A Janok Production;

 

General disclaimer;

The usual... Some characters and original storyline copyright Gainax

and affiliated companies.

 

WARNING

This is a Post-Episode 26 story, if you haven't seen up to Episode 26

of NGE I advise you not to read this story. You have been warned, so

no complaints.

 

**********

 

NEON GENESIS CHAPTER 2

A Fall From Grace: Out of Eden

 

VERSE 3

 

"Do you rulers ever give a just decision?

Do you judge all men fairly?

No! You think only of the evil you can do,

and commit crimes of violence in the land."

Psalms 58:1

 

 

In a large, empty office two men were holding a conversation while

they sat at a spacious desk.

 

"I think we are going to have problems with the third again," said

the one in beige as he twiddled a tiny tile between his thumb and

forefinger.

 

"Yes." said Ikari

 

The other looked sharply at him, "You seem unconcerned. You do know

he was snooping around the isolation ward don't you? We can't afford

to allow him to become unusable, we've only got the seventh and the

ninth as backup."

 

Ikari seemed to be unmoved by his companion's concerns, "I have

already made plans against the eventuality of losing the third. His

replacement is even now being prepared, don't worry."

 

**********

 

This is stupid, he finally decided.

 

He was sat in a large lecture hall half listening to a Japanese NERV

officer trying to teach his class on how to speak English.

 

He placed the textbook down on the small desk space in front of him,

leaned back, and looked up at the ceiling, letting his mind wander

back over the last eight weeks.

 

He was completely bewildered by all of the myriad lessons and tests

that they had given him. He had been told that he was going to be a

NERV Field Operative, but if that was the case, shouldn't they be

teaching him camouflage and survival techniques, not to mention

gunnery training? Instead they were teaching him battle strategy,

foreign languages such as English and German, and a whole host of

other things that seemed totally unnecessary for a Field Operative,

and that was before you got to the 'irregular training' as his

instructors termed it; he preferred to think of it as torture.

The training had consisted of being drugged and getting hooked up to a

sophisticated computer simulation (created by something called a Magi)

while he was asleep, and then waking up inside the simulation. The

simulations ranged from the insignificant to the insane, and they were

often so detailed that he sometimes found it difficult to distinguish

between fiction and reality.

He hadn't been aware of it at first, of course, not until he had

mentioned to Shiro about the strange conversation they had had the

previous day, and found that his friend had no recollection of the

conversation in question, and in fact he said that Michael hadn't been

to his usual classes the previous day. He also found out that he had

been absent on several days when he had thought that he was in class.

When he had learnt that something odd had been going on he had

confronted one of his instructors, and demanded to know what was

happening. To his surprise the man didn't raise any objections, or

denials, and instead began to explain about the simulation program.

Once he had finished, he ordered Michael to report to the doctor for

yet another blood test. As he was leaving, Michael noticed the

instructor scrawling something on one of the clipboards that each of

the instructors always seemed to be carrying around.

 

That was something else that bothered him, whenever he did something,

whether momentous or completely insignificant, there was always

somebody writing something on a clipboard. Maybe it was just paranoia,

but he felt sure that if somebody requested it, they could have a

detailed report on the what, when and why of every time he either

belched or broke wind twenty minutes after the fact.

 

Ahh well, he thought, there's no point brooding over something that

I'm powerless to change.

 

And with that he went back to concentrating on the pointless English

lesson.

 

**********

 

"Why has it taken you so long to respond?" the voice asked from out of

the shadows in the dark room.

 

The man in the centre of the room looked confidently into the shadows

from where the voice had originated, "I am sorry for the delay, but

security has been stepped up the last couple of months. I was unable

to distract them long enough for me to contact you before now."

There was no hint of apology in his voice.

 

"Time is short, what have you to report?" came the voice again.

 

"Since our last discussion a new candidate has entered the training

program. The Commander himself organised a special training program

for him."

 

He waited silently as his contact absorbed and considered this

information.

 

"Is Ikari involved in this?" demanded the voice.

 

"Not that I could detect, no, but that means very little when talking

about Ikari. He covers his tracks well."

 

Another silent pause filled the air.

 

"What information do you have on this candidate?" the voice asked in

a calmer tone.

 

"I have only been able to gain access to the files created since his

recovery. I have located all of his files that predate third impact,

but they are under such heavy security that I can't get near them, let

alone crack them."

 

He pressed a button on a tiny computer in his palm, "I am sending you

all of the data I have collected. There is also a report on the

matters we discussed last time. We don't have time to discuss anymore

now."

 

As if to confirm his statement a red light began to flash on his

palmtop computer, "Cut your connection..." he began, but his contact

had already left.

 

He slipped the computer into a secret pocket in his jacket and walked

out of the room.

 

**********

 

"I still think that you're wrong," Michael said to his friend, "Why

don't you just drop it, okay?"

 

"No I wont, you are a genuine babe magnet," he said scratching his

chin. Suddenly Shiro's finger shot into the air, "And I can prove it,"

he said triumphantly.

 

"Huh? How?" Michael asked sceptically.

 

Shiro leaned forward to whisper something to him, "I bet that you can

make the first girl you say 'good evening' to smile and become nice

and affectionate, if you know what I mean."

 

Michael gave Shiro a disgusted look, "You're really sick, do you know

that?"

 

Shiro seemed unconcerned by Michael's appraisal "Sure, I get told that

all of the time. So, are you gonna do it?"

 

Michael sighed and asked, "How much?"

 

"Pardon?"

 

"You said you bet I could do it. How much is the wager?"

 

Shiro considered this for a moment, "Well, as both of us are broke

it'll have to be a service of some kind," he paused and looked around

his room, "How about the loser has to clean the winner's room for a

week? Deal?" He held out his hand.

 

Michael grinned, and took his friend's hand, "Deal!"

 

**********

 

This is really stupid, she thought, slamming the book onto the desk in

her room, My mom sent me to Japan to become a scientist, but instead

of going to a University like a normal American girl I'm dumped in

this military academy, being taught how to fight war games. It just

isn't FAIR!

 

She brushed her long blue-black hair off of her face, and took a

long breath to calm herself.

 

Feeling a little calmer she decided to turn around and go to her

bedroom. As she did so her eyes caught on something she definitely

didn't want to see right now; a NERV insignia. She stared at the

plaque on the wall for a moment, reading the motto, her blood began

to boil.

 

"How dare they say that?" She screamed, "How dare they? After what

happened to father... How dare they!" She ripped the plaque off the

wall and threw it across the room.

 

"How dare they..." she muttered to herself.

 

**********

 

He looked at the dark haired beauty walking down the hall towards

him.

 

"Go on," urged his friend.

 

He sighed, put a confident smile on his face and walked towards her,

"Good evening," he began but stopped when he saw the dark glare in her

eyes.

 

"What's so good about it?" she half shouted at him before continuing

down the hallway.

 

He returned to his friend who was staring at the girl as she walked

away from them. "I don't believe it," muttered Shiro.

 

"You better believe it my friend," returned Michael, "You lost the

wager."

With that he turned and walked back to his room. He would have laughed

at his friend, but the glare that the girl had given him troubled him.

 

**********

 

It was that dream again.

 

He was floating in a tank of orange liquid.

He was breathing in the orange liquid, but that didn't matter, it was

only a dream after all.

 

He felt comfortable in this place. It was his favourite dream. All of

his others seemed to be nightmares, but this dream made up for the

pain the others caused.

 

He mentally sighed as he felt his mind drift into another dream.

 

**********

 

He was numb, that's what it was. He wasn't tired, or depressed, he was

just... numb.

 

He continued to stare at the ceiling over his bed.

 

He couldn't go on like this. The constant Angel attacks were draining

him of his energy. There was a time, he could barely remember in his

despondent state, when the Angels attacked once every month or so, but

now they seemed to be attacking on a weekly basis, and in some periods

even daily.

 

Sooner or later he would make a mistake, he knew. It was only a matter

of time, and with that mistake he would join all of the friends he had

lost in the last six years, and maybe he would see the ones who had

failed to return after fourth impact as well. He was so lonely. There

was no one left whom he could call friend.

 

He thought of all of the others who had gone before him...

Touji...

Kensuki...

Misato...

Asuka...

 

No, that wasn't right, Asuka hadn't gone.

 

That thought banished some of the numbness and replaced it with anger.

His hand slipped to the locket under his shirt, he thought again about

all the grief he had felt after they had told him that... but he had

found that too to be a lie...

 

"I won't let you take her," he whispered to the darkness in the room,

"Not like the others, this time I refuse to let you take her..."

 

He once again stared into emptiness, "...Father."

 

**********

 

To be continued...

 

"And in my great anger I will take revenge

on all nations that have not obeyed me."

Micah 5:15

 

 

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

 

Author's Note:

 

If you have any comments about this fanfic then gladly send them to

me.

 

Janok_Re <jreproduct@hotmail.com>

 

 

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