Neon Psychosis Evangelion

[Mizagium]

01
A Very Specific Type

“Are you Shinji Ikari?” the scruffy-looking man asked in flawless Japanese.

“Y-Yes,” the timid boy answered, gripping the handle of the door as if it were a knight’s shield.

“My name is Dom Cobb. I work with your father. This is Arthur, Eames, and Yusuf.” He indicated the men standing behind him, two Englishmen and an Indian with glasses. “May we come in?”

“Um, sure.” He stepped away from the doorway to let the suited men into his uncle’s apartment. They removed their shoes and lined them neatly along the wall before proceeding. It surprised Shinji how comfortable they were with Japanese culture, but then if they worked with his father, he supposed they would be.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked, since he was the host when his aunt and uncle were out.

One man – Eames? – raised an eyebrow at Dom Cobb, who shook his head. “No, thank you. We don’t plan on staying very long. Is there somewhere we could talk?” Shinji saw now that Cobb was holding a briefcase in his right hand.

“This way.” Shinji took the men to the kitchen table. There were only three chairs arranged – one for him and his aunt and uncle – but when he moved to retrieve a fourth, Yusuf shook his head.

“That’s okay, I’ll stand.” The Indian glanced sideways at Cobb who didn’t return the look. Obviously Cobb was the leader of this group, as evidenced by the fact that he had spoken first. But if Shinji had been dense enough to miss that, the way the other two deferred Cobb was evidence enough of his leadership.

Shinji sat so that Cobb was on his right and Eames on his left. Eames adopted a laid back posture while Cobb placed the briefcase on the table and pulled a piece of paper out of it. “Before I explain, Shinji, I need you to do something for me.”

“What is it?” he asked nervously.

Cobb slid the paper in front of him. “Solve this maze, please.” He handed him a pen.

“Solve the…what?”

“You have two minutes. Go.” Behind him, Yusuf clicked a stopwatch. Impulsively, Shinji picked up the pen. He studied the maze. It was rectangular like most mazes. He had done a few that came with magazines and newspapers, but none of them had been this complicated. Two minutes to solve this? It was impossible!

I can’t do this.

“You can do this Shinji,” Cobb urged. “Find the beginning, and find the center.”

“He can’t do it, Cobb,” Eames said dispassionately. “We found the wrong kid.”

“No, Eames. This is Gendo’s son, the Third Child.”

Eames shrugged and put his hands behind his head, leaning back farther. “Okay. But he doesn’t look half the Child the Second was.”

“Don’t listen to him, Shinji,” Cobb said. “You can do this, I know you can.”

“But this – “

“Touch the pen to the beginning, and then to the center. That should help.”

“One minute,” Yusuf announced.

“He’ll do it.”

It surprised Shinji how much Cobb believed in him. So much so, that he took his advice and touched the paper at the maze’s entrance and at its center. Immediately, the maze started to make sense. Before his eyes, the correct path became apparent, like a beacon. How did I not see that before? Quickly, steadily, he traced the path with the pen, making no mistakes, and arrived at the center just as Yusuf announced “Time.”

“Very good, Shinji,” Cobb said coolly.

“Well whaddya know,” Eames remarked, not looking.

“Is…Is that all?” Shinji replaced the pen cap and set it back on the table.

“Not quite, Shinji.” Cobb retrieved the maze, slipped it back into the briefcase, and produced another one. “I need you to do another, harder, maze. Can you do that?”

“Sure.” Why not? It was just a maze. But it wasn’t just a maze. This one was circular, a spiral, with numerous dead ends and switchbacks.

“Go.” Yusuf clicked the stopwatch. Shinji repeated the same technique as before, touching the pen to the beginning, and to the center. Just like before, the path jumped out at him, and he traced it without making a single mistake. “Time.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Shinji. No, don’t put the pen down just yet. I need you do one final maze. Can you do that for me?” Cobb had already switched the papers and was handing Shinji the third maze.

“Um, sure.” This maze was completely different from the other two. The outer layers were rectangular, but it switched to circular towards the middle. The very center of the maze was octangular. Now this maze was impossible.

“One minute,” Cobb said. Yusuf nodded, and clicked the stopwatch. “Go.”

What? One minute! How can I solve this maze in that short time? I could barely get the others in two minutes. No, no, I’m going to fail. I’m going to fail! I knew it; I’m not good at anything. He glanced worriedly at Cobb, but the scruffy Englishman held his calm, cool gaze that radiated confidence. Confidence in Shinji. Dom Cobb thinks I can, though. He thought I could when Eames didn’t.

Touch the pen to the beginning, and then to the center.

He made the motion for a third time, ignoring the steady ticking of the stopwatch. Was it getting faster? Suddenly, Shinji could see the path. It was deceptively straightforward, just obscured by twists and spirals. Knowing his time was short, Shinji traced the path as quickly as he could, making a few mistakes out of haste, but otherwise getting along. He was over three quarters of the way there when Yusuf called “Time.” Cobb snatched up the maze before Shinji could finish.

Shinji capped the pen and set it on the table, shamefully. He had failed, just like he thought he would. He wasn’t worth anything; he couldn’t even solve a maze. Whatever kind of person Dom Cobb and his men though Shinji was, they were about to be disappointed.

“Very good,” Cobb announced.

“What?” Shinji snapped his head up.

Cobb laid the maze on the table again. “You solved the maze, see?” He pointed to where Shinji’s pen line stopped (well, it scrolled off the paper from when Cobb snatched it up) with his index finger, and the center with his thumb. Then he peeled them away and held them up for Shinji to see. “This close.”

“But I….I didn’t reach the center in time,” Shinji said meekly. “I failed.”

“Come on now,” Cobb said with a raised eyebrow. “Do you really think anybody could solve this other in one minute?”

“Well, no,” the young teen admitted. “But you said I had to solve it in one minute, so…” he shrugged.

“That was to see how well you did under pressure, and you did marvelously.”

“Yeah,” Eames snorted. “Cobb here didn’t even get halfway when Ariadne first drew the damn thing. Make a hell of a lot more mistakes than you, too.”

“Thank you, Eames,” he replied with slight annoyance.

“Well, I’d say he passed.” Shinji jumped at Yusuf’s voice. All he had said so far was “Time”. “But we are on a tight schedule here, Cobb, mind if we move this along?”

“Certainly.”

-

Cobb set down his tea and observed Shinji sitting next to him. They were seated at a roadside ramen shop. Shinji picked at his noodles and glanced at Cobb.

“What is it?”

“I bet you’re wondering what the hell we’re doing here.”

“Huh?”

Cobb turned in his seat to face Shinji directly. “Think about it. How did we get here?”

Shinji wracked his brain. “Well, we were in my aunt’s apartment, and I solved your mazes. Then we…” He drew a blank. “I-I don’t remember.” He turned fearfully to Cobb. “How did we get here? Where are we?”

“Easy, kid. It’s okay. To answer the second question, we’re at a ramen shop. Notice how there’s nobody else around?” Suddenly, Shinji became aware of the fact that they were alone. “To answer the question more correctly,” Cobb leaned in close, “we’re dreaming.”

“What?” This man in insane! I should never have let him into the apartment. “That’s crazy!”

Shinji’s ramen bowl levitated in the air right in front of his face. Then it burst apart, but the fragments stayed in place. Cobb blinked and the bowl reassembled itself. Suddenly the stall creaked and began to rotate around the two of them. Shinji gripped his seat in fear, but Cobb simply picked up his tea and waited as the structure moved. Inexplicably, the entire thing exploded outward, and they were sitting on bar stool in the middle of an intersection Shinji did not recognize. The bar stool flew out from under them, leaving them standing.

“This is my mental recreation of New York City, Shinji, before it was flooded after Second Impact. You’re in my dream.”

“How is that…how is that possible?”

“Human minds all share the ability to dream together. Normally, it can’t happen, but with the aid of a special machine, we can pull others into my dreams, or anyone else’s.”

Cobb seemed fully aware of how ridiculous and unsatisfying the explanation was, but that seemed to be all he was willing to give up at that point.

“It feels real, though,” Shinji said.

“Dreams feel real when we’re in them. It’s only when we wake up, that we realize we were asleep. Now I need you to pay attention from here, okay? This information is important. You will be confused, but whether you understand it or not, you have to remember what I’m going to tell you, okay? We don’t have a lot of time.”

“O-Okay.”

“Right now, I am the Dreamer. That means you are in my mind, and this dreamscape is a projection of my doing. Normally, the dream is filled with projections of my subconscious, like so.”

Suddenly the city was filled with countless pedestrians, all emotionless and set on a destination somewhere within the imaginary city. They appeared real, and even interacted with one another.

“These people are my subconscious, going about their business. If someone starts to mess around with my dreams” He looked at a street sign and twisted it into a pretzel shape, “The subconscious becomes aware of the intruders.” The people closest to them stopped and stared at Cobb. When he fixed the sign, they moved on, casting wary glances over their shoulders. “You try. Imagine something in this world changing.”

“Um, okay.” Shinji thought about the street sign and imagined it twisting into the pretzel shape again. When he was finished, he said, “Like that?”

“Sure.” Cobb straightened the sign before his subconscious reacted. “But try something I didn’t do already.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Anything.” Shinji continued to give him a blank stare. “Okay, uh, try…doing something to that skyscraper over there.” He pointed to the old Chrysler Building.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, Shinji,” Cobb did his best to keep his frustration in check. “Anything! It won’t work right if I tell you.”

“Okay.” Shinji stared at the building, trying to think of something to change about it. It was difficult, but finally he settled on simply twisting it. The whole structure rumbled as the top floors twisted while the base remained stationary. When it stopped moving, each edge was a wide spiral to the top. “Like that?”

“Well, judging by the way everyone is staring at us, I’d say you did a good job.” Shinji turned around and was met with a crowd of dream projections staring them down.

“Not to worry,” Cobb assured the panicking youth. “You did just enough where they won’t attack us.”

Attack us?!

“As long as we don’t mess around anymore, we’ll be fine. I have some more to tell you about-oh no.”

“What?” Shinji followed Cobb’s gaze down the street. A woman was walking towards them, determination in her stride.

“Not now, Mal, not now.” Cobb grabbed Shinji’s arm and tried to pull him away, but the crowd of people proved impassable. “No, no, no! We don’t have time for this, Mal!” Shinji was yanked away from Cobb by the projections.

“I thought you said they wouldn’t attack!” Shinji cried helplessly.

“Mal’s controlling them, now, Shinji. I can’t stop her.” Firm hands gripped the two of them and hauled them to the woman. “Let us go!” Cobb shouted at her. She ignored his words, and very smoothly, raised a gun, first to Cobb, then to Shinji.

She pulled the trigger.

-

Shinji jolted awake with a cry, and sat upright, sweating. He was sitting in the back of a van, his arm hooked up to some machine. Cobb was hooked up across from him. Shinji put a hand to his head, but there was no blood, no bullet hole where Mal had shot him.

“Dammit, Mal!” Cobb awoke and ripped the needle out of his arm. Shinji carefully did the same with his.

“What happened?” Eames apparently was driving the van. He looked back over his shoulder at the two of them. “You’re up early.”

“Mal killed us, Eames; I didn’t get to finish explaining things to Shinji.”

“She killed us?!”

“In a dream, if you get killed, you wake up,” Eames explained. “Still feel real though. I had nightmares for weeks the first time it happened to me.” He made a show of checking his watch. “Well, we’re behind, Cobb. Might have to give him the condensed version.”

“Right.” Cobb packed up the wires and needles, putting them back into his briefcase. Shinji caught a glimpse of a strange machine. “Well, you know about dreams-sharing, at least in principle. I guess I should tell you what we do.” He cracked his fingers and neck. “We are Extractors. That is, we invade people’s minds and steal information.”

Shinji’s eyes widened.

“Well, we used to. Now we work for NERV, under your father. Now we focus on protecting dreams from being invaded. Because we worked as them for so long, we’re very good at preventing Extraction.”

“Very good,” Eames echoed.

“But right now, we’ve a problem that requires you.”

“Me?” Shinji pointed at himself. “What do you need me for?”

“We need you to – “

“Incoming!” Eames shouted from the driver’s seat. The van rocked sideways as if hit by something explosive. Eames struggled to keep the van straight. Cobb swore and produced a pistol from somewhere, and opened the back doors of the van. They were driving through a city Shinji didn’t recognize. Behind them, another van was following close behind. An unrecognizable man was driving it, but in the passenger seat, Shinji could see –

“Mal!” Cobb shouted. He fired a few rounds at the van, which cracked the windshield. Mal leaned out the window and aimed a small bazooka at them. “Down!” Cobb shoved Shinji down and yelled to Eames. “Evade! Evade!”

Eames jerked the van hard to the left, avoiding the projectile. Cobb fired again, aiming for the driver.

“What’s going on?” Shinji screamed.

“It’s Mal, again. She’s trying to kill us again.”

“Again?”

“She’s been following me for some time, Cobb,” Eames said, jerking the van to the left again. “Didn’t do anything until you woke up. I thought she’d try to kill you while you were under and drop you –“

“Not now, Eames!” Cobb fired again. Out of bullets, he dropped the magazine and hurled it out the back. Fishing around for another, he asked, “How much longer?”

“Only another minute or so. Speak of the devil…”

-

Shinji awoke again to find himself reclining at the kitchen table, his arm hooked up to the machine. Cobb and Eames slowly stirred to life, while Yusuf went around and checked each of their pulse. They all removed the needles from their arms and returned them to the briefcase.

“I’ll bet you’re very confused,” Cobb said, stretching.

“Yes! I mean…we were dreaming…twice?”

“A dream within a dream,” Cobb explained. “I promise though, we’re awake now.” He took a strange top out of his pocket and spun it. When it fell, he quickly snatched it up and hid it away. The other two messed around with strange objects as well.

Yusuf checked his watch. “We need to leave. NERV won’t be able to wait much longer.”

“I know, I know. Come on.” He shoved Shinji to the door while Eames left a note on the table, addressed to his aunt and uncle. Yusuf gathered up their shoes as the four of them hurried down the hallway. They bypassed the elevator which was stopped two floors above them in favor of the stairs. Shinji nearly tripped on the way down.

Cobb’s cell phone rang. “Hello? Yeah, I got him. We’re leaving now.” They nearly ran out the front door as a white van skidded to a halt in front of them. Arthur was driving. Apparently he had left while they were dreaming to pull the can around. Shinji hadn’t even noticed his absence. “In the back, in the back.” Cobb climbed into the passenger seat while Eames, Yusuf and Shinji got into the back through a side door.

“What’s…already?” Cobb checked his watch. “You guys work fast. Alright, we’ll be there in less than an hour. Call ahead to clear the roads for us, I don’t’ want to get stuck in traffic. Oh, and Gendo? Keep him heavily sedated. Whatever dosage the Magi have programmed – double it.” He closed the phone with a click and tucked it inside his coat.

Also seated in the back with them was a young girl that would either be English or French. “Hello,” she said in slightly accented Japanese. “My name is Ariadne.”

“I’m Shinji,” he replied shyly.

“Gendo’s son?” She raised an eyebrow. “Nice to meet you.”

“How does everybody here know my father?”

“We all work for NERV. Gendo’s our immediate superior.”

Shinji pulled his legs to his chest. “Then you must know how he is. He doesn’t want to see you unless he needs something.”

Ariadne gave Eames a look that said she knew exactly what he was talking about. “Well, it’ll be fine. Once he sees you, he’ll lighten up.”

“Really?” Somehow, Shinji doubted it, but he was grateful for Ariadne’s kind words.

“Absolutely.”

“Can’t you go any faster, Arthur?” Cobb pressed.

“Patience, Cobb, the Angel’s not going anywhere. The Magi have it sedated, and Eame’s constructs are ready to be dropped into the labyrinth. I hear you designed a good one this time, Ariadne,” he called back.

“Of course,” she answered. “It wouldn’t do to half-ass the first Inception mission given to us, now would it, Arthur?”

Shinji was hopelessly lost. Eames clapped him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, kid. It all gets way more confusing from here on out.”

[Mizagium]

02
Angel Assault

The van streaked through the sprawling metropolis that was Tokyo-3. Cobb continued to push the speed limit as he had since leaving Shinji’s apartment, but the city had sharply reduced his top speed to the point where Shinji no longer feared they be vaporized if they crashed into a stationary object. Ariadne and the others seemed relatively at ease with Cobb’s driving, but Shinji caught himself searching desperately for something to grip onto. Eventually he had both hands on either side of Arthur’s passenger seat, which provoked a smile from Ariadne. Eames cracked a joke about monkeys in India always hanging on to the roofs of cars.

Somewhere in the distance Shinji could hear the unmistakable clatter of gunfire. Lots of gunfire. As they drove it got closer and closer. An explosion rocked the van, but no one besides him seemed to notice. Through the front windshield he saw two helicopters cross the street in a low flying pattern. Military grade helicopters.

“What’s going on?” he finally asked.

“That’s a good question,” Cobb muttered, dialing his cell phone and putting to his ear. “Hello? Misato? What’s going on?” Whoever was on the other end shouted something so that he held the phone a distance away from his ear. Arthur, Eames, and Ariadne smiled like this was a normal occurrence. “Yes, I know we’re late,” he spoke soothingly into the device. “We had a bit of a snag while I was – what?”He put the phone back to his ear and leaned forward in his seat. “It’s moving? No, I can’t see it yet. Damn. Okay, I’ll be there soon.” He snapped the phone shut and tossed it at Arthur.

“Well, what does Mrs. Katsuragi have to say?” Eames asked with a grin.

“It’s moving,” Cobb replied. No one was smiling anymore. “They’ve already had to deploy the JSSDF. She also said that Ikari wants to drop an N2 mine on it.”

Ariadne pulled herself forward so that she was between Cobb and Arthur. “No! A blast that powerful could destabilize-“

“I know what it can, do Ariadne, but Gendo doesn’t fully understand things. Besides, the Angel is moving.”

“What do you mean moving?” Eames asked. “I thought all we had to do was destroy the core? Well, all he had to do.” He jerked a thumb at Shinji.

“Apparently we waited too long. See? Look at the people.” Shinji and Eames clambered up to where Ariadne was in order to see out the front better. The citizens of Tokyo-3 were staring at the passing van with dark looks. A few even tried to crowd the vehicle, but they were moving too fast – anyone who got in their way was bound to be killed.

“Can the Angel do that?’ Ariadne looked fearfully from Cobb to Arthur.

“Honestly, Ariadne,” the latter responded while the former took a hard left, “nobody had any idea just what an Angel can do. We’ve never encountered one before. Everything that’s been said has just been speculation based on the Dead Sea Scrolls. I imagine we’re going to find that most of what we thought we knew was completely wrong.”

“You’re wrong on one count, mate,” Eames poked Arthur. “This isn’t the first Angel humanity has encountered.”

“Failed Antarctic expeditions into the Mountains of Madness aside aside,” Arthur conceded. Eames just smiled and shook his head, obviously knowing something the others did not. They didn’t get much farther before Cobb slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

“Dammit! They’re blocking the way.” Up ahead, Shinji could see a crowd of people standing close together, blocking the street. Cobb showed no signs of slowing, much less stopping.

“What are you doing?” the young boy demanded. “Are you just going to run them over?”

“The Angel is controlling them, Shinji. Right now, we don’t have time to worry about individuals. If we don’t get you to NERV headquarters, the Angel could very well destroy everything.” Cobb lined the center of the van with the center of the crowd and gunned it. “Sorry, kid, but it has to be done.” Shinji turned away, horrified, as the van plowed into the crowd.
Ariadne patted him gently on the shoulder. Arthur glanced back at them and flicked his gaze to Eames who had leaned back and put his hands behind his head. Cobb hadn’t flinched and kept on driving.

“What is an Angel anyway? I thought they were supposed to be messengers of God? Why would one be attacking the city?” Shinji asked Ariadne.

She hesitated. “It’s…it’s hard to explain, Shinji. It’s better if you see for yourself.”

No sooner had she spoke those words than a large explosion rocked the van. Cobb hit the brakes and the van skidded to a halt. Through the front window, Shinji could see a large black hand tear itself away from the road.

A hand?!

Everyone in the van tensed. Whatever the hand belonged to crouched down to get a better look. All Shinji could see was the face, a bone-white avian face with hollow black eyes. It blinked and tilted its head to one side, a gesture of curiosity that everyone found unsettling. Shinji was filled with absolute dread.

“Wh-what is that!”

“That, Shinji,” Eames said rather calmly, “is an Angel. Not quite what you were expecting, eh mate? Bloody hideous thing if you ask me.”

Two helicopters streaked overhead. Cobb shifted the van into reverse and stomped on the acceleration. They shot away from the Angel as a series of missiles exploded in its face. Shinji didn’t get to see what happened because Cobb jerked the wheel right, shifted into drive, and took them down a side alley, away from the fighting.

“Now you know what we’re up against,” he remarked.

-

After another ten minutes of driving, they arrived at a large metal door that looked like the entrance to a military bomb shelter. As the door parted, Shinji became more convinced that it was. Cobb drove the van down a ramp and parked it at the bottom. No one made any more to exit. Then the van rumbled and moved. It was on a track, Arthur explained, like a car wash or the beginning part of a rollercoaster. This track would take the van down into the Geofront.

Cobb drummed his fingers on the dashboard for a minute before turning in his seat. “Alright, Shinji, this is your chance to ask any questions you might have. After this, there’s not going to be a lot of time to ask, only to follow orders. So, anything?”

“Well, uh, why did you need me? I mean, it looks the military is having a difficult time fighting the Angel, so how could I be any more useful that they?”

“It’s complicated, Shinji,” Arthur said. “There’s a lot more to it that just that. Part of your question will be answered once we get to NERV. The rest will become clearer in time.”

Cobb gave him a look but didn’t offer a better answer. Shinji looked hopefully at Ariadne. “I don’t really know any more than you do, Shinji. I only just got recruited a few weeks ago. All I know is what angels are, and that we need you to fight them. Nothing else. Is that really the best you can say, Arthur?”

“Unfortunately, yes. For the moment it will have to do. But I’m not lying or blowing you off; once we get down there, you will get some answers once we reach NERV, but for now you just have to trust us.”

Eames remained suspiciously silent and what Shinji looked to him, he smiled in a way that said he wasn’t going to give up any information.

Light streamed through the windows as the van emerged into a massive underground cavern. They were being led on a track that circled around the domed roof of the cavern. Below them was a sizeable portion of land as well as a small body of water that ran right up to the edge. In the center of the cavern, on the land, was a large pyramid structure. Beside it was a pyramid shaped depression in the ground.

“Welcome to the Geofront,” Arthur said, seeing Shinji’s eyes fill with wonder.

-

Cobb, Arthur, Eames, Ariadne, and Shinji filed into the elevator that would take them deeper into Central Dogma – the pyramid structure he had seen from the van, Ariadne explained. Central Dogma was the headquarters for NERV, the organization that they all worked for. Nobody offered up an explanation as to what NERV did.

Shinji stood awkwardly in the center of the team. Everyone else seemed absorbed in their own thoughts. Cobb appeared as though he was thinking deeply on some subject. Arthur wore his usual calculating face. Ariadne was constantly trying to get a better look at the structure outside the elevator through a small hole. Eames was…well, not really focused on anything. And Shinji just stood there.

“Did…did my father send you get me?” he dared to asked.

“That’s right,” Arthur answered. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing.”

I knew it. He never calls, never writes, then he sends a team of…his people out to bring me back. He must want something from me. That’s the only reason he ever spoke to me.

The elevator came to a gentle halt, but no one moved as the door slid open. There stood a tall woman with blond hair, wearing a white lab coat and a scowl. Cobb stepped back to let her on the elevator, but she remained where she was.

“You’re late, Cobb.”

“We ran into a bit of trouble during the meeting,” he said carefully.

“Mal?” she asked.

“Bingo,” Eames interjected. “Nearly blew us right to hell, she did.”

“Cobb,” the woman sighed with a shake of her head. “Is this the Child?”

“Yes ma’am,” Arthur answered.

“Dr. Ritsuko Agaki,” she introduced herself.

“Sh-Shinji Ikari,” he replied.

“Ah, the commander’s son.” Something about the way she said that caused him to suspect she already knew exactly who he was. But that wasn’t what bothered him. No, it was that he was immediately known as the son of Gendo Ikari. Here, he would never be Shinji Ikari; he would always be Gendo’s son.

“Yeah.”

Ritsuko stepped in and the door slid shut behind her. The elevator continued on its decent.

“How’s it going topside?” Cobb asked.

“Not terribly, all things considered. The JSSDF forces are unable to contain the Angel, and the MAGI are recommending Eva’s deployment.”

“As we expected,” Eames said.

“Exactly as we suspected,” Ritsuko agreed. “Although we didn’t account for the deployment of an AT Field.”

“Because we weren’t sure they would posses one. No we know and can adjust for future missions.”

“Let’s just hope we haven’t already lost,” Arthur muttered.

Eames gave him a look that was a mix of annoyance and amusement. “As always, your condescension is very much appreciated, Arthur.”

“That’s enough,” Ritsuko chided gently as the elevator came to a stop once more. “This isn’t’ the time for infighting, you two.” When she turned to exit the elevator, Eames stuck his tongue out at Arthur.

The five of them filed out after Ritsuko into a dark space. When the elevator closed, all the light was extinguished. Shinji nearly cried out, partly in surprise and partly in fear, but the lights soon clicked on, and he found himself staring right into a gigantic purple face. That time he screamed.

“Wah! What…what is that?”

“That,” Ritsuko said, giving it an affectionate pat, “is the artificial humanoid fighting machine, Evangelion Unit 01. This is our first, last, and only defense against the Angels.”

“A beaut, isn’t she?” Eames also gave the thing a pat. “Took us damn near…what, Ritsuko? Six months?”

“To construct the Evangelion? More like eight, Eames.” She smiled. “It was quite the ordeal, you know.”

“Constructing the thing, or working with Eames?” Arthur cracked.

“Hardy har-har,” Eames mocked. “If it weren’t for the two of us, you lot would be defenseless right now, and in a short while that Angel would come crashing through the roof.” It was a serious statement, but he rattled it off with light levity that Shinji wasn’t quite sure if he was joking or not.

“I can’t believe you designed this!” Ariadne exclaimed, already climbing the scaffolding to get a look at it from above. “It’s magnificent. How did you do this?”

“Trade secret,” Eames said.

“Eames is right, for once,” Ritsuko jabbed. “The actual construction of the Eva is filed above Top Secret by the JSSDF and the UN. I’m afraid we can’t release any details on the matter.”

Ariadne seemed not the least bit disheartened.

“Not like you’d be able to build one anyway,” Eames teased.

Cobb stepped forward. “Well, that’s all very well and good, but if I might interrupt? If we don’t get this thing up and running very soon, we’re all in deep.”

“Right. Shinji?” Ritsuko turned to Shinji, as did everyone else.

He nearly shrank under their stares. “Why are you all looking at me?”

“Because you will the pilot of the Evangelion.” Shinji and everyone turned sharply in the direction of the voice. Gendo Ikari was suddenly visible in a command box above the Evangelion. He was speaking through an intercom, so his voice was tinged with the static of technology, but it was the same, cold, unfeeling, harsh voice Shinji had grown to hate.

“Me?” He looked form his father to the Evangelion and back. “Back I’ve never even seen it until just now. How am I supposed to pilot it?”

“It doesn’t matter. It is what you were born to do, Shinji. It is your fate.”

Shinji clenched his fists and dropped his gaze. “Is this the only reason you called for me? So that I would pilot this thing?”

An uncomfortable moment of silence passed before Gendo answered. “Yes. That is the only reason.”

“Well, I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.”

Gendo measured his son for a moment. “Fuyutsuki. Get Rei.”

“Hold on!” Cobb shouted. “Give me one minute.”

Gendo considered it. “One minute. Quickly; we are losing precious time.” The lights in the command box darkened and Gendo’s voice could no longer be heard.

Cobb dropped down to Shinji’s level and grasped both of his shoulders. “Shinji, listen to me. As harsh as that was, he’s right. You’re the only one who can pilot the Evangelion; that’s why we need you.”

“My father doesn’t need me. He said so himself.”

“That’s not true. He needs you more than he will admit. We all need you, Shinji. That’s why we’re here…because we need you. I know it sounds selfish, but you are the only one who can pilot that Evangelion.”

Shinji lifted his head a little so that he could see Cobb’s face. “But I don’t know if I can. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s what you were born to do. Some people are born to be certain things, and you were born to be an Eva pilot. Just like I was born to be an Extractor and Ritsuko and scientist, you were born to be an Eva pilot.”

For a moment, Shinji almost believed him. “No. It’s impossible. I can’t do it.”

“Yes you can, Shinji,” Cobb insisted with a gentle shake. “I know you can. I believe you can. So does everyone here. We know you can do it, or we wouldn’t have come to get you.”

Slowly, very slowly, Shinji looked around the room. At calculating Arthur, curious Ariadne, witty Eames, intelligent Ritsuko. “Is that…true? You all think I can do it?” He was met with a series of head nods.

“You see? We believe in you.”

Shinji stood there for a long moment. He was about to speak when the door to his left opened and a team of doctors pulled a gurney with them. Laying upon the hospital mattress was a young girl with short blue hair. A series of IV’s were hooked into her arms. Parts of her arms and face were covered by bandages and gauze. Every time she inhaled, she winced in pain.

“Rei,” sounded Gendo’s voice over the intercom.

“Yes?” she answered meekly.

“You will be the pilot of Unit 01.”

“Yes.” The team of doctors began helping her out of the bed.

He even has a replacement for me. He doesn’t need me. Cobb is wrong, I can’t do it. Not even my own father believes in me. I really am worthless.

A violent explosion rocked Central Dogma from Tokyo-3 above, sending everyone crashing to the floor. Rei, halfway out of the gurney, hit the floor hard and screamed in pain. Shinji immediately rushed to her side and lifted her gently. His hands were immediately stained with blood. Horrified he looked to her pained face, then to the Evangelion, and then to the command box where Gendo had stood.

How could he do this? How could he force her to pilot that thing when even breathing pains her? No, I can’t let her do this. If it’s me or her, I choose…me. I mustn’t run away. I mustn’t run away. It’s me or her. I choose…me.

“Okay!” he shouted at no one in particular. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll pilot the Eva.” He helped Rei back into the gurney and the doctors wheeled her away. Ritsuko lead a dour Shinji up the scaffolding and to the entry plug.

As he watched them walk away, Eames turned to Cobb. “That was a dirty trick you just placed on the poor boy.”

“It had to be him,” Cobb replied. “We don’t have Rei down here. If he refused, it was all over. I did what had to be done.”

Eames studied the left-hand door where nobody had entered or exited. “Still, I don’t much like all this manipulation. Leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

“Then why are you still with us?” Arthur shot back.

Eames shrugged. “I gotta pay my gambling somehow, eh?”

One by one they filed out. Ariadne trailed behind, watching at Shinji was helped into the entry plug and A10 nerve clips affixed to his head. For once she agreed with Eames; she didn’t much like fooling Shinji like that. He was too young to be caught up in humanity’s war for survival. But there wasn’t’ anything she could do about it right now, so she followed the rest of her team out.

Elsewhere, Gendo laced his fingers and smiled deviously.

-

Shinji sat in the strange cylinder called an entry plug as the technicians ran through the startup checklist over the intercom. His feet found the leg controls, and his hands the arms controls. It baffled him that such simple controls would be able to successfully manipulate a giant robot warrior. He’d read a few pre-Second Impact manga and remembered one being about giant robots fighting. The controls for those seemed more complex than those he was presented with.

But truth is usually stranger than fiction.

“Flooding the entry plug,” he heard over the radio. Before he could react, a strange, orange liquid rapidly filled the capsule. He desperately sucked in a breath and held it.

“Calm down, Shinji,” he heard Ritsuko’s voice over the radio. “Once the LCL fills your lungs, it will deliver oxygen directly to your blood.”

Unable to hold it any longer, Shinji released his breath and inhaled – and did not drown. Amazingly, he was able to breath, see, and smell while submerged in the LCL. He sniffed. It smelled like blood.

“Charging the LCL.”

The orange hue disappeared as a dazzlingly light show occurred outside the controls. For some reason, Shinji was reminded of nerve cells firing. When it was finished, the view was replaced with that of the room outside.

I must be looking through the eyes of the Eva. Oh, that’s creepy, to think that this thing has eyes.

Except for the scent of blood, Shinji could easily forget he was sitting in a cockpit that was completely flooded with a strange liquid. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so easy to forget after all.

The Eva shuddered as the entire thing was carried the launching mechanism. Nearly ten minutes and he still wasn’t in control. “Pathway set. Angel interception course locked.”

“Eva launch!” a female voice he didn’t recognize shouted. Despite the obvious amount of G-forces applied to the Evangelion as it was shot towards the surface, Shinji didn’t feel a single one of them. Just one of the amazing properties of the mysterious LCL.

Darkness filled the Eva’s vision as he emerged street level. Night had fallen since the time he had arrived to now, and the entire city seemed deserted. What had happened to everyone? Had they evacuated or been brought under the Angel’s control? Shinji didn’t have any time to ponder such questions because the Angel rounded the corner and faced Shinji. There was that curious tilting of the head again.

“Shinji,” spoke the unknown female again. “This is Captain Misato Katsuragi, commander of this operation. Can you understand me?”

“Y-yes, ma’am,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the Angel.

“Good. Concentrate on walking right now, ok?”

“Walking. Okay.” Strangely, the Angel did not take advantage of Shinji’s ineptitude. It was if it was waiting to see how this new foe would act. Shinji got the distinct impression that the Angel was much smarter than he was. Shinji depressed one pedal, let off the other, and swung the arms to try and keep balance. For the first step, Unit 01 held, creating afoot-shaped hole in the asphalt and shattering every window in the immediate vicinity. Then it tripped and fell face first into the street, creating a sizable crater where the head impacted. Shinji was nearly thrown out of his seat by the force.

“Shinji!” Misato yelled over the radio. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good. Now get up. Quickly!”

Before Shinji could attempt to right the Eva, the Angel was over him. With a tilt of the head, he picked up Evangelion Unit 01 by the head. Shinji stared directly into its face and was filled with the same terror as before and was unable to bring himself to move the Eva. The Angel took Eva’s left arm with its free hand and squeezed. Shinji felt the pressure as thought it were his own arm.

“Shinji, calm down,” Misato tried to soothe. “That’s not really your arm.”

An audible snap echoed across Tokyo-3 as the Angel broke the Eva’s arm. Shinji felt the pain and screamed, clutching at his arm, completely forgetting the controls. The Angel lifted the Eva higher so that it no longer dragged its feet on the street. The pink spike protruded from its right elbow joint shot forward, slamming into the Eva’s right eye. Shinji also felt that pain. He felt it again and again.

“Shinji!”

Finally, the purple armor gave way and the spike pierced the Eva’s had all the way through. In his head, above all the pain, Shinji heard a soundless, infinite scream.

SACHIEL!

The force of the blow carried Unit 01 backward into a skyscraper where it stopped, still standing. The Angel retracted its weapon and advanced. Eva’s head drooped and blood gushed with alarming pressure from the entrance and exit wounds, flooding the streets and raining it down over the city. Shinji clutched at his right eye, screaming, nearly blacking out from the pain, the pain that seemed to last forever.

-

Yusuf rushed to Shinji’s side when he convulsed and reached for his eye. He had never known anyone to move when asleep like this. Then, the boy screamed. The scream was chilling, one of absolute terror. For nearly a minute, Shinji writhed in pain. Yusuf was afraid the boy was going to claw his own eye out. Thankfully, that never came to pass.

“SACHIEL!”

Then, the boy fell limp.

-

“What happened?” Misato demanded. She looked to Ritsuko, then to her three subordinates, Makoto Hyuga, Maya Ibuki, and Shigeru Aoba.

“Sync ratio is at 0%!” Maya shouted back.

“Pilot’s vital signs have vanished!” Makoto said.

“Apply defibrillation!”

“We can’t! He isn’t wearing a plug suit!”

“Shinji!”

Cobb, Arthur, Eames, and Ariadne watched from some distance away. “This isn’t the end,” Eames remarked. “The old girl is too resilient to be taken down so easily.”

“What about Shinji?” Ariadne demanded. “You know what happens is he dies here.”

“He won’t die,” Cobb said.

“Pilot vitals restored!” Makoto exclaimed. “But he’s unconscious.”

“See?”

“But he’s no good unconscious, Cobb.”

“Ah, but that’s the beauty of the Evangelion, Arthur.” Eames clapped him on the shoulder. “Just watch.”

Ariadne almost couldn’t stomach the talk of Shinji like he was some replaceable piece of machinery.

“Unit 01 had reactivated!” Shigeru shouted. “But Shinji’s still unconscious. How is it moving?

“Oh, no,” Ritsuko whispered. “It’s gone berserk.”

Eames smiled deviously.

-

Unit 01 peeled itself away from the skyscraper, forced apart the armor around its mouth and roared, something an Evangelion was never supposed to. Sachiel halted its advance and observed the strange foe with fascination. Unit 01’s attack was so swift that it didn’t even have time to react. The Eva dropped to a crouch and then launched itself into the air with a forward flip, landing, feet first on Sachiel’s chest, causing it to stagger backward.

Sachiel reacted, reaching up in an attempt to crush the Eva, but the armored fighter quickly propelled itself away, landing on its feet. Once again, the Eva attacked before Sachiel could react, charging headfirst like a bull. It ran right into Sachiel’s AT Field.

The radio in the cockpit was still on, and even though Shinji was unconscious, Evan 01 could still hear the sounds of the NERV personnel scrambling to make sense of the situation. Knowing that it needed both arms to break through, Unit 01 quickly repaired its damaged arm and deployed its own AT Field, neutralizing the Angel’s. With both hand, Unit 01 tore apart Sachiel’s At Field.

Sachiel responded with a tremendous blast of energy that cut through the majority of the city before branching off into a cross-pattern, incinerating the entire bloc of the city. Eva 01 shrugged of the attack as if it were nothing and seized the Angel’s arms. Very easily it broke them, exacting sweet revenge. With a mighty kick delivered squarely to the core, Eva 01 sent Sachiel sailing across the city. It followed its prey with a full charge that carried them both even farther. A trail of decimated buildings was left in their wake.

Sachiel lay sprawled across several city blocks. Evan unit 01 picked itself up and savagely attacked the protruding red sphere, the core. After delivering several direct hit, the damn thing still wouldn’t break. Sachiel came violently back to life, jumping up and wrapping its entire body around Eva 01. It self destructed, taking with it, a large portion of Toyko-3. A pillar of green energy exploded skyward, becoming a cross shape just before the apex.

-

Everybody in the command center jumped to their feet and was staring at the monitor, desperate to see the conclusion. White light filled the screen for a time, followed by static, before the image solidified. Tokyo-3 was in ruins, the central portion of the city was ablaze. But from the thick cloud of smoke emerged Unit 01, relatively unscathed from the fight. Everyone cheered.

Arthur leaned toward Cobb. “What have we got ourselves into?”

“Something that’s way over our heads, Cobb. Are you sure we’re up for this?” Are you sure you’re up for this?

“We have to, Arthur. It’s the only way.” The only way I can get back home to my kids.

Eames whistled. “Come on now, who can honestly say they aren’t impressed, eh?”

Arthur’s retort was lost over the chorus of cheers upon learning that Shinji had regained consciousness.

-

Shinji could only sit there in the cockpit, useless, as Evangelion Unit 01 walked them slowly back towards NERV headquarters. When he had blacked out, the fight had been going poorly. But when he awoke, the Angel was destroyed, and Unit 01 was moving on its own. And a single word was at the forefront of his mind, though he had no idea as to where it had come from: Sachiel.

Unit 01 stopped between two skyscrapers with windows like mirrors. Shinji tried to make it move forward, but it wouldn’t respond. All of a sudden, the faceplate of the Evangelion slid forward and off, crashing to the street below. The head below the armor was reflected on both sides into Shinji’s range of vision. Shinji glanced to the right, toward the eye that had been gouged out. Something shifted with the strange, brown head. A large green eye rolled into place, swiveled, and locked onto Shinji. The same feeling of terror he had experienced from the Angel returned in full. For a long moment, the two stared at one another. He knew that the Eva could see him.

SHINJI.

-

Shinji awoke.

[Mizagium]

03
The Waking World

Shinji was on a train, the kind used throughout Tokyo-3. Outside it was either dawn or dusk. Judging by the orange hue, he guessed it was twilight, but he honestly didn’t know. As the train rattled forward, he heard muffled voices all around him. He tried to find their source, but his only fellow passengers were nondescript shadows, murmuring amongst themselves, chuckling, ignoring him. Just like everyone else. He faced forward and was met with the stoic face of a girl his age with sky blue hair.

“Shinji Ikari.” She said his named as a fact and not a question.

“How do you know my name?” he asked.

“I have known you for a very long time, Shinji. Just as you have known me.”

“…Rei, that’s your name, isn’t it.” He was also not asking a question.

“You fought well, Shinji Ikari, against the Third Angel. For one so unacquainted with the parameters of dream sharing, you handled the situation admirably.”

“Dream sharing? You mean…”

“Yes. You fought the Angel within a human mind. You fought it with a dream construct only a select few are able to pilot. And you succeeded.”

“I didn’t succeed.” He looked away. “I only piloted it so that you wouldn’t have to, Rei.”

“I do not understand, Shinji Ikari. We have never met until this moment. If I were called upon to pilot Unit 01, then I would do so without hesitation, regardless of my physical status, although such factors would be irrelevant within the confines of a dream, as I can be anything I wish.”

“But you were there, in a gurney. You were wrapped up in bandages and you were bleeding. You fell out and I couldn’t bear to see someone in pain like that. That’s why…that’s why I couldn’t let you do it.”

Rei remained ever emotionless. “I was not present within the dream labyrinth, Shinji Ikari. I was still undergoing synchronization tests with Unit 00 when Sachiel appeared. They assured me the Third Child would be able to handle the situation alone, and so I continued.”

“Sachiel…who is that?”

Rei tilted her head slightly to one side. “That is the name of the Third Angel.”

“Angels have names?”

“All living things have names, just as you are Shinji Ikari, and I am Rei Ayanami II.”

“Was your mother’s name Rei?”

“My mother?”

“You said you were the second Rei, usually they just use Jr. at the end of their name.”

Rei hesitated. “My mother is…”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry.”

“There is nothing for you to be sorry for, Shinji Ikari.” Abruptly she shifted gears. Her voice never changed from monotone. “You must rest. Most minds would be able to handle the stress asserted on them like yours can. Sachiel was powerful, but he was not the worst.” She rose and crossed the distance.

“Wait…how do you know the Angel’s name?”

Gently, she touched her hand to his face.

-

Shinji awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling. He studied it for a moment, searching for any distinguishing detail before sitting up. He was in a hospital bed, like the one he had seen Rei in. Or hadn’t. The scent of antiseptic filled his nostrils, sterile, uninviting. He hugged his knees close as memories of the battle drifted back.

In truth, he didn’t remember much of the battle, only the beginning, and the end. And the eye. The image of the enormous green eye focused on him was burned into his mind and on the back of his eyelids. Nothing would be able to remove that image form his memory, not ever.

Why do I find it so unsettling? Is it because I never expected it to have an eye? Because it shouldn’t even need an eye? Or maybe it was the way it could see me, or know that I was inside of it. No, that’s ridiculous; it’s just a…robot? It can’t think or know, or… But it did.

Someone knocked at the door. “Shinji? Are you awake? It’s Ariadne.”

“I’m awake,” he said softly.

Slowly the door slid open and Ariadne walked in carrying a tray of food. You’re probably hungry after all that,” she said with grin.

“Yeah, I guess.” He took the tray and fork and picked at the food without really noticing.

Ariadne went to sit on the bed, hesitated, but ultimately sat on the corner. Shinji watched her over his food. She tugged at the kerchief around her neck, which drew his attention to her chest. He quickly averted his eyes, lest she see him.

“You’re probably a bit confused, huh?” she began slowly. “I mean, we kind of threw you in there without much of a warning. They made you pilot that…thing without any training. You’re probably not sure if you’re dreaming or not right now.” She made it an observation, not a question.

Shinji moved his eyes back, careful to keep them on hers. Ever so slightly, he nodded. “Yes, that’s right. When I was fighting the Angel, I thought it was real, but now that I look back on it, I can’t remember how we got to the city in the first place. I guess it was a dream, but how do I know I’m not dreaming right now?”

Ariadne frowned. “Dammit, I wish they’d have given you more information before dropping you and hoping you don’t drown. Luckily you can swim, huh?” She smiled but it vanished upon seeing his distraught face. “I’m going to tell you the truth, Shinji: you are awake. This hospital is real. I am real and so are you. We are in Tokyo-3. More specifically, the hospital ward of Central Dogma, inside the Geofront.”

“I thought the Geofront was part of the dream…or did the dream start after we got here?” He was trying so hard to find a grasp on reality, but in this world of dreams, and dreams within dreams, and Angels…it was almost impossible. He couldn’t imagine doing this on a regular basis like Cobb and Arthur.

She must have recognized his frustration because she spoke soothingly, but not condescendingly. “The Geofront is part of the real world. You were brought down here before being put under. Within the dream, NERV headquarters is replicated because it had to power the Evas down there.”

He finished his food – still unsure of what exactly he ate – Shinji set the tray aside. “But how do you know I’m not dreaming?”

“Because if you are dreaming, then so am I. I’m not here to confuse you, Shinji, I’m trying to help. Like I said before, I’m going to tell you the truth.”

Shinji believed her. She seemed sincere and was the first person to come to see him. Cobb has just pulled him in and thrown everything at him at once. Arthur and Yusuf and Eames hadn’t helped, either. Whatever their mission was, they were going to carry it out, regardless of Shinji’s understanding.

“So, how do you know we aren’t dreaming? Cobb said dreams feels real while we’re in them, and that we can’t remember the beginning of them, that we always start right in the middle. So, how can you tell?”

Ariadne stood and reached into her pocket. “You need to create a Totem, a link to reality.” She revealed a chess piece, either a king or a queen, Shinji couldn’t remember. “Something small that you can carry with you at all times. Something that only you know the exact dimensions of. Something unique.” She turned away from him and placed the piece on the table. Hidden from him, she knocked it over with one finger, testing the weight. It fell exactly as she expected.

“Only you can know your Totem. No one else can know or they can recreate it within a dream and fool you. With a totem, you can test whether you are in reality,” she slipped the chess piece away, “or a dream.”

It all made Shinji’s head hurt, so he simply nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll get a Totem.”

Ariadne twisted her mouth, shifted on her feet and looked at the door. “Look, Shinji, I have to go. Cobb needs the team and I’m running a little late. Are you going to be okay?”

He smiled. “I’ll be fine. I just need to rest is all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, go on. Don’t let me hold you up.”

She hesitated a moment longer. “Okay. I’ll check on you later, okay?” She waved as she left the room. Shinji waved back but let his hand droop as soon as the door slid shut. The image of the eye found him again, and he hugged his knees close.

-

“What is it you wanted to show me, Yusuf?” Gendo Ikari demanded as soon as he stepped in the room. Fuyutsuki followed close behind, the commander’s stalwart shadow. He adjusted his glasses and waited impatiently to be answered.

Doctors Yusuf and Agaki were huddled close to a computer screen. Ritsuko stood up first. “Commander Ikari,” she greeted formally. He simply nodded.

“Oh, Commander Ikari,” Yusuf said excitedly. “I have some interesting footage from the security cameras.” He didn’t turn around or look away from the screen, which prompted a sideways glance at Ritsuko from Gendo. She nodded and he joined them at the monitor.

“What is it?’ he demanded.

“As you know, it is my job to monitor the NERV staff while they are engaged in the Angel combat missions.” Of course he knew that; he was the one who assigned the job to Yusuf. But Gendo let him continue. “During my monitoring, something extraordinary happened. Shinji…he…its better if I show you. Watch.”

Yusuf sped the recording forward for a minute before resuming normal speed. “Watch. There.” He pointed at Shinji. The boy convulsed in his seat and grasped at his left arm. “He does it again here.” Shinji grasped at his eye and screamed.

“Is there audio?” Gendo demanded.

“Yes, um. Here.” Yusuf had the sound muted because hearing Shinji scream so many times began to irritate him. He rewound it back to the first movement. The first scream was just a cry of pain. The second was a louder version of the first, but the third…the audio filters nearly shorted out from the intensity.

“SACHIEL!”

Yusuf stopped the recording. “People are not supposed to be able to have that range of motion while drugged and in an active dream. It is impossible for people to speak out loud while drugged. Somehow, your son, Commander, managed to do both in a very short time.”

“What does this mean, Yusuf?”

The Indian Chemist didn’t falter under Gendo’s glare; Cobb had a similar one that he used quite often. “I don’t know right now. By all accounts, this shouldn’t have happened. But then…I’ve never studied one of the Children while they were under. Perhaps as more Angels appear, I’ll obtain more data.”

“Let’s hope you do. Is there anything else?”

“No. Sir.”

“Very well. If something else arises let me know immediately.” Without another word, he turned and left, Fuyutsuki close behind.

When they were safely out of earshot, Fuyutsuki spoke. “Did you notice, Gendo? A number of times during the recording, Shinji’s eyes blinked. And when he shouted the name, they were fully open.”

“Yes, I saw that. It seems we are even less knowledgeable about the Children than we had anticipated.”

“Should we check him for mental contamination?”

“No. Not yet. If it occurs a second time…” he let the answer hang, but Fuyutsuki understood.

“I wonder what it means? In one fell swoop, your son destroyed every notion concerning dreamers.” He smiled. “But then, he is your son, Ikari.”

Yes, he certainly is. Unfortunately.

-

The next person to come to Shinji was Misato Katsuragi. It was an order handed down from Commander Ikari himself. She was to escort Shinji to the Tokyo-3 Housing Agency so that he would be assigned a place of residence while employed by NERV. Of course, the Agency was actually staffed by members of the Marduk Institute, which owned, controlled, and staffed various agencies all throughout Japan. Ultimately, the Marduk Institute answered to NERV, which meant that NERV effectively controlled a sizeable portion of Japanese business and government. Officially, NERV didn’t exist, and the Marduk Institute was just a small psychological foundation.

Shinji would be assigned to one of the numerous apartment blocks scattered across the city. Most likely he would have to be paired with a NERV agent who would keep watch over the Child like a hawk. It was a terrible way to live but he would get used to it. Once you were part of a secret organization tasked with preserving the future of humanity, there were quite a few restrictions placed on you. Housing was just the least.

To her surprise, Shinji was awake when she came to get him. Awake and rather cheerful. He smiled and talked to her as if everything was ok. He dressed and she led him to the Agent who would assign him residence. She measured him up as they walked, remembering her first encounter with an Angel – on the Antarctic expedition fifteen years ago: the explosion, the years of silence, finally awaking to the smiling face of Professor Miles…how could this kid walk away from full combat with an Angel, when she had suffered for so long?

She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that, but settled on feeling glad that he wouldn’t have to suffer as she had. Maybe there was a hint of jealousy buried in there, but in truth, she was just glad he was okay.

The Tokyo-3 Housing Agency was located on the ground floor of a skyscraper constructed above the Geofront. The glass floor looked down on Central Dogma, giving the impression that you were hanging suspended in the air. Misato roller her eyes; for a secret organization, NERV sure did like to show off. Although, now that she thought about it, this entire building was owned and operated by NERV staff, so there really wasn’t any chance of a random citizen accidentally spotting the giant underground cavern.

Agent Hitiro announced that Shinji would be rooming alone. Halfway across the city. The Child accepted the assignment with a muttered “Thank you”.

“Alone? Are you serious?” Misato challenged. The kid was fourteen and new to the city. How could anyone expect him to live on his own, especially after the fight?

“Oh, its fine, Ms. Katsuragi,” Shinji assured her with a smile. “I’m used to being on my own, so it’s not a problem. I like it.”

“No. Agent Hitiro, I am hereby taking this child into my custody. He will live with me in my apartment.”

“Miss…er, Captain, I don’t have the authority…” That was a flat lie. He had the complete authority to allow her to do that. Not only did she outrank him, but technically, aside from keeping tabs on the various NERV personnel across the city, the Housing Agency didn’t really do anything.

Agent Hitiro sighed. “Very well, let me get the proper form.” He pulled open all of the drawers his desk had to search for the change of residence form. As he searched, he said, “You are aware then, that you are now the legal guardian of Shinji Ikari, and are thus responsible for his safety, schooling, and all the other stuff that goes with it right?”

“I understand.”

“Here we go. Sign this.” When she was finished, the Hitiro put the form in another drawer. No doubt it would be lost forever in the dark confines of his desk. “Shinji Ikari is now assigned to live with Captain Misato Katsuragi, who is hereby entrusted with his security. Congratulations… I guess.”

“Thank you. Come on, Shinji.”

Unsure of what else to do, Shinji followed her out.

-

Ariadne arrived last to the team meeting at the warehouse located on the other side of the city from NERV. Arthur, Eames, and Yusuf were all standing with their backs turned away from the door, facing Cobb who was speaking. Behind him was a large flat screen television mounted on the wall which, aside from the dream machines, was the only piece of advanced technology in the empty warehouse. All of them stopped and looked her way when she entered, making her feel just a little self-conscious.

“Sorry I’m late; I was checking on Shinji.”

“How is he?” Yusuf asked.

“Seems normal enough. But then I don’t know him that well, so I don’t know if that’s ‘normal’ or not. Why?”

“Because he went toe to toe with a bloody Angel,” Eames exclaimed. “Not only that, but he beat the damn thing to death. Hell, I don’t know if I’d be all right in the head after that.”

“Technically speaking, Eames,” Arthur challenged. “Shinji was unconscious during the majority of the fight. Not only that, but the Angel self-destructed before the Eva could destroy it.”

“Oh, bugger off.”

Ariadne hid her smiled as she stepped in place between Arthur and Yusuf. He was dressed in a suit, as were Cobb and Eames. How did they all manage to wear nothing but suits every single day? She looked down at herself: skinny jeans, t-shirt, jacket, and a kerchief. Even considering Yusuf, she still looked out of place. But since no one had said anything to her so far… Maybe they all just really liked wearing suits?

“As I was saying,” Cobb continued with a tone that stopped the bickering, “we have another assignment from our employer.”

“I thought NERV was our assignment?”Ariadne glanced at Arthur.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too, but apparently we missed something in the fine print.”

“But we didn’t sign a contract.” She narrowed her eyes.

“And she gets it!” Eames clapped sardonically. “Now you understand: the blokes signing our checks can tell us to do bloody well whatever they like.”

“So what’s the mission?” Yusuf asked impatiently.

“It seems they would rather tell us all in person,” Cobb said picking up the remote control. “Well, you know. For them.”

The television flickered to life and revealed the dour face of an Asian man in his mid to late fifties. Ariadne had always thought he was Japanese, but he could be a number of other ethnicities for all she knew.

“Mr. Saito,” Cobb greeted.

“Greetings, Cobb. Arthur Eames. Ariadne. Yusuf. I have another assignment for you all.”

“What about our assignment to NERV?” Ariadne asked, the only one of the group who dared to.

Mr. Saito smiled. “Fret not, young Ariadne, your collaboration with NERV is still of the utmost priority. However, while Ikari licks his wounds, we have need of you elsewhere. Mr. Cobb, are you familiar with a Mr. Kretzer?”

“I am,” he responded. “He was a student with me and Mal. We both learned Extraction under Miles. Why?”

“Well, as you know, after the…incident, all of the students scattered to the four winds. We’ve done a lot of cleanup since then, but despite out best efforts, Mr. Kretzer refuses to be…collected into our organization.” He paused, letting the information sink in. Ariadne suspected Cobb knew what was coming next, and perhaps Eames. “You are to track him down and find out how much he knows.”

“About what?”

“About everything. He refuses to cooperate with us and we are left with few options. Once we can determine just how much Kretzer knows, we can determine just how to handle the situation.”

No one spoke for almost a minute. “Where is Kretzer?” Cobb asked, breaking the silence like a hammer on untempered glass.

“By a stroke of luck, he is currently in Japan. From what we can tell, he isn’t here for anything specific, simply flying under the radar, trying not to be noticed. Little does he know: we’ve been watching him this entire time.”

That sent a shiver up Ariadne’s spine.

“We have intel that suggests he will attempt to relocate within the next few days. You must intercept him before he escapes again. You leave tomorrow at dawn.” He bowed his head and the feed cut to static.

“I don’t like this,” Ariadne said as soon as the flat screen was turned off. “We’re going up against another Extractor?”

“It’s really not as difficult as it seems,” Arthur assured her. “We’ve handled neurosecurity before.”

“Not like this,” Cobb countered. “Kretzer’s good. Not great, but even a mediocre Extractor has better subconscious training than most high powered businessmen. No, we haven’t handled anyone like Kretzer before. However,” he said after a beat. “However, he’s not impossible to crack. Ariadne, I’ve got some ideas”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t see the mazes; I just am going to suggest locations.” When agreed reluctantly, he turned to Eames. “Eames. I might need you to be Miles. Can you do that?”

“I suppose. English? Old? Has a habit of telling you things about yourself that you don’t like?” He grinned that mischievous grin of his. “Not a problem.”

“Arthur?”

“Way ahead of you.” He reached in his bag and produced his laptop. “Luckily, I think the old Institute files are still on their website. Easy enough to break into.”

“And Yusuf?”

“I think I have a compound that can slow down his subconscious’ reaction.”

“Excellent.”

And just like that, the team set to work. Ariadne listened to Cobb’s ideas, but only half heartedly. As much as she enjoyed her work as an Architect, she felt a certain hesitation in building levels to trap a fellow Extractor. To her it felt like a betrayal, like she was turning on her own people. But it was not like she had much of a choice.

Still, she didn’t have to like it.

-

Less than an hour later, Shinji and Misato were driving along the outskirts of the city. Shinji was seated in the passenger seat with a bag of groceries in his lap. Most of it was microwaveable food. The rest was beer. For the first time, he got a good look at his new guardian. Misato Katsuragi was somewhere in her mid to late twenties, a little over five feet tall, with brown eyes, and dark brown, almost black hair. She was, at least to Shinji, strikingly beautiful.

“Ms. Katsuragi…”

“It’s just Misato, Shinji. We’re roommates after all.” She smiled and he had to smile back.

“Right. Um, Misato. Thank you, um, for taking me in.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It’ll be nice to have a real roommate for once. Plus this makes my job a whole lot easier. You see I was assigned to watch over you anyway and –not that I mean that that’s why I did it!” She fumbled over her words. “Err, you get what I’m saying right?”

“I guess.” In truth, he wasn’t sure he would ever understand Misato. “Hey, where are we? I thought you said we were going to your apartment.”

“Our apartment,” she corrected. “And we are, I just wanted to take a little detour. Here.” She turned onto the shoulder of the road a little too roughly, nearly spilling the bag of instant food. She stepped out of the car and Shinji followed at her insistence.

They were standing on the side of a road carved into a mountain that overlooked the entire city of Tokyo-3. “Look Shinji. This is your city now. All of the people living in it, whether they know it or not, owe their lives to you. This is what we at NERV are fighting to defend.”

Shinji surveyed the city. It was meticulously planned, a common element found in most new cities after Second Impact. The central bloc was curiously built in the shape of a cross. It was a massive city. It was a beautiful city and Shinji felt awed by its presence. They stayed until dark, when the lights of the city turned on and the city truly looked alive.

After a few more minutes of gawking, Misato ushered him back into the car and drove him to her apartment. Shinji hesitated when she opened the door. “Don’t worry, Shinji,” she said with a warm smile. “This is your home now.”

He stepped timidly over the threshold. “I-I’m home.”

“Welcome home. Sorry if it’s a little messy,” she apologized offhandedly as she went off to change. “Can you put the food away please?”

Empty cans of beer and instant food containers littered every surface in the kitchen. Setting the bag of food on the table sent a wave of litter cascading onto the floor. With a sigh, he opened what he assumed was the pantry. He was met with a wall of junk food. The fridge was completely filled with beer.

Is this all she eats? Junk and beer?

Misato returned a few minutes later dressed in a yellow t-shirt and short cutoff jeans. Without so much as a word, she pulled a garbage bag out of possibly the only cabinet not occupied by food and casually swept all of the trash into it, tied it up, and tossed it by the front door, promising to take it out later. Somehow, Shinji doubted that.

All of the microwave food took less than ten minutes to cook. Spread out on the kitchen table, it looked something like a poor man’s feat. Misato cracked open a beer and, to Shinji’s amazement, downed the whole thing at once.

“Ah yeah! That’s the spot!” she exclaimed. Despite repeated attempts to coerce Shinji into talking, they ate in relative silence. At one point, she reached across the table a shook his head gently, declaring that he was a man, so he should act like one. He only responded with a smile, which she considered a win. Shinji couldn’t help but smell the alcohol on her breath.

At her insistence, Shinji went to take a bath after they ate. Misato claimed it cleansed the mind and body. Considering the circumstances, Shinji decided it was worth a shot. But when he opened the bathroom door, he was greeted by a strange…penguin?! Startled, he ran to tell Misato, fumbling over his words as he did.

She watched him, confused, until the thing pushed past him. “Oh, that’s just Pen Pen,” she said, smiling. “He lives here, too.” The penguin waddled over to the second refrigerator, which Shinji had been meaning to ask about, and pressed a button with a retractable claw. A door slid open and the creature waddled inside. “Think of him as another roommate.”

“Pen Pen, right.”

“Uh, Shinji…you might want to cover up.”

“Huh?” He looked down at himself, and finally noticed that he was completely naked. Embarrassed, he slinked back to the bathroom. As he lay in the warm water, he tried to forget about the events of the day, to let them be washed away by the waters. Try as he might, the image of the hideous green eye would not leave him.

Later, as he lay in his bed, listening to his cassette player, he remembered what Ariadne had said about finding a Totem, a link to reality. He only had one tape for the device, and he knew all the songs by heart. Rolling onto his back, he held the cassette player above his head.

“Totem,” he whispered. “You will be my link to reality. Please don’t fail me.”

“Shinji?” Misato knocked on the door. “I’m coming in.” It slid open and Shinji quickly rolled onto his side, facing away from the door. He tucked the cassette player out of sight as if it were made of gold. “I just wanted to tell you: you did a really good thing today, and I am very proud of you.”

He watched her shadow until she left. Then he curled up tighter and tried to sleep without dreaming.

-

Ritsuko examined the body with great disinterest. It was useless to her now; there was nothing to be gained from studying an empty body. Shinji’s destruction of the Angel (rather, the Angel’s self-destruction) had completely destroyed this man’s mind, if it wasn’t already wiped clean from the start.

“Maya,” she called to her assistant. “Can you bring me this man’s file?”

Maya Ibuki quickly delivered the information on the corpse to her mentor. “What are you going to do with him?”

“Nothing, Maya. We can’t do anything more with this body. It has no mind anymore. So we’ve got to do the only thing left.” She dropped the papers onto the gurney with the body and wheeled it to the end of the hall, Maya following close behind. “Would you open that grate for me, please?”

Maya swung open the grate labeled “Incinerator” and hastily stepped aside. Ritsuko dumped the body and papers into the hellfire and slammed the grate shut. She wasn’t sure who designed the incinerator into Central Dogma, but whoever it was certainly had her tanks at that moment.

“That man never existed, Maya. Erase all personal information surrounding him.”

[Mizagium]

04
Sin City, Part 1: City of Lights

For all its infamy, Second Impact did less to change the world than mankind itself. When faced with disaster, humans respond in the only way they know how: by turning on one another. For months, entire countries were embroiled in anarchy as communities competed over electricity, water, food, and gasoline. Governments were only able to restore order by pointing the finger at the rest of the world. The squabbles over resources became full blown wars between major world powers. Historians have thus far refused to give the post-Impact crisis a single identifying name because in reality, it consisted of a handful of smaller wars. There were no two sides in the conflict; it was every man for himself. Still, some civilians insisted on calling it World War III.

The United States, Russia, China, Japan, Great Britain, and Germany were among the nations that managed to hold themselves together in the initial post-Impact world, though they fought fiercely with one another for nearly a year. It seemed like the beginning of the end when the first nuke was dropped on Old Tokyo. For a brief moment, the entire world burned. Tokyo, Washington, D.C., Berlin, Hong Kong; all the great cities of the world were flattened.

Then came the Peace of Valentine’s Day. It was decided by the nations of the world that rebuilding civilization was far more important than destroying one another based on past relations. Humanity held its collective breath as troops were recalled. The dust settled and was never stirred up again. No one had really wanted war in the first place, or, at least that’s what they all told each other. The increased strength of the United Nations was a testament to this. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and looked onward towards fixing the shattered world.

While most countries set about rebuilding their destroyed infrastructure, Japan chose an altogether different route. Having been forced to abandon the ruins of Old Tokyo, now mostly submerged following the nuclear strike, they government decided to simply start over from scratch. Any city that sustained serious damage was torn down and completely rebuilt. Hiroshima became Hiroshima-2, despite attempts to name it Hiroshima-3. Yokohama became Yokohama-2. In need of a new capital, Matsumoto City was rebuilt as Tokyo-2. Only Kyoto, the ancestral capital and home to the Emperor, escaped a renaming.

Osaka-2 was another of the rebuilt cities. Unlike most, it had sustained much damage during the fighting. The Osaka City Council, instead, decided on enacting a large-scale modernization project in conjunction with the rest of Japan. All structures that were outdated pre-Impact were simply torn down and rebuilt in the same location. The layout of Osaka-2 was nearly identical to Old Osaka, except for the outer areas where the city expanded. This was unlike the other cities of the Rebuild Project, which were completely redesigned starting with the street layout.

Osaka-2 had so far maintained its status as the center of Japanese economy. In a world that had largely rejected the decadent consumerism of the late twentieth century, Osaka-2 was one of the last holdouts of carefree lifestyle enjoyed by many in the years preceding Second Impact, although now it was mainly a playground for the rich and powerful, having freely embraced the derisive nickname “the Japanese Vegas” given in recent years. Osaka-2 differed from Las Vegas in that prostitution remained an illegal activity, although the issue appeared in council every year. Each time it slipped closer and closer to legality.

Ariadne was only thirteen at the time of Second Impact, so only a handful of memories concerning America before the wars started, but her visit to New York City was a prominent one, if vague. The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the World Trade Center, Broadway; all were buildings that represented the pinnacle of human achievement. Most of her other memories consisted of moving from place to place, from East Coast to West Coast. As much as she hated all the moving around her parents did when she was in grade school, she supposed she was thankful now that she got to see as much of pre-Impact America that she did. Not only are cities like New York and San Francisco underwater, but seeing the tall, marvelous skyscrapers fueled her interest in architecture following Second Impact. All that ultimately lead her to Cobb and a job doing things she never dreamed possible.

Osaka-2 was a striking reminder of a world that no longer existed: skyscrapers that gleamed with the light reflected off thousands of polished windows; flashing neon and electric signs advertising everything from food and clothes to cars and weapons; the constant stream of pedestrians clogging the streets, preventing any vehicles from getting anywhere quickly. That was something she remembered distinctly her parents telling her about New York: no one who lives in the city has a car. It struck her as a paradox at first, until she understood.

The team of five was riding an old locomotive through the city, like those used in Tokyo-3. The high-speed monorail had left them at the edge of the city, where they had to switch to a more traditional ride to get into Osaka-2 proper. Eames, sitting in the center seat between her and Yusuf leaned over and whispered into her ear, “This is Osaka-2, darling, not Osaka-7; you won’t find any giant fighting robots here.”

Arthur chuckled from his seat in front of her. She turned around and punched him on the leg. “Don’t encourage him,” she scolded with a smile.

“Would you rather I fought with him, or agreed with him?”

Ariadne slumped back in her seat with a sigh. “Insufferable, isn’t he?” Eames whispered loudly.

Fighting back a moan, Ariadne once more turned to the window. “For your information, Eames, I was studying the architecture of Osaka-2 for when we nab this Kretzer guy. Assuming we’re going to place him in an Osaka-labyrinth, I want the architecture to be as close as possible to the real thing. Obviously I can’t copy real places, but if I get it close enough, it’ll take longer for his preconscious to become suspicious.”

“Atta girl,” Cobb nodded in recognition of her prowess.

“And you had your doubts,” Arthur said to Eames.

“What? I said no such thing. He’s lying, Ariadne. You’re a liar and I don’t appreciate such baseless allegations.” They shared a smirk that let everyone know no animosity existed between the two. At least, not at the moment. Very easily those two could wear on each other. Over a series of Extraction missions, they had learned just how far they could push the other, which, as it turns out, wasn’t really all that far.

Her concentration broken, Ariadne crossed her arms with a huff. “You made her angry,” Cobb said to Arthur. “I’d watch out. She’s more likely to hit you than Eames is.” She flashed a triumphant smile at Arthur. Before he could retaliate, the conductor announced over the intercom that the train would be arriving at the station within the next ten minutes. Cobb leaned his head out into the aisle to make sure no one was coming. Satisfied, he pulled the door shut and produced a small device from his pockets which he set on the floor.

“Jams any electronic bugs that might have been slipped into the compartment,” he explained.

“Is that likely?” Ariadne asked, eyeing the device as it emitted a low whirr.

“It’s possible. Saito’s colleagues are…a suspicious lot.”

Eames snorted at the word “colleagues”.

“Here’s what’s happening,” Cobb continued. “Kretzer’s flight from Kansai International Airport doesn’t leave until the day after tomorrow, so we have about thirty-six hours to locate, drug, Extract, and turn him over to Saito.”

“I thought Saito had spies trailing Kretzer?”

“He did, but Kretzer started acting paranoid, and he was forced to call them back.

Arthur spoke. “I think Kretzer is aware that he is being tracker, though he’s not sure whom. In any case, he is on the lookout for people like us, which makes our job more difficult.” He unfolded a map of the city that looked like he had picked it up at the last train station. “From what I’ve discovered, he spends most of his time in the central bloc, where all the casinos and bars are located.”

“My specialty,” Eames rubbed his hands together predatorily.

“Exactly. Eames, you’re to spend most of your time in that area while keeping an eye out for Kretzer. When and if you do, you start following him, contact us, and we’ll grab him.”

“Hold on a tic. I’m to spend the next day and a half drinking and gambling?”

Arthur and Cobb shared an uneasy look. “That’s about the long and short of it. Eames – “

“Don’t work yourself into a tizzy, Cobb. I don’t have a problem, not anymore. Now, do I have a budget?” Ariadne caught sight of a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“Just don’t bankrupt us,” Cobb warned. “Even Saito has his limit. Use discretion, ok?”

“Oi, ‘discretion’ is my middle name.”

“Really? I thought it was ‘flamboyance’,” Yusuf quipped, much to the astonishment of the others.

“Touché, Yusuf. Best watch yourself, Arthur, or Yusuf here’ll give you some stiff competition.”

“Oh, no. Sniping and bickering isn’t my thing, but that one was just too good to pass up.”

Cobb continued on without them. “Arthur, I need you and Yusuf to go to the hotel and secure our rooms. Find out who’s going to be working the desk for the next two days and pay them off. I don’t want to have to explain a bound and gagged Russian to the clerks.”

“Rooms?” Ariadne asked. “How many?”

“Five,” supplied Arthur. “One for each of us.”

“Isn’t that a little excessive?”

“Would you rather we all share a room?”

Ariadne, Yusuf, and Cobb all cast glances at Eames.

“You look at me, you bloody bastards. He’s the smelly one.” He jabbed an accusing finger at Yusuf.

“Because I’m Indian?”

“No, because you smell funny.”

Once again, Cobb went on with the plan, knowing (or at least hoping) that the others would hear him over their own bickering. “Ariadne, you come with me as we scout the rest of the city. We don’t have a van this time, which is for the best. We won’t stand out as much.”

“Are we really going to be able to find him in this heavily populated city?”

“He’s a Russian in the middle of a Japanese city,” Eames deadpanned. “Please assure me that you can tell the difference.”

“Eames’ areas are the casinos and bars. Ours is the shopping districts. If he’s discovered that he is being followed, as Arthur suspects, he might try to change his image. Luckily for us, I know his face.” A dark look crossed his face but he quickly shook it off. “Are we clear?”

“Clear,” they chorused. Satisfied, he swept up the jamming device, switched it off, and hid it away.

“Are you going to be okay, Cobb?” Ariadne asked.

He paused halfway through the motion of opening the compartment door. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

-

Ariadne always thought people looked more suspicious when they were trying not to act suspicious. Part of being nonchalant was the natural aspect of it; when you acted normal, you came across as suspicious for acting normal. That being said, she thought she and Cobb were the most suspicious looking people in all of Osaka-2. Cobb was doing his utmost to appear a hurried businessman, the PASIV Device playing the part of a briefcase, but the small American girl tagging along behind him did much to shatter that illusion, at least in her eyes.

But then cloak-and-dagger wasn’t her forte, so what did she know?

“Do you really have to bring that thing everywhere?”

Cobb glanced self-consciously at the PASIV. “Probably not; it’s more a habit that anything.’ He shrugged. “You never know, though”

“What? You’re going to suddenly need to drug somebody and go into their dreams?” As ridiculous as the question sounded, she conceded it was a strong possibility considering the current situation. “Anyway.”

In order escape the inevitable awkward conversation, Ariadne craned her neck to read the neon billboards that advertised various clothing outlets and restaurants. Her Japanese wasn’t nearly as good as Cobb’s or Arthur’s, both of whom could speak and read it fluently, but she was able to make out most of what was advertised. Following Second Impact, many of the old name brand empires had died away as society rejected such mass consumerism worldwide; no one could afford it anymore. That paved the way for the return of smaller, local “mom and pop” businesses. Only in isolated areas like Osaka-2 could one effectively catch a glimpse into the past.

“It’s eerie, isn’t it?” Cobb remarked. “We’re both old enough to remember the world before Impact, when all major cities were like this, but now it seems like a distant memory, as if that was the dream and Second Impact kicked us back into reality. It was so good back then, so peaceful. We didn’t have anything to worry about. The world was constantly sitting on the brink of disaster.” His pace slowed as he slipped in reverie. “I envy the people, Ariadne. I really do. Ignorance is bliss, as clichéd as that saying is. They don’t have the threat of Angels hanging over them. As far as they know, everything is about as normal as it could be in the new world.”

At first, Ariadne thought he sounded bitter at the world, but by the time he had finished talking, she realized he was mournful, but for whom she couldn’t tell.

“I thought you always said not to get emotionally invested in jobs like this?” It was a cruel question and she knew it, but it would serve its purpose and make Cobb focus on the task at hand.

“That’s true,” he agreed. “Now you see how difficult it is to remain distant, especially in something like this. No matter what Arthur says…” There was more to that, but he let it hang.

“What does Arthur say, Cobb?”

For a moment, she thought he was actually going to explain something for once.

“Nothing. Come on, we have to find Kretzer before he skips town.”

Damn.

-

Eames casually sipped his scotch and eyed his cards. His stack of chips at the blackjack table was the largest but not by a ridiculous margin. Years of card counting had taught him to never soar ahead of the competition. You drew the attention of the house that way and sooner or later they would discover you were counting. Not that it was strictly illegal, but it was…frowned upon.

He hadn’t caught the name of the casino on the way in, but it had the largest, flashiest sign he had seen up to that point. That meant they had the most money and would do their damndest to make sure you didn’t’ get any of it. Disappointingly, the interior didn’t stand out much in Eames’ mind, not compared to Vegas, at least. But then nothing compared to Vegas.

King of Spades. Six of Hearts. A cursory glance revealed the other players screwing up their faces in frustration. Amateurs, he thought derisively.

“Hit me,” he told the dealer. Four of Clubs. Eyebrows raised all around the table. Two of the others exceeded twenty-one and stormed off in a huff, taking their few chips with them. The other two played eighteen and nineteen , respectively. The dealer landed twenty, same as Eames.

“Dealer wins.”

“Cheating bastard,” Eames remarked as the man collected the cards and chips.

“It’s my job,” he replied with a shrug.

“That it is, my friend. That it is. Don’t you worry, though: I’ll be winning it back in the next round.”

“You’ll try,” he said noncommittally. The man who had played eighteen sighed and gathered his chips, but his seat was quickly filled. In the time it took for the dealer to change decks, the two seats to Eames’ right were also filled. Very carefully, Eames watched Kretzer with his peripherals. The Russian Extractor had taken the far seat, and kept glancing back over his shoulder.

Kretzer was just as Eames remembered: unkempt. The Russian’s long, dark hair looked as if hadn’t been washed in weeks. His beard was thick and poorly concealing bits of food. Eames thought he spied clumps of gum. He used the excuse of ordering another drink to get a full look. For a brief instant, Kretzer looked his way, though he didn’t seem to recognize the Forger. His eyes were filled with madness.

Eames hardly paid attention to his cards during the next round, only just realizing that he had twenty-one. Kretzer cast another paranoid look over his shoulder but otherwise remained at the table. Deciding that he wanted to be able to follow the rouge Extractor out if he fled suddenly, Eames collected his chips and cashed them in. He ended up with over six thousand dollars worth of yen. Not bad considering he had entered with just over a thousand.

Carefully keeping a hand on his money, Eames took his drink to the bar, positioning himself where he could easily see Kretzer without appearing obvious. He smiled at himself; he was a much better spy than Cobb and Arthur combined.

Kretzer changed tables a few times during the day; Eames didn’t carry a watch and the casino was designed in such a way (as were most) so that it was extremely difficult to determine the time of day from the inside, so he wasn’t sure exactly how long he watched the Russian, but it felt like a long day. Finally, overcome by paranoia, Kretzer left the casino, leaving his chips behind. Eames finished his drink deliberately, and left shortly thereafter in no particular hurry.

The day had quickly become night while he gambled and spied, though the volume of the crowd didn’t seem to have been affected in the slightest. Once outside, he dialed his cell phone for Cobb. “Allo, Cobb? Yes, it’s Eames. Kretzer just left the…” He turned and read the name of the casino from the flashing sign. “I’m only a few minutes behind… He was acting awfully paranoid, mate. Had I followed any sooner he would have been onto me… No, you don’t understand, Dom. Kretzer’s fallen off the deep end. You didn’t see his eyes: their wild. Whatever he’s been up to since then, it’s destroyed him… Right. Okay.”

Eames shut the phone and broke into a run in the same instant. He pushed through the crowd, scanning over their heads for Kretzer. Several people shouted at him in Japanese but he wasn’t thinking in that language at the moment, so any insults they hurled at him were as good as Styrofoam packing peanuts. Once he caught sight of the ragged Russian’s head over the crowd, he slowed to a quick walk, enough to keep pace. All he had to do was follow the crazed man to the hotel where he was staying – if he was staying at one at all.

Fortunately, Kretzer was indeed staying at a hotel: a Hampton Inn. The Hilton Empire was one of the few to not suffer a complete collapse in the new post-Impact world. Everyone stayed at hotels; the world was their market.

Eames waited outside for nearly half an hour, simultaneously eating dinner at a restaurant across the street, an Italian place that let him eat on the patio. He paid with his some of his winnings. He called Cobb again. “Yeah…I got him.”

-

The team met an hour later in Cobb’s room to discuss the sequence for Extracting from Kretzer’s mind. Eames’ portrayal of Miles was proving to be the lynchpin of the entire operation, as there was no one else they could think of to whom Kretzer would willingly speak. Therefore, no one else would be able to determine the location of his information.

“What makes you so sure Kretzer will be willing to spill his guts?” Arthur asked Cobb, leaning forward in his chair.

“All of us trust Miles implicitly, Arthur. I do, at least. Back in the Institute, he was the only man who didn’t view us a weapons or tools. There wasn’t a student of his that didn’t place absolute faith in the man.”

“How well do you think that trust has survived the last decade or so?”

“Mine remains strong.”

“You didn’t see him, Arthur,” Eames interjected. “He’s completely wild. I was part of the Institute as well as Cobb, and I know Miles. Kretzer is going to break down in tears if he sees miles again, I think. You even said his ticket is for England, right? What other reason could he have for going there than to see Miles?”

“I still don’t like it,” Arthur remarked, spinning his pen. “We’re relying too much on assumptions. I didn’t have enough time to do a thorough investigation in Kretzer’s recent activities. Had I been able to do so, we might have already known he was insane, as well as anyone else he’s spoken to.”

“Assumptions are all we have, Arthur,” Cobb said. “We have to assume that Kretzer was going to see Miles in England, so we have to assume that only he will be able to speak to him.” When Arthur didn’t challenge him, he turned to Yusuf. “Do you have a compound that can subdue his preconscious?”

“Yes, but it dulls the sensitivity of the inner ear.” He brandished a vial of yellowish liquid.

“So we can’t kick back into reality if something goes wrong.”

“Precisely. You have to wait out the timer, or get killed.”

“Well, at least that’s the same,” Eames quipped.

“Why would Saito’s employers want to stop Kretzer from speaking to Miles?” Ariadne had been holding her question for a long time. “I mean, didn’t he used to work with them?”

Cobb leaned back and exhaled a long, slow breath. “That’s a good question, but one that doesn’t pertain to us. Our mission is to stop Kretzer from boarding that plane to England and Miles, and to find out what he knows. Maybe we’ll answer the question in the process. If not, it doesn’t matter.”

“Assuming he is even going to meet Miles,” Arthur tried to correct again. ‘We don’t know what he’s doing. That’s what makes this difficult. Without knowing what Kretzer has been doing, we can’t guess what he will do once he gets to England. We have to assume he wants to meet Miles, but if that’s not the case, then we don’t have a backup plan.”

“Yes we do.”

Eames and Arthur both shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Ariadne and Yusuf shared a look of confusion; neither had any idea what Cobb was talking about.

“Would he really use that?” Arthur asked.

“Of course he bloody would, you twit,” Eames replied without malice. “Saito’s employer is going to great lengths to prevent Kretzer from getting to Miles. It’s not inconceivable that he would be prepared to go all the way.”

“But that’s – “

“We’re guessing at every level of this operation, Arthur,” Cobb said swiftly, stifling the issue. “Nothing is certain right now, not Kretzer’s goals, not Saito’s goals, not Mile’s role in this. But we have to assume the worst and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. If we fail in this, Saito is going to use it. I don’t want that to happen to Kretzer, so that’s what we have to succeed. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” they chorused. Whatever it was that might happen to Kretzer, it sounded horrible. Ariadne was sure she didn’t want it to happen to anyone, so she voiced her agreement, as did Yusuf. This was one of those rare times when she thought better of asking questions, partly because of the greater levels of secrecy involved, but mostly because she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know.

“Right then. Are all the clerks for tomorrow bought out, Arthur?”

He nodded numbly. “Yes. No matter what time we drag him in tomorrow, nobody will alert the police. In fact, they might help us carry him up to the room if we ask.”

“Let’s not involve any innocents in this, eh?” Eames gave Arthur a reproachful stare.

“It was a joke.” They shared a tense look and abruptly turned away.

“If we’re all clear, then we should get some sleep,” Cobb announced. They all nodded and stood, filing out of the room. As she left, Ariadne caught Cobb giving the PASIV a longing stare over his shoulder.

“Goodnight, Cobb,” she said. “Don’t get lost, ok?”

“Goodnight, Ariadne.” He sounded sad, just like always.

-

Ariadne awoke sometime around two o’clock in the morning, and was unable to get back to sleep, so she dressed light and decided to take a walk around the block. This far into the city, the air was warm at all times of the day. She missed the winter. Some parts of the world still saw snow, but Japan hadn’t had a proper winter since Second Impact. Right now, she would have settled for chilly, but no such luck.

This mission bothered her more than she cared to admit. She was used to the team maintain their secrets; she and Yusuf were relative newcomers to the team, having only been added once Cobb and Arthur fired their previous Architect, Nash, after he messed up some past job terribly. Yusuf was only picked up on the way to NERV a few months ago, when it became clear that they would be assisting in fighting the Angels. Slowly they had begun to open up about their past.

But this mission just held too many problems to sit comfortably with her. She had never imagined her architecture professor, Miles, would have been involved with Extractors and Mr. Saito. From what Cobb and Eames said, Miles once taught individuals how to navigate dreams. Why had he quit, then? Why was Kretzer trying to reach Miles? More importantly, why was Mr. Saito so desperate to stop him from getting there? What could he possibly know that Saito would want squashed? None of it made any sense and she didn’t expect to become any clearer any time soon.

After she had walked the block several times, her legs were sufficiently tired to lead her back to the hotel. The clerk at the desk gave a slight nod. She returned it uncertainly. He must be one of the employees Arthur bribed. Rather than take the elevator, she decided to walk up the three flights of stairs, although it would put her at the other end of hallways from her room. She wanted to be tired when she lay back down.

The hall was deserted since everyone else was asleep, resting for the mission in the morning. Apparently, no one else had a problem with this. Or if they did, they weren’t showing it. She passed Yusuf’s room; Eames’ room; Arthur’s room…Cobb’s door wasn’t shut all the way. The deadbolt was engaged, but the door hadn’t shut all the way before Cobb had thrown it. Curious, she pushed it open.

Cobb was slumped over in the armchair. The PASIV was open on the table next to him, the timer set to 7:30 in the morning. With a sigh, she slipped inside to make sure he was still breathing. Cobb twitched frequently, a sign he was indeed dreaming. While it was a decent temperature outside, inside the hotel, the air conditioning was on full blast, which made it chilly in their rooms. Ariadne pulled the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around Cobb before shutting the door properly behind her.

She flopped down on her bed and lay there guiltily for a few minutes before finally drifting off to sleep. Unlike Cobb, Ariadne could dream without the aid of a machine or drugs

The morning came far too quickly.

[Mizagium]

05
Sin City, Part 2: City of Shadows

The team was awake and on the street by eight in the morning, yawing and blinking sleep from their eyes as they hurried to Kretzer’s hotel. Arthur, apparently, was at least a decent computer hacker, and had brought live feeds up from several street cameras onto his laptop. He had been watching them since around six in the morning to make sure Kretzer didn’t give them the slip. So far, it appeared that they were ahead of him.

Cobb hadn’t brought the PASIV with him this time, electing to leave it behind with Yusuf in the room. He looked strangely naked without the silver case in his hand, at least to Ariadne. As if feeling the emptiness, Cobb stuffed his hands into his pockets self-consciously as they walked. Not that he seemed out of place; Arthur and Eames walked very stiffly and mechanically. They didn’t even bother to argue. Even Ariadne found herself focusing only on the mission ahead; she barely took in her surroundings at all. Normally, she would be gazing up at the skyline, studying the architecture of the buildings.

The tension is so thick – Ariadne stopped herself before she completed that clichéd line, however true it might have been. In an effort to relieve the tension, she asked, “So, what? Are we just going to jump him as soon as he leaves?”

“Something like that,” Cobb replied.

“There he is!” Eames thumped Cobb on the chest to make him look. Across the street, Kretzer exited the hotel and started off down the street. Cobb and Arthur crossed quickly while Eames indicated Ariadne to follow him. “We can’t very well kidnap a mad mad in broad daylight now cane we?”

It was rhetorical, but Ariadne chose to answer anyway. “Judging from what I’ve seen, Proclus Global has enough clout to get away with just about anything.

He snorted. “You think that’s bad, you should see some of the stuff Fischer Morrow gets away with. It’s no wonder they’ve held onto their energy monopoly as long as they have. Ruthless bastards, they are, but – aye – they do get the job done. Compared to them, Saito’s just a flea on a dog’s arse.”

A company more powerful than Saito’s? The thought raised goose bumps on her arms, despite the warm morning. She already thought Saito got away with far too much, but to know that there were others with even more immunity – the more she learned about how the world really worked, the more she didn’t like it one bit.

Kretzer’s capture happened to quickly and cleanly that she almost missed it. After about an hour of tailing the man, Eames got a call from Arthur, a short one. When he hung up, he and Ariadne quickly crossed the street, dodging honking vehicles with swearing drivers. They had gotten ahead of Kretzer in the last twenty minutes in order to head him off if he started to run. He had done just that, but not ahead; Kretzer had turned down a side alley, which was quite possibly the worst decision ever.

When Eames and Ariadne caught up, Cobb and Arthur had already drawn their guns. Eames barely had time to reach for his before they fired off four shots, two each. Kretzer went down on his face in mid run. At first, Ariadne was horrified, but then she saw the dart protruding from his neck. A tranquilizer. She hadn’t known they carried tranquilizers.

“No problem, see?” Arthur nudged the unconscious man with his foot, checking for a weapon in a very police-like fashion.

“Yeah, but now we’ve got to get him back to the room,” Ariadne pointed out in a very Eames-like fashion.

“Again, not a problem. Hail a cab, would you, Eames?”

The Englishman gave theatrical bow. “As you wish.”

“Help us get him up, Ariadne.” Cobb and Arthur holstered their weapons and the three of them bent down to lift the Russian up. He was surprisingly light; they barely needed her to hoist Kretzer onto their shoulders. Suspended between them, it appeared as if Arthur and Cobb were supporting a drunken or injured friend. “Let’s go see if Eames did his job, eh?”

Eames had indeed done his job. They found him sitting in the driver’s seat of a yellow taxicab, waving at them as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Where the driver?” Ariadne demanded.

Eames scratched his bearded chin. “Couple blocks that way.” He didn’t point to indicate direction. “Poor bloke jumped out before I could even aim my gun at him properly.”

Before she could say anything further, Cobb opened the back door and slid in. “Front seat, Ariadne.” He and Arthur set Kretzer up between them as if he was just another passenger. The result was actually somewhat comical as they struggled to keep him upright as Eames raced along without even the slightest regard for speed limits, other vehicles, or safety in general.

“You know,” she said, bracing herself against the door as Eames swerved to avoid sideswiping a bus. “I think I prefer it when Cobb drives.”

“I swear to God I’ll crash this car,” he threatened without malice.

Threats aside, they made it back to the hotel with Kretzer still unconscious. The clerks at the desk failed to be alarmed at the sight. Whether this was because of the bribe or because they were accustomed to this sort of thing, Ariadne couldn’t guess. Without any sort of command, one receptionist calmly crossed to the doors and locked them. He gave Cobb the same nod he had given Ariadne earlier. They let Kretzer slump against the wall of the elevator as they rode it up to the third floor.

“Are we sure about this?” For once it wasn’t Ariadne voicing concern. Eames watched the light blink from F1 to F2. “Are we really Extracting from an Extractor? And as skilled a one as Kretzer?”

“Getting cold feet, Eames?” Arthur didn’t smile, indicating he meant it as a serious question.

“No, that’s the wrong phrase.” But he didn’t elaborate as the light blinked from F2 to F3 and the door slid open. Eames took Cobb’s place with Kretzer while he ran ahead to open his room. Ariadne trailed behind. She knew exactly what Eames was thinking: something was very wrong about the entire situation.

They flopped Kretzer into one of the chairs that Yusuf had arranged around the table on which the PASIV was resting. “Did everything go fine?” he asked, drawing four spools of tubing and attaching hypodermic needles to them.

“No problems,” Cob assured him. “Only took one dart to bring him down.”

Yusuf raised an eyebrow. “Only one? Hm.” Casually, but quickly, he drew a syringe out of his lab-coat pocket and jabbed it into Kretzer’s neck. He depressed the plunger halfway before removing it. “That should keep his mind sluggish enough for you guys to work with.”

“Much obliged, Yusuf,” Arthur thanked him as he settled into a chair and rolled up his sleeve. Cobb took the other seat while Eames lay on the bed.

“I’m coming, too,” Ariadne declared, snatching a fifth spool.

“No way,” Cobb responded immediately. “You’re only supposed to be our Architect. Going into Kretzer’s dreams is going to be very dangerous and you don’t have the proper mental training – “

“I’ve been on missions with you all before.”

“Not like this, Ariadne.”

“Look, Cobb, something’s wrong with this entire mission, but more specifically, with Kretzer. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s bad. It might mess with the labyrinth I designed, and even Arthur can’t fix it on the fly without alerting the subject’s preconscious. I can. You need backup for this one, Cobb.”

“No. Stay up here with Yusuf and keep watch. That’s final.” He nodded to Yusuf who pressed the injection trigger, sending Somnacin shooting through the tubes and into the veins of Kretzer, Cobb, Arthur, and Eames. Ariadne watched with something approaching concern as the three men slipped into sleep.

“For the record, I think they made a mistake not taking you,” Yusuf consoled. It didn’t help. Much.

-

The labyrinth was constructed to resemble London, not to actually be London. As he surveyed the cityscape, Cobb was very impressed. To someone who was very familiar with the real city, this was a very good imitation. Characteristic of Ariadne, the actual maze was simple, but elegant, filled with enough dead-ends and switchbacks to confuse any neurosecurity that might be present. But if you were presented with the layout of the maze from a bird’s eye view, the pattern became instantly clear. Such a talent was something desired of all Architects, so that the Dreamer of the Extraction team could easily learn the maze layout and not get them all lost.

He wondered briefly if she had more skill than he did.

In contrast to his initial optimism, Arthur frowned. “Can’t you even smile?” Eames prodded.

“Something’s off about the maze but I can’t quite figure out what,” he confessed. None of the buildings possessed any impossible architecture. None of the projections gave the three men a second thought…consideration? For the moment, everything was going smoothly - and yet…something felt off.

“Come on,” Cobb urged. “Let’s talk while we walk.” He unconsciously felt for his Totem concealed in the breast pocket of his coat. There was no place to test it out at the moment. “What’s the plan, Arthur?”

“We’re going with the theory that Kretzer is seeking out Miles which means he’s heading for the University College London, the Bartlett, more specifically. So we have to beat Kretzer to the college and make sure his projection of Miles doesn’t get to him first.”

“Sounds easy enough.” They continued through the city for roughly ten minutes before they encountered the college. Cobb was struck by the near perfect resemblance and had to remind himself that it wasn’t real. “How does she know what this college looks like? I thought Ariadne studied in France?”

“I actually supplied most of the design for the UCL,” Eames admitted. “Although, the weird thing is, once I got started on the design, she immediately knew what I was doing. I guess her French university had a similar design.” He shrugged. “In any case we need to find the Bartlett before Kretzer gets here.”

Eames led them across the campus to the Engineering building, where Miles’ office was located. Surprisingly, at least to Cobb, it was empty. Eames seemed fairly confident that he knew it would be empty and used the opportunity to sit at Miles’ desk. Cobb and Arthur stood awkwardly in the entrance until Eames said, “What are you standing around for? I figured you two would be combing this place to see if Kretzer hid his safe anywhere in here.”

A beat.

They dashed into the room and began pulling everything off the walls. Everything. Posters, pictures, shelves, everything. Eames used the time to get himself into the mindset of Miles, adopting the mannerisms of the old man, the accent. In another universe, he might have been a Broadway actor, he and the handful of other Forgers. In the dreams, he had to alter his appearance, thereby altering the structure of the dream. The trick was to become the person you were impersonating, that way the preconscious wasn’t alerted to the changes. He was, quite literally, forging an identity.

After a few minutes, Cobb and Arthur had searched the entire room and found nothing. When they looked at Eames again, he was Miles. “Why did you think there would be a safe here?”

Eames shrugged. “I didn’t. I just didn’t want the two of you staring at me while I worked.” He stuck his tongue out at them, a very un-Miles-like gesture. “Now quit fooling around, you two. The Mile Projection is bound to be in the Library.” Arthur rolled his eyes as Eames got up and walked off, very much like Miles. Cobb chuckled to himself, but reached for the Totem at the same time.

“You two need to disperse once we get inside,” he continued in Miles’ voice. “I have a feeling Kretzer’s safe will be in the library – seriously,” he added, seeing Arthur’s expression. “But don’t let him see you; that much should be obvious.”

“I wonder if we’re too late,” Arthur mused. “We didn’t spend that long on the detour, but then we never actually saw Kretzer yet so…”

“Always doubting. Look behind you.”

Arthur and Cobb turned. There was Kretzer shuffling though the throng of student projections. They both resisted the temptation to run. Doing so would only draw the attention of the projections. He studied the projections closer. Those closest to Kretzer behaved…oddly. Some walked in circles, some just completely stopped moving, freezing in the middle of an action. Still others skipped – as a scratched music compact disc will do, their image jumping all over the place.

“Arthur…it that what you meant by something being off?”

“That’s exactly what I was talking about Cobb.” There was a tone of urgent worry in his voice that Cobb was unaccustomed to. Usually it came from Ariadne. “Now we should hurry.”

Inside the library, Cobb and Arthur broke off from the disguised Eames, but stayed within earshot. Eames took to browsing an aisle until Kretzer arrived and seized him by the shoulder. “Professor Miles!”

“Oh, Mr. Kretzer,” he said with mild surprise. “How nice to see you. What are you doing in London?”

“You’ve got to help me, Miles,” he declared, his voice laden with desperation. “Please!”

“Help you with what, Kretzer?”

“In my head. They’re in my head! Oh God, they’re in…”

“Who?”

“Oh Jesus, I know they’re – “

Eames gripped Kretzer by the shoulders and forced the man to face Mile’s visage. “Who, Kretzer? Who’s inside your head?”

“I don’t know. But they’re there – you’ve got to help me.” He was on the verge of tears by now. Eames feared he might breakdown right then and there; what affect that would have on the dream, he didn’t want to find out.

“I will, Kretzer. I’ll help you, but you’ve got to calm down and start from the beginning.”

The man, shaking, struggled to breath, resulting in great, wheezing gasps; but he did calm down. Eames let him go and he leaned against the bookshelf behind him, careful not to tip it over. “I did what you told me, Miles. I locked away everything I knew, hid it in your office because I thought nobody would think to look there, but…”

“But what, Kretzer?” He caught a fleeting glimpse of Cobb and Arthur dashing out of the library, but was careful not to look. “What happened?”

“I ran. I ran just like you said. I left England for Russia, figuring I could hide amongst my own people, but I got paranoid and went to America. I blended in more there than home…but they found me. I fled again, to South America, and then to Japan.” Kretzer doubled over and put his hands over his head. “But they always found me, Miles. I knew I couldn’t run from SEELE. Not ever.”

SEELE? Now Eames was very interested. He had never seen Kretzer so broken; never seen any Extractor so mentally unstable. He wanted to know what Kretzer was talking about very badly, but couldn’t ask him outright: that would shatter the illusion of Miles. So instead, he asked, “Why did you come back here, then?”

“Because I have nowhere else to go,” Kretzer sobbed. “No one else to turn to. I - No, you’re right. It was stupid to come here.”

Eames made to say something but his breath caught. Standing directly in front of him was woman with wavy brown hair, wearing a dress, and holding a gun. Casually, she crossed the distance between them. The sound of her heels clacking on the floor drew Kretzer’s attention.

“Mallorie! What are you doing here?”

“Hello, Kretzer,” she greeted curtly. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“A while I don’t think so…”

“Really? Three years seems like an awfully long time to me.” She stopped just a few feet from them.

“Three…years…” Kretzer had stopped sobbing and was glancing between Mal and Eames.

“I’m dead, remember? I killed myself. Jumped off a building. They shut down the program because of me.”

Very slowly, revelation dawned on the Russian. “You’re…dead… I remember. Cobb was so distraught; he blamed himself for a long time after. Gehirn died when you did. But if you’re dead, then how…?”

“Mal,” Eames said.

Growing impatient, brought the pistol up and shot Eames three times through the head. Then she walked over and emptied the magazine into his chest. “You know I always hated that name.”

“Mallorie! What the hell are you - ?”

“You’re dreaming, Kretzer.” She dropped the empty magazine on Eame’s body and loaded another one. “I was going to let you figure it out on your own, but I’m nto sure youd could have done it. This” she kicked Eames “isn’t Miles. Take a look.”

Cautiously, Kretzer leaned over the body and discovered an entirely different person than whom he thought he had been conversing. “Eames?”

The labyrinth rumbled as if in an earthquake. Every projection stopped whatever they were doing and stared at Mal.

“There’s more here, Kretzer. Dominic and Arthur are here as well.”

“I knew it,” he muttered. “I knew there were people in my head. I knew I wasn’t alone. Oh, what do they want? Why can’t they leave me alone? I swore I wouldn’t tell anybody, I swore. I even locked all of it away.” He lapsed back into distress, collapsing on the floor as the dream environment shuddered again, this time with greater ferocity. Several shelves’ worth of book fell to the floor. Mal swore and she cocked her firearm.

The dream was collapsing.

-

“Goddamn it all to bloody hell!” Eames swore upon awaking, tearing the needle from his arm.

“What? What?” Yusuf and Ariadne jumped to their feet.

“Tie him up! The bastard up!” Eames barked, pointing a finger at Kretzer. “Make sure he can’t get out of the damn chair when he wakes up. He’s dangerous.”

Ariadne dove through the group’s luggage before finding a two rolls of duct tape. She tossed one to Yusuf and they set about securing Kretzer to the chair as Eames dabbed at the blood trickling down his arm.

“Did he kill you?” Yusuf asked.

“No. It was bloody Mal, that’s who killed me.” He snorted. “Cobb’s a fool. We should have brought you along, missy.” Ariadne’s moment of self-assurance was cut short when Eames continued. “You could have distracted her long enough for me to get more information out of Kretzer.”

“So what do we do now?” she asked.

“There’s nothing we can do. We wait until the other two either get killed or the timer runs out. I’m betting on the former.”

All three of them turned at the sound of the keycard lock clicking and the door swinging open.

-

Cobb and Arthur surveyed the trashed office. Where was there left to look? They had torn everything off the walls and upended the desks and shelves. At least one window was shattered. Even Mile’s personal desk was shifted and all the drawers opened. Where else… As one, they both looked at the chalkboard.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Arthur breathed. The dream shuddered beneath their feet and they picked up the pace.

Once the chalkboard was removed (thrown haphazardly behind them) they found themselves staring at a combination lock. No safe, just a dial protruding ever so slightly from the wall. It put Cobb in mind of the lock on a school locker.

“Any idea what the combination might be?” Arthur asked with mild amusement.

“Not the slightest.” The dream heaved violently. Somewhere in the city a building collapsed. “The dream is starting to collapse. We’re out of time.”

“That’s right,” responded a female voice from behind them. There Mal stood, gun in hand. “End of the line, boys. I wouldn’t, if I were you,” she said when they both reached for their guns. “We all know just how effective that will be against me.” Even so, they drew their weapons, if solely for comfort’s sake.

“Mal, what are you doing here?” Cobb asked.

The dream labyrinth creaked and the city started to fall apart. Sections of the ground dropped away into nothingness and it seemed as if pieces of the sky were falling, creating large explosions everywhere. The main section of UCL imploded on itself.

“My, my, is this what you’ve been reduced to?” she asked as if she hadn’t heard him. “Extracting from a colleague? Isn’t there some black market code against that?” She leveled the gun at his head, then Arthur’s. Every ten seconds or so she would switch targets, making her unpredictable. “What did you think you’d find in his broken mind?”

“How much does he know?” Cobb stared down his wife. “That’s all we’re here for. Not to steal, just to learn, Mal. What does Kretzer know?”

The faintest of smiles crossed her lips. “Know? He knows a lot Cobb, almost as much as you. Thirty-six years of living will impart a great amount of knowledge onto someone.”

“Don’t play with me, Mal! What does he know about – “ A single gunshot cut him off. Arthur dropped, dead, beside him.

“He knows everything, Cobb.” She shot him through the head.

-

Arthur was only a few seconds ahead of Cobb waking up, so they were both equally astonished to see Mr. Saito standing in the room, looking triumphant. Before he could ask the rest of his team what was going on, Eames said, “He only just got here, Cobb. Right after Mal shot me.” He was careful not to call her a bitch this time, though Cobb probably wouldn’t have argued.

“Very good, Mr. Cobb,” Saito congratulated. “You managed to pick up Mr. Kretzer and infiltrate his mind. What have you learned?”

“He knows everything,” he replied as he removed the hypodermic needle from his arm and dabbed at the point of blood. “He’s borderline insane, but he knows everything.”

“What?” Ariadne asked. “Knows everything about what?”

Before Cobb or Arthur could, Saito answered her. “That’s, ah, classified information, Ms. Ariadne. I thank you all for your excellent work. Now I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you all to leave as soon as you are able.”

Eames spoke again. “There’s still the matter of – “

“Your payment has been deposited into your respective accounts. Now, if you don’t mind, I believe your assignment at NERV requires your presence at once. The next train to Tokyo-3 leaves in less than forty-five minutes. I suggest you be on it.” He gestured to the door.

Ariadne was brimming with questions and on the verge of shouting at somebody. Luckily Arthur pushed her gently towards the door. She snatched up her bag and followed Eames out. Cobb and Yusuf followed them, leaving a semi-unconscious Kretzer – still duct-taped to the chair - alone with Saito.

Once he was satisfied they had cleared the building, Saito pressed the number 1 on his cell phone. “They are gone, please come in now.” Kretzer was coming out of the Somnacin sleep by now, muttering groggily in his chair.

While he waited, Saito went over to Kretzer and took the man’s face in his hand, gripping it below the chin so that he could manipulate it. “Well, well, well, Mr. Kretzer. Such a goose chase you led us on. Around the world in eighty days almost. You didn’t think we’d let you read Britain did you?” Kretzer didn’t respond, but the ear and madness was visible in his eyes. “What happened to you that turned you mad? No, I don’t suppose you could tell me. No matter.”

On cue, the door opened again, and in walked a young girl, around fourteen. She was dressed as an English school-child, white button-up and a tie, plaid skirt that reached the knees. He long brown hair was pulled back and kept in line by a headband. She adjusted her glasses on her nose.

“This him?” She asked in heavily accented Japanese. She was obviously much more comfortable speaking in English.

“Yes, this is the man I spoke to you about.” Saito released his face and stepped back.

The girl took his place and placed both hand on either side of his head. Kretzer immediately began struggling, knowing exactly was coming next. “How much, Saito?” She had switched back into English.

“All of it. We don’t want him to remember a damn thing.”

The girl smiled hungrily. Kretzer screamed as she dug into his mind, convulsing in his chair. Saito watched impassively as his screams and crescendoed and then abruptly silenced. His head flopped lazily to one side. Blood dribbled out from his ears, eyes, mouth, and nose. Her lenses cracked audibly. The girl sighed in euphoric pleasure and peeled her hands away.

“Your glasses.”

The girl merely smiled. They cracked again and were repaired.

“Clever,” he admitted.

“What do we do with him?”

“There is a cleanup crew on their way. Our job is finished.”

The girl looked crestfallen. “What about...the receptionists?”

“Oh yes. You may have them as well, but not as much as Kretzer. Only the last two days or so.”

She licked her lips.

[Mizagium]

Neon Psychosis Evangelion 06:
Space Jam

Resting at the opposite end of the spectrum from Osaka-2 was Tokyo-3. Like Osaka-2, it was unique in that it was not a true Rebuild; Tokyo-3 was constructed over the historic town of Hakone to be used primarily as a naval base. In another time, the residents would have been in an uproar to see their town bulldozed to make way for the military, but in the aftermath of Second Impact, no one dared raise a word of dissent. At least the Hakone Gongen shrine was left untouched; even the government wasn’t fool enough to disturb the spirits.

Officially of course, there is no GeoFront, no NERV, and no Angels. When the GeoFront was discovered to be situated beneath Hakone, members of the Marduk Institute situated themselves in position of power within the government in order to clear the construction of Tokyo-3 over the GeoFront. For fifteen years, the Japanese government has remained unaware of the skillful infiltration of their ranks by the Institute, and it is not likely to change anytime soon.

While Osaka-2 can be compared to Las Vegas, Tokyo-3 can be compared to a medieval castle town, built solely to withstand any sort of attack short of an N2 drop. Battleships, cruisers, and submarines continuously come and go from the harbor and an aircraft carrier almost always patrols the waters beyond the horizon. The railways through and around the city are connected to armories where cannons and long-range missile launchers can be shuttled from in order to repel any air or land invasion.

Having been built after the Peace of Valentines’ Day, the hope was that such a defense would never have to be mobilized and that the very existence of the Tokyo-3 fortress would deter foreign forces altogether. Thus far, it seemed to have worked.

But not against the Angels, Misato Katsuragi thought miserably. No mere physical fortress can prevent the enemy of mankind from invading our minds. No, that requires the Evas.

Even so, she frowned as she observed Shinji operating the Simulation Body. Ritsuko and Maya were hunched over a computer screen, monitoring the various readings.

“Good morning, Shinji,” Ritsuko spoke to the Third Child via short wave radio. “How’s it going?”

“No problems,” he replied obediently. “I think I’m getting used to it.”

“That’s good. Have you memorized all the positions of all the Eva-emergence locations, emergency power junctions, armament equipment buildings, and recovery zones?”

“I guess so.”

“You’re going to have to pick it up much quicker than that in the future, Shinji. The MAGI are programmed with a set number of labyrinth patterns. In battle with an Angel, you’re going to have to know immediately where everything is, based on the maze.”

“I know.”

“Let’s review now.” Ritsuko tapped Maya on the shoulder to boot up the training program. This was not a dream-sharing simulation. Rather a complex computer rending generated by the MAGI based on data collected from the last Angel battle. Misato had asked why they weren’t using a PASIV, but Ritsuko had wanted to collect data in the waking world, to be able to analyze it in real-time. Even down one dream, time was stretched. But any information collected by the MAGI had to be Extracted from itself, which took much longer than running this computer program.

“Normally, the Eva is powered by electricity generated by the MAGI and fed to it through the umbilical cable. In emergencies, it can switch to an onboard battery, with an active life of one minute at full power, and no more than five minutes in the minimal activity gain mode. This is due to the limitations associated with maintain such a large Construct in a shared-dreaming environment. Without the energy provided by the MAGI, the Eva won’t work. Do you understand? Suspension of disbelieve is incredibly vital to keeping a dream going”

“Yes?”

Ritsuko did her best not to snap at the kid’s passive attitude. She had no trouble in believing he really had all of this memorized; it was just the dispassionate way he responded that irked her. Oh well, as long as he could pilot it.

“Then let’s continue from where we left off yesterday. Initiate induction mode.” The simulation began as if Unit-01 had been cut off from the umbilical cable. The timer on the computer screen and in the cockpit began counting down from 5:00:00.

Shinji raised the assault rifle provided the Unit-01 simulation and aimed at the simulated Angel – Sachiel, he remembered with a shudder. “Position the target in the center,” Ritsuko coached. “Then squeeze the trigger switch on.” Shinji waited while the cursors lined up on his visual screen. He pulled to quickly the first time, and ended up lobbing a volley of shots over the docile Angel’s head. That was the same look it had given him while he had struggled to make the Eva move. Curious and intelligent.

“Take it easy. Position the target in the center.”

“…And pull the switch,” Shinji chanted under his breath. This time his aim was true and the Angel went down in a flurry of gunfire. The computer partially reset and replaced the Angel simulation with a new one.

“Position the target in the center and pull the switch.” It went down.

“Next.”

“Position the target in the center and pull the switch.” Another.

The three women watched as Shinji destroyed a handful more programs. Each kill flashed onscreen and lit up the dark observation area for a moment. “You know,” Maya said to Ritsuko. “I can’t help but wonder why Shinji agreed to pilot again.”

“It seems that he simply does what he’s told to do,” Ritsuko replied. “I guess it’s just his way of getting through life.”

That’s no way to go through life, Misato thought, but didn’t think she was likely to change hi mind any time soon.

-

The next morning Shinji knocked gently on the door to Misato’s room and slid it open just so, enough to peek through. “Ms. Misato?” he asked barely above a whisper. “It’s morning already.”

Misato Katsuargi was buried underneath her blanket like a mole. The mound rustled slightly as she answered through a yawn. “I just got back from night duty a little while ago – I don’t have to go to work until this evening, so please let me sleep.”

That wasn’t the response Shinji had hoped for, but it was the one he expected. “Ok, I’ll go,” he said, disappointed.

“Hey,” she called as he turned away from the door. He looked back hopefully at her hand protruding from the blanket mound, flopping in some semblance of a wave. “Isn’t today Thursday? It’s burnable trash day. Take it to the garbage, please.”

“Ok.”

“So how’s school?”

“It’s ok.”

Groggy Misato didn’t pick up on his lack of enthusiasm. She simply yawned again and said, “Ok, see you – “

“See you later.” She was asleep before he closed the door. He gathered up the trash along with his school bag and cassette player. The trash dropoff/pickup area was located around the back of the apartment complex. When he got there, it was empty and he briefly wondered if he was too late. With the trash set aside, Shinji moved his headphones from around his neck to his ears and pressed the Play button on the cassette player. Then he began the lonely walk to school.

Misato was only asleep for a few minutes before the phone rang. Too tired to be irritated, she retrieved the handset and answered it from underneath her blanket. The number was a NERV number, so she tried her best to sound professional. “Yes, hello? Oh, it’s you Ritsuko.”

“How’s it going?” she asked annoying cheerfully. “Are you getting along with him?”

“Him? Oh, Shinji. It’s been two weeks since he started school and he doesn’t seem to have changed. No one ever calls him.”

“Calls him where?”

“Well, since I figured he’d be needing one, I gave him a cellular phone. I don’t think he’s ever used it, though, or received any calls.” In the comfortable dark of her sleep-fortress, Misato rubbed at the sleep collecting in her eyes. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think he has any friends.”

“Well, I would guess that Shinji is the sort of person who doesn’t’ make friends easily,” Ritsuko responded a little too casually. Misato responded affirmatively. “Do you know the fable ‘The Hedgehog’s Dilemma’?”

The question caught Misato off guard, and not just because she was tired. “Hedgehogs? You-You mean those animals with the spiny hair?”

Ritsuko continued on as if Misato had said ‘no’. “Even though a hedgehog may want to become close with another hedgehog, the closer they get, the more they injure each other with their spines. It’s the same with some humans. The reason he seems so withdrawn is because he’s afraid of being hurt.”

Now fully awake, Misato answered. “Well, he’s just going to have to learn – someday – that part of growing up means finding a way to interact with others while distancing pain.”

“That’s true, Misato. I was just checking in, sorry to have woken you; I know you just got back, but I wanted to speak to you before I forgot.”

“No, it’s no problem, Ritsuko. I’ll see you later.”

“Goodbye.”

Misato hung up the phone and retreated back beneath her blanket. Stupid Ritsuko, she though before falling back to sleep.

-

“What’s up, Toji?” Kenuske Aide looked up as Toji Suzuhara, clad in his trademark jogging suit, took his seat beside him.

“My sister was running late this morning,” he said, slight irritated. “Almost didn’t make it on time. Hikari would have been all over me if I was late again.”

“Not like you wouldn’t enjoy that,” Kensuke muttered with a sly smile.

“What did you say?” How very quickly Toji got defensive when the Class Rep was mentioned.

“Oh nothing.” Kensuke pretended to examine his model gyrocopter. He looked up again when Shinji entered and silently took his seat. “Hey, Toji. Check out the new kid.”

“What about him?”

“He never says anything in class. I’ve never seen him talk to anybody, and here I thought he and that Rei girl would get along fine; they seemed a little off.” The bespeckled teen studied the back of Shinji’s head. He always came in with his music on and turned it off when class started; he never asked questions or said anything otherwise; he ate lunch by himself; when he went home, he walked alone.

“Yeah, well, why do you care, Kensuke?”

“Alone is no way to go through life – “

“That’s exactly what I was thinking, Mr. Aida.” Hikari Horaki possessed the uncanny ability to simply appear out of nowhere at the most inopportune times. Both Kensuke and Toji nearly fell out of their seats.

“W-Where’d you come from, Class Rep?” Toji stammered.

Hikari stood very confidently with her class daybook pressed against her chest and hair pulled back into neat ponytails. “From talking with Shinji. You’re right, Mr. Aida, he doesn’t have any friends, which is why I want you two to talk to him.” He tone left no room for argument. She walked away before either of them could raise dissent.

“Gah! Can you believe her?” Toji made a face at her back.

Kensuke threw his hands up, ignoring how Toji’s eyes lingered on Horaki. “Well, I was going to talk to the new guy anyway.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re a pushover, Kensuke.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “Either way, Hikari’s going to be on our case until we do, so I figure the sooner the better. I’ll talk to him at lunch.”

From the way he grinned, Toji had to ask, “You’re not going to ask about that are you?” Kensuke’s grin widened. “You know, you can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.”

-

Shinji sat alone at his desk like he did every day, absently eating the food he had prepared. Misato had packed him a lunch the first day; Shinji had vowed never to let that happen again. He didn’t think he was an excellent cook, but he was much better than her. All she ever prepared was microwavable He was made the house chef very quickly. As far as he knew, Misato hadn’t eaten any of her instant food since then.

Shinji wasn’t much of a daydreamer, but he was sufficiently unfocused enough that he failed to noticed the glasses kid sit down in front of him until he spoke. “Hey there, new kid.”

“Um, hello?”

“How are you liking it here in Tokyo-3?”

“Um, its okay, I guess,” he said slowly, confused. No one had spoken to him in almost two weeks – well, expect Hikari. He didn’t even know this kid’s name and he just sat down and started talking to him like it was nothing.

“Good, good.” He spoke with a dismissive tone that suggested he really didn’t care about the answer. “Listen, new kid, I gotta ask you something.” He sat up straighter and looked over both his shoulders as if checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping on him. Then he leaned in close and indicated Shinji do the same. “Have you ever heard of…jigglyball?”

As a matter of fact, he had heard of it. When he nodded, the other asked, “Where did you hear about it?”

“Some of the other kids were talking about it on my first day. They asked me about if I’d played it, and I said no. Then I asked them what it was. They just laughed and said they couldn’t believe I didn’t know what it was. Why?”

“Want to know a secret? There’s no such thing as jigglyball.” Seeing Shinji’s confused reaction, he only grinned wider. “Name’s Kensuke Aida. Me and Toji – “ He turned around and waved another kid over. This one was dark haired and wore a tack suit instead of the school uniform. “Me and Toji here made the whole thing up. Isn’t that right?”

Toji sighed. “Yeah, it’s true.”

“But if there’s no such thing, then how does everyone know about it?” Shinji finished his food and put his container away.

Before Kensuke answered his question, he asked Toji, “How much time for lunch do we have left?”

Toji leaned back in his chair to see the clock mounted on the wall. “About twenty mintues, but why – Oh no. You didn’t bring that thing to school did you?”

“That’s right.” He stood. “Follow me, Shinji. I’ve got something to show you.”

-

The three of them stood in the center of a large, enclosed space that resembled a basket ball court. At first, Shinji thought they were in the gymnasium. The lighting was certainly shoddy enough. But when he tilted his face up to examine the ceiling, he found himself staring at an exact replica of the court – on the ceiling. In fact, each of the walls had the court lines as well. “What is this place?” Before the words were even out of his mouth, he knew the answer: this was a dream. He tried the test Cobb had taught him, to try and recall how he’d arrived at this location. When he was unable, he focused, and remembered being hooked up to a PASIV in a broom closet in school.

“This,” Kensuke announced, holding a rubber dodgeball in his hands, “is the game Toji and I invented. “First things first: yes, we are in a dream. Specifically, my dream.”

“Bit of a control freak,” Toji whispered to Shinji with a grin.

Kensuke pretended like he hadn’t heard. “The rules are simple. Get this ball into that rotating hoop.” He pointed up. Resting in the exact center of the enclosed area was what looked like a large bucket. It rotated around randomly, obviously to make scoring more difficult. “Any questions?”

“How do you actually get the ball up there?” Shinji asked. The bucket was too high for him (and, he suspected, Kensuke) to simply throw. The entire structure was twenty feet wide, twenty long, and twenty high. A large, drab cube. What lighting there was didn’t have any visible source.

“That’s the beauty of the dream.” Kensuke squatted down and jumped up with all his strength. To Shinji’s astonishment, he went almost to the rotating basket. He could have made the shot, but kept the ball in his hands. “Physics don’t apply here, at least not the same extent.” He twisted in midair and fell sideways, landing on his feet on the wall to Shinji’s right. “You don’t have much experience with dream-sharing do you?”

“No.” And that was the truth. One Angel battle (which he hadn’t really participated in) and two weeks of Simulation Bodies didn’t really amount to a lot of dream experience.

“No problem. This game’s pretty easy. When we thought this game up, we were trying to think of a name for it. Out of ideas, I said jigglyball as a joke. One of the other kids was walking by and asked what that was. Toji turned around and started shouting at him. ‘What do you mean you don’t what jigglyball is? It’s only the greatest game ever! Don’t tell me you’ve never played it!’ I guess the kid was so scared that he muttered of course and ran away. Couple days later, the whole school was talking about it.”

Toji smiled in spite of himself. “Yeah, I can be pretty intimidating.” Shinji hadn’t thought so but kept that to himself.

“So how did you get a PASIV?” Shinji asked because as far as he knew – that is, according to NERV – such devices were kept out of the public.

“Ah, so you do know a little about dream-sharing.” Shinji suddenly wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Kensuke didn’t press him, though. “My dad works for a big corporation. They use things like the PASIV all the time in corporate espionage. The one I’ve got is an older model. He won’t miss it.”

“So, why did you show this to me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Toji asked. “You’re the only kid who didn’t pretend to have played a game that doesn’t even exist. Besides, you looked lonely.”

“So, Hikari had absolutely nothing to do with it?” Kensuke teased.

“Hey shut up!” Toji launched himself at Kensuke who jumped away laughing. Toji landed on his side on the wall while Kensuke rolled gracefully to his feet on the ceiling. “Also, this game is kind of boring with only two people.”

“Every man for himself!” Kensuke shouted and jumped for the hoop. Toji got to his feet and jumped after him. They collided in midair and Kensuke dropped the ball. It fell at Shinji’s feet. He picked it up uncertainly. “Go man, go!”

Shinji jumped at the hoop as the two other fell to his left. The hoop was pointed away from him when he reached it but he wasn’t focused on that. Feeling the ground fall away from him was a exhilarating and nerve-wracking experience. Laughing nervously, Shinji continued on and landed on what had been the ceiling. His entire perception of the room shifted, nearly inducing vertigo. It was only worsened upon seeing the two boys leap from wall to floor to wall. He jumped again and dropped the ball into the bucket, scoring a point. Below (above?) he heard the two boys cheer.

“Second try, too,” Kensuke said to Toji. “Took us longer than that.”

“Speak for yourself. I’m a natural. This game is made for athletes, and I am and athlete.” Toji rand and leapt away, catching the ball as the hoop spat it out violently. The momentum carried him to the wall as Shinji fell to the opposing wall. The three of them formed a triangle until Kensuke and Shinji both leapt at Toji; they both missed, sailing under him. Toji landed on top of the rotating hoop and sat there for a minute, letting it spin him around.

“You see, ladies. This game was made for me.” He casually reached behind him and scored. The force of the hoop shooting out the ball knocked him off and sent him spinning away. “It ain’t funny,” he shouted at their laughter.

Kensuke caught the ball and the game continued. He and Toji both scored twice more As Shinji was about to score again, a beep echoed throughout the closed arena. He twisted in midair and landed on his feet on the hoop which had ceased to rotate. “What’s that?”

“The timer,” Toji said. “Lunch is almost over. Kensuke set the timer for fifteen minutes, so that gave us, what, and hour in here?”

“Really?” He remembered being told about time being prolonged within a dream, but realized he hadn’t been told exactly how long. Apparently the ratio was one minute in the real world in four minutes in a dream. Going back to school after this game seemed like a waste; if it were up to Shinji, he would stay down here.

“Ah man,” Toji continued. “I don’t want to listen to the teacher’s lecture now. He’s so boring.”

“I don’t think so,” Kensuke countered.

“Yeah, but you like school.”

For the first time since coming here, Shinji felt like he was falling. The voices of Toji and Kensuke died away, along with the enclosed ball court. Darkness washed over him as the effects of the Somnacin lessened, bringing him back to reality. In the instant between dreaming and waking, Shinji caught a brief vision of a bright light. And it filled him with dread.

-

Class after the dream-sharing was just as dull as it was before. The teacher lectured about Second Impact, the meteor that melted Antarctica and flooded the southern hemisphere, changing the world forever. Shinji was slightly interested when he began talking about the conflicts that resulted from Second Impact – the so named Third World War – but not nearly as much as Kensuke, who was dutifully taking notes on his computer. Toji seemed as disinterested as ever; his laptop was even closed.

Half of the time, the teacher lectured while facing the chalkboard or while looking out the window; Shinji suspected his eyesight wasn’t all that great either, since half the class was asleep anyway. The other half was busy screwing around on their laptop computers. Shinji used the opportunity to send furtive glances at the blue-haired girl sitting by the windows. She sat with her head leaning on one arm, paying about as much attention as the rest of the student.

It was strange. Shinji had never spoken to her in reality, only in an odd half-dream. He didn’t think he could talk to her like he did in his dreams. For all he knew, that wasn’t even the real Rei Ayanami he had spoken to. He couldn’t check his Totem at the moment, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t dreaming at that moment.

A message blinked on his computer. He’d forgotten it was even on. “Do you know her?” From Kensuke.

“I think so,” he typed back.

“From where?”

“A dream.”

“Lucky ”

When Shinji turned back to Rei she was looking at him. The glare she gave him was a mix between curiosity and annoyance. He noticed for the first time that her eyes were red – not bloodshot, but the irises were actually red. She held it for a moment before turning away again.

Kensuke sent him another message. “Looks like she noticed you. You should talk to her after school ”

“I don’t think so…” Shinji sent back.

“Pay attention, you two,” Hikari hissed at them. Kensuke rolled his eyes and went back to taking notes. Shinji cast another glance at Rei and resumed pretending to pay attention. “And you! Wake up!” Shinji heard her slap a desk. Toji came awake violently, falling back in his chair. Those students who were asleep suddenly sat up; the teacher never turned around or broke his monologue.

-

After class, Shinji walked with Kensuke and Toji. He wasn’t sure if they were friends or not; he’d never had any before. It was a strange feeling, being with people whom he felt comfortable around.

“Hey, you guys want to come over to my place?” Kensuke asked.

Toji shook his head. “Nah. My little sister would be home alone until my parents get off work. And that won’t be till late, so I’ve got to go home.”

“Aw man. What about you, Shinji?”

In truth, Shinji wasn’t sure how to respond to the question. It had never been asked of him before. On top of that, he wasn’t sure if he needed permission from Misato or not. He did the only he knew how. “Um, well, I’m not sure.”

“Huh? What’s not to be sure about?”

“Well, I – “

“Shinji.” The three boys turned towards the voice. It was Rei. “Shinji Ikari?” she asked again.

“Y-Yes?”

“May I speak with you?” There was absolutely no tone in her voice, but Shinji knew it was more of a demand than a request.

“Uh, sure. I’ll…see you guys later.”

“Whoa. Lucky!” Kensuke shot him a thumbs-up.

Rei started walking away leaving Shinji to run to catch up. She walked with determination, as if she knew exactly where she was going at all times. “There’s an emergency. We’re needed at NERV headquarters immediately.”

“Is it an Angel?” he asked worriedly.

“I can only assume so.”

Shinji’s mood had until then been relatively high, but the prospect of another Angel battle brought it crashing down. He didn’t want to get back into the cockpit of that thing again. He didn’t want to fight Angels, things that were obviously much stronger than he. Despite all of that, he continued to follow Rei towards another painful battle.

[Mizagium]

NERV headquarters had fallen in a state of complacency ever since the Third Angel was defeated. The days immediately after were tense as the sense of impending doom pervaded the atmosphere. At any moment, another Angel might appear, and this time Shinji might not be so lucky. But as the first week rolled by, everyone relaxed and fell back into their usual habits. As one week became two, emotions were back to where they had been prior to Sachiel’s appearance. It was as if the Angel had been nothing but a bad dream.

Makoto Hyuga was taking advantage of the lull to catch up on his manga reading. He heard Shigeru Aoba scoff from across the room, but ignored him, pushing his glasses up on his nose and burying his face deeper into the print.

“Don’t laugh at him,” he heard Maya Ibuki scold Shigeru. She sat at the center of the console with Shigeru on her right, and Makoto on her left.

“Why not?” Shigeru asked, wanting to hear Maya’s reason so that he could make fun of it.

“Because.” Under Shigeru’s glare, she continued. “It’s mean. We’re all supposed to get along aren’t we? NERV needs all of us working together in order to function properly. We have to present a united front against the Angels if humanity is to have any hope of survival. How can we hope to stand up to them, if we’re fighting against each other?”

A moment of silence passed before both Makoto and Shigeru burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” she demanded, blushing.

“That,” Makoto wheezed, “was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard. And you should see some of the stuff I read.”

“Yeah, really,” Shigeru agreed. “I almost believed it for a second!” While the two men struggled to regain themselves, Maya huffed and returned to her own reading, shutting the others out. Behind her, Shigeru rolled his chair over to Makoto and gave him a high-five. In truth, they never really argued. They teased back and forth because there really wasn’t anything else to do in their off-time. Maya just things too seriously sometimes.

Next, Shigeru rolled over to Maya. “Aw, c’mon, Maya. We were just kidding.” She shrugged him off.

Makoto rolled up on her other side. “Yeah, we didn’t mean it.”

Maya staunchly ignored them both, making a point of turning the page.

“We really liked your speech,” Shigeru tried.

“Yeah, it was very, um, inspirational.”

“Really inspirational.”

“I feel like the three of us could take on anything.”

The two were practically leaning over her shoulders, stupidly wide grins plastered on their faces. “You two are pathetic,” she said simply, turning another page. No sooner had they rolled away from her than she started laughing. “And you two think I’m easy.”

Shigeru tilted his head to one side. “Well, whaddya know, Makoto. Maya’s got some zing to her after all.”

“Never thought I’d see the day.” Maya spun in her seat and hurled her book at Makoto. It hit him right between the eyes and sent him falling backward, chair and all. Very calmly, Maya rose, retrieved her book, and sat back down.

“Excellent shot, Maya,” Ritsuko said from the doorway. “Someone needs to keep these two in line and it might as well be you.”

Makoto picked himself up from the floor and wheeled his chair back to his station. He rubbed the spot where Maya hat nailed him, knowing there would be a bruise there later. Shigeru also wheeled back to his station, though slowly and reluctantly.

“My thoughts exactly, Ritsuko. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, just checking in. Making sure you three aren’t slacking off.” Even though she was still smiling, the sharp raise of one eyebrow made the three technicians sit up straighter. Maya and Makoto sheepishly hid their books, though Ritsuko had already seen them. “Come on now, you three – yes, you as well, Mr. Aoba.” Shigeru had made a face at both Maya and Makoto having not been caught doing anything that might indicate he was slacking off. “You three need be serious about this. If you fall asleep at the wheel, an Angel could slip right under our noses.”

“Aw, lay off them, will you?” Eames seemed to just appear, leaning casually on the doorframe. “All work and no play makes – what’s your name again?”

“Shigeru Aoba.”

‘’Right. All work and no play makes Shigeru a dull boy.”

“Eames,” Ritsuko said simply, her smile turning into a scowl. ‘I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up for work today.”

“You know, I was beginning to wonder the very same thing myself – until about an hour ago, that is. I decided that a day off wouldn’t be worth receiving a lecture. A couple of hour’s worth of sleep, however, was. Although just seeing that scowl makes me regret my decision. Indeed, a scowl should not grace such a lovely face, for it – “

“Good lord, Eames, do you ever stop talking?”

Everyone turned as Arthur entered from the other side of the room. Why don’t those doors make any sound anymore? Ritsuko thought. It’s way too easy for someone to sneak in here. I’ll have someone look at that later.

“Ah, Arthur,” Eames acknowledged, walking in closer to the control panel. “There was a disturbing lack of condescension in the room; I’m so glad you arrived to fill the empty void in my heart.”

“Apparently, you’ve just answered my question, although a simple “no” would have sufficed.”

“Is there anything in this world that doesn’t irritate you, Arthur?”

“Yes, actually, there are a number of things. And you know what all of them have in common?” He looked around as if seeing is anyone was going to take a guess. “They don’t involve you.”

Before the argument descended into a fistfight, Ritsuko interjected. “Have either of you seen Cobb?”

Arthur gave Eames one last glare before answering. “Yeah, he’s right…” He had pointed behind him, at the door, expecting to see Cobb standing there. “…Behind me.”

“Oh wonderful,” Eames chimed. “You’ve lost him.”

Neon Psychosis Evangelion 07
Finger on the Trigger, Part 1: Out For Blood

Misato Katsuragi hated paperwork. More importantly, she hated bureaucrats who made paperwork necessary. She was an action girl; if something needed doing, she wanted to do it right then and then, and not have to worry about authorization or chain of command – unless her superior was in the same room and she could simply shout to him or her. As she made her way through the labyrinth that was NERV Headquarters, carrying a sizeable stack of paperwork, she wondered if she should have joined the military after all. At least then her “captain” title would be official. Alas.

What were all those forms for? Misato never bothered to learn, although half of them were reports she was expected to read, reports concerning…well, hell, she wasn’t actually going to read them. She’d never admit as much to Ritsuko.

She took her eyes off the way in front of her to glare at the veritable mountain of authorization forms and official document. “For a secret organization, we sure have an awful lot of official things. We might as well another branch of the government for the red tape we have to wiggle through.”

Misato didn’t look up fast enough when she approached the corner and nearly smacked into Dominic Cobb; he saw her at the last second and managed to sidestep out of the way. Misato, on the other hand, fell back on her ass, her stack of forms flying everywhere. Out of sheer embarrassment, or perhaps accepting that today wasn’t going to be her day, Misato lay back and stared at the ceiling. She hadn’t gotten that much sleep after Shinji had left because Commander Fuyustsuki had called to remind her of the paperwork mounting up. It was better than Ritsuko calling, she decided, because Fuyutsuki didn’t find a certain enjoyment in making her life miserable – as far as she knew. Ritsuko would call and remind her of the paper work just to hear her discomfort. But that was what good friends were for, right?

“Are you all right, Ms. Katsuragi?”

“Hm?” Cobb was crouched down beside her, a look of genuine concern on his face. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a tiring day.”

“I’m glad. My apologies for running into you. This place is a maze; I’ve been here two weeks but I can never find where anything is located.”

‘Tell me about it. I’ve worked here for years and I still can hardly find the bathroom.” That made the two of them smile.

“Here, let me help you up.” He extended a hand which she accepted.

“Great,” she muttered, seeing her scattered papers. “As if I didn’t have enough problems already. Would you mind, Cobb?”

“Not at all, Ms. Katsuragi.”

“Please, it’s just Misato,” she assured him as they knelt to gather up the paperwork. “We do work together, after all.”

“If you insist.” He gave the first paper he found a skeptical look. “What is all of this for?”

“Just paperwork. Documents. Authorization forms. You know, the usual.”

“Are you, you know, a secret organization? Why does an underground agency tasked with defending the world from an alien menace require so much red tape to maneuver through?”

Misato chuckled softly. “Believe me, Cobb, I’ve been asking myself the same thing for years.” She reached for another paper, but Cobb’s hand on top of her stopped her. “Cobb?”

“Do you believe in what you’re doing here, Misato?” A darkness crossed his face, one she hadn’t seen before. His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “Do you really believe in the future of humanity, enough to send children off to fight your battles for you?”

She met his gaze and looked away. “If you knew anything about my past – “

“I know about your past, Ms. Katsuragi. But I’m not talking about your past; I’m talking about now. What do you believe now?”

Misato found herself at a loss for words. What kind of question was that, anyway? Of course I believe in the future of humanity. The Angels have to be defeated so that humanity can survive. No I don’t enjoy sending children to fight for me. Why can’t I just tell him?

“Cobb, I – “

The Geofront’s alert system blared over the speakers as all the lights in the place turned a deep red. Misato jerked the paper out from Cobb’s grip. “Thank you, Cobb, for you help, but we should get going.” She also took the papers he had collected and marched off towards the command bridge.

-

Ariadne was standing one of the elevators of the complex, studying a map she had. “Huh, what’s in Terminal Dogma, I wonder?” There wasn’t a letter-number designation for the very bottom floor of NERV Headquarter, so she could only assume that she didn’t have the proper clearance to go down there. To her, it was like they dangled a carrot in front of a horse. How could she not try to get to it?

When the alarm system went off, she quickly folded the map and slipped it into her back pocket, promising to come back. As she made her way to the command bridge, she wondered why nobody bothered to ask for a map of the complex. Sure they didn’t hand them out to everybody, and the map was just as confusing, but it certainly was within their clearance to possess one.

Everyone was already present when she arrived, but nobody noticed her arrival except Arthur, who merely nodded.

“Unusual Delta Wave Pattern detected in the ambient psychic field of Tokyo-3!” Maya shouted over the alarms.

“Is it an Angel?” Misato shouted back.

“Well, obviously it’s an Angel,” Eames retorted. “What else could it be?”

Arthur crossed his arms and stared at Eames. Hard. “Eames – “

“Wave pattern blue confirmed! It’s an Angel!” Ritsuko leaned in over Maya’s shoulder. “Misato, send a message to Shinji and Rei! Tell them to get here as fast as they can!”

“There is no need, Dr. Agaki,” Rei said from the doorway. “We are already here.” She barely had any force in her voice, but she was perfectly clear above the cacophony. She had a firm grip on Shinji’s arm, probably to lead him along the confusing walls of the complex. Or it was to keep him from trying to run. Either seemed perfectly acceptable to Ritsuko.

“Rei? What are you doing here? The Angel was only just detected.”

“I had…a feeling.”

This was the first time Ariadne had heard Rei speak, and already she was unsettled by the blue-haired girl’s presence. Judging by the sudden silence (aside from the various alarms) everyone felt the same way.

Misato’s commands quickly filled the bridge. “Maya! Shigeru! Makoto! Try and pinpoint the origin of the Angel wave pattern! Cobb, Arthur! Take Rei out and begin a manual search of the city! We’ll keep in contact with you from here.”

“Shinji as well.”

Everyone turned at the sound of Gendo Ikari’s voice. He was sitting above the bridge in his usual position, fingers interlaced, and elbows resting on the desk in front of him. Kozo Fuyuutsuki stood at his right.

“Sir?”

“Mr. Cobb is to take Shinji out into the field with him as well; he needs to learn exactly what it means to be an Eva pilot.”

Nobody dared argue, though Gendo could see Misato, Cobb, and Shinji all wanting to disagree. Fortunately, no one did. “Yes, Commander. Cobb, take Shinji with you.”

He nodded solemnly. “Understood. Let’s go, Shinji, Rei.” At first, Shinji stood rooted to the spot, but a gentle shove from Cobb got him going in the right direction. He cast a longing look over his shoulder at his father before disappearing through the doorway.

After a moment of reflection, Misato jumped back into command-mode. “Yusuf! Make sure the chemicals are mixed and ready by the time the return. Ritsuko, Eames, makes sure the Eva programs are running properly; Ariadne, make sure the MAGI are fitted with the current labyrinth models.”

Everyone jumped into their respective duties without hesitation. Misato didn’t risk a look back up at Gendo and Kozo; she couldn’t afford to show them any uncertainty at all. Her orders were her orders. If she questioned them then her subordinates would too, and that was unacceptable in this situation.

“What do you think Fuyutsuki?” Gendo asked of his second-in-command without taking his eyes off the ants scrambling beneath him.

“I think you’ve got the place running like a well-oiled machine,” Fuyutsuki responded seriously. When Gendo didn’t respond, he asked, “How did the meeting with the Oversight Committee go?”

“About as well as expected – the old men still think I’m their pawn. Cobol Engineering even threatened to withhold funding from NERV if we don’t hand Dominic Cobb over to them within a reasonable timeframe.”

“I imagine that didn’t go over too well?”

He snorted. “If Cobol went through with it, they would very quickly find themselves short one CEO. Probably the CFO as well. Both would be replaced by SEELE puppets or the company would finally be bought out by Fischer Morrow or Proclus Global. They can’t risk it; it’s a symbolic gesture nothing more, but there is a fine line between keeping up appearances and not letting things go. We’ll soon find out if Cobol recognizes the difference.”

“Are Proclus and Fischer Morrow still going at it?”

A very thin smile spread across Gendo’s face, though Kozo couldn’t see it. “Saito and Fischer seem to have made their peace. Maurice won’t stop until Proclus and Cobol are his, but Keel Lorenz and the rest of the Oversight Committee seem to have placated them all. But it is only a matter of time before their alliance falters. And when it does you can be sure I will be there to exploit the opening.”

-

Shinji hugged his knees to his chest. He and Rei were sitting in the back of the same van that had brought him to Tokyo-3 (had it? Or was that all a dream?) while Cobb drove and Arthur shouted directions from the passenger seat. Rei had fixed her red eyes on Shinji, which was the reason he had pulled his knees up.

“Shinji Ikari.” She said his name slowly, enunciating each syllable as if deciding how it felt in her mouth. She was studying him, he realized, studying him like Sachiel had. “Shinji Ikari,” she said again, this time more naturally. “Third Child, we have not spoken since your arrival in Tokyo-3.” As far as Shinji could tell, it wasn’t an invitation to strike up a conversation, merely a fact.

“That’s not true. After I…fought Sachiel and was in the hospital, you were there. I had a dream about you; you introduced yourself and everything.”

Rei blinked. “Impossible. I was not allowed in the infirmary following your admittance. In order for me to have communicated with you through your dreams, I would have had to have access to a PASIV. I had no such device and I was not ever in the infirmary at the same time as you.”

“But that’s impossible. I knew your name before anyone told me.” Although now that he thought about it, it was entirely possible someone had mentioned Rei Ayanami’s name to him. In the confusion of getting to Central Dogma, he probably just forgot it. Still.

“I do not know what to tell you, Shinji Ikari. I was not present in your mind following the defeat of the Third Angel.”
Shinji sighed. “Yeah. Probably.”

“Rei,” Arthur called back. “You paying attention? Where is he?”

Without looking out the window, Rei replied, “Turn here.” Cobb obliged.

“How can you tell where the Angel is?” Shinji asked.

“I can sense the ambient wave patterns of the citizens of Tokyo-3,” Rei explained. “Angel thought patterns have a unique pattern that stands out from normal humans. I merely focus in on the Angel’s thoughts – what Dr. Agaki referred to as a “blue wave pattern”; humans have a “red wave pattern”.

While the individual terms overwhelmed him, Shinji thought he understood what she had said. “So does that mean you can read people’s thoughts?”

Rei tilted her head slightly to one side. “Do you mean telepathy?”

“Yes.”

Arthur and Cobb shared an uneasy look. Shinji never received an answer; the van lapsed into an uncomfortable silence for a minute before Rei spoke again. “Turn here. He is nearby. We will have to pursue him on foot.”

“I was afraid of that,” Cobb muttered.

“It is the only way, Dominic Cobb.”

“Here.” Arthur tossed Shinji a black ski mask. “Put that on and get out.” Obediently, Shinji slid the scratchy wool over his face as the two men followed suit. When Arthur slid open the van door, he dropped a handgun in Shinji’s lap. “Know how to use that?”

“No!”

“Well, learn fast,” Cobb said, shoving a magazine into his. “We can’t afford any screw-ups.”

Hesitantly, Shinji took the firearm in his hand, feeling the cool metal uncomfortable in his palm. “What about Rei?”

“Rei’s our bloodhound. She needs to focus on reading the wave patterns; any distraction could throw her perception off. Also,” he pointed at the girl, “she doesn’t need a disguise.”

When Shinji looked beside him, Rei’s hair had gone from sky blue to black. The effect was disturbing. He never thought that such an unnatural color could look natural on anyone, but seeing Rei with a normal hair color, he realized she looked better with blue hair.

And that’s probably not the strangest thing I’m going to see today.

Cobb adjusted his ski mask. “Ready? Go!” The four of them raced out from behind the van right into the middle of a crowd of pedestrians. The crowd parted slightly, giving them a wide berth. “Which one is he?” he hissed.

Rei scanning the crowd put Shinji in mind of a meerkat looking out over the savannah – that crossed with a rotating satellite dish. Mechanical and instinctual. “There. The twenty-something wearing a green anime t-shirt.”

Shinji and the others identified him almost immediately. Calmly, Cobb pointed his gun into the air and fired off a single shot. The crowd immediately broke into a panic, screaming and running in any direction as long as it was away from there. The green-shirted man was then only individual who didn’t run; he had locked eyes with Rei. Arthur aimed his gun at him and fired – but he chose that instant to take off. Rei was twenty feet away before Shinji knew had happened.

“After him!” Either Cobb or Arthur shouted that, Shinji wasn’t sure which. Heart pounding, Shinji raced after the two men. The gun in his hand seemed like a lead weight, slowing him down. What the hell was he going to do with it? Certainly not fire it.

Shots rang out up ahead which set his heart racing for an entirely different reason. What if Rei was on the receiving end of those? What if she was dead? Suddenly, the thought of her dead – the fear of seeing her dead – spurred him onward. Rei was nowhere in sight and neither was the target. With the blood pounding in his ears, Shinji barely heard Cobb and Arthur speaking, but he did make out three words: “Shoot on sight.”

While most of the pedestrians had cleared the sidewalk already, scared away by the dark-haired schoolgirl chasing down the relatively fit anime fan with an unbridled bloodlust, up ahead a circle of people were gathered around something. They parted at the sight of the masked gunmen, revealing a bleeding Rei Ayanami.

“I’m fine,” she said before they spoke. “He shot my left leg just below the knee. I will live. He ran down the alley up there, but it is a dead end. Any second he should be emerging. Go.”

“We can’t just leave her!” Shinji protested.

“We have to. Arthur, stay with her. Help get her back to the van; we’ll go on ahead.” He took Shinji by the arm and pulled him onward. Behind them, no one protest as Arthur pulled Rei to her feet and led the girl away. Something close to anger burned inside Shinji and he began running on his own.

The next few instants happened very slowly for Shinji. Green shirt emerged from the alleyway and immediately spotted the two of them. He froze. Cobb brought his gun up to bear at the same time the man did. A shot rang out, but not from either Cobb or the other man. The target recoiled as the bullet struck his shoulder; he staggered from the force. It was only then that Shinji realized he was holding his gun out in front of him. He had fired the shot. He fired another one as the other man aimed at him. Shinji missed, but Cobb struck him in his gun arm. The metal weapon clattered to the ground. Without missing a beat, Cobb tackled the man to the ground.

The man struggled underneath him, the writhing only serving to exacerbate the bleeding. “You…cannot…stop…us,” the man uttered with a warbling voice that movies often used to indicate demonic possession. Except this time it was real – and not a demon. This man was an Angel.

“We’ve already taken down one of your brothers,” Cobb replied with mild amusement.

“Sachiel…was…a…fool! He…does not…represent…our greater…strength…”

Cobb didn’t respond – he simply jammed a hypodermic needle into his neck. “Apparently, neither do you.” Immediately he fell limp. “Want to put that away and help me with the body?” Cobb holstered his weapon and set to work hoisting the body up. Shinji carefully clicked the safety on and slid the weapon into the back of his slacks, held in place by the belt that was a part of his school uniform. Together they lugged the unconscious man on the shoulders and started toward the van.

“You know,” Cobb said rather casually, “I didn’t think you’d actually pull the trigger.”

“Me either,” Shinji admitted. He was still shaking but was making an effort to quell his adrenaline infused body.

“What made you do it, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Shinji had a difficult time working his feelings into words, but settled on one. “Rei.”

Cobb gave him a look that Shinji didn’t return.

“How did she change her hair color, Cobb?”

“Honestly, kid, there’s a lot of things about that girl that don’t make sense. By this point, I kind of just accept them as they come.”

“How long have you been working with my father?”

Cobb hesitated. “Couple months. Why?”

“No reason.”

Less than a minute later, the nondescript black van veered around the corner and skidded to a halt beside them. Arthur was driving. Rei, despite her wound, slid the van door open from the inside, though it visibly pained her. Cobb and Shinji tossed the unconscious man into the back with a surprising lack of concern for him. Cobb took his place in the passenger seat and Shinji in the back. The three of them tore off their ski masks; Arthur and Cobb casually tossed theirs behind them.

“Did you have to be so messy?” Arthur asked and he made a sharp u-turn.

‘Not my fault,” Cobb replied. “Shinji’s the one who pulled the trigger. Didn’t take him down with the first shot, so I had to get him to make sure he didn’t shoot the kid.”

“Really?” Arthur risked a glance over his shoulder at the teen. “Didn’t think he had it in him.”

“I know, right?”

Shinji didn’t say anything; they were talking about him like he wasn’t there, but he didn’t care. His eyes were fixed on the limp, bleeding form that had slid to the far end of the van. Blood.

“It’s a good read.”

“What?”

“His shirt.” Arthur jerked a thumb behind him. “The manga it’s based on; it’s a good read. I don’t think Makoto has read it. I should send it his way after this.”

Cobb just shook his head, chuckling to himself.

“Are you wounded, Shinji Ikari?” He jumped at Rei’s voice. Her hair had changed back to its normal sky blue.

“N-No. But you – “

“It is nothing.”

“Nothing! It’s not nothing, Rei. You’re bleeding!”

“It is not a serious wound. I will live. Once we return to Central Dogma, I will have Dr. Agagi treat it. Are you sure you are uninjured Your shirt is very bloody.”

The right side of his white button-up shirt was almost completely red with blood – the blood of the man he had shot. Shinji hadn’t realized how profusely the man had been bleeding when he and Cobb had carried him. Gingerly, he touched the wet fabric with two fingers. He stared in horror at the foreign blood that rubbed off on his fingers. He had never seen that much blood before.

His world was changing so quickly that his mind was having difficulty keeping up. Not two weeks ago, he was leading a peaceful existence out with his aunt and uncle. Now he had fought a monster in his dreams with a giant robot, played a physically impossible game with two boys he had just met, and now he had nearly killed a man.

“I don’t think I can do this.” He didn’t realize he had spoken out loud until Cobb said something back to him.

“You didn’t think you could pull the trigger out there, either, Shinji, but you did. Now we need you to get back in the cockpit of the Evangelion and fight the Angel that has taken over that man’s mind.”

That man. As far as Shinji could tell, he seemed like an ordinary man, despite the fact that he had shot Rei and tried to shoot him, as well. But was he an Angel, really? There wasn’t any outward indication of possession, so Shinji had to take everyone else’s word for it.

“Yes, Shinji,” Rei answered his unspoken question. “The thought patterns emanating from that man are those of an Angel. I detect no presence of red brain waves.”

As they approached the secret entrance to Central Dogma in silence, Shinji realized that Rei had effectively answered his earlier question concerning telepathy.

Somehow, that actually made him feel less secure with the company he was keeping.

[Mizagium]

“Jesus, Cobb, is it too much to ask for you to bring him to me in once piece?”

“My apologies, Dr. Agaki,” Cobb replied halfheartedly, “but things didn’t go exactly as we had planned.” He and Arthur had the bleeding man between them, holding him up by his shoulders. Rei balanced on Shinji’s shoulder, hopping on her uninjured foot.

“I can see that,” she replied sarcastically. “He’s going to die from blood loss if we don’t move fast – what the hell; did you have to shoot him twice?”

“Shinji actually made the first shot, but he didn’t go down.”

“That so?” Ritsuko raised her eyebrows. “I wasn’t sure if he had it in him.”

“I know, right?” Arthur grinned. “Can we get him to a chair or something? He’s kind of heavy.”

“Of course. Lay him down of there.” She gestured to a surgeon’s table. “Yusuf! Get here and bring some anesthetic and a coagulant! And some bandages.” The Indian Chemist came through the sliding door moments later carrying two bottles of chemicals and a roll of bandages. He handed one to Ritsuko and one to Cobb, each filling a syringe.

“I’ll get a mop, then,” Arthur muttered and hurried off.

“Hey!” Shinji shouted. The entire room froze. It was several seconds before he realized that he had even spoken. “R-Rei is injured, too. She needs help.”

“No.” Rei shook her head. “I am alright. Please do not worry about me.”

With a sigh, Ritsuko waved Shinji over. “Bring her here, then.” As Arthur returned with a mop and began cleaning up the blood, Ritsuko sat Rei down in a chair. She lifted her injured leg without much care, causing the girl to wince. “Not bad; she’ll live. Yusuf.” She held out an open hand and the Chemist deposited the coagulant bottle. “I wouldn’t let her go down even one level, though. Rei, you’re going to have to sit this one out.”

“I understand, Dr. Agaki.”

Shinji turned pale. “That means that I have to go in alone again, right?”

“Sorry, kid,” Cobb smoothed his hair back. “But it’s looking that way.”

The silence that followed was broken by the man lying on the surgical table. He coughed up blood and moaned.

Twisting the mop, Arthur spoke. “We should hurry; it’s going to be angry when it wakes up.”

“If it wakes up,” Ritsuko retorted. “You cut it close, guys. He lost a lot of blood.”

“I know, I know. You heard Cobb, it’s not our fault.”

“Then whose fault is it? And don’t even think about blaming Shinji.”

Arthur grimaced and tossed the mop to one side. “Fine. Come on, kid.” He took Shinji firmly by the shoulder and led him away with Cobb to the Command Bridge.

Behind them, Yusuf leaned over the body and raised an eyebrow. “You know, this could have been an excellent chance to determine how an Angel’s ego behaves without a host. Think about it: a wild consciousness without an ego barrier!”

“Perhaps at a later date, Yusuf, when one of our pilots isn’t bleeding.” She fixed Rei with a cold glare.

-

Neon Psychosis Evangelion 08
Finger on the Trigger, Part 2: Find Your Resolve

-

Shamshel felt control of the Lilim slip from its grasp. Its vision dimmed and a strange sleep overcame it, one with similar qualities to the space between minds that it so frequently traveled. But this was not the emptiness between; this was still the mind of his host. What then, was happening? The blue flame that was the mind of the Angel wandered alone in the darkness for an indeterminable amount of time.

Suddenly, the darkness gave way to light as a world was constructed around it, a world of dreams, where you could be whatever you envisioned yourself. A moment passed before the Angel recognized the world as a recreation of the city above. It hovered over the waters as a machine recreated the world of its creators.

A maze; a labyrinth. Lilim knew what Shamshel was after and has hid it within a maze of dreams. Had it a mouth, or the mental capacity to understand emotions, Shamshel would have grinned. Challenge accepted.

Here, in the world where one could be what one envisioned, Shamshel expanded its existence out from its core, becoming the form chosen for it. It lengthened, becoming longer than a typical skyscraper was tall. Its head was shaped like a spade with spots that resembled eyes, but were not; Shamshel needed no eyes. Odd little fins protruded from either side of the now armored form. It colored itself purple, the Lilim color for royalty. Testing its abilities, it extended two whips of pinkish energy from the side fins, snapping them over the sea. Satisfied, it retracted them. Its core was well protected, as the head covered it like a helmet and the energy whips could reach anything that posed a threat to its existence.

Turning horizontal, Shamshel advanced on the labyrinth.

-

Shinji found himself dressed in his Plug Suit, seated at the controls to Evangelion Unit 01, already submerged in LCL. Two weeks of rehearsal dictated his next few actions. According to Cobb, in order to operate properly within a dream environment, Shinji had to imagine himself as always possessing his Totem – the SDAT player. In addition to always carrying it around with him, he had to envision it as part of himself, to the point that he would be incomplete without it. He slid the headphones of his SDAT player over his ears and pressed the play button. Nothing. He skipped through the songs until he reached track 25. Still nothing. He was dreaming.

A few days prior, he might have panicked and hyperventilated, but not today. For whatever reason, today was the day his monotonous training decided to kick in. To confirm what his Totem told him, Shinji did his best to recount the events that lead up to him arriving here, in the Entry Plug. He couldn’t remember. They had chased the Angel’s host, caught him, and brought him back. Then they…things got fuzzy after that. And then he woke up here.

It was odd that they placed him inside the cockpit, already suited up, and the LCL charged. Usually they started at the beginning, having him actually put on the Plug Suit and A10 Nerve Clips. Without actually counting, he was sure they had skipped at least ten or eleven steps. Could they do that?”

“Sorry about dropping you right into the Entry Plug, Shinji,” Misato’s voice sounded over the radio. “But we’re short on time. The subject was losing a lot of blood very fast. We couldn’t afford to take our time.”

“I understand,” he said. After all, it was his fault; his gunshot had been ill-placed, causing Cobb to fire a second round. Two untreated bullet wounds now pumped rivers of blood onto the neatly polished floor of NERV headquarters while Yusuf struggled to keep the man just alive enough.

“Give us just a moment. We’re still trying to obtain a fix on the Angel’s location.”

-

The Bridge was a faithful recreation of its world counterpart. Actually, the real-world Bridge was a faithful recreation of this one. While up above it served only to monitor the ambient brainwave patterns of Tokyo-3 (doing so required a massive amount of technology; all of NERV HQ, including the MAGI, was devoted to this one task) the dream-Bridge could display a three different maps of the city, monitor the Eva’s power supply, synchronization ratios, the pilot’s vitals and brainwave patterns, track the Angels, and generate caches of weapons in the skyscrapers of the city maze.

Makoto, Maya, and Shigeru were working every scanner in their arsenal to locate the Fourth Angel, which had yet to appear. “It must still be out in the ocean,” Makoto said between keystrokes.

“Why do we even include that in the levels?” Misato asked bitterly.

“We have to,” Ritsuko replied, leaning over Maya’s shoulder. She had taken control of the terminal from her apprentice and typing out lines of code at an inhuman rate. “The ocean is the pathway between our dreams and where the Angels originate from. That and we can’t just drop the Angel in the middle of the maze, can we? That would defeat the purpose. It’s better to construct the ocean around the Angel and the city in front of it. We have what it wants; there’s no danger of it wandering off.”

“Found it!” Makoto exclaimed. The big screen in front of them displayed an image of the crustacean Angel coming in off the ocean.”

“My, what big eyes you have,” Eames remarked.

“They look more like designs,” Arthur observed. “From what we saw with the Third Angel, they don’t actually need eyes to see. Not down here, at least.”

“So, what then?” Misato asked, crossing her arms.

“You know how some flying animals have marking on their wings that look like eyes to intimate potential predators – like moths? I think that’s what it did here.”

“It’s trying to intimidate us?”

“Perhaps. The Angels don’t have the same logical reasoning that we – “

Eames interjected. “Not that you’ll listen to me anyway, but might I point out that you two are completely missing the point? Mr. Shigeru, if you would, focus in on those fins please?” An enhanced image of the strange, bony fins overlapped that of the Angel proper. Various readings appeared around them.

“This is…” Ritsuko gasped.

“Very similar to Sachiel’s energy spikes. My guess is that this Angel’s main attack will come from there.”

Arthur shook his head, grinning. “Eames, I – “

“Don’t say it, Arthur.”

“No, I mean it this time. I am impressed.”

“What is the closest exit point for Unit 01?” Misato turned to Makoto.

“Route 2, but at the rate it’s moving, it’ll pass over it before Shinji reaches it. Route 4 seems a better option, Captain Katsuragi.”

“Right then. Launch Eva 01!”

Sitting high above the Bridge Crew, Gendo Ikari studied images of the maze. Something stuck out to him as odd. Fuyutsuki stood to his right and Cobb to his left. He turned to Cobb. “Mr. Cobb, you’re an expert on this sort of thing: why haven’t we seen as many projections in this maze as we did last time?”

“There are a number of different possibilities, Commander. My guess? My guess is that our subject is dying faster than we thought. While killing projections doesn’t injure the mind, a dying mind will focus more on the conscious than the preconscious – usually. Of course it could also be that his mind is actually destroyed this time.”

“This time?”

Fuyutsuki spoke. “We got lucky last time, Commander. When we caught the host, the Angel had only just appeared. The subject’s mind was still partially intact, albeit corrupted. This time, it seems, the Angel has destroyed the other mind completely.”

“Couldn’t it fill the mind with its projections?”

“Impossible,” Cobb answered quickly. “Angels do not have the same capacity for logic and reason as we do. They are little more than animals operating on instinct. They can’t have projections because they can’t have unconscious desires or thoughts.”

Fuyutsuki nodded in agreement. “All of GEHIRN’s research supports this conclusion, Ikari. We’re in the clear this time.”

Gendo was silent for a moment, and then uttered a single word. “Interesting.”

-

“Launch Eva!” Misato screamed into Shinji’s ears. The sound dampener in the cockpit wasn’t fast enough and Shinji winced. He was comforted only by the fact that he couldn’t actually sustain eardrum damage down here. Or could he? No one had actually been clear on what transferred up to his waking self. Pain was in the mind, but did hearing loss translate? He hoped he wouldn’t find out.

The lift slid to a smooth stop inside a skyscraper and the east-facing façade slid away to allow Unit 01 to exit. He couldn’t see the Angel, but the sensors told him it was just around the corner. His A.T. Field unfolded, neutralizing the Angels and allowing it to be harmed by conventional weapons.

“Position the target in the center and pull the switch,” Shinji repeated to himself, finding comfort in the repetition.

“Do it just like we planned,” Misato encouraged over the radio. “OK, Shinji?”

“Ok!” Unit 01 grabbed the rifle off the wall of the lift and stepped around the corner to the lift. In the same motion, he brought the rifle up and squeezed the trigger. He actually was on target, most of the bullets connecting with the Angel. It caused a lot of smoke as a few of the shots went wild and hit buildings. He heard Misato scream something, but he was too focused on the Angel to care. When the cloud of smoke completely covered the Angel, Shinji finally let up the trigger; his hands continued to shake.

There was a moment when he wondered if he had killed the beast, but the thought was cut short by two pink energy whips slicing through the smoke. He panicked and ducked. The whips cut through the buildings around him like a hot knife through butter. The tip of the rifle got sliced off as well, and Shinji tripped over the Eva’s power cord.

-

Misato rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache begin to develop. “I don’t believe it,” she muttered. “He’s losing already.”

“Very interesting,” Eames said with a scratch of his beard. “I never thought about the possibility of whips. Bullets were what I was thinking of. That or something like the last one.”

“How come you never thought of whips?” Maya asked.

“Because in the real world, they wouldn’t have worked; energy doesn’t hold together like that. I forget sometimes that the Angels are beings designed to operate exclusively in a dream environment.”

“And this is from the guy who helped design the Evangelion constructs.” Arthur’s comment wasn’t meant to bite; it was simply a statement of wonder. Okay, maybe there was some bite in there.

Silence reigned over the Bridge for a few tense seconds before Maya asked, “So what do we do?”

Ritsuko drummed her finger on the back of Maya’s chair. “We hope Shinji can come up with something. Send him another rifle; if he stays out of range of the whips, he should be fine.”

Misato nodded and turned back to the big screen while yelling into her headset that connected her, and all of NERV for that matter, to Shinji. “I’m sending you a spare rifle, Shinji.”

-

But Shinji remained where he lay in the streets, gripping the controls hard enough to turn his knuckles white, eyes squeezed firmly shut against the horrible monster that was advancing on him. It was coming for him; it was going to hurt him, just like last time. Memories of the last battle filled his mind. Mostly pain.

The strangeness of being linked to the hulking machine.

The clumsiness of trying to move a body that was as tall as a building with such simple controls.

Fear at the thing that faced him with the cold, curious eyes.

Pain! Pain! The energy lance slamming into the Eva’s face, each thrust sending shockwaves though his skull. His body goes numb from the pain and he no longer struggles to keep control of the Eva; he only wants the pain to go away. It feels like an eternity in the grip of Sachiel. An eternity of pain. He imagines that this is what hell feels like.

Then it spikes as the lance slices through armor, skin, bone, and back out the other end. Shinji feels it in his own head; screams to alleviate the pressure in his skull. He no longer cares about the world around him; all attention is focused inward on his right eye, where he feels the energy lance inside him. It is then that his mind, in a state of near shutdown, feels a strange presence. It emanates from the lance. It is a mind. It frightens him. He only hears it for an instant. It screams its name.

SACHIEL

Then his mind completely switches off to save him the agony.

“Take it!” Misato screams at him. But he doesn’t respond. He knew coming back here would only bring him more pain. It was a mistake, a mistake that would cost everyone their lives. He only returned because he knew his father would be watching. His desire for attention had doomed the human race and he hated himself for it.

Shinji barely noticed when the Angel flicked Unit 01 into the air, only registering the bone-jarring landing on a hill outside the main labyrinth. Through the Eva’s eye, he could see it advancing on him, the ultimate goal of reaching NERV forgotten momentarily so that it could destroy that which dared to threaten it.

He couldn’t even bare to watch as the Angel killed him, so he turned his head away. And that’s when he saw them. Cowering between the ring and middle fingers of the Eva’s purple left hand were Kensuke Aida and Toni Suzuhara.

Those were the boys who spoke to me in class. We played that strange game in a dream.

-

“Who are they?” Misato demanded. Their images were zoomed into and accompanying data was displayed around them. “Shinji’s classmates? What are they doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious, captain?” Eames looked up from Shigeru’s terminal. “Shinji’s brought some of his preconscious into the dream environment. He’s created projections. And they’re of his classmates. Very interesting.”


“It’s not interesting, Eames, it’s a pain in the ass!” She very nearly snarled. “Shinji! Forget about them, concentrate on the Angel; it’s coming right for you!”

-

They played with me. They were nice to me.

The Angel lowered its back section, dropping into its “battle stance”. Both energy whips extended from the fins, crackling with life as the monster slowly advanced on the helpless Evangelion.

They like me. They are my friends.

“Shinji!”

My friends.

Friends.

I can’t let them get hurt!

Determination filled the boy suddenly. Both hands flew back to their controls and the Eva’s hands responded almost automatically. They took hold of the Angel’s whips before they could strike at it or the boys. The pain flowed into Shinji, but he seemed not to feel it as he searched for a way to dispose of the enemy without endangering his friends.

“What the hell are you doing?” Misato demanded.

“I won’t let them get hurt,” Shinji grunted.

“Who? The boys? Shinji…they aren’t real.”

“You don’t know that! I can’t risk it; I have to save them!”

“Shinji, listen to me: they aren’t real. They’re just projections of your – “

“Shut up!” Anger was an emotion with which he was unaccustomed, but it suddenly permeated his words. “I don’t care if they’re real or not; I want to save them. I have to!”

-

“Damn it,” Ritsuko swore, slamming her hand against the wall. “Why doesn’t he listen?” She had stalked away from Maya’s console along with Arthur. “Shinji’s a logical person; I wouldn’t’ think he’d be one to delude himself like this.”

“Can’t we just let the projections into the entry plug?” Arthur spread his hands, offering the plan for criticism.

Makoto was actually the first to disagree. “They’re unconscious projections; there’s no guarantee that they’ll even comply. If Shinji doesn’t want to actually be in the pilot seat, then his unconscious mind certainly isn’t going to just crawl up in there.”

“And we can’t support this fantasy of his,” Ritsuko added. “If we treat the projections like real people, then Shinji will continue to believe that they are.”

Misato sighed, wishing she had at least a six-pack in her hands right now. Preferably with three of them already empty. “So what are our options?”

“We don’t have any!” Shigeru snapped! “As long as he believes that the kids are real, he’s not going to endanger them.”

“Maybe one of us should go up there and snipe off the projections?” Eames already had the rifle dreamed up in his hands. “Shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

Maya shook her head, the only one that wasn’t shouting. “If we do that, there’s no guarantee that he’ll continue to fight. Right now it only seems he’s fighting to protect the projections. He’s not even fighting at that; he’s just holding it back.”

“Well, then we’re out of options.” Misato pulled a gun and pointed it at herself. “I’ll go back up and tell Rei we need her.”

Before she had even released the safety, an unfamiliar voice spoke to all of them. “Now now, captain, there’s no need for suicide. Here, let me speak to him.”

Everyone turned to the screen, but it was Arthur who identified the voice. Turning to Cobb, who was seated some thirty feet above the rest of them with Gendo and Fuyutsuki, he pointed at the screen and demanded, “Just what the hell is she doing here?”

-

Mallorie Cobb appeared, quite literally, from nowhere. She came into being midstride at the apex of the hill upon which Unit 01 was seated, gripping the energy whips of the Fourth Angel like the reins of a race horse. Although she could hear everything going on down in the GeoFront, she chose to ignore them for the moment. Her sole focus was the Third Child.

“Shinji Ikari!” she called.

Unit 01’s sensors automatically locked on to the source of the sound and brought her image to Shinji. He recognized her immediately as the woman who shot him during his first dream-sharing experience; she was the first person to have killed him.

“M-Mal!” he stuttered. Another round of fear washed through him, and it was only because he still held back the Angel that he didn’t swipe her aside with a gigantic purple hand.

“Have I ever told you how much I hate that nickname? Dominick used to tease me about it when we were married. You see, Mal is a prefix that means bad or evil, at least in English and many of the Romance languages. It doesn’t quite translate over into Japanese, but then, not many Western phrases do. Yes, Dominick used to tease me about that. Now that he thinks I’m dead, he uses it to distance himself from me. If I’m “Mal” and not “Mallorie”, then I’m not really his wife; I’m something evil, malicious, bad. It’s a clever coping mechanism, really.”

Still struggling under the strength of the Angel, Shinji could only barely sputter out a question. “W-Why are you…?”

“Why am I telling you this?” Mal smiled, a twisted, conniving smile, filled with malice and joy. “Because, dear Cobb can’t hear me. Because I damn well feel like it. But mostly, because I am going to help you, Shinji Ikari; I am going to help you kill this Angel.”

It didn’t seem like the appropriate time to argue with her, especially now that she had offered help. Still, she had killed him once before…

“How? How can you help me? You’re…you’re…”

“Dead? Ha!” Even her laugh was cold and hollow. “If that makes it easier for you to understand, then yes. But that’s not the issue here, Shinji. Do you know that these boys here aren’t real?” She placed an arm around each boy’s shoulders. She pulled them close, her arms like the fronds of a fern plant, only in reverse.

“Yes,” he admitted. “I know that they’re just projections. But! But I still won’t let them die! Even if they’re just pieces of my unconscious, I don’t want to see the Angel kill them…I…”

“They are your friends and you can’t bear to see them die, even if it’s in a dream?”

“Yes.”

“Commendable.” Like whips, her arms snapped out, throwing the boys to either side. “But unnecessary.” Handguns appeared in each hand and fired one bullet each.

“No!” Shinji screamed in panic, but it was in vain. The boys staggered…and were unharmed. The bullets had passed through them, leaving no mark. They seemed just as surprised as he was. “A-Alive?”

“Of course, Ikari. They are projections of your unconscious. If you do not wish them to die, they will not die. Your wish will sustain them, so long as that is your desire.” She tossed away the guns and stepped towards the Evangelion. “Still you hesitate to fight.”

“I-I just…don’t want to get hurt again.” His hands were going numb from the pain, but that wasn’t what he was talking about. He’d rather not have to get to that point at all.

“But Shinji, you already defeated one Angel. Why can you not do it again?”

He shook his head sadly, a few air bubbles floating away in the LCL. “Because I was unconscious; Unit 01 killed it on its own. I had nothing to do with it; I’m useless.”

Mal was suddenly on the Eva’s face, appearing right before Shinji’s eyes, separated by the view screen. “That’s just not true, Shinji. Here, let me show you.”

Pain wracked through Shinji’s head again, but from no visible source. It wasn’t’ like before where control of his body slipped away. This was more like a remembered pain. His vision blurred and he saw himself from outside himself, except it wasn’t now he was seeing. It was two weeks ago, during the fight with Sachiel.

The radio screamed that the pilot had fallen unconscious, and that Unit 01 had ceased activity. His Plug Suit had defibrillated his heart and brought him back to life, but as far as the Bridge could determine, he was still unconscious. But Shinji saw otherwise. As the neon green bands of the Evangelion turned red, the pilot took hold of the controls.

Shinji watched as he controlled the Evangelion perfectly. He saw on the controls that the sync ratio jumped to 203%. But that was impossible; he didn’t remember any of that happening. His memories skipped between being slammed into the skyscraper, and seeing the faceplate fall off.

The knowing green eye!

He was thrust back into his present body, struggling with the current Angel. Along with him came the memories. It was he who defeated Sachiel, he, not Unit 01. He did it. He’d seen himself do it. He remembered doing it.

“Can you do it again?” Mal asked from outside the Eva. “If you don’t it will kill you.”

“I…I mustn’t run away,” he replied, half to himself. “I mustn’t run away. If I do, everyone will die, right? I mustn’t run away.” Through his mantra, an unknown strength possessed him; he and Unit 01 tossed the Angel away and rose to their feet. Mal calmly took a standing position between the left shoulder and the head. She casually braced herself against the fin.

Unit 01 charged down the hill.

-

The Bridge was in a state of panic. Nobody was quite sure what was occurring. Maya and Makoto were getting readings they had never seen before, screaming something about Plug depth, and Shigeru’s monitoring of the Sync ratio was becoming difficult because it came in peaks and valleys; the boy just couldn’t seem to hold it together.

“Damn it, why isn’t he responding?” Misato yelled as she threw her headset to the ground angrily; moments later, it crunched under her heel.

“His radio’s been switched off,” Maya said. “We still have visual, though. He didn’t turn it off; it just happened when Mal showed up.”

“So she’s screwing with us, huh?”

Ritsuko growled and took control of the terminal from Maya. “Here, let me try something.”

Gendo lowered his interlaced hands and considered the entity that identified itself as Cobb’s deceased wife. It perturbed him; it was a factor he hadn’t taken into account for any of his plans. Fortunately, he was flexible, unlike the old men on the Committee. As long as the boy was fighting the Angels, he was quite ok with whatever happened to get him to where he needed to be. Mal might be an unknown, but she was working in his favor. For the time being, he was willing to ignore her.

-

Unit 01 slammed into the Angel, knocking it off whatever balance it had, and sending it spinning into a nearby skyscraper. The energy whips lashed out but went too far wide. Shinji used that time to retrieve the spare rifle and dive behind a line of buildings. This wasn’t anything he had practiced in the Simulation Bodies; Ritsuko had only taught him to catch the Angels off guard and defeat them in one stroke. But reality, as it often turned out to be, was far different. Not all the Angels appeared as Sachiel; you couldn’t apply the same tactics to each one.

Looking up from behind cover, he aimed and squeezed the trigger before ducking behind again. He was operating on instinct right then. With the A. T. Fields neutralized, bullets could harm the Angel; its ability to manipulate the dream environment to its own advantage was effectively zero.

It was also much easier to concentrate without Misato yelling into his ear.

As the initial wave of adrenaline wore off, he registered a steady beeping from somewhere in the cockpit. He knew that sound: it was always playing whenever he trained in the simulation bodies. A timer was ticking down from 5:00:00 minutes. The Angel had severed his energy cable. He hesitantly glanced at the timer: less than two minutes.

“We don’t have time for this,” Mal observed casually. “Bullets aren’t powerful enough to kill it. You have to attack the core directly with your progressive knife.”

“I see.” Shinji stood Unit 01 up to its full height. “I have to get close enough to get hurt. I don’t want to, but I mustn’t run away, right?” He squeezed off the last of the ammo clip and hurled the empty rifle at the advancing Angel. “I mustn’t run away because if I do, all of my friends will die. Everyone I know.” The left shoulder fin opened up and extended the progressive knife.

His radio switched back on of its own accord and Misato’s voice filled the Entry Plug. “Retreat! Shinji, retreat! We’ll regroup once you have a new power cable.”

But he couldn’t hear her, his chant drowned her out.

The timer arrived at 1:00:00 and flashed red while an alarm sounded through throughout NERV. Shinji charged. Unit 01 leaped over the cover it has been using and landed in a crouch before the Angel. Using the stored energy, it stood up with enough force to drive the prog knife into the red core underneath what was assumed to be the head. Sparks flew everywhere as the vibrating metal grated against the core of Angel’s consciousness.

Panicked, the Angel lashed out with the whips again, this time they connected, piercing through the torso of Unit 01. Shinji felt the pain like it was his own but kept pressing the attack. Like with Sachiel, he felt the presence of the Angel’s mind press against his.

SHAMSHEL It screamed its name. ALIEN EVIL MUST KILL DESTROY INVADER FIGHT FIND FATHER PAIN FIGHT

-

This time, Rei and Ariadne also heard Shinji scream out the words along with Yusuf. Rei watched from her chair with a kind of strange fascination, while Ariadne fretted over him. The boy shouldn’t be able to move while affected by Somnacin, much less speak.

“What does this mean, Yusuf?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But it’s a marvelous discovery.”

She regarded him with a mixture of disgust and horror before stalking out of the room.

-

Everyone in the Bridge waited as the clock continued to tick down, hoping that Shinji could destroy the core before his power supply ran out. Without being connected the MAGI, the Eva construct would cease to function. Normally, a construct like that wouldn’t need a power source, but as it wasn’t dreamed up by the pilot, it couldn’t be sustained on the pilot’s thoughts. In fact, the Evangelions no longer existed within any one person’s mind. They had to be powered externally.

Misato crossed her arms and drummed her fingers against her chest. “Idiot,” she swore at Shinji.

-

The pain crescendoed for Shinji as he kept forcing the knife forward. Both hands gripped one of the controls and he poured all of his strength into the weapon. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the timer reach 0:10:00 and continue downward. Just as he thought he wasn’t going to make it, the Core cracked and the Angel ceased to move.

The physical form it had taken wavered and disappeared like dust in the wind. All that remained was the core, broken and dull. Unit 01 ran out of operating power then. It froze where it stood: knife thrust upward though the core. The green glow of the power bands dulled so that only purple remained. Mal patted the left shoulder pylon affectionately before stepping away to oblivion.

All of the tension drained out of Shinji in an instant, all of the determination and anger, the sound and the fury, leaving him a shaking, sobbing wreck.

“Unit 01,” he heard Maya say over the radio, “has ceased all activation. The MAGI have begun the countdown. Five minutes until we awaken. Should we try and retrieve the pilot?”

“No,” Misato said after a pause. “Let him sit there.”

-

Kensuke stared mournfully out of the classroom window. The rain hadn’t let up for the last three days, which was just as long as Shinji hadn’t come to school. He barely noticed that Toji had come to stand behind him.

“Any word?”

“No. He doesn’t answer his phone. I’ve left him like a hundred messages already. I wonder if he’s alright.”

Toji sighed. “I’m sure he’s fine, Ken. You should stop worrying.”

“You two!” The boys turned slowly at Hikari’s call.

“What’s up, Class Rep?”

She thrust a stack of papers at Toji. “I need you two to deliver Shinji’s schoolwork to him. He’ll fall behind if you don’t.” She didn’t seem worried, but Kensuke guessed this was her way of dealing with it.

“We don’t even know where he lives,” Toji complained. Hikari responded by adding another piece of paper to the stack.

“There’s his address. Will you take it to him after school?” For just a moment, her iron skin faltered. “Please?”

“Of course.”

-

“Man, why do I have to carry all the papers?”

Kensuke grinned and kept on walking ahead. “Because Hikari handed them to you, not me. Besides, one of us needs to be able to see where he’s going, and it might as well be the one with a sense of direction.”

“Whatever.”

The apartment number Hikari had given them was just ahead, where the path turned left to go around the outside of the complex. Beyond the railing, it continued to rain.

He knocked. To their surprise, a woman answered the door, beautiful, and probably in her late twenties. “Can I help you boys?”

Toji was completely flustered, but Kensuke managed to keep a hold of himself. “We, uh, we’re Shinji’s classmates, and um, we’re here with the schoolwork he missed in the last couple days.”

She seemed caught off guard for a moment and look of confusion crossed her face. “Oh. Right. He’s, ah, not feeling well. I’ll tell him you stopped by; he’ll be so happy, I’m sure.” She hastily took the papers from Toji and stepped back inside. “Bye now.” The door slid shut quickly.

“I can’t believe he gets to live with a woman like that,” Toji mused.

“I think you’re missing the point,” Kensuke replied, but didn’t elaborate. As far as they knew, Shinji was alright, just feeling ill. All their worry fell away instantly.

-

Misato dropped the papers onto the kitchen table, knocking aside cans of Yebisu beer. She retrieved another from the fridge and chugged it, falling against the machine and sliding to the floor.

“Damn it, Shinji, where are you?”