Disclaimer: Evangelion is owned by GAINAX.
SCRIBES OF TOKYO-3
By Eva On The Rocks
CHAPTER 5. Review Time
THE KATSURAGI RESIDENCE
Asuka stood in the kitchen, hands on hips, demanding answers from Misato, while beside her, Shinji looked a little frightened - possibly because of the Second Child's mood. Rei was standing on the other side of Shinji, silent and observing, and Misato couldn't help but notice a resemblance between the two children.
This was probably due to her conversation with Ritsuko, when the doctor had confirmed much of what Misato had read about Rei to be true, rather than there being any actual resemblance between Shinji and Rei.
After several quick beers to work up her courage, Misato had finally called the three pilots into the kitchen to discuss the matter of fan-fiction, hoping to learn just how much they knew.
"Don't be such a coward, Third Child!" Asuka growled.
"I-I want to know about this stuff just as much as you do, Asuka," Shinji said. "But-"
"But, what?"
"Enough!" Misato threw her hands up in frustration. "Asuka, you're just pissed off because my story has had more reviews than yours."
"You mean, more negative reviews!" Asuka shouted. "I want to know, is that dumb jock going to be the Fourth Child?"
Misato sighed, then gave a faint nod, watching Shinji's expression carefully. He seemed distracted...
"I won't stand for it!" Asuka stomped her foot.
"Your opinion is not relevant as far as pilot candidates are concerned," Rei said.
"Who asked you, Wondergirl?!"
"Asuka!" Misato slammed her palm against the table, successful in getting Asuka's attention and causing herself considerable pain.
"M-Misato?" Shinji spoke up. "Those stories, the fan-fiction we've all been reading..."
Misato glanced at Rei. "You've read them as well?"
"Yes," replied Rei. "Pilot Ikari shared the website with me earlier today during class. I have been reading stories since then."
"In class?" Asuka frowned. "That idiot, Aida, must have been watching."
"Kensuke?" Shinji said.
"Yes. He wrote an awful review about my story!" Asuka scowled.
"Your story, 'Asuka Strikes Back,' focuses solely on the Second Child and demeans most of the other characters for the amusement of the author. This is known as 'character bashing,'" Rei said. "I have been reading an 'Eva Fan-Fiction Review' site. It details the traits of weakness in fan-fiction, and your story possesses many of these traits."
"I want the URL for that review site!" Asuka demanded, her eyes narrowing. "And just what sort of stories do you recommend, Wondergirl?"
"I have enjoyed some of the Shinji/Rei pairings."
Three jaws hit the floor, Pen-Pen momentarily tipped over, and then Misato moved purposely towards the fridge, snapping Shinji and Asuka out of their shock.
Asuka looked ready to explode, and was doing her best to brush off her horror at Rei's revelation.
"So, you do like Shinji!" Asuka's tone became teasing as she turned her attention towards Shinji, who was doing his tomato impersonation and wiping blood from his nose. "And you, Third Child, you like Wondergirl too? Hmm?"
"We're getting off track here..." Misato said, passing Pen-Pen a beer. "So Kensuke knows about the fan-fiction as well, which means it's only a matter of time before Toji finds out about it."
"Misato?" Shinji was trying to ignore Asuka's ranting. "What I wanted to ask...if the stuff about Toji being the Fourth was true in those stories, what about all the other things?"
Asuka's expression became serious, while Rei's was unreadable as usual.
"I-I've read things about...my mother, and Unit One, and..." Shinji swallowed, before glancing in Rei's direction. "And about you...Ayanami."
"Some of it could be true," Rei admitted. "I am unsure though."
"How do they know about us?" Shinji asked. "Why do they write about us?"
"I don't know yet, Shinji," Misato said. "Ritsuko is working on it."
Shinji lowered his gaze, then gave a small nod, before walking out of the kitchen and retreating to his room.
"What's with him?" Asuka asked.
"Pilot Ikari seems upset with the situation," Rei observed. "One of us should approach him and see if he wishes to speak about it."
"I'll talk to him," Misato said, heading in the direction of Shinji's room.
"I knew you liked him." Asuka folded her arms and nodded.
"I am concerned for him," Rei said. "And yes, I do care for him, but I am not yet sure if it is in the way you insinuate."
"You're not sure?" Asuka gasped, a hint of outrage sneaking into her voice as her eyes widened.
"I think I will be leaving now," Rei said quietly.
Asuka remained still, completely lost for words, watching as the First Child let herself out of Misato's apartment.
After a moment, Asuka turned to Pen-Pen, who was regarding her with almost quizzical interest.
"What?" Asuka snapped. "It's not like it bothers me."
Pen-Pen offered a shrug before retreating to his freezer.
Sliding the door open to Shinji's room, Misato wasn't surprised to see the boy lying on his bed, his back to her, with his SDAT player by his hand."Shinji?" Misato said. "Can I come in?"
He said nothing, so Misato stepped into his 'lovely suite,' sliding the door closed behind her to make any eavesdropping attempts by Asuka a little more difficult.
"They think I'm a wimp, I'm spineless, a coward..." Shinji murmured.
"Huh?" Misato blinked. She had expected him to say something about Rei Ayanami, or Unit One, or...something other than what he had just said anyway.
"Those people, whoever they are. They're right too."
"Why does it bother you so much?" Misato asked. "What people - people you don't even know - think about you? They don't know the real Shinji."
"I don't know," Shinji said. "It just bothers me, what they think, what they say. What happens in most of those stories? I'm a spineless wimp, cowering before my father, or Asuka, or anyone, and - like in real life - even when I win in Eva, it's good luck or it's..."
"You're insecure," Misato said quietly. "You shouldn't be, though."
Shinji shifted his legs, giving Misato room to sit on the end of the bed.
"Sure, there have been times when Unit One has...helped you of her own will, but the majority of times, it's been you. When you leapt into that volcano and caught Asuka, that was all you, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And the Seventh Angel, that was you and Asuka, training and working hard to achieve a goal." Misato gave a sigh when Shinji remained silent. "Shinji, look at those stories a little more closely. In some of them, you might start off a little insecure, but in most of them, slowly but surely, you gain a little confidence and become your own person."
"Stories, Misato. I can't do those things in real life-"
"You said you couldn't pilot Eva when you first arrived here, remember?" Misato said. "The trick is, you have to find your own reason to change things, make your own choices. We - your friends - we accept you for who you are. You need to accept yourself, and if you don't like who you are, then you are the only one who can change that."
"I..." Shinji sat up, his features hidden by the darkness of the room. "I think I understand..."
Suddenly, he gave a little chuckle.
"What is it?" Misato asked.
"I just...do I really say 'I mustn't run away' that much?"
It was Misato's turn to laugh, recalling seeing that phrase in many of the fan-fictions she had read.
"Maybe not that much," Misato said. "Do I drink as much as some of those stories make out?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
"Is it really my mother inside Unit One?" Shinji asked. "During the last Angel...I thought I felt her there, that she somehow intervened and saved me. And at the hospital, Ayanami said something and I thought of my mother."
"Yes," Misato said, sipping the last of her beer. "Ritsuko more or less confirmed it."
"And Rei...sometimes, she has reminded me of...a mother."
"I don't have all of the answers yet, Shinji," Misato said, concerned that telling him all that she knew might do more harm than good. "But whatever mysteries there are about Rei Ayanami, she is still the same girl you considered a friend yesterday."
Shinji was quiet, considering Misato's words for a moment.
"Is it true...what I've read about Asuka's mother?" Shinji asked.
"That's something you would need to ask Asuka," Misato said. "And now is probably not the best time."
"Okay," Shinji said.
"Shinji?" Misato asked, adopting her teasing tone. "Did you bother to read any of the Humor fics or did you only read Darkfics?"
"I read the ones by 'Yebisu Queen.' That's you, right?"
"Err..." Misato grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."
"And 'Asuka Strikes Back,'" Shinji said, before letting out a sigh. "Asuka's not happy about Toji being the Fourth Child."
"What about you? How do you feel about it?"
"I'm not sure," Shinji said. "Surprised, I guess. Why was he chosen?"
"All your classmates are apparently Fourth Level Candidates, kept together for your protection," Misato said.
"All of them?"
"It seems so," Misato said. "I only just found out myself."
He was quiet for a moment, before surprising Misato with his next question.
"Is Kaji really a spy?"
"Kaji?" Misato looked away, even though the darkness of the room was concealing her stunned expression. How to answer that one...
"I just hope...he's careful."
"Me too, Shinji."
NERV HEADQUARTERS"This situation is unacceptable," Ikari said.
In the office of Commander Gendo Ikari, a group of nervous people were gathered, each of them holding various print outs of different fan-fictions.
"Classified information is available to anybody with an Internet connection!" Fuyutsuki said. "God help us if the press gets hold of this."
"I've managed to restrict access to the websites," Ritsuko said. "Only people running a connection through the Magi have any hope of reading the websites, which would then be directly monitored by us."
"Major Katsuragi." Ikari turned his gaze towards the purple haired woman, who promptly turned an unhealthy shade of grey. "It is my understanding you made the discovery of these websites days ago. Why was it not brought to my attention immediately?"
"I...err..." Misato gulped. "I had thought it was a joke. It was only upon..." Sobering up, her brain teased, "It was only upon further investigation I realised just how much classified information was out there."
"And yet." Ikari's voice grew cold. "You still did not notify anybody."
"So," Kaji began, trying to draw the Commander's attention from Misato. "Do we know how this information found its way to the Internet?"
"I have a theory," Ritsuko said.
Fuyutsuki glanced in her direction. "Proceed, Doctor."
"All of the fan-fiction websites are being updated regularly, but the dates read as 2004," Ritsuko said. "Even the stories posted by various NERV employees, which we all know have been posted this week, in 2015."
"The point, Doctor?" The faintest tone of impatience entered Ikari's voice, not a good sign.
"The last Angel's inverted AT Field - or the Sea of Dirac - was theorised, by myself, to possibly be another sort of universe," Ritsuko said. "My theory is, that the Dirac Sea is responsible for these websites. It has opened a gateway in what we know as 'cyberspace,' to another cyberspace. The two are able to interact."
"Yes," Maya said. "Which is evident in the stories posted by 'Yebisu Queen' and the reviews she has received from this other cyberspace. It would be safe to assume that the people inhabiting this other realm of the Internet consider anybody posting stories from here to be simply another writer of fan-fiction."
"Hmm." Fuyutsuki glanced at Misato. "But it isn't just 'Yebisu Queen' who has been posting from our end."
Misato winced.
"The Second Child has put forth her own literary effort," Fuyutsuki continued. "And both the First and Third Child have been reading these sites as well."
"Could the connection be closed?" Ikari asked.
"Possibly," Ritsuko said. "If another Sea of Dirac were opened, but the chances of that are zero point-"
"If, as what was apparently meant to occur, the activation of Unit Four with S2 Engine had taken place as planned, a second Dirac Sea would have opened," Kaji said, adopting a flippant tone and earning a warning glance from Ritsuko. "And thus the connection would have been shut down, am I right?"
Ikari said nothing.
"As it stands now, Unit Three's transportation here has been delegated to the U.N. and it is due to arrive before the weekend," Fuyutsuki said.
"The modifications and the activation are to be performed at Matsushiro?" Ritsuko asked.
"Correct," Ikari said. "A core will be prepared for the Fourth Child as soon as possible, understood?"
"Yes, sir." Ritsuko lowered her gaze.
"But, sir!" Misato stepped forward. "We know that Eva will be infected with an Angel. We can't risk the life of the pilot-"
"It will be activated with the Dummy Plug." Ikari cut her off. "It will then be assessed whether or not that Evangelion is a loss to us, and only then will it be decided whether to reclassify it as the Thirteenth Angel."
"Yes, sir." Misato looked away.
"Regarding the fan-fiction websites," Ikari said. "They are now considered classified. Any unauthorised access of these websites by NERV employees will be dealt with by myself, do I make myself clear?"
All present responded in the affirmative.
"Major Katsuragi, I want a report by this evening detailing just how much the pilots are aware of," Ikari added.
"Yes, sir."
"Dismissed."
The synch-test was proceeding as normal. Ritsuko and Misato were overseeing things, while Commander Ikari stood behind them, his presence responsible for the faint chill in the air.Misato had been unprepared for the summons to the Commander's office, having just finished being interviewed by the Committee over the Twelfth Angel incident, when Kaji informed her about it. She was thinking herself lucky for having escaped the wrath of the commanders over the fan-fiction business, wondering why Ikari hadn't disciplined her over the matter.
Glancing quickly at the Commander and then at Ritsuko, Misato tried not to let her mind go to scary visual places.
Ritsuko herself was proceeding as if nothing had happened, almost mechanical in the way she conducted the test, while Maya remained silent unless responding to a query from a superior.
Poor Maya, Misato thought, recalling the younger woman's crush on Ritsuko.
Misato gave a small shrug, as she glanced up at the visual displays of the pilots. Since their talk, Shinji seemed to be coping with things okay. It was impossible to tell what Rei was thinking at the best of times, and as for Asuka, she seemed fine.
"How are things proceeding, Doctor?" Ikari asked, although if anybody else had asked in that tone, it would have been considered a demand.
"Shinji's synch-ratio has dropped slightly," Ritsuko replied with a sigh, before lowering her voice to address Misato. "I was afraid of this."
"It's connected to the last Angel incident, right?" Misato asked. Or the fact his bastard father is here watching things, she added silently.
"Most likely," Ritsuko admitted. "Then there's the overload of sensitive information from you-know-where. We all need to start focusing again."
"The synch-ratios of the First and Second?" Ikari asked.
"Stable," Ritsuko replied.
"Very well." Ikari started walking towards the door, his departure bringing about a sense of relief in all present.
Inside Unit Two's Entry Plug, Asuka switched on her communications channel and began to talk to Shinji."Hey, Third Child!"
Shinji's eyes snapped open, startled, and Asuka smirked at the sight. "W-what is it, Asuka? I need to concentrate..."
"Hmph!" Asuka frowned. "Wondergirl gave me the link to that fan-fic review website. They've reviewed my story."
"Oh?" Shinji feigned interest. "Good or bad?"
Unfortunately, Ritsuko chose that moment to open the communications link on her end, usually closed so as not to disturb the concentration of the pilots, broadcasting Asuka's reply to everybody present.'Everybody' included Gendo Ikari, who was only inches from being out the door.
"Those Seele bastards!" Asuka cursed. "Just who do they think they are?"
Ritsuko paled, Misato sweat-dropped, Shinji and Rei blinked in unison, Maya looked uncertainly at Ritsuko, Hyuga and Aoba appeared confused, and the Commander slowly turned around.
The silence seemed to stretch an eternity, while the pilots remained blissfully unaware of the extreme tension Asuka's comment had just caused in the Control Room.
"Major Katsuragi," Ikari said, the tone in his voice causing Misato to grow pale. "Don't forget that report."
"Of course not, sir." Misato let out the breath she had been holding the second the door closed behind the Commander.
She shared a glance with Ritsuko, who had found the perfect word to summarise the situation that had just passed.
"Shit."
Notes:
Thanks again to AkagiNaoko and Spirogyra for pre-reading, and to Rakna for giving this his seal of approval. :-)