Gospel 1:7

Termination of the Repose/Voices on High

 

 

The sea floor trembled as the behemoth sleeping beneath it awoke. Thousands of tons of sand and silt were forced into motion by its stirrings, hiding the ocean floor beneath a massive cloud of roiling sediment. It had slept for untold eons until its slumber had been impinged upon by the presence of another, the discordance of the other's voice with the Harmony rousing it to wakefulness.

As its mind came to full consciousness, it realized that all was not right with the world. The Harmony was in chaos. It could sense the low voice the Mother, but the voices of the Disciples had all been silenced. It could barely sense the Brother, and His presence was a mere shade of what it should have been. Its mind rang as it was assaulted by millions upon millions of tiny voices shrieking in discordance with the Harmony. Above even these it could hear five more, their voices raised in near counterpoint and it was these voices that had awakened it.

The cloud of sediment bulged as the behemoth rose, the pressure of its ascent causing the cloud to mushroom upwards then burst apart. With a final groan, it slipped free of the sea floor and began its ascension.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Captain Franco Biggs whistled under his breath as he stood on the bridge of the cargo ship Malheureux. The vessel was still several hours out from Hakata Bay, where after they unloaded their cargo the crew would have an entire week of shore leave before their next run started.

He stopped whistling as one of the crewmen began to swear and beat the side of a control console. "Do you have a problem?" he demanded. "All that breaking the instruments will do is dock your paycheck."

"Sorry, sir," the sailor apologized. "It's just that the depth sonar has gone on the fritz. It's reading the ocean bottom at 314 meters."

Biggs sighed unhappily. "Of course something would have to break. It's not like I want to spend my shore leave doing things other than writing maintenance reports and equipment replacement orders."

"What the—?" the sailor exclaimed. "The readout is showing the ocean floor rising! 217 meters! 168 meters!" The ship began to yaw and roll as the sea around it grew choppy. Biggs had to grab a console in order to keep from being thrown off of his feet.

"Sea depth at 53 meters!"

"Damn it!" Biggs shouted. "There must be an volcano beneath us! That's a gas pocket coming up! All ahead full! Get us out of here!"

"Sea depth at 17 meters!"

Biggs braced himself and closed his eyes as he waited for the gas pocket to reach the surface. If they were lucky, they would only be shaken up. If they weren't, the ship could all to easily end up being capsized and sunk.

Even with his death grip on the console Biggs was thrown from his feet as the deck jumped beneath him. As he landed on the deck he covered his head and curled into a ball, waiting for the ship to settle.

To his surprise there was no movement after the initial jolt. Slowly he rose to his feet, the other sailors doing likewise. His jaw dropped as he looked out of the bridge; he couldn't see the ocean anywhere. Instead, slick gray mud extended off in every direction.

"Oh my god!" one of the sailors shouted. "We're gaining altitude!"

Biggs grabbed the radio transmitter. "Mayday! Mayday! This is the transport vessel Malheureux! We've run aground in the middle of the Philippine Sea." The deck shifted under his feet as the Malheureux settled into the mud. "I repeat, we've run aground!"

The deck shook under his feet and the bow of the ship tilted downwards, throwing him against the console. The ground had a distinctive slope and the ship began to slide forward, picking up speed.

"Mayday! Mayday! This is the transport vessel Malheureux! We're currently—!" His voice stopped as the ship suddenly cleared the edge of the ground. He could see the sea very far below, glittering in the sunlight. "—airborne," he squeaked as the ship tilted forward and began the long fall towards the water.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Kensuke whistled tunelessly to himself as he pressed his eye to the viewfinder of his camera, which was in receive mode, the antennae extended. The other students had to duck constantly to avoid it as he swung the camera back and forth, trying to find the best reception.

The whistle suddenly died on his lips, much to everyone's relief. "Hey, Shinji?" he called, his voice sounding uncertain.

"Yes?" Shinji replied, looking up from his desk.

"Are you sure that the Angels are all dead?"

Shinji grunted in annoyance. "Kensuke, how many times do I have to tell you? There are no more—" He was interrupted as Kensuke shoved the camera in his face. Looking through the viewfinder Shinji saw a still image of mountains with a text message superimposed on top of it:

A state of special emergency has been declared for all prefectures within the Kyushu-Shikoku-Honshu region. Please proceed to your designated shelters at once.

At that moment, emergency sirens began to sound across the city. Terry glanced up from his desk, aware of what the siren meant, but not of what he should do. The other three Children shared a glance then stood and started for the door.

Seeing them leave, Terry stumbled to his feet and followed after. As he reached the door to the classroom, he heard Hikari speak. "I thought this was all over," she said, sounding stunned.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Misato charged into the command center, vainly trying to keep her stockings up. The sirens had caught her in the shower and she'd been forced to dress while driving to the Geofront. "Status report!" she shouted.

"Target rose out of the Pacific Basin approximately fifteen minutes ago and is on a course set directly for Tokyo-3," Suiko responded. "At current speed, the target will make landfall in one hour and twenty-six minutes."

"Is it an Angel?"

Makoto tapped a few keys, posting the information on the main screen. "Its pattern is identified as Orange. The Magi are currently debating its classification, but if it is an Angel then it's totally unlike any of the previous ones. No A.T field has been detected and its energy readings are unlike anything we've encountered before."

"What's the status of the Children?"

"Section 2 reports that the Children are currently en route to the Geofront," Shigeru reported. "They should arrive in ten minutes."

"Ready all Evangelions for immediate launch!"

"Are you sure that's wise?" Fuyutsuki asked from his position on the upper level.

"With all respect, sir," Misato began, turning towards him, "I don't want to take any chances with that thing. unless it folds easier than cheap origami it might be too much for even four Evas to handle."

"Let us hope not," Gendo said evenly. "If Major Katsuragi deems it appropriate to use all four Evangelions, then that is her decision."

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The Children were rushed to the locker room as soon as they arrived at the Geofront. Terry was out of his clothes and into his plug suit in what he figured had to be record time. His hands shook slightly as he hit the button on his wrist that fitted the suit to the contours of his body and he took several deep breaths, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. It's the real thing this time. No more practice, no more preparation. That is not a simulation out there. This is a real Angel; everything is real this time.

He tried to keep his pace at a walk as he headed for the exit to the cages even though he wanted to run out and leap into his entry plug. As he passed the last row of lockers, he saw that Shinji was still sitting on the bench, his plug suit resting next to him, still folded. "C'mon Ikari! We have to get out there!" he yelled, hopping from one foot to the other.

Shinji turned towards him, his face pale. "I can't do it. I cannot get back into that thing."

"What thing? You mean Unit 01? Why not?" Terry asked. It took a moment for the realization to take hold that Shinji's reluctance must have been because of the 17th angel. He hadn't been inside an Evangelion since coming out of his coma.

"I'm no better than the Angels. Every time that I get into that thing all I do is kill and hurt and destroy. I'm sick of it. I can't do it anymore. I don't want to do it anymore!"

Terry stopped in mid hop, glancing around uncertainly as if expecting help to suddenly appear out of thin air. When no such miracle occurred he looked back at the 3rd Child. "Shinji, you are better than the Angels. They kill and destroy, but they don't care. You do. That's what makes you better." He hoped that Shinji didn’t watch the afternoon talk shows, because what he had just said was taken almost word for word from one that he had seen the previous week.

Shinji stared down miserably at his hands. "I hurt everyone. Touji, Kaworu…. Why don't they understand? I can't do it, I can't do it, I CAN'T DO IT!" With those last words, Shinji struck out at the locker, striking the door hard enough to dent the metal. He immediately clutched his hand, blood oozing from the torn skin on his knuckles.

Terry grabbed Shinji's plug suit and thrust it into the boy's hands. "Shinji, you have to do it. If you don't—"

Misato’s voice blared from the loudspeaker. "What's the hold up in there!"

"Umm, I got my fly stuck! Shinji helped me fix it!" Terry shouted back. It wasn't until the words left his mouth that he realized just how ridiculous of an excuse it was, but Misato seemed to accept it, because the loudspeaker remained silent.

"I do it because they tell me to," Shinji said emotionlessly. "I will get in the Eva, and I will kill and I will destroy because they tell me to and there is nothing else that I can do," he said as he began stripping out of his clothes.

At least he's piloting, Terry thought to himself, disgusted by Shinji's attitude. He decided to keep any more pop psychology to himself. He didn't trust what he might say to Shinji. At least he's piloting, he repeated to himself as Shinji finished changing and followed him out into the cage.

Terry managed to avoid swallowing any LCL as his entry plug was inserted into Unit 06. Why are Eva pilots so weird? he asked himself as the Evangelions hurtled up the lift rail. Asuka is an unstable egotistical bitch; Shinji's a coward. Are Rei and I the only normal ones? Of course she might have some big black secret of her own, like an evil twin or something. His sigh carried a few bubbles out of his mouth and into the LCL.

Misato's face appeared on the screen as she opened a link to all four Evas. "We're sending you up the particle rifle, two rail guns, and a self propelled cannon. Engage the target at long range. If you can't destroy it before it makes landfall, you'll be forced to engage it in hand to hand combat."

"Understood," the Children acknowledged as their Evas reached the top of the lifts and snapped to a halt. They could sea the target despite the fact that it was still out over the ocean.

"The thing looks like a blooming pinball." Terry griped, remembering the satellite photo they'd been shown of the target. "How are we supposed to engage that in hand to hand combat?"

A weapon tower rose next to them and Shinji and Terry each took a rail gun, while Rei armed herself with the particle rifle, leaving the cannon for Asuka, who also replaced her prog knife with a progressive lance, attaching the weapon to her back.

The Children quickly reached Tokyo-3's waterfront even though Rei, Asuka, and Terry each had to stop several times to replace their umbilical cables when the previous one reached its limit.

"There are still thirty minutes remaining until the target reaches Tokyo-3," Misato informed them. "It hasn't shown any sign of an AT field yet and don't open fire until it's entered the range of all of your weapons. We want to hit it as hard as we can."

"There are still a couple hundred meters left on the cables. Would it not be wiser to take them out all the way and position ourselves that much closer? " Rei asked.

"Putting the Evas that far out in the water would limit their maneuverability too much. I don’t want you to get caught at a disadvantage if the target does anything unexpected, which knowing the Angels, it probably will."

Since his mouth was full of LCL Terry had to convince himself that the dryness he felt in his throat as he looked at the Angel was purely psychological. It looked like an irregular sphere but it was difficult to tell what its true shape was as it was shedding hundreds of tons of mud every second. Whatever it was, it was huge. Satellites had to be used to determine its size, measuring it as three kilometers across and massing more than a million tons. He hoped that they had the firepower to stop it. It was already within range of the particle rifle and only a few minutes had to pass before it was within range of the rail guns as well.

"Hurry up, Asuka." Terry said as if was her fault that her weapon had the shortest range.

"You're one to talk about hurrying," she retorted. "At least I don't need help taking my pants off."

Terry gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything more. He kept his finger away from the firing stub on the controls. His nerves were on edge and he didn’t want to accidentally start spraying rounds. From his position slightly behind Asuka and to her left, he wondered what would happen if she stepped in front of his gun, accidentally. He wasn't quite sure exactly how the Eva's AT field functioned, but he didn't think that it would block a supersonic slug of depleted uranium from behind.

He gripped his thighs tightly. The thought was tempting, too tempting. Did he really hate Asuka enough to kill her?

"Go away Bastard."

"Don't call me that!"

"Why not, it's what you are, isn't it?

Then he remembered Shinji's angry glare. I would rather have her by my side than you, because I know that my life holds some value to her!

He gritted his teeth and very carefully avoided looking at Unit 02. He was an Evangelion pilot. The people of the world had put its faith in him to protect them. He stared at the Angel. Protect them from that.

Bastard.

"I don't like you Asuka," he said, ignoring the voice echoing in his head, "but there are things that matter more than that." He felt his anger drain away with the words and he put his hands back on the controls.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

In her Eva, Asuka cracked her knuckles, waiting for the target to get within range. She tried to keep her mind icy calm, holding the competitive urges under tight restraint. This was her chance to redeem herself for her past failures. From the way he'd looked back in the cage, she doubted she that she'd have to worry much about Shinji stealing her limelight. It never took much to surpass Wonder Girl, and she'd be damned if she let Terry outdo her. In the back of her mind, she wondered what would happen if she 'accidentally' fired on Unit 06. She might even be able to make it look like an accident. Battles could be chaotic, and if something just happened to cause her Eva to stumble just as she pulled the trigger… It would be tragic of course, but could they really believe that she would purposefully fire a 6K-caliber shell into Unit-6?

Crazy bitch whispered a voice in her head.

The phrase made the emptiness blaze up and burn with cold fire. The emptiness is his fault, she thought to herself, and if I get rid of him…What? It will still be there, still waiting to swallow me. It will take more than getting rid of him to be rid of it.

She turned her mind back to the mission as the target reached the edge of her firing range, and her Eva's fingers tightened around the gun's trigger. As soon as the recticle turned green, her fingers clamped down on the firing stub and the gun kicked as the round left the barrel; the shell's chemical rockets kicking to life and hurling it at the target.

Shinji and Terry fired next, their weapons slinging out magnetically accelerated, depleted uranium slugs at ultra-sonic speeds.

Rei fired last, the particle beam lancing out at the speed of light. All four shots impacted simultaneously, blowing the remaining sediment off of the target and causing it to list towards the right. Without its covering of mud, the Angel was perfectly spherical, its surface a dull matte gray, scorched black where the shots had struck.

"Fire again!" Misato shouted.

The particle beam lanced out but was deflected into the sea as it struck an invisible barrier in front of the sphere. As the rounds from the rail gun and cannon struck, a hexagonal shimmered in the air directly in front of the sphere.

"It raised an AT field," Ritsuko said quietly.

Back in the command center, Misato turned in surprise, not having heard the scientist enter.

"Mein Gott!" Asuka exclaimed as she continued firing. "You mean it shrugged off all that without an AT field?"

The Children kept firing but none of their shots managed to penetrate the AT field. The cannon fell silent as Asuka stopped firing. "I'm down to three rounds," she reported.

"Wait until the target gets closer, then simultaneously extend your AT fields and try to neutralize its field," Misato instructed them. "Hold your fire until you know that you can actually hit it."

The sphere's proceeding shadow swept over the Evangelions, throwing them into premature twilight as its bulk passed between them and the sun. Terry swallowed out of anxiety and started coughing as a mouthful of LCL hit his stomach.

"Extend AT fields!" Misato shouted.

The Children complied, concentrating on matching their fields with the sphere's.

"It's working," Makoto reported. "The target's AT field is beginning to destabilize."

Shinji gasped and doubled over, his brain feeling as if someone had put a hand around it and started to squeeze.

REMOVE YOURSELF FROM MY PATH, CHYLDE.

"I'm reading first level mental contamination in all pilots!" Suiko shouted.

"Th—there's a voice in my head.," Rei gasped.

"It's attempting to link telepathically with the pilots!" Suiko said incredulously.

"I believe that would fall under the category of unexpected," Ritsuko said.

"We destroyed all the other Angels, we'll destroy you too!" Asuka shouted back at the Angel, feeling foolish but not knowing what else to do.

To her surprise the voice seemed to respond to her declaration. YOU CHYLDREN HAVE SLAIN OUR BROTHERS AND SILENCED THEIR VOICES IN THE HARMONEY. OUR VOICES ARE STRONGER, OUR PURPOSES CLEARER. WHERE THE DISCIPLES FELL WE SHALL CARRY ON. FOR WE ARE AS FAR BEYOND THEM AS THEY WERE BEYOND YOU.

"Brothers, Disciples? Is it talking about the Angels?" Terry asked.

JOIN US CHYLDREN, FOR YOU ARE OF THE BROTHER. Asuka, Rei, and Terry knew that it was speaking exclusively to them. A note of awe entered its voice as it addressed Shinji. YOU… ARE OF THE MOTHER!

"Not on your life you stupid pinball!" Asuka yelled, raising the canon.

"Its AT field is collapsing! Get ready to open fire!" Misato shouted over the link.

SO BE IT. THOUGH THE DISCIPLES HAVE FALLEN BEFORE YOU, WE SHALL NOT, FOR THE HARBINGERS ARE FAVORED ABOVE ALL AND i SHALL SEEK OUT THE MOTHER AND i SHALL JOIN THE MOTHER AND SO LET THE SONG OF THE MALACHAL RING OUT AND RESTORE THE HARMONEY TO WHAT IT ONCE WAS.

As the Harbinger's last words faded from the Children's minds it rushed forward and as it moved it flattened and became dish-like, long, wavering tentacles sprouting from its rim.

All of the Evas save Unit 06 dropped their weapons and scattered as it closed. "Oh, God damn it all!" Terry swore. "It looks like an 'effin clay pigeon!" He glanced around, looking for a place to jump to and saw Unit 02 aim its cannon directly at him. He froze, a scream of rage building in his throat.

His Evangelion was rocked by the explosions as Unit 02 fired three times, obliterating the tentacles that had been darting towards him in a trio of fireballs.

"Wake up, dummkopf!" Asuka shouted at him. Another cluster of tentacles darted towards her and she threw her now empty gun at them as she leapt out of the way, drawing her prog lance from its place on her back.

Unit 06 back flipped out of reach of another tentacle then immediately had to duck as the twisted remains of Asuka's cannon flew over his head. "Terry, switch over to your S2 engine," Misato ordered him. "Asuka and Rei, try to remain on the umbilicals as long as possible."

Unit 06 paused to disconnect the umbilical plug, the power readout on his display screen turning to 32:02.00. He leapt away just as a tentacle smashed into the ground where he'd been standing a moment before. The tentacle swiped repeatedly at the retreating Evangelion, each miss gouging a deep furrow into the pavement.

Asuka dropped her umbilical plug, and leapt into the air, using one of the tentacles as a brace to flip herself onto the Harbinger's surface. As soon as her Eva's feet touched its exterior, the tentacles lost interest in her and turned towards the three Evangelions still on the ground. She took the momentary reprieve to survey the situation. Rei and Terry were fending off tentacles with their prog knives, trying to find a weak point somewhere on the sphere's rim. Unit 01 however only moved when it had to and made no attempts to attack. "Damn it, Shinji," she muttered under her breath. "You can't run away now. Fight back, you dummkopf!" She raised the prog lance above her head, and drove it downward with all of her strength. It failed to even scratch the Harbinger's surface. "No wonder it's not paying attention to me. I can't hurt it. I have to finish this thing off, somehow," she muttered. She glanced around the surface of the Harbinger, looking for a weakness. "Where is the blöde core?" she demanded.

"Energy readings are concentrated in the target's direct center." Makoto told Misato, who passed the information on to Asuka.

"That's great. Now, how am I supposed to reach it?" Asuka asked, surveying the Harbinger's smooth, unbroken surface.

In response, Rei dashed over to where the weapons had been dropped and snatched up one of the rail guns. She leapt towards Asuka but a tentacle struck Unit 00, hurling the Eva to the ground. It recoiled and struck the Eva again, slicing through the umbilical cable.

"Rei!" Terry shouted, leaping over to where Unit 00 lay prone. His prog knife sliced through the tentacle before it could strike again but several more, sensing the two Evas' weakened position, darted towards them.

"Verdammt!" Asuka swore and raced back across the Harbinger. She leapt onto one of the largest tentacles and slid down it, driving her lance through it to brake herself.

Shinji and Terry stood over Unit 00 as it rose to its feet. The tentacle that Asuka was on swung in, knocking all three Evas off of their feet and sending her flying through the air.

As Unit 02 climbed back to its feet a wire thin tentacle whipped towards it. Asuka ducked in time to keep the tentacle from taking Unit 02's head off but not quickly enough to keep it from carving a furrow deeply in the Eva's helmet.

Asuka saw her prog lance still protruding from the tentacle and leapt to grab it. As she tore it free a tentacle closed around her leg and hurled her into the ground. As she got back to her feet, another struck her head on and Unit 02's helmet split along the furrow with an audible snap. The force of the blow flung the Eva backward through a warehouse before it came to a stop. Inside of the entry plug Asuka screamed in agony and clutched her face.

Unit 02 rose to its feet, its lipless mouth locked in a rictus grin of hatred, its four eyes glaring madly. "STIRB, FICKER!" Asuka shrieked as she sent her Eva charging at the Harbinger.

"Asuka!" Shinji shouted, seeming to snap out of his torpor. He snatched up the rail gun that Rei had dropped and raced forward. Seeing a cluster of tentacles dart towards Asuka, he fired the gun one handed, the kick knocking the Eva back a full pace. The slug struck the tentacles where they joined the Harbinger's body, blowing them off and leaving its surface cracked and blackened.

Asuka leapt in among the tentacles, severing one after another with her prog lance. Taking advantage of the opening that she created, Shinji grabbed the other rail gun and leapt onto the Harbinger's surface. He raced towards its center and aimed the rail guns just forward of his feet and began firing. The shock waves rattled his Eva and the guns seemed intent on trying to tear his arms from his shoulders.

Each double impact blew a wider and wider crater in the Harbinger's surface and the bottom of the crater suddenly exploded inward, opening into a wide cavity, upon the bottom of which rested a glowing blue sphere. A thick black fluid oozed from the Harbinger's broken skin, dripping into the cavity. "Is that the core?" he asked no one in particular as he aimed the rail guns.

"Shinji, look out!" Terry shouted.

A tentacle struck Unit 01 from behind, punching through its armor and emerging from its chest. Shinji gritted his teeth against the pain, pointed both rail guns at the blue sphere and pulled the triggers.

Nothing happened.

"No! They're out of ammo!" Shinji gasped, sinking to his feet. Another tentacle struck him, smashing one of guns. He tried to grab the tentacle that had impaled his Eva but his hands refused to keep a grip on it. In desperation picked up the remaining rail gun and began beating it against the tentacle.

It withdrew but before he could do anything, another struck him from behind and together the two tentacles began pummeling the prone Evangelion.

Terry scooped up the particle rifle and ran towards the Harbinger, but before he reached it, a tentacle wrapped itself around Unit 06's leg and constricted. Terry screamed as the Eva's leg was crushed, the rifle flying from his grasp.

Asuka used her lance to vault off of a tentacle and snagged the rifle in midair. The Evangelion flipped before landing in a crouch, its four eyes glaring. The Eva's grin seemed to widen as Asuka screamed and leapt onto the Harbinger's surface. Sensing the greater threat, the tentacles that'd been battering Unit 01 turned towards Unit 02.

"Shinji! Are you all right?" Misato shouted.

"I'm…fine, Misato," the boy's voice was pained as the Eva bled freely as it forced itself to its feet. He drew his prog knife and hurled himself at the tentacles attacking Unit 02, severing one. The other turned whipped around and struck the Eva across the chest hard enough to buckle the armor plating.

Taking advantage of the tentacle's preoccupation Asuka raced past the tentacle, towards the Harbinger's center.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted when Unit 01 failed to rise. "Are you all right? Shinji!"

"What's the status of Unit 01's pilot?" she demanded when she still failed to get a response came.

"Pilot has lost consciousness, his breathing and heartbeat are irregular."

"Asuka, get Unit 01 out of there!" Misato ordered.

Seemingly ignoring Misato's orders, Unit 02 slid to a stop in front of the cavity, its foot coming to rest in a puddle of the black liquid that'd oozed onto the Harbinger's surface. She braced herself, took aim at the sphere and fired. The beam burst through the core and the blue sphere began to pulse erratically. The world went double in front of Asuka's eyes as the Harbinger's scream of agony echoed against the inside of her skull.

The Harbinger began to tilt and Asuka sent the rifle sliding across the Harbinger's surface and dashed away from the crater, scooping up the fallen Unit 01.

"Asuka, get to the closest retrieval lift now!" Misato ordered. The other two Evangelions were already heading for the lifts, Unit 00 half carrying the crippled Unit 06.

IT IS NOT TO BE. i SHALL NOT BE THE ONE TO RESSURECT THE MALACHEL. BUT HOPE WILL NOT BE LOST SO LONG AS EVEN ONE REMAINS. MARK THIS, CHYLDREN, THE MALACHEL SHALL BE REBORN AND YOUR BLASPHAMOS DISCORDANCE WILL BE SILENCED.

The Harbinger's voice faded as it spoke and its last words almost too quiet to be intelligible. Terry and Rei's Evas had reached the retrieval shaft and began their descent and Unit 02 was only a step away when the lights in the cockpit cut out, and the Evangelion halted in mid-stride. "Sheisse, NO!" Asuka screamed as 00:00.00 flashed on the power readout. The last thing she saw before the cockpit display faded was the open lift shaft, just barely out of reach.

"NO NO NO!" she shouted, yanking ineffectually at the controls butterfly grips. "You can't do this to me!"

"Rei, go back for Shinji and Asuka!" Misato yelled.

"It's too late!" Suiko overrode her. "The target's core is about to collapse!"

Asuka closed her eyes and waited for the end.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The Harbinger cried out as its core detonated and the tremendous release of energy tore it apart. The shock wave flattened everything in its path, and as it struck Unit 02, Asuka felt the Eva start to totter forward, the weight of Unit 01 in its arms toppling Unit 02. The Eva landed chin first on the lift, which dropped away just as the first waves of fire washed over it.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Misato stood on the observation deck overlooking the cage, surveying the Evangelions. Unit 00 was the only Eva to escape with negligible damage. The techs were already swarming over Unit 06, deciding whether or not its leg could be saved. Unit 01 had suffered massive damage to its chest component, although Shinji's injuries were minor and he'd regained consciousness shortly after being removed from the entry plug. The damage to Unit 02 was still being assessed. Without the protection of its helmet, the force of the Eva's fall had shattered its jaw and the armor protecting its back looked like half-melted wax, sliding down the Eva's back in ragged waves.

"I'm happy to say that the operation was a success," Misato said, turning away from the Evangelions.

"Despite the loss of over twelve million dollars worth of weaponry," Ritsuko said. "At least Asuka had the piece of mind to try and save the particle rifle. That'll only need a few hundred thousand dollars worth of repairs before it's operational again. Then, of course, there will be the repair costs for the Evangelions, and the property damage incurred during the battle, which is still being calculated."

Misato glared at her. "Positive reinforcement!" she hissed. She turned back towards the Children, plastering a wide smile over her face. "Anyway, you all performed extraordinarily out there. You should be proud of yourselves."

"Major Katsuragi, what was that?" Terry asked.

"We still don't know," Misato replied.

"We know what it wasn't, though," Maya said from where she was supervising the recovery. "That wasn't an Angel. Try and recover as much of that as possible!" she shouted to the recovery crew, indicating the black substance coating Unit 02's foot.

"It spoke with us," Rei said. "The Angels never attempted to communicate."

"Which is why you'll all be run through a series of synchronization tests tomorrow," Maya informed them. "We want to make sure that there is no lingering mental contamination from your contact with the—"

"It called itself a 'Harbinger,'" Rei said, interrupting Dr. Ibuki.

Asuka broke in. "When it talked about Disciples, I think it meant the Angels, and it talked about Brothers." Her expression suddenly turned sour. "Great, I bet that means there are more of those stupid pinballs floating around out there."

"The Magi are still processing the data from the operation." Maya said, ignoring the 2nd Child's interruption. "We should have their interpretations of it within the hour."

"Rei," Ritsuko said, stepping forward, "we should start running your tests right away. As for the rest of you, you've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow, so I suggest that you get some rest."

Ritsuko left the cage and Rei followed obediently after her. The other Children went to the locker rooms to change out of their plug suits.

"What was going on out there?" Terry asked Shinji as showers sluiced the LCL off of their bodies.

"I hate the LCL," Shinji said distantly. "It smells like blood, it tastes like blood."

"And I hate the way it makes me sick when I swallow it, but I didn't stand around and let the thing swing at me."

Instead of answering Shinji turned his back to Terry and refused to speak as they changed

"Fine, if that's what you want," Terry snapped and left the locker room.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Commander Ikari intercepted Ritsuko just before she and Rei reached the elevator. "Why are you here?" he demanded of her.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before replying, "I was bored and I wanted to see how the Children preformed."

"Bored?" Anger underscored the Commander's voice. "I'll lock you in that lab myself if I have to. Your work is too important for you to be ‘bored’. I should hope that is where you're taking Rei now."

"More time would be lost if I broke under the pressure than if I go for an occasional stroll, wouldn't it?" she asked sweetly as she stepped into the elevator. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do with Rei."

He didn't reply but stared at her, his expression inscrutable as the elevator doors closed in front of him.

"Dr. Akagi, did you tell us the truth about what you know about the Harbinger?" Rei asked as the two of them rode the elevator down into Terminal Dogma.

"I told you everything that I deemed appropriate."

"It spoke about 'the Mother' as well as 'the Brother.' I believe that it was speaking of Lillith and Adam. It seemed to know that the Evangelions were cloned from Adam. That Unit 01, unlike the others, was cloned from Lillith. It spoke of something it referred to as "the Harmony" as if it were something we should be familiar with. Why?"

"I don't know why, Rei. I'm no longer the head of Project E, that's Dr. Ibuki's job now. What happens in the sunny world above is no longer my concern. I just scurry around down here like a little rat cut off from the world above, doing Ikari's bidding."

"Like rebuilding the dummy system."

"Yes."

"Why don't you refuse?"

"Why don't you refuse?" Ritsuko retorted.

"I exist because of his obsession. Do you have such an excuse?"

Ritsuko glared at Rei. "You wouldn't understand," she said and turned to face the elevator doors, away from the girl.

"You might be surprised by what I would," Rei said too quietly for Ritsuko to hear.