, harboring a deep sense of being manipulated and a temporary animosity towards the Third Child. ]++[ Ryo knew, on a visual level, that Central Dogma and the First Municipal High School of Tokyo-3 were very different places. The wooden green and manilla hallways broken regularly by windows looked nothing like the sleek metal of NERV's corridors, the light streaming in from the outside a far cry from the almost suffocating artificiality of the underground facility's light. As far as Ryo was concerned, however, there was no meaningful distinction between the two as he walked towards Class 2-A, which for all he cared may as well have been the locker room of Central Dogma, Commander Ikari's office, or the entry plug itself. It was simply a new routine, a new route to memorize. He'd been given clear instructions as to how the routine was to be maintained before leaving for school, all given in short, staccato commands from Dr. Ikari. "You will arrive for school at precisely 8 AM." "You will dress in the provided uniform, without any wrinkles or stains on your clothing." "You will not discuss any of NERV's internal procedures." "You will not volunteer to let any other students into NERV facilities." The briefing had gone on for at least an hour, with Ryo giving a simple nod to each statement. They were not questions, nor was there any need to question the routine. It was what Commander Ikari had decided upon, therefore it was to be followed. Checking the sign above the door one last time, Ryo pushed open the door to the classroom, walking in quietly and ignoring the stares of others. He knew where he was to sit, a lone seat near the window in the classroom, and he stepped over to it without even looking twice, placing his bag next to his desk and facing forward, waiting for class to start. "You're Ayanami, aren't you?" asked a voice, male, the name coming across almost as an accusation. Ryo turned to see another boy his age leaning over his shoulder, his bleached blonde hair projecting off of his head at an angle that didn't seem physically possible, the expression on his face seeming somewhat uneasy. Over his uniform he'd slung a black windbreaker which he'd left unzipped. "I recognize you from earlier. You haven't been here since the first day." "I am Ayanami, correct," he replied, turning back towards the front of the room. He saw no more need for a discussion with the other boy, but his view was obviously not shared as the boy sat down backwards at the desk in front of him, studying Ryo's features as if he were preparing a report. "You're in my way." "Not from where I'm sitting," replied the boy, still eyeing Ryo as if he were about to bite. "You're part of NERV, aren't you? One of the Eva pilots?" "Yes," replied Ryo, still unsure of where the conversation was heading, opening his bag and beginning to put his notebooks inside the desk. The boy was still staring at him, and he noticed that he was beginning to attract something of a crowd around his desk. "Is there a point to this?" he asked, the faintest hint of annoyance in his words. "I'm wondering why you're in school," replied the boy, leaning over Ryo's desk further. Ryo took no notice of it, continuing the simple routine of putting his books away. "That Neil kid, the other pilot, he's not coming to school. Why does he get out of it?" Ryo didn't answer immediately, placing one notebook on his desk and opening it to a blank page. "I would imagine that his absence has something to do with the fact that he doesn't speak Japanse," he said at length, drawing what looked like a befuddled look from the boy as if he hadn't considered the possibility. "If you want to talk to him, I suggest you find him instead of me." "Vash, leave Ayanami alone," shouted a voice from the back, drawing the blonde boy's attention. The boy, who Ryo assumed was Vash, stared back at Ryo for a moment, studying his gaze. Ryo took notice of it, simply staring dead ahead and waiting for class to start. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Vash stared for a moment longer, then shook his head and stood from the chair, turning and heading towards the back of the room. "Excuse me," came another voice, obviously addressing Ryo. He glanced to his side, seeing a short-haired young girl sitting next to him. She glanced towards the back of the room quickly, then leaned slightly towards Ryo. "You know Neil?" Nodding, Ryo turned back towards the front of the room, unconcerned by the events that had just transpired. It was far more important to him that the professor was entering the room, putting his own books down and preparing to begin class. Then Ryo heard a small noise to his side, and he glanced towards the girl to see her looking as though she were about to say something, mouth half opened. She shook her head and smiled at Ryo, then turned towards the front of the room. His routine demanded that he turn back towards the board, that he focus on the professor and listen to what he had to say. Still, Ryo found himself staring at the girl for a half-second longer, a vague sensation that he could not explain tickling at the back of his mind. He turned back towards the front of the room, his attention on the professor, but he found himself wondering what the girl was going to say, wanting to find the answer to his questions more than he wanted to follow his routine for just a moment. ]++[ Sighing heavily, Misato placed the telephone back down on the cradle, feeling exhausted just from the act of simple conversation. She felt the sudden urge for a cigarette, to have the distinct scent fill her nose and filter through her lungs, just to relieve the stress for a moment, but she pushed the thought out of her mind, knowing that there was a reason why she had stopped smoking in the first place. "Americans," she muttered, shaking her head as she turned to face Ritsuko. "They never want to let go of anything military." "Will they be transferred?" asked Ritsuko, sipping her coffee and apparently unconcerned with Misato's stress. They were waiting inside Misato's office for Neil to arrive, more out of the fact that it was the room closest to the locker room that had a phone inside. It certainly wasn't for comfort - the only pieces of furniture inside were a single floor lamp that Misato insisted upon using instead of the fluorescent lights, a swiveling business chair, and the gray metal desk that all offices were given. Misato's excuse was that she hadn't had any time to decorate it, but Ritsuko would have sooner believed that it was simply because Misato had no interest in furnishing the place. "Your concern for me is noted," muttered Misato, sinking backwards into the padded nylon of her chair. "Yes, they'll be transferred. EVA-03 will be moved over land to Nevada, then it and EVA-04 will be airlifted here. They expect they'll be here in a day or two." She sighed, rubbing her forehead as she leaned back, feeling slightly relieved that the only sound in her office was Ritsuko's breathing. "It's a shame that we can't just get the other two units lifted here. They'd come faster." Ritsuko took another sip of her coffee, the bitter taste keeping her mind alert and off of unimportant matters. "EVA-02 is too far away to lift here. The plane would have to make a stop in America, and their facilities aren't equipped to handle the European prodction model." She glanced at the teetering piles of paper that had already accumulated atop of Misato's desk, noticing that the top one looked to be a personnel file for Neil. "You know, you should bring the Third Child's data down for filing." "Do I tell you how to do your job?" sighed Misato, rubbing her forehead more vigorously. She shook her head, knowing that Ritsuko was looking at her disapprovingly even with her eyes closed. "Sorry. I didn't get any sleep last night, and I'm not exactly at the top of my game right now." "I hope you don't think I believe that," replied Ritsuko, drawing Misato's attention instantly. She sat up in her chair, looking towards the other woman for some kind of cue from her expression, but Ritsuko had already turned away, sipping her coffee as if she hadn't said anything. "You got drunk. Poor judgement on your part, especially considering that we're staring Neil's training today." Misato glared, the accusation stinging more than she'd expected it to. "I didn't get drunk, I just had a couple of beers. That's not 'poor judgement.'" She looked towards Ritsuko, who continued to stare off into the distance, not even giving Misato a second glance. "You could benefit from occasionally using some poor judgement, you know. It would do wonders for your social life." The comment was meant to sting, but Ritsuko's glance back told Misato that it had succeeded at doing virtually nothing. "There's time in the day for me to have a social life or a career with NERV," she replied flatly, obviously unaffected by the accusation. "I'm too good at the latter to be concerned about the former." Wanting to get the last word in, Misato was cut off by the noise of her office doors hissing open, and she looked up to see Neil standing in the doorway. She stood, and Neil stepped in slightly, obviously uncomfortable in his new attire. "I put the suit on," he muttered, still apparently checking it out as Misato walked towards him. "It feels strange, though. A little too close to my skin. Like I'm still not wearing anything." "It's called 'skintight' for a reason," replied Misato walking towards him. "Besides, if we really didn't have you wearing anything, I think the female technicians would be staring too much." Ritsuko rolled her eyes at the comment, and Neil blushed slightly, Misato ignoring both as she ushered Neil out of the door and back into the hallway. "Come on. We've got to get you down to the entry plug, then get you out to the surface for training." Neil obliged, stepping out into the hallway. Misato began to follow him, then stopped, holding up a finger to indicate that she'd only be a minute. Ritsuko stared at the other woman, a puzzled look on her face. "Why the delay?" she asked, finally displaying something other than self- righteous calm in her tone. "If he's ready to begin the tests -" "Something just occurred to me," Misato interjected, leaning against one side of the door frame and extending her legs just far enough to make leaving impossible without tripping over her. "Do we even have pilots for the two American units? The Marduk Report skips the identity of -" "We know who the Fourth and Fifth Children are," replied Ritsuko before Misato had even finished her objection, drumming her fingers against her clipboard out of impatience. "The Marduk Report concealed them because they were not introduced to the project at a younger age, and we thought it best to keep them protected until the Angels attacked. Same as with the Third Child." She paused for a moment, Misato still leaning in the doorframe. "Are we going to get to work, or are you going to stand there all day?" Misato considered saying something else for a moment, another thought rolling around in her head, but she decided against it. "That was it," she said, letting the doors to her office slide open again as she stepped out to see Neil waiting, leaned against the opposite wall of the corridor and drumming his hands against the hard metal. "Sorry about the delay. Let's get to work." ]++[ The hum of the engine and the high wail of the sirens were the only sounds that penetrated the transport truck, but the emptiness of the vehicle made the noises echo all that louder. In a vehicle designed to house dozens of soldiers for transport into a combat situation, a single teenage girl was hardly enough to counteract the echoing effects of the chamber's size, and so she was seranaded by redoubled humming noises, refracted squeals, and the gentle thumping of the wheels as the truck moved along the highway. It was intimidating somehow, the lack of any human contact combined with the echoing sounds, but Niobe Littmore refused to allow it to disturb her, keeping her mind focused on the task ahead of her. She would be at the rendezvous point in several hours, and when she got there she had to be ready to perform her duties, ready to meet the NERV officers waiting for her and be the pilot of her Evangelion. Her parents, true to form, had not stayed to watch her leave, instead promising her that they would call her on her cell phone. Glancing at the small phone, more out of something to do in the emptiness of the truck than in anticipation of the call, she smiled bitterly, still feeling a rush of pride for being the Sixth Child. Despite the progress that the continent had made since the Second Impact, Niobe knew that most of the world still thought of Africa as the most primitive location on the face of the planet, that all of its inhabitants were still squatting in the bush, that there were about five cars across the entire length of the continent and they were constantly driving across deserts or savannah. To be one of the Children was something to be proud of anyways, but Niobe knew that she had to be more than proud, that her status held more importance than it did for perhaps any of the other Children. Lost in her own thoughts, Niobe almost didn't notice when the phone rang, its soft buzz lost in the bland din of the transport truck until it had already rung twice. Slapping herself for her stupidity, she grabbed the phone, flipped it open, then pressed it to her ear as the connection was established. "Three rings," stated her father's voice, deep, disapproving as always, as if Niobe were personally responsible for all the woes in his life. "You said you would answer right away." "You're right, I did," Niobe replied, not feeling up to trying to argue the point with her father. She knew that it was an immaterial issue, and she also was all too aware of the fact that trying to argue with him was a no-win scenario. "We should be at the docks in about twelve hours. If traffic continues to be light, it'll be sooner." She paused. "You don't think that I'm going to be able to do it, do you?" "No," replied her father, no hesitation in his voice. Niobe gave another bitter smile, knowing his old game of expectations against capability. He never expected that she could do anything - just listening to him, it was a miracle she could tie her own shoes. "I don't. So you've got to prove me wrong, don't you?" "Right," replied Niobe, leaning back in her seat, fighting the urge to undo her seatbelt and start pacing. "I'm a little worried, though. I've been thinking about the situation, and really, I've only been training on EVA-05 for two years. That's a lag compared to some to the other Children. I'll do my best, but I don't know if -" "If you're going out there expecting to be anything other than the best, you can forget about coming back," snapped her father, the anger evident in his voice. Niobe winced, less at the peak in volume than at the fact that she should have known that was the wrong thing to say to him. "You are Niobe Littmore of South Africa. Nobody will care about you at all if you can't be the best pilot of all the Children. Now tell me what you're going to do, now, before I hang up in disgust." A single tear started to bubble from the corner of her eye, but she ignored it, forcing herself to remember the whole reason she was sitting in the transport. "I'm going to be the best," she said, doing her best to sound strong. "You just watch, dad. I'm going to be the best pilot that they've got." There was a momentary pause from the other end, as if the signal had gone dead. Niobe realized when her father began speaking again that he simply had let his speech halt for a moment, that it had nothing to do with the reception of the phone. "Call me Joseph, not 'dad.'" He sounded slightly less disapproving than before, almost as if he were proud of her response. "You're an adult, you should act like one." "Joseph. You're right." She fought down the urge to apologize, knowing that it would only make the situation worse. "I'm almost out of range on the phone, Joseph. If there's anything else you want to say, you should probably say it now." Although Niobe didn't say it, part of her wanted him to say that he was proud of how far she'd come, that all the effort she'd put into making EVA-05 work correctly meant something to him. But she knew that he'd say no such thing, and that same part of her wanted him to not answer her, to let her maintain the illusion that he'd said what she wanted just as they moved out of signal range. "Your mother will mail you any personal belongings you need once you're in Japan," her father said briskly, scattering the thoughts she'd had for a split-second with those few words. "We will be in touch once you get there." Then the dial tone sounded for a second before Niobe heard the trademark static that indicated she'd moved out of signal range. She paused, then shut the phone, knowing that it would be useless once she got to Japan but not wanting to deplete the power on the off chance that she was wrong. Niobe put the phone down next to her for a second, then picked it up again, looking at it intently. As she stared, she found a desire swelling inside of her to hurl the phone against the opposite side of the transport, to take some solace in the noise it made as it split apart and left her alone forever. The sensation grew to be almost overpowering, and she felt her grip on the device tighten before she released it and put it down on the seat next to her. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against her seat, doing her best to stay confident with the fears shouting for her attention inside her head. ]++[ The scent was familiar, but that didn't make the LCL flooding the chamber any more pleasing than it had been the first time, nor did it make the salty taste in his mouth or the sticky scent of blood any less disturbing. It wouldn't have been so bad, however, if he hadn't needed to wear the suit. Misato had shown him what was called a plugsuit a few minutes before he'd been expected to change into it, and he'd been reluctant at the time. "It helps you synchronize with your Eva," she'd explained, going on to spout some technobabble that she admitted she didn't even understand fully. The bottom line was that they wouldn't let Neil get into the entry plug this time unless he put on the plugsuit, and that meant he didn't have much choice if he wanted the next Angel attack to go any more smoothly than the first one. He needed training, and to train, he needed to use the Eva again, whatever his feelings on the uniform were. As the cockpit flooded with LCL, he looked down on the suit again, still amazed by the way that it managed to feel tight without being restrictive. His first impression of it was that it was some sort of modified green wetsuit, with a piece of purple armor molded onto the chest and upper back. Once he'd actually gotten into the thing, though, he'd found that it was somewhat different, with all sorts different little ridges and bumps across it that looked variably like screws and plugs. Aside from the colors, he'd been informed by Misato that it could easily be distinguished from the other Children's suits by the blocky "03" on the chest. Why it mattered wasn't made clear to him, especially since the suit vacuum-sealed itself to fit more or less anyone who put it on. He didn't find it uncomfortable physically - it actually felt a little nice, almost comfortable. It was the sensation of being exposed that made him uneasy, even as the LCL rushed up clog his mouth and lungs. Coughing for a moment as the liquid flowed in, Neil felt the sensation of normality kick in once again as the cameras activated, the cockpit now feeling a lot more comfortable than before. Misato warned him that synchronization was beginning, and he felt the same tickle at the edges of his mind, the same way that the machine had felt before. It felt less frightening now, even though it was only his second time in the machine. "All right, Misato, I'm ready when you are," he announced as the restraints were removed and the Eva moved towards the launch pad. "Let's start the training session." In the command room, Misato nodded, signaling to the technicians to launch the machine towards the surface. "We're launching you into the Geo-Front for training, Neil," she explained, moving over towards Ritsuko as the computers tracked the machine's progress out of Central Dogma. The central screen had moved away from monitoring the Eva in its docked position, now centering on the machine's intended emergence point. "How's his synchronization rate doing?" "47% and holding steady," replied Ritsuko, sounding slightly displeased with the result of the readings. "It's above normal operating parameters, but I'd expected higher, especially considering his rates before." She sighed, examining the display more closely, obviously looking for some kind of spike in the readout. "Perhaps it's the machine acting up again." EVA-01 lurched out of the exit port a few hundred meters away from Central Dogma, Neil keeping his mental control over the machine to keep it from falling. The radio was silent for a moment, then Misato's voice came over the channel, a slight bit of a crackle added to it as if the radio were malfunctioning. "All right, Neil, basics first. That cord plugged into your back is your power supply. It's what keeps the Eva running. If it gets disconnected, though, you only have five minutes of operation left with the internal batteries. There are spares placed all around the city, so you should be able to move around without worry." Neil took a quick glance behind him, noticing that trailing wire as if for the first time, then nodded, stepping off of the exit port and finding the Eva's controls far more managable than before. "Okay. Got that." He paused, testing the machine's arms and hands for a moment. "What else should I really have been told about before I got in this thing?" Misato's response signaled the beginning of an amount of time that Neil couldn't begin to really gauge, save by the fact that he knew he was moving through the Eva's systems at a whipcrack pace. He finally got an explanation of why the machine had two vertical black fins extending from its shoulders, as Misato explained that they stored the only on- board weapon for the machine, the progressive knife. What was progressive about it wasn't explained, although Neil assumed it had something to do with the sheer size of the weapon. Then he was briefed on weapon depots, the Eva's built-in targeting system, the armor structure, flexibility, muscle mass, synchronization, launch ports, number designation, on and on until he could feel his head start to swim. What made it worse, other than the fact that he still loathed the sensation of the LCL in his mouth and lungs, was the fact that he still hadn't actually been trained at all. He'd assumed that the point of the exercise was to let him be more effective the next time an Angel attacked, not simply to be given a rundown of how EVA-01 worked. As he picked up what Misato told him was the standard-issue Evangelion rifle, letting the targeting crosshairs pop into view on his camera, he could no longer resist sighing. "Why do I get the impression that there's a reason why you're just briefing me on all of this?" he asked, putting the rifle down in the grass of the Geo-Front. "Couldn't I get some kind of actual training?" The radio stayed silent for a moment, as if Misato hadn't heard the question. "There's one other system that we need to go over before we get into training, but I still haven't quite figured out how to explain it to you." She sighed. "I mentioned that the armor wasn't the primary defense of the Evangelion, and it isn't. The primary defensive system is the AT Field." "AT Field?" asked Neil, the phrase sounding odd even though it wasn't complicated. A memory tickled at the back of his mind, recalling some of the shouts he'd heard over the radio after the Angel had punched through his helmet. "You shouted something about that with the Third Angel, didn't you?" "Yes. All of the Angels have an AT Field, part of why the UN forces weren't having any effect on the Third during its approach." Another memory came to Neil's mind, more hazy than the first, knowing that while he was raging against the Angel in a red fury that he'd torn through some kind of glowing barrier. "The AT Field keeps the machine safe from all conventional weaponry, but in the Evas, it also allows you to neutralize the AT fields of the Angels." She paused. "Unfortunately, it's tough to explain how to activate one... sort of like tensing a muscle, from what Ritsuko's told me." "Uh-huh. So that's my training on it." He sighed, trying shifting his focus around inside of the Evangelion, feeling very much as if he were trying to find a needle in a darkened concert hall. Wishing that he could shut off the radio for just a minute, he struggled, muttering anything that he could think of into the bloody liquid around him to try and make the Eva deploy the damn field. After a minute, he growled loudly, shoving the handles of the cockpit back and forth with as much force as he could muster. "Damn it, ACTIVATE THE FIELD!" He had expected, at best, for Misato to restraing the impulse to laugh and for his machine to simply remain unresponsive to his demands. Instead, he heard the background chatter on the radio suddenly take on an excited tone, and the air a few meters away seemed to start shimmering with a vaguely green tone. "Well done, Neil," announced Misato, sounding a little surprised that he'd managed to do it as well. "The field is deployed. Whatever you just did, that's how you get it to work." "Throw a hissy fit. Great plan." He kept his voice low enough so that he didn't think that Misato could hear him, but he suspected that she guessed what he was saying regardless. "All right. If we're done with the briefing, can we get on to something resembling real training?" ]++[ School, despite his brief encounter during the morning, had run according to the routine that Commander Ikari had laid out for him, one that he found easy to follow. He listened, took down everything the professor said, read what the professor told him too, and simply waited until the class was dismissed for the day. Without the concept of boredom and nothing else to anticipate, the hours flew by for him, and before he knew it the class was let out, spreading out from the drab white building across the campus, towards their various homes. Ryo knew this part of the routine as well, that he was to report to NERV as soon as he was let out, and he headed towards the bus stop, knowing that it would bring him close enough to an access route for him to be there on time. "Ayanami-san!" The shout drew Ryo's attention, the voice recognized instantly by his mind as the voice of the girl from the classroom in the morning. She was running towards him, a piece of paper fluttering in her hand, something indeterminate flashing in her eyes. For a moment, Ryo thought that she might be heading towards someone else, that perhaps he wasn't the only Ayanami in the class, but the expression in her eys combined with her slowed pace as she approached him dashed that theory. "Can I ask you a favor?" Ryo stared, somewhat confused by the question. "What do you want me to do?" he asked in response a moment later, certain that she'd simply misphrased her question by accident. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to," she replied, looking slightly perturbed by his own question and confusing him further. "I... I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to give this to Neil." She extended the piece of paper that she'd been holding, and Ryo saw that it was a sketch of a city, presumably Tokyo-3, around the middle of the day, black and white pencils with some intentional smudging. "Why?" asked Ryo, taking the sketch regardless of the question. He turned it over, expecting some kind of text on the back, but it was blank. Confused by both the question and the sketch itself, a vague frown stirred at the edges of his face. "Did he lend it to you, and now you need to return it?" "It's a gift," replied the girl, a thin smile crossing her face. "When we met, I was... well, it's not really important. I just want him to know that I'm not mad at him, that I don't blame him for what happened to my brother." She sighed. "Tell him to hold on to it, as a keepsake, and tell him that Eiko wants to talk to him again. Please." "Eiko," repeated Ryo, staring at the sketch, trying to understand the girl's statement. He knew that there was some emotion at play, one that he couldn't quite pick out or understand, and it made him feel uncomfortable, knowing that she was speaking about something beyond his comprehension. "I'll give it to him," he said after another minute of staring, trying not to sound curious once again as he tucked the sketch into his bag. "He and I will probably see one another at NERV." "Thank you," Eiko replied, giving a slight sort of bobbing bow to Ryo before turning to run back towards her friends. She took a few steps, then stopped and turned back, an expression on her face that Ryo couldn't place. "I'd go see him myself, but... well, I don't know where he lives. I really appreciate it." Ryo did not respond to her final statement, staring after her as the bus pulled to the curb in a cloud of exhaust and sand. She wanted to use him, use him to perform a function that she was incapable of performing herself. That was nothing that Ryo was unaccustomed to, and it was nothing that he had ever felt anything but neutral towards. For the barest moment, however, he felt himself feeling jealous, almost resentful of the fact that she only cared about him to the extent that she could use him. He pushed the thought out of his mind, stepping onto his bus and showing his pass as he walked towards the nearest empty seat. It was a distraction from his routine, something that he could not afford. ]++[ "UN Forces have engaged the target. We should have visual in a few moments." Makoto Hyuga was in his element, fingers dancing across the keyboard and keeping a close watch on the sudden energy spike that had appeared on their monitors a few minutes prior as Misato stood over his shoulder. They still hadn't relayed any information to Neil, but Makoto's fingers hovered over the alert button, and Misato knew that all they were awaiting was the arrival of Commander Ikari. "The pattern is blue. It's definitely an Angel." "Hold on. I'm sure that the commander is -" Misato was cut short as the hiss of an elevator filled the air, and she glanced up to see Ikari taking his seat on the level above while Fuyutsuki stood next to him. The commander's expression was fixed not on the main monitor, but instead on the wireframe map suspended in midair slightly beneath the monitor, a single flashing red dot indicating the Angel's position. "Commander, we've identified the energy pattern as an Angel. We haven't contacted 01 yet, but -" "Classify this as the Fourth Angel," announced Gendou, his tone making it questionable whether or not he'd even listened to what Misato was saying. A half-second later, the main screen began displaying the visual feed from the UN forces, this time only from the onboard camera of the aerodrones. The thing was easily as huge as the prior Angel, but it looked different, almost like the top half of a squid, skimming along the surface of the water towards Tokyo-3 and ignoring the attacks of the drones. "Sound the alert." Neil heard the wailing horn fill the air for a second, followed a moment later by a calm female voice announcing something in Japanese. He shouldered the rifle he had been using for target practice, knowing that something was going on. "Misato?" he shouted, hoping that the communicaton would be audible over the roar of the alarm. "What's the alarm for?" "We've just confirmed the Fourth Angel's presence," replied Misato, sending a chill up Neil's spine. He'd known, on an academic level, that he was going to have to fight another Angel, but the familiarity he was slowly establishing with EVA-01 seemed to melt away at the thought of actual combat. He didn't want to be put in a situation like before, but he gritted his teeth, trying not to show his apprehension. "Head back towards the entry port you'd used - we'll launch you to the surface from there." She paused. "You'll need to get rid of the rifle." Sighing, Neil tossed the rifle to the ground, sending EVA-01 running to the entry port. It was already sliding into action, rails extending vertically and the platform for the unit to stand on popping up at ground level. Pressing his back agains the rails, he put both feet firmly on the platform, then felt the machine lurch downward and around for a second. A sickening motion later, the unit was shooting upwards again, this time towards the streets of Tokyo-3. "Once you're at the surface, there will be a weapons depot a few meters to your left. You can get another weapon from there." Misato sighed, glancing back towards the main screen. The Angel had moved within range of NERV's cameras, but the visual was still unclear, largely because the Angel was now both moving too quickly and causing too much destruction for a clear picture of the beast. The purple thing seemed to be hurling energy projectiles around, but Misato couldn't tell exactly how. "What's the status on Unit 00?" "Ryo was supposed to arrive here in a few minutes," replied Ritsuko, obviously trying to remain calm despite the situation. "He might be a little late, but he'll get here. EVA-00... well, it's up to 80% functionality, but the armor is still weak and we're not certain how reliable the neural connections are. It's probably not a good idea -" "Prepare EVA-00 for deployment as a backup unit. Notify Ryo that he is to descend to the locker room immediately upon his arrival, to suit up and stand by inside his machine." Misato, shocked, stared up at the commander, who continued to stare at the main screen dispassionately. "He will not see action unless Neil fails." The statement, from anyone else, would have sounded like an attempt to reassure Misato, but in her agitated state it only made her more nervous about Neil's prospects, and she knew for a fact that Gendou had no interest in calming her nerves. "Don't worry, Neil," she muttered, low enough so that the surrounding microphones couldn't pick up her voice. Glancing towards Maya's console, she studied the gauges for an instant, wishing that she knew more about what the displays meant, and at the same time wishing that she felt more confident about Neil's prospects. Neil emerged on the surface, swallowing hard before turning towards one of the white buildings with the NERV logo that he'd noticed the day before with Eiko. The top of the building slid away, revealing an array of weaponry, some ranged, some not. Neil grabbed the rifle, an identical duplicate to the one he'd used earlier inside the Geo-Front, then listened to Misato's instructions, quick information on the Angel and the strategy that she'd formulated. He positioned his Eva as he was told, leaning it against a nearby building and crouching, breathing coming more heavily while waiting for the Angel. It felt like hours passed after Misato's last few words to Neil as he sat in the cockpit, Eva unit waiting patiently against the building, its pilot waiting for the signal that the Angel was within range. The rifle was in his hands, the targeting crosshairs beeping about his visual field, as he craned the machine's neck around, staring off in the direction that the Angel was supposed to be coming from. His palms felt sweaty, the LCL felt like thick smoke clogging his eyes, ragged breaths seemed to tear themselves out of his throat, and more than anything he wanted to have been able to tell Misato that he wouldn't pilot the machine. But he stood fast, waiting for something to emerge in his field of sight, doing his best to fight off the boredom of waiting and the terror of what he knew was coming at once. Just before the effort required became too great, Neil saw the purple form that he'd been told to expect emerge from behind a mountain, hovering slowly into the city. It was standing upright, and as it drifted in Neil could get a good look at the thing's body, a flattish triangular head perpendicular to its relatively featureless body, covering the red orb that Neil knew to be the Angel's core as if it were a cowl. At either side of the Angel dangled what looked to be tentacles, though they were glowing a bright purple, and they were moving entirely the wrong way for tentacles. "The Fourth Angel's in visual range," he announced, bringing the rifle around slowly. "I'm attempting to target the core -" As Neil brought the rifle around to face the Angel, shifting the target crosshairs to focus loosely around the red orb, the beast suddenly lurched into movement, flying towards Neil's position with a burst of speed. Fighting down a panic, Neil pushed the unit away from the building, forcing it to stand and jump back before raking the Angel's position with rifle fire. The bullets bit harmlessly into the target, and Neil could only watch as the twin tentacles lashed out towards him in a frenzy, slicing through the building that he'd been leaning against a second prior. He jumped backwards, trying to squeeze off another round of shots at the core but being blocked by the protective shield of the Angel's head. "Neil, its AT Field is protecting it right now!" shouted Misato's voice, cutting through the loud humming that the thing's tentacles gave off and the crashing of buildings around the Eva as Neil continued jumping backwards and out of harm's way. "You've got to try and get closer to the thing, to unfold your own field and neutralize it!" "Easy for you to say!" Neil shouted back, pulling down the trigger and letting the rifle blast out another series of rounds. He watched as the bullets bounced off thin air, small octagonal ripples appearing as they hit nothing, the Angel still approaching faster than he could dodge. A swipe of the tentacle cleaved through the rifle, and he had to duck away as it slashed at him again. "Misato, there's no way I can get close enough to it! Those tentacles will cleave right through me!" "You can't be hurt by them if your AT field is deployed!" replied Misato, a slight falter in her voice making Neil momentarily wonder if she was trying to convince him or herself. "You unfolded it once before, now do it again." "R-right," replied Neil, skidding EVA-01 to a halt and trying his best to force his perception outwards into the machine, the same way he had during training. The Angel paused for a moment, apparently unsure of what Neil was trying to do, then lunged forward once again, whirling its tentacles and tearing through the landscape around it. "AT Field, Activate. Activate. ACTIVATE!" Then one spinning tentacle of the Angel rammed through the chest of EVA- 01, punching straight through the armor and bursting out the other side. Neil felt his heart suddenly freeze up, and he coughed for breath, trying to tell if the taste of blood in his mouth was the LCL or his own. Pain shot through his left side, intensified as the Angel shoved its other tentacle through the same hole, widening it before withdrawing both. The Eva fell, and Neil gasped for breath, knowing on some academic level that he was having a heart attack before he felt an electric shock race through his body. "EVA-01's pilot avoided a cardiac arrest!" shouted Maya, her station devoted to monitoring Neil's vital signs. "The plugsuit's defibrillator activated automatically, but he should be fine in a few moments! Synchronization down to 38%!" "Why didn't you activate the AT Field?" muttered Misato, averting her eyes from the prone Evangelion on the monitor. She sighed, shaking her head and knowing what she had to do even as she hated it. "EVA-01 won't be active again soon enough, and we can't let the Angel take it out. Deploy EVA-00." ]++[ Since his arrival, Ryo had been given orders almost faster than he could process them, first instructed to get in his new plugsuit, then to get in the entry plug, then to wait for some kind of contact from the control room. It was nothing new to him, a sudden barrage of orders in a crisis situation that he'd been half-expecting even before he arrived. He'd quickly been told that Neil was on the surface, and that EVA-00 was to act as backup in the unlikely case that something went wrong with the other Evangelion unit. An understandable caution, and still relatively routine. It wasn't until the LCL began to flood the cockpit that he knew there was something wrong, that he was going to have to deviate from the routine. The salty aroma of the liquid filled the cockpit as Ryo tightened his grip around the handles, remaining calm despite the track record that he'd had with the machine. Taking a deep breath of the liquid, he coughed involuntarily as it filled his lungs, waiting for the radio to come on-line. "Ryo, Neil's in trouble on the surface," Misato announced, sounding particularly concerned. "We need you to cover him while he's refitted with some supplementary armor." "Understood," Ryo replied, feeling the machine begin to tickle at the back of his mind. The external cameras came to life, and for a moment Ryo wondered if the machine was going to activate properly, if it would go berserk a second time. But this time there was no other presence at the back of his mind, nothing but the empty spare limbs of the machine and his own pragmatic thoughts. Feeling the pad lurch towards the launch tube, he extended his own thoughts into the machine's mind, remaining perfectly calm as the machine raced towards the surface. "EVA-00's synch ratio holding steady at 41%," announced Makoto, surveying the displays as Misato fixed her gaze on the main screen. "Some of the neural connections weren't fully regenerated before the unit was launched - it's unlikely that the ratio will rise much higher than that." "We don't have any other choice," replied Misato, hanging her head slightly as the surface port opened and EVA-00 stepped out, moving swiftly towards a weapons depot and grabbing a shotgun out from the inside. "EVA-01 needs someone to cover its retreat, and at the moment we've only got one alternative." Sighing to herself, she focused her gaze back on the main screen, knowing that she couldn't afford herself the luxury of guilt. "Ryo, your display should be picking up Neil's location. Cover him while he recovers, then keep the Angel occupied while he retreats." Neil, for his part, was slowly feeling his breathing return to normal, the pain in his chest ebbing away just like the electric tingle still running along his arms and legs. Some part of him felt guilty for screwing up once again, but he tried to force himself to remain calm, moving his mind out to the Eva's limbs once again. The pain in his chest returned, but he focused on the fact that it wasn't really his pain, that he had to keep focused about it or he was certain to die. Glancing around, he saw that the Angel had already moved off, then noticed EVA-00 stepping around the corner from another building, shotgun held tightly and confidently. The machine looked much like Neil's, save for the orange color, the lack of shoulder flanges, and the single red eye in place of EVA-01's pair. "Ryo?" he asked, still trying to get EVA-01 back onto its feet. "I'll cover your retreat," replied the boy's voice flatly, his machine stepping over the still-prone Eva before firing a round from the shotgun. The Angel seemed to take notice of him as the shells exploded against its AT Field, and it whirled around even as Ryo shifted his position and fired again, drawing the Angel's attention away from Neil and EVA-01. "Get to one of the entry ports." Another tentacle swipe cleaved through a building and came dangerously close to Ryo, but the Eva's movements didn't falter, still leading the Angel carefully away from the other machine. Breathing deeply, Neil hefted his own Eva back to its feet, noticing as he glanced down that there was what appeared to be blood pouring out of the wound on his machine's chest. "Neil, do what Ryo said!" snapped Misato over the radio, and Neil looked towards the direction that Ryo had come from, seeing one of the ports open a few dozen meters away. "We'll fit you with a quick armor plate, then send you back to the surface." Taking a step towards the entry port, Neil froze as he heard the humming noise of the Angel's tentacles cutting through something, looking back towards Ryo and EVA-00 in terror. The Angel had sliced apart the shotgun, and there were no depots visible from Ryo's position, forcing him to simply bob and weave out of the Angel's range. It was clearly a losing maneuver, and the Angel was moving faster than Ryo seemed to be able, the lashing tentacles tearing up the land around the machine in great furrows of dust. As Neil watched, EVA- 00 began to crouch slightly to jump away from the Angel, and the great beast casually drove both of its tentacles towards the Eva's left knee, driving straight through the armor and causing the Eva to buckle to the ground. "Ryo!" shouted Neil, turning his machine around as the Angel snapped the lower leg clean off at the knee, then drove its tentacles hard into the machine's right shoulder. The Eva writhed for a moment as the energy whips slid through its body, then raised its hands to grab the tentacles and try to yank them out, the effort obviously futile. "Misato, he's going to die out here! He hasn't got any weapons to defend himself!" "Neil." The voice was calm, controlled, and unmistakably male, and Neil knew without even asking that it was Ikari speaking now. "EVA-01 is losing blood, and is suffering from severe damage. If you do not retreat, you may not be able to continue functioning for much longer. Return to the facility immediately." "And let Ryo die?" Neil scowled, ignoring the pain in his chest as he started running towards the Angel, deploying one of the knives in the shoulder units and holding it with the blade facing downward as he took a deep breath. The commander's voice came over the radio again, but Neil wasn't listening, focusing entirely on making the machine do what he wanted. Letting the knees buckle slightly, he flung his Eva skyward, hoping that he'd judged his jump correctly as it flew through the air, skimming over the buildings towards the Fourth Angel. Braced against a building, Ryo ignored the searing pain in his leg and shoulder, trying not to think about the thick taste of blood in his mouth as he tried to force the tentacles out from his shoulder before they tore it off. He pushed with all his strength, but there seemed to be some kind of barrier preventing him from fully commanding the Eva, and the tentacles forced themselves further into the wound even as he struggled against them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see EVA- 01 flying through the air, and he turned his gaze towards the machine, wondering what Neil was trying to do. Feeling the air whistle past his machine as he fell towards the Angel, Neil found himself thrusting the handles of the cockpit forward even though he knew they had no effect, gritting his teeth as he anticipated the impact. The Eva slammed hard into the AT Field, leaving the machine crouched on the top of the apparently stunned Angel. Focusing his strength and trying to feel the same anger that he'd felt earlier, Neil drove the knife down, pushing against the surface of the Angel's field and trying to break through. There was a momentary resistance, then the orange octagons rippling out from his position faded into nothingness and the Eva's feet hit the curved back of the Angel, the field successfully neutralized. Then Neil remembered that the back of the Angel was curved, and he felt EVA-01's feet slipping, the machine sliding down towards the ground. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around the Angel's head, trying to bring his prog knife to bear against the core that he knew was underneath the hood and just out of his visual range. The Angel seemed to understand the concept well enough to know that it wanted it not to happen, and it began to thrash its body back and forth, forcing Neil to tighten his grip as best he could, feeling the pain in his chest intensify with the Angel's movement. Remaining still for a moment, Ryo watched the situation, Neil stabbing the knife in his hand desperately, the blade scraping against the Angel's underside but failing to damage the core. The Angel was in a frenzy, unable to lash its tentacles with enough accuracy to hit Neil's Eva, but Ryo knew that the damage to EVA-01 was too intense for him to continue holding on for long. Forcing his Eva back into action, Ryo felt the salt taste in his mouth intensify as he pushed his machine forward, but ignored it and reached towards Neil's hand, grabbing it and pointing the blade in the right direction. "Here," he said, forcing Neil's grip towards the core, letting the tip of the blade bite into the red orb. "It's right -" Although its tentacles weren't quite able to stab EVA-01 again, the Angel was more than capable of hitting EVA-00, and it stabbed through the wound in the shoulder again, spreading it once more. Ryo winced inside his machine, feeling the shoulder begin to give but knowing that he had to help Neil. Shifting his weight, he pushed forward with Neil, both Evas forcing the knife into the core as the tentacles of the Angel sliced through the upper part of the right shoulder and left it hanging by a thread. The blade sliced through the hard red surface of the core, and the Angel arched backwards, slamming Neil against a building, then froze, tentacles fading away harmlessly. For a moment, neither EVA-01 nor 00 moved, both bleeding onto the ground slowly, their pilots hurt by their experience. Then Neil stood again, walking to the Angel and yanking his knife out, sliding the weapon back into his shoulder unit as he walked towards EVA-00. "This is Unit 01. The Fourth Angel has been neutralized." He paused, then gritted his teeth and grabbed the damaged EVA-00, helping support it as he grabbed the severed leg and started heading back towards one of the entry ports. "I'm escorting EVA-00 back with me." ]++[ Showered and changing back into his clothes, Ryo could hear shouting outside the locker room, recognizing Misato's voice as the one shouting and Neil's voice coming in occasional response. "You disobeyed a direct order!" she shouted, something in her voice sounding as though she weren't as angry with him as she was trying to act. "How can NERV trust you as a pilot if we can't trust you to follow orders? The Eva isn't a toy, you know." "But the pilots are?" asked Neil, sounding more than a little contemptuous. The question struck a nerve with Ryo, catching his attention as an earlier thought resurfaced. "Misato, you know how I feel about that boy that was hurt during my first combat. I couldn't abandon Ryo to the Angel, knowing that he didn't have any chance to survive." Misato shouted something back at him, but Ryo's attention was focused on the thought that Neil's statement had given him, making the rest of the conversation seem less important to him. He stared at the door to the room for a moment, then turned back to dressing, tucking his shirt in and taking his shoes out of the locker. It was a moment longer before Neil walked into the room, still in his plugsuit, the expression on his face unreadable. "They let you come down here earlier," he noted, heading over towards the shower stalls. "Lucky you. I can't get this stuff off me fast enough." Ryo didn't respond immediately, the strong scent of LCL hitting his nose as Neil walked past him and rounded the corner to the showers. He heard the hiss as the plugsuit was depressurized, then the sound of the faucet being turned on followed by a cloud of vapor dripping out from the stalls. "Misato was angry with you for disobeying orders," he noted, meaning it as a question but knowing that it sounded like a statement. "Why did you do it?" "There wasn't a choice," replied Neil, his voice coming as a shout over the stream of pressurized water. Ryo finished tying his shoes, grabbing his bag out of the locker and remembering what Eiko had said to him. "Besides, something tells me they were Gendou's orders, not Misato's. And it all worked out, right? The Angel's defeated, we're both still alive, and aside from my chest still hurting everything seems to be fine." He paused. "Why did you come up to save me?" "I had no choice," replied Ryo, knowing that the thought was the same but somehow catching that the sentiment was entirely different. "I was placed in EVA-00 to act as backup in the event that something happened to your machine. Something did." He paused, reaching into his bag for a second, then removing his hand without the sketch. Knowing that Neil had no choice but to break routine, to do specifically what he was told not to do, made the same curiosity he'd experienced earlier in the day return to him almost involuntarily. "Thank you for saving me." "Don't worry about it. You did the same for me." The water shut off, and Ryo waited for a moment as Neil came out from the stalls, towel wrapped around his waist as he headed towards his own locker. He began to open the locker, then froze, pausing mid-motion. "Look, Ryo, I don't know about you, but I was terrified out there. The first time that I got in that machine, I woke up in a hospital. It almost happened again." He paused. "You kept me from that, and I really appreciate it. Thank you." "You're welcome," replied Ryo, the words coming to him without hesitation or conscious thought. He flashed his mind back to getting inside of EVA-00, knowing that his experiences had been no better than Neil's, but he couldn't remember feeling any fear. All he remembered feeling was the desire to do what he was told, to accept his new routine as it was presented to him. Fear didn't even enter into the equation. "It's what we have to do, after all." Slinging his bag over his shoulder, the First Child stepped outside of the locker room, noting Misato briefly as he walked past her and down the corridors of the building. He hadn't given the sketch to Neil on purpose, suddenly finding himself asking why it was his job to convey messages, why it was that Neil was important enough that EVA-00 could be risked to make sure that he survived. The questions would have been passionate in anyone else, but Ryo was not angry about his situation, simply beginning to sense a kind of curiosity in himself for the first time. Ryo's routine dictated that he needed to report to Commander Ikari's office, that he needed to speak with the commander about other matters. Instead, he stood still, opening his bag and taking out the sketch, staring at it for a moment. "Neil said he didn't have a choice," he muttered to himself, something bubbling underneath his skin that he couldn't quite place. The way that Neil had acted, as if Ryo were worth breaking routine for, left an odd sense in his head, leaving him almost to wonder if perhaps Neil knew something he didn't, some bit of information he wasn't privy to. Then the concepts sank once again, routine asserting its presence and the sketch slipping back into Ryo's bag. Quickening his pace, he turned down the corridors of Central Dogma, his routine static and unchanging despite the thoughts floating in his head. Something was different about Neil, something that he didn't understand, something that he needed to at least begin to know, but it was nothing so great that it superceded what others needed him for. Once he understood why Neil needed him, it would all make sense. He was certain of it. ]++[ Outro: Neon Epoch Evangelion is based off of -Shin Seiki Evangelion- by GAINAX and company. It is not intended to be a straightforward fanfic, but it is building off the work of others, and as such it is done with the utmost respect for the original works and their authors. Basically, even though this is an original work, it's based off the work of others, and if you read this, you should go to see the original. Special thanks to all of the real Children - you know who you are. Extra special thanks to Joe Augulis for his consultation on the Japanese portions of the story. He might not know much Japanese, but that's more than I know. Copyright 2002 Eliot Lefebvre.