Chain Lightning Studios Presents Together We Stand- Book Two Divided We Fall By T. L. Webb Good bye cruel world I’m leaving you today Goodbye Goodbye Goodbye Good bye cruel world There’s nothing you can say To make me change my mind Goodbye Goodbye cruel world Pink Floyd, The Wall []==================[] Book Two: part six []==================[] While Shinji Ikari was keeping vigil over the girl he cared for more than anything else in the world, a lake some forty miles to the south of Tokyo Three was experiencing a sudden and dramatic change in temperature. An old man in a rowboat was the sole witness to the phenomenon. He’d been enjoying a quiet day of fishing and was settling back for a quick nap when he noticed an odd sound all around him. Sitting up in the boat he rubbed his eyes and looked about to find that the lake was suddenly teaming with activity. All across the lake fish were leaping out of the water and falling back in only to repeat the process again and again. The shore of the lake was swarmed with fish that had purposefully beached themselves and were slowly drowning in the air. Totally clueless as to what could be causing such strange behavior, he nonetheless was not the type to look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking up the oars he quickly made his way to the shore to collect that night’s dinner. Jumping out of the boat, he found it difficult to walk in the teaming waters close to the banks. Fish were packed closer than he had ever seen them, and he realized that every fish in the lake must be trying to escape. It was a few seconds before he noticed that the water around his legs was warmer than it should be-- and was getting warmer. Finally growing nervous about the odd situation, he scrambled to the shore. Slipping several times on the hundreds of fish flopping all around him, he pushed past the mass and to a slab of rock where he could get above the activity. Climbing atop the stone, he looked back at the lake and gasped. It was well above seventy-five degrees that day, but steam was pouring off the center of the lake as if it was the dead of winter. He knew that something dangerous was happening, but he was frozen in place by the unreality of what he was seeing. Somewhere below the surface of the lake, a bizarre reddish-orange glow was increasing. As it did, the heat levels of the lake increased dramatically, and the surface began to actually boil. The old man sat transfixed as an enormous bubble broke the surface, releasing a foul stench of stale air. With the bubble’s release, the level of water in the lake began to rapidly drop, and as it did, something began to move somewhere under the shrinking surface of the water. A grotesque face broke the surface, and the old man began to scream as he realized the face was larger than he was-- and growing! The face was attached to a body, and as it continued to move forward, he saw that it seemed to be crawling on all fours. It’s size continued to increase as it rose from the boiling depths of the lake. It blocked out the sun as passed over him-- it's giant forelegs flowing almost like a fluid, and followed by its stumpy hind legs. It crashed into the woods and as the old man sat on the rock in shock, the sounds of it’s passing faded and it was gone. He looked back to the lake, which was draining in a swirling funnel into a crack in the earth, and then back at the trail of destruction left by the giant creature. He didn't move until nightfall. []====[] []====[] "So did they approve the reconstruction?" Ritsuko asked Gendou as they rode the lift up from Terminal Dogma. "Seele agreed that it would be worth the effort providing we can prove that all traces of infection are gone." "They'll have to wait a day or so. We can't do much until the entire body can be transported here for study. However, our preliminary readings on the hand and head samples are promising." "What did you find?" "We still don't know where or when the infection occurred, any more than we know how the 11th angel got into Nerv, but the tissue samples are showing that the Angel’s components were relying totally on the Eva’s core for energy-- apparently it had converted it to an S2." "Does this mean we have another S2 to study?" "I'm afraid not. Our running theory is that the reason the Angel went silent was that Unit One had pulverized the organ. Without it, the Eva went into suspended animation, and without the parasitic energy to sustain its life force the Angel died." "I see... how long before reconstruction of Unit Three can begin once conformation is received?" "That depends on the UN and the US. If we can get the spare parts shipped over then we can possibly have it in working order in less than three months. Unfortunately the Americans are still throwing a hissy fit over accusations that they sabotaged the Eva, and I don't know if they will be very cooperative." "I'll do what I can Doctor," he said as the door opened and he turned to leave, "Be sure to keep me updated on your progress." "Are we still on for this evening?" Ritsuko asked suddenly. Gendou paused and held the door open as he turned slightly to put her in his line of sight. "I have another meeting with Seele to approve the details we've been discussing just now... but I think we can arrange a few private hours for dinner." "I'm glad... we haven't had much time for us as of late." "Once the third angel arrived the concept of personal time became irrelevant. You of all people should understand that doctor." "Of course..." she said softly as Gendou got out, leaving her alone in the small empty space. []====[] []====[] Nerv's security net was set to a specific frequency. This frequency was tuned to the harmonic emanations of an externalized Absolute Terror Field-- something only the Evas and Angels were capable of producing. So if either and Eva or an Angel were to power up and unfold its AT Field, the Observation center would detect it and sound the alarm all through Japan. All of the Angel’s to date and utilized their AT Fields to travel through oceans, and to fly. Others had kept theirs unfolded for protection during their trek across Japan towards Tokyo Three. The fourteenth angel Zeurel apparently had a greater capacity to think than its brethren, because as it crashed and lumbered through the woodlands and valleys, it kept its AT Field tightly reigned in. Nerv would not detect it until it wanted them to. []====[] []====[] Rei Ayanami was standing in front of Unit One when the sirens finally began to go off. She had been there most of the day in deep meditation. The problem went back to the battle, and it was causing her much distress. She had almost disobeyed orders twice now. The first time had been during the battle with the twelfth angel. After the Dirac Sea had swallowed Unit One Misato had ordered them to retreat, and she had come a hairs breath from insubordination. Now she had almost lost a battle because of hesitation. Had the dummy system not been as far along as it was they would all be dead now. It tore at her, because in a very real sense, she had never had anything but her job-- her purpose. It was the reason she existed, what some might accurately call her destiny. For her entire life she had believed she would be nothing without her purpose. Recently she had begun to doubt that, and it was frightening her. The idea that it was possible to have a life outside of Nerv was larger than she had anticipated, and the shear number of possibilities was truly overwhelming. Pilot Ikari had rejected Nerv, and was leaving... yet he seemed unafraid. In fact, he seemed to possess more conviction and confidence than she had seen in him since the day they had met. Major Katsuragi had arranged for him to stay in the same apartment for an indefinite amount of time, and that had also surprised Rei. She had only recently begun to understand why the Major had opted to have the other two pilots stay with her. At first she had believed it to be a training exercise, and the synch training had for a time seemingly confirmed that theory. After a time, however, Rei had realized that Misato seemed to enjoy having the two younger children around. It had started making more sense at that point. For months Rei had been feeling strange when she was by herself. This had been confusing because she had always enjoyed solitude in the past. Now this strange feeling only went away when she was around others. After a time she had identified the emotion, and realized that it was loneliness. When she was around others, particularly those she thought of as friends, she felt happy. She was slowly realizing that much of her life before the Angels had been lonely and joyless. She had realized in a flash of insight that the Major might have taken the children in because she was lonely. 'Loneliness...' she thought, 'did I really feel this for so long and not know? Am I only now discovering a word to this emotion?' As she looked up at the monstrous face of Evangelion Unit One, she shuddered. It was not one of cold, or even of fear. She shuddered because she knew the truth behind the dummy system. She knew what was the template, and what had really fought so savagely against the thirteenth angel. She had shuddered in disgust. 'Perhaps if Pilot Ikari is not afraid of facing a world without Eva... perhaps there might be some hope that I could someday do the same?' The very thoughts were treason. She knew all too well that Nerv would never allow her to leave its fold alive. She was too dangerous. But to hope and to wish for a way out... made her feel... happy. She did not have a chance to think much longer on this, because the alarms began to go off, waking her from her meditations. As she hurried to the locker room, she tossed another glance at Unit One... she would be piloting it this time out, and she wondered how long it would carry the smell of Pilot Ikari once she began using it exclusively... []====[] []====[] As Auska haphazardly threw her Plugsuit on, a wild look was taking hold of her features. Ever since her conversation with Shinji the day before, something was coming loose in Asuka’s carefully sealed vault of memories. She did not have time for that, and was fighting the memories back down. It had been one phrase that had done it-- one word specifically. [You can stay and be his doll if you want] [and be his doll] [his doll] [her doll] [the doll] [she thinks the doll--] "NO!" she growled as she sealed her Plugsuit, "I'm no one's doll, damn him! I'll show him that I'm not anyone's doll, I'll show them all..." But even as she ran out of the locker room to Unit Two, the thought began to resonate in her mind. A memory that she had tried to beat down and forget for almost eight years... an overheard conversation in a hospital ward... [she thinks the doll is her daughter....] []====[] []====[] The explosion was what finally woke Shinji. He jumped to his feet and the ringing of the alert sirens made him realize that there was an attack going on. Looking out the window he saw Unit Two out in the Geofront setting up weapons as the ground shook around him. Whatever was attacking was powerful, and he had a sudden urge to race to the Cage. As he turned away from the window, he saw Hikari, and that urge fled in a wave of guilt and sorrow. There was nothing he could do that they couldn’t do with their damned autopilot. 'Let them handle it on their own,' he thought as he turned away from the window. []====[] []====[] The little bug Kaji had planted on his gift to Ritsuko had come in handy after all. He'd wondered for a time if she'd suspect that he had done it, but after several weeks of seeing her wear it and picking up the transmissions, he decided that either she hadn't found it... or Ikari truly didn't care what he discovered. As he listened to the third failed attempt to start Unit One, he chuckled. They’d done all but spit in Shinji’s face, and now they were paying for it. If nothing else it might to teach Ikari a lesson on how to treat his staff... Assuming, of course, they all survived this. Had the situation not been so outrageously dire, he would have been laughing his head off. 'It's a damn good thing I give a crap about the human race,' he thought as he made his way through the small woods behind the Medical center, 'otherwise I might not be so generous. Ikari better thank me later.' He did almost laugh at the mental image of Gendou Ikari behaving grateful towards _anyone_. []====[] []====[] The fighting had gotten to loud to ignore, and Shinji had finally walked to the window. He’d watched in horrid fascination as the Angel had descended from the ceiling of the Geofront and Unit Two had opened fire upon it. Round after round of rail gun, missile launcher, and even particle beams had seemingly done nothing to the Angel, who Shinji realized, had not even wavered in it's path. Finally the Angel came to a stop almost a kilometer from Unit Two, and did something with it’s arms. Long thin bands of silver material shot out, and suddenly Unit Two’s arms were flying through the air. There was a beat, and then a flood of purple fluid burst from the stumps that marked what remained of Unit Two’s arms. Shinji shuddered as he realized that the purple fluid was the blood of Unit Two. The Eva writhed and shook as the pain took hold, and it was a strange sight to witness. It was trying to use limbs that were not there to curb the flow of blood. Suddenly it stopped, and looked back at the approaching angel. As Unit Two lowered its head and began to charge Shinji’s eyes went wide. "Asuka! No!" he shouted as another swipe from the angel's arm weapons sent Unit Two's head somersaulting in his direction. It crashed less than a quarter of a mile away, and the impact caused him to loose his footing momentarily. When he once again stood and leaned against the window, he saw that the Angel was moving on toward the Nerv Pyramid. That was when the rock struck the window. He looked down, and saw Ryoyo Kaji waving from the ground with a grin on his face. []====[] []====[] He burst from the door and raced across the lawn to where Kaji was watching the battle rage on in the distance. The older man didn't seem to care that a stray round might strike them at any moment, or that giant creatures of flesh and metal were doing combat on the horizon. "Kaji?" he asked as he arrived, "what are you doing out here?" "That's my line," Kaji said with a chuckle, "I was just watering my melons when I decided I'd pay Miss Horaki a visit... the question is what are _you_ doing here?" "I told my father I'd never pilot Eva again," Shinji said with a touch or remorse, "so I was with Hikari when the fight started." "I see, well I suppose there is nothing wrong with wanting to be by the side of a loved one when you die." "W-what?" Shinji stammered, "what do you mean 'die'?" "It is said that if an Angel comes into contact with Adam, who sleeps beneath our very feet, the world will come to an end in the Third Impact." Shinji’s eyes widened-- he’d never been told that. "Since it looks like that time was upon us," Kaji said as he put his hands in his pockets. He looked up at the Angel as the exploding shells went off all around it and continued, "I decided I'd pay a visit to Miss Horaki in order to thank her for her willingness to fight to prevent it. It’s a shame, but it doesn't look like we’ll make it through this one." "B-but why not? Where’s Unit One?" As if on cue, Unit Zero rose from the ground and began racing towards the angel, it was cradling something in its single arm, and Shinji realized in a horrified flash that it was an N2 mine. As she raced the Eva up to the angel, the AT Field finally materialized and the geometric pattern shot out as a wall between them. Unit Zero Jammed the N2 mine before it, shoving it through t the AT Field and against the Angel, where it went off on contact. When the world stopped Shaking, and the smoke cleared, Shinji saw the Angel cut Unit Zero nearly in half and float past it as if it had never been any more than a nuisance. "As you can see, Unit One is being somewhat sulky," Kaji said, "it refused to start for Rei, or even the dummy system. I would hazard to guess that there is only one person it would obey at this point... and I would imagine you know who that is." "I...I..." Shinji said, his mind pulled in two directions. "A couple hundred years ago someone said that 'to do nothing in the face of need is true evil'. I won't force you to do this Shinji, and no one could... it is in your hands. Think about it, think hard, and make your choice." There was a moment of silence, and for a second, Kaji began to worry... but only for a second "Do you have a car?" Shinji asked as his fist clenched. "Not here, but I could have that one running in about thirty seconds," he said nodding over to a jeep in the parking lot. Shinji nodded and they both began to run. Once the jeep was started, and they were on their way-- Shinji turned to him. "Kaji.... You have to do something for me," he said. "Fire away," Kaji, said as he swung the jeep around a pile of debris. "If something happens to me... when Hikari wakes up... tell her I'm sorry, and that I was the one who was wrong. And tell her... Kaji... tell her I love her." Kaji nodded and urged the jeep to go faster. []====[] []====[] As the Geofront shook around him, Commander Ikari was in the Cage staring down at Unit One from the observation chamber. 'Don’t do this to me Yui,' he thought, 'not now, anytime but now!' He was so caught up in trying to _will_ the Evangelion to activate that he failed to notice his son racing across the umbilical bridge and grabbing a neural sensor off a rack. He didn't notice Shinji’s presence until the boy threw the switch to eject the dummy plug. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted down as the Eva’s entry plug began to cycle into place. He would never admit it to anyone but he was equal parts furious and relived to see Shinji. Unfortunately, years of tempering and experience had hardened Gendou Ikari to the point that his voice, even at a shout, came out as harsh and cold as it had ever been. "No time!" Shinji shouted up at him. The boy was obviously out of breath... had he run there? "get her set!" "Why should I do that? You are no longer a member of this organization," Gendou said-- even as he canceled the activation signal to the dummy and reset the feed for a live pilot. The core data was still unformatted, but if what he suspected was true, that wouldn't matter. "Because I’m the Pilot of Unit One whether we like it or not," Shinji shot back with an almost sardonic tone. The Entry Plug cycled into the Eva and the eyes began to glow with a cold fury, "we'll just both have to live with that..." he whispered as Unit One erupted to life. []====[] []====[] When the wall exploded inward, Misato had at first thought that the Angel had missed. It had finally blasted its way through the final armored layers and had crashed into the Command and Control Center. Why it was pausing in its rampage to kill them was a mystery that would have to wait till later, when they weren’t all about to die. Just as the Angel’s eye had lit up to burn them all to nothingness, the wall had caved in and a giant purple blur had plowed into the angel like a runaway freight train. The noise was unbearable, and it alone cause at least two tech’s to pass out (those who hadn't already done so were in route to the exits). She just barely regained her footing when she realized that their savior was Unit One. She looked over at Ritsuko and saw that the scientist was apparently just as clueless. It wasn't until the screaming began to come through the speakers that she realized that it was Shinji behind the controls. She didn't know why. She didn't know how. She didn't care. An overwhelming wave of pride washed over her like a tsunami as Unit One grabbed the Angel and threw it back into the cavernous hole in the wall. "Yuri! I want a direct link to the pilot yesterday!" She screamed at the new girl who had taken Maya’s place at the bridge. As Yuri scrambled to comply Misato looked after the two giants, and for the first time since the entire ordeal began-- for the first time since the third angel-- Misato dared to hope that they would all live to see the end of this day. []====[] []====[] Shinji barely understood that the hand the Angel had just blow off was not his. In fact he wasn't making many distinctions between him and the Eva any longer at that point. That small sliver of understanding disappeared as the pain hit. He let loose with a bloodthirsty scream and kicked the Angel in the chest, propelling it towards the lifts. That gave him an idea. He bent down and-- activating the shoulder thrusters-- shot himself toward the still tumbling angel, slamming into it with the force of a small comet. They both went sailing out of the cage, and he didn't let up. Punching and kicking he drove the Angel backwards until the two slammed unto the wall, just below the third lift. "Misatooooo!" he screamed, praying that she understood what he was trying to do. Half a second later his prayers were answered and both he and the Angel were sent rocketing up the lift shoot. With a feral grin, he reached out and shoved the face of the Angel against the wall, trailing sparks and pieces of the angel behind them as the shot upwards. He didn't know how long it had taken, but suddenly they were both flying through the air, almost high enough to strike the roof of the Geofront. They came down halfway between the lake and the Nerv Pyramid, and Shinji immediately resumed his attack, kicking the angel over and leaping upon it. He suddenly understood Asuka’s zeal for combat; it felt _good_ to cut loose! He pounded at its face again and again, then decided to try something else. Reaching down he gripped the face of the angel and began to pull. The flesh around the face stretched and pulled and as Shinji licked his lips in anticipation, something happened. It was if he had shrunk suddenly. He was no longer pulling at the Angel’s head; he was no longer hundreds of feet tall. He was no longer connected to Eva Unit One. "No..." he whispered as he realized that the power reserved had been drained, "no, no, no, no, oh please no!" As the light all around him dulled, he screamed in impotent protest. []====[] []====[] The entire bridge crew burst from the elevator and out into the Geofront and were frozen in shock at what they saw. The Angel wrapped its thin paper-like arm around the head of Unit One and threw it across the Geofront. It sailed through the air and slammed into the pyramid with enough force to shake a damaged building from Tokyo Three's shattered structure above "Shiniiiijiiiiii!" Misato cried as Ritsuko typed franticly one handed on the laptop Yuri had brought up. "It's out of power," Ritsuko yelled as she went through sub system after sub system searching for a way into the Eva's system. As the Angel blasted the chest of Unit One open, Misato began to scream. []====[] []====[] "Move, move, move!" Shinji cried as he pressed every switch and button around him, "move you God damn piece of junk! Move! Oh God, You’ve got to move or everyone will die! Please! Oh I’m sick of it all... Please, you’ve got to move or there’s no point to any of this-- so MOVE!" He could feel the pounding force of the angel’s attack all around him. Strike after strike shook Unit One and each new blow brought sounds of metal tearing, and cracking. He could see hairline fractures spreading around him in the entry plug. As the tears flowed from his eyes and melted into the LCL, he grabbed the hand controls and slammed them forward, screaming for Unit one to move again. 'It can't end like this,' he thought as the Evangelion shook again and again under the assault, 'this isn't right! This isn't fair! Someone... help me! Rei, Misato, Kaji, Asuka... Hikari.... please oh please mother...' Suddenly a new sound came to his ears. It was slightly out of synch with the pounding of the Angel outside, but it was just as strong and just as steady. It was a heartbeat. 'Oh God,' Shinji thought as he realized something he had only recently begun to suspect, 'mother?' There was a shimmering that seemed to come from his own body, and then... Shinji Ikari was one with Evangelion Unit One. []====[] []====[] It began with a flash of green from the eyes of Unit one, and suddenly, the tide was turned. As the Angel made its next strike, Unit One reached up and held out its hand as if it were a policeman stopping traffic. The razor thin material that had so effortlessly cut through the armor of both Eva Units Zero and Two was split into four ribbons as it met the outstretched fingers of Unit One. Taking a firm hold, Unit One gave a Herculean pull and the Angel was jerked forward. It crashed into the Eva face to revolting face-- Unit One’s horn embedded in the hollow eye of the Angel. The restraining bolts holding Unit One's mouth shut shattered and a growl so deep the resonation was felt on the surface of Tokyo Three rumbled from the Eva's throat. The Eva's leg came up, and with a furious kick, the Angel flew across the Geofront where it skidded and tumbled before pushing itself upright with its one good arm. Unit One stood as well-- the torn arm of the angel in hand. It glanced down at the cauterized stump that remained of it’s left arm and as sound that would have passed for annoyance had it been the size of a human shattered windows all around the Geofront Pyramid. It raised the Angel’s arm to it’s own stump and as the bridge crew of Nerv watched on in shock-- the metallic material began to bubble and morph before their eyes. It bent and twisted as it grew, and in seconds a pale pink arm and hand were formed. It flexed its new limb as if to test it, then turned to the Angel. The Angel immediately lashed out with its remaining arm, but its attack was short lived. Unit One raked the air with a clawed hand, and a shimmering distortion raced across the Geofront. It shredded the razorpaper of the Angel’s arm as it blasted past, and even the At Field of the Fourteenth angel was no match. The A T Field seemed to fall in two as the wave passed it, and those who were watching saw the body of the angel jerk backwards as if it had received a sharp blow to the chest. Its body seemed to bubble as its back erupted outward, and the Angel fell backwards to the floor of the Geofront Unit One let out a triumphant shriek that cause some of the techs who had arrived with Misato and the others to race back inside. Dropping to all fours in a disturbing mockery of an ape, Unit one made its way over to the dying angel. It gripped the face, and as a glow built up in it’s eyes for one last blast, Unit one crushed the face of the angel in its hand. The battle was over, but Unit one was not done. []====[] []====[] "What's happening Ritsuko?" Misato yelled at the blonde scientist, "what is it doing?" even then she somehow understood that it was no longer Shinji in control-- but whatever entity had taken over against the Third and Twelfth angels. Unit One was bent over the angel, and as it held the shattered face in it’s hands, it looked around, as a predator who was afraid it’s fresh prey would be stolen. It bent over and opened its mouth once more, and bit into the neck of the Angel. "It's... eating the angel?" Misato asked rhetorically as she fought not to throw up. Some of the bridge crew did not have her constitution. This was beyond a glitch in a system. This was beyond a simple mental instability in a pilot. This was not unlike a horror that Misato had not witnessed in almost sixteen years-- and it chilled her to the very core of her being. Eva Unit one was acting of it's own accord, and was behaving like a wild animal. It was standing and screaming in a voice that despite it's massive size was almost ... human. As it shrieked, the armored plates in its back and the wing-like restraints on its shoulders began to bulge and crack. The armor fell from the Eva as it looked around and growled. "She's breaking free!" Ritsuko cried as the Eva let out another roar. "What the hell are you talking about?" Misato shouted over the noise. "That armor wasn't just protection, they were also restraints," Ritsuko said as she watched Unit One in horrible fascination, "but now she is breaking the bonds that bent her to our will, now the beast within is finally free!" Misato looked back across the Geofront and began to feel very cold. []====[] []====[] When she came to, Hikari Horaki was frightened. The last thing she recalled clearly was waving to Touji's father from the entry plug of Unit Three. She knew that he couldn’t see her, but she had done so anyway. Moments later there had been a flash of pain and everything from then until moments ago had been a long gray blur. She remembered hearing Shinji's voice screaming for his father to turn something off, she remembered a long series of voices discussing her situation, and through a confusing jumble of half remembered dreams she remembered Shinji's voice. It had been coming from somewhere nearby-- crying in regret and begging her to come back. As her eyes cleared she realized two things. One-- she was in a hospital. The room and her own attire made this easy to identify. Two-- she was on the floor. As she climbed to a sitting position and rubbed the aching spot on her arm where the IV had been pulled taunt, she tried to put it all together in her mind. She was sore and her body was weak, but she didn't seem to be severely injured. She climbed to a sitting position, and careful not to dislodge the IV any more, she looked out the window. What she saw made her gasp. The Eva's were scattered across the Geofront amongst an unbelievable amount of damage. There was also a large shape lying in a burnt out patch off to the far side. Unit Two was missing its arms and Unit Zero lay on the ground motionless. Far against the other side, Unit One was being lowered into an access shaft. Asuka... Rei... Shinji.... What had happened? "Doctor, She's awake!" came a cry from the door, and Hikari looked to find a Nurse running up to her. "Um.. Nurse?" she asked as the woman methodically checked her for injuries, "could I have a phone?" "What?" the Nurse asked. After what had just happened she wasn't thinking straight, and the odd request had thrown her. As she picked up Hikari and set her back in the bed, Hikari repeated her request "I need to get a hold of Major Katsuragi, can I get a phone?" "No need sweetie," the nurse said in a comforting tone, "she should be arriving any moment, the other girls were just delivered and she demanded she be with them, I could let her know you want to talk to her, though." "Thanks," Hikari said as she looked back out at the battlefield. She didn't know much about war or battles, but it looked like Shinji had been well enough to at least make it back to the Cage. She hoped he was ok... she needed to talk to him now more than ever. 'Why did I do that to him? What was I trying to prove by keeping it from him? Was I even thinking at all?' She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her arms. At the time she’d thought it would be best to just go ahead and join then surprise him with the news. It had been a silly childish idea, but for some reason at the time she'd thought it would be at fun way to show him that she was ready to forgive him. She didn't know how long she sat like that, but after a time, the door opened and her father was running up to her with tears in his eyes. "Hikari, oh thank God!" he cried as he wrapped his arms around his daughter. "Daddy!" He didn't say a word at first-- he just held her and cried. Finally he spoke up "I thought I'd lost you," he said, "they called me from the lab and told me what happened and I've been here for most of the past couple of days." "You've been here the whole time?" Hikari asked in surprise. "Well not the _whole_ time," he said, "Pilot Ikari was here until just before the attack, he told me to go get some sleep... and I did-- for a change--until the sirens started going off." "Shinji was here..." she said, half to herself, "where is he? The nurse told me that Asuka and Rei were hurt..." "I don't know, they just let us out of the shelters, but I'm sure I can find out, I have a few collogues in this hospital from the academy." "Not necessary Mr. Horaki," came an exhausted voice from the door, "Asuka and Rei are going to be fine." "Misato!" Hikari exclaimed-- happy to see her commanding officer was alright," What happened to your arm?" she asked as she saw the cast under Misato’s jacket. Misato looked down at her damaged limb and shrugged, "don't worry about it, just a scratch. Ritsu will have it back up to speed in no time. Have the doctors spoken with you yet? To catch you up I mean." "No... I don’t even know what week it is," Hikari said with a shake of her head, "what happened out there Misato? Is everyone alright?" "That's kind of a hard question to answer," Misato said grimly. Hikari looked at her father and then back at Misato. "Where is Shinji?" she asked. []====[] []====[] "Asuka and Rei are under heavy sedation until we can repair the feedback damage," Misato explained as a nurse wheeled Hikari thought Central Dogma’s labarith. The doctors had released her at her father's insistence, but had demanded that she spend most of the next day in the chair until they did some final tests. Her father had kissed them both goodbye and gone home to check in on the other two Horaki girls. He had stopped at the door to tell Hikari some thing important though, "I'm proud of you Hikari," he'd said, "be careful out there." As they made their way down another corridor, Misato continued, "their Evas took heavy damage in this fight and Asuka took the brunt of it." "Is that what happened to me?" Hikari asked "I think its similar, but don’t quote me on it," Misato replied, "Ritsuko's the expert on this kind of thing." "So what about Shinji? You said they lost contact with him?" "After Unit One reactivated... we lost most of the interior feed. Yuri says she can rig something up, but we wont be able to get to him for a while, the cage is a wreck and... well, we're having some trouble with Unit One." "Isn't that kind of redundant after what you described?" "I didn't go into much detail... some of it’s classified already." "I don't understand... Unit One's reactivated like this before, right?" "Not _exactly_ like this..." "But Shinji’s OK... right?" “ . . . “ "Misato, he's _OK_ _right_?" "We don't know." "What do you mean? Misato don't look away like that, please, what do you mean?" "I don't even know Hikari, Ritsu wont elaborate, she just said that she could not comment on his status." "Misato?" "Yes?" "I... I didn’t mean to...." Hikari began to cry, and Misato stopped and held her until the sobs resided. "You alright now?" "I... I'm sorry... it’' just that he must have been so hurt when I wouldn't talk to him, and if something's happened to him then he... he still thought I was mad. I didn't mean to hurt him again... I just wanted to... I don’t know what I wanted to do." Hikari shook her head, "why did I do that Misato? Why did I?" "Hikari," Misato said, "sometimes we screw up. I wish I could put it better than that, but it's to basic a concept. Everyone screws up from time to time, especially in maters of the heart. When we get hurt inside we start to get... paranoid I guess. Way back when I was at the academy in Germany I made my biggest screw up, and it took me almost eight years to make up for it. But listen-- the good news is that you and Shinji still have a shot at beating this... and I want you to know that I’m rooting for the two of you." "Thank you..." Hikari said as she wiped away another tear. []====[] []====[] "Ok, I think that might be it," Yuri said as she closed the slot on the radio kit and set down the soldering tool. They were in what remained of the sixth cage, and were stacking a series of computers, monitors and radio equipment in hopes that they could set up a temporary base of operations until the Magi could be assessed and rebooted. "You really think this will work?" Makoto asked her, "we couldn't get anything out of the main system." "Well I'm not promising anything major, but I was still getting transmissions on the laptop after the Control room was trashed, so I think this might get us _something_." "Where did you learn all of this, I thought your specialties were bioengineering and computer operations." "A relative of mine used to work at a radio station, and I used to go with him and help him out at work, I picked most of this up from him." "Well it’s good work, we might not be able to get the plug working yet, but at least we can make sure Shinji’s okay in there." Behind them, the door opened and Misato wheeled Hikari into the room. The nurse had been forced to stay back in the waiting room "Hey guys, what's the up?" "We’re just about to hack into the Evas broadcast network," Aoba said from his place at the jury-rigged console. "We can do that?" Misato asked-- impressed that they had gotten so far so soon. "If we can pick out the right frequency we can," Yuri said as she keyed up her programs, "I think I can isolate the transmission and get us and internal picture of the entry plug." "Can we talk to him?" Hikari asked. "Not now, this is only set up to receive, but once we find the frequency we might be able to whip something up." They all crowded around the monitor as the program began to run, and after a few seconds an indicator began to flash. Yuri typed in a few commands and shortly an image flashed upon the screen. All of them but Hikari gasped at what they saw; she was too deep into shock to respond for the moment. On the screen was the image of Unit One’s Entry Plug. Other than a set of clothes and a neural transmitter, it was empty. []=================[] To Be Continued... []=================[] Authors Incoherent Babbling Weeee!!!!! Sorry for the delay, but things have been a little busy in the personal life dept. and I had a few other things to work on besides TWS. One of them is Unreal-- which most of you know about. Another thing is that I've joined a anime club called the Anime Heretics (http://throkda.tripod.com/index.html ) and had a little project there to work on for the newsletter (check out the art credits on the little cartoon ^_^) also they've begun serializing TWS ^_^ Not only that, but I have a TOP SECRET non Eva fanfiction project that might be ready for announcing soon... I'd tell you more but I just don’t have the time to hunt y'all down and kill ya. ^_^ Speaking on non Eva works, I'm still tinkering with that El Hazard fic that's been sitting there forever-- if TWS hadn't come along it'd be done by now ^_^ also, there's a Cowboy Bebop fic that’s almost half done. Not to mention an original series for my site called Year of the Dragoon that I'm still working on outlining. So, you can see that I've been busy ^_^ Some of you may remember that there was a scene I was going to insert in the original draft with Rei and the dummy plug's failed activation's... I'm still thinking about putting it in there, but the problem is that I don’t want to waste kb with stuff from the original timeline that isn't altered at this point in the game, and I don’t have much in mind that I could change with that scene. So for now just assume it went about as badly as it did the other time ^_^ Well, I've rambled enough, LOVE AND PEACE!!! Hotwire Chain Lightning Studios http://www.chainlightningstudios.com