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 5
 
"Whether it pleases us or not, we will obey the Lord our God...
All will go well with us if we obey him."
Jeremiah 42:6
 
 
He pushed the boulder out of the way and looked around at the area he
had cleared, nothing. Not even a trace remained.
He looked at the other members of the NERV rescue teams scouring the
remains of the mountainside, they appeared to be having no luck
either.
 
He looked at the other side of the crater, which was still buried
under thousands of tons of dislodged mountain. It would take weeks of
continuous effort to shift all of the rock there, and it was doubtful
that they would find anything under there anyway.
 
Over a hundred NERV personnel moved over the debris pile. Some, like
him, cleared piles of rock away from areas the searchers using metal
detectors and other instruments had indicated, while those same
searchers went off to look for other sites to examine.
 
No one had found anything yet, it was turning in to a hunt for the
proverbial needle in a haystack.
 
He sighed and bent back down to clear some more rubble away. As he did
so he caught sight of a glint of light shining off something in the
soil. He took a closer look then jumped to his feet.
 
"Captain!" He shouted, "I think I've got something here sir!"
 
The captain turned and hurried as fast as he could across the rubble.
"What is it?" he demanded.
 
"I've found this sir," the man said pointing to the object on the
ground.
 
Lying on the ground was a tiny splinter of purple metal.
 
**********
 
"Beginning entry,"
"LCL electrolysed,"
"Commence first connection,"
 
He was sitting inside an entry plug. The LCL felt cold against his
skin.
 
"How does it feel?" came a voice over the comm. channel.
 
He tried to put his feelings into words, "It feels... strange," he
finally responded.
 
"Like incompatibility?" came another voice.
 
"Not exactly, it..." he paused for another few seconds to find the
right words, "I'm feeling uncomfortable... but it isn't rejecting me,"
he hastened to add. "It feels more like I'm not really welcome here,
and am just being tolerated..." he trailed off.
 
The plug was silent for a while, then one of the voices cut back in
again, "Are you sure it isn't rejecting you?"
 
"Of course I'm sure. Unit 07 rejected me remember? I don't feel the
hostility I sensed from Unit 07, or the welcome comfort I received
from Unit 08. This feels sort of like indifference, like it doesn't
care about me one way or the other."
 
A man's voice cut in on the comm. channel, "Can you please stop
talking like those things are alive, it unnerves me. They're just
machines after all."
 
He then heard a heated conversation coming over the comm. channel from
the control room, "Major Veitch, this is a scientific examination. You
are here only as an observer, and you will keep your opinions to
yourself. If you cannot do that then I suggest you leave."
 
"But Professor Takai, all I said was that it was a machine. What is
wrong with saying that?"
 
"I will tell you what is wrong with that! What is wrong is..."
 
The comm. channel went dead.
 
He sighed.
 
They were always doing that, cutting the comm. channel whenever
someone was about to say something interesting.
 
He shivered and realised that he had not mentioned the fact that the
LCL felt cold.
 
Maybe it's for the best, he thought, If it was physically cold someone
would have picked up the anomaly on their monitor. They would just say
he was imagining it, that he was paranoid, or that he was just nervous
about piloting an EVA other than his Unit 08.
 
It was another minute before Professor Takai's voice came back, "We
will now continue with the experiment," she said, "Begin the second
connection."
 
**********
 
The two men sat alone in the train carriage as it passed over the
geofront.
 
"About Unit 01s accident, how will you present that to the committee?"
asked the man in beige.
 
"With the facts; it was pilot error," responded Ikari.
 
"But... this was a major catastrophe,"
 
"It was of no consequence to us, Unit 01 may have been lost but the
transfer to the prototype had already been completed. This
installation and the prototype will be sufficient," said Ikari in a
calm voice.
 
"But the committee is in a total panic."
 
"All the better for us, it will make it easier for them to pass the
new plan."
 
**********
 
The screaming reverberated down the corridors of the NERV medical
facility.
 
Two nurses visibly winced as they walked past the patient's private
room. One of the nurses had black hair, while the other was a blonde.
 
The dark haired nurse sighed, "She's awake again," she noted to her
colleague, "Can't we sedate her?"
 
The other nurse shook her head, "No, the doctor said to wait another
three hours to avoid injuring her."
 
The dark haired nurse sighed again, "She's been screaming ever since
the all clear sirens sounded yesterday, its really wearing on my
nerves. I don't think I can stand much more of it."
 
The blonde raised a hand to her forehead "I know what you mean."
 
"That young man hasn't been to see her in quite a while now has he,"
the dark haired one pointed out.
 
"I've seen him come to the hospital every day, but security won't let
him see her... He won't be coming anymore though."
 
The dark haired woman looked at the blonde walking beside her,
"Why's that?"
 
The blonde's face turned sad, "I heard he was killed in the battle
yesterday."
 
The dark haired nurse stopped dead in her tracks, she looked back at
the red haired girl's room, sighed and shook her head. She turned back
and quickly followed the other nurse out of the vicinity of the
screaming.
 
**********
 
The six men sat around the large black desk in the darkened room.
The only illumination was a different coloured glow surrounding each
man.
 
"This is a disaster Ikari," said the man at one end of the desk, "The
loss of Unit 01 is unacceptable, we have been tolerant with you thus
far, but this is too big a deviation from the scenario," he looked at
Gendo Ikari who sat opposite him, "Well? Do you have anything to say
in your defence?"
 
Ikari kept his hands clasped in front of his face, "I have nothing
else to say. I warned you that this would happen and I offered you a
way out, you refused. There are only two options before you now;
remove me and lose all hope of regaining control of the situation, or
carry out the proposal I have given you. It is your choice."
 
The five other men glared at him.
 
"Very well, we will discuss this," said the chairman before the five
holographs blinked out. Ikari was left alone in the black room.
 
Five minutes later the chairman's holographic image reappeared, "We
have decided. We will continue with your plan for the time being, but
remember Ikari, we are watching you."
 
The holographic image disappeared and Ikari found himself once again
at his desk in his spacious office.
He opened a drawer in his desk and picked up the phone, "The old men
have approved the plan, pass the order."
 
**********
 
"So it's confirmed then," she said after she finished off the apple.
 
"Yeah," he sighed, "The third pilot, Shinji Ikari, is now officially
declared dead."
 
"Huh, good riddance I say," she gave a wicked smirk, "All the more
glory for us."
 
He looked at her as if she was insane.
 
"What are you staring at me like that for? You hated hero boy as much
as I did."
 
He glanced down at his plate on the table in front of him, "Maybe," he
sighed, "But that is beside the point, I wouldn't wish that fate on
anyone. Besides, it leaves us in a very sticky mess."
 
She shrugged off his concerns, "Yeah? Like what? You worry to much."
 
He lifted his eyes and glared at her, "You don't worry enough
apparently, or do I need to remind you of the situation," he waited
for her to respond, but when she didn't he carried on, "We are the
only two remaining EVA pilots, there are no backups, and even if they
recruit some new pilots tomorrow they will still be rookies, not the
type of person I would like watching my back in a battle. Also we only
have one battle ready Evangelion, and even that one is defective..."
 
"Hey!" she cut in, "That's not my fault! It was the previous pilot
who messed it up."
 
He raised a hand to acknowledge her point, "It doesn't matter who's to
blame. What matters is that my Unit 08 is out of action until it's
repaired, and your Unit 06 is so sluggish it will be hard pressed to
win a battle."
 
She stayed silent but kept her face set in a scowl of displeasure.
 
"You have to admit," he said to her, "That as much as we hated him,
Ikari was a great pilot, and he saved our hides many more times than
we saved his. On a social level I don't care that he's gone, but as a
pilot I would say that our chances of survival have been greatly
reduced."
 
"Maybe," was all she said.
 
**********
 
The three NERV officials standing before the commander's desk did not
look surprised by his announcement.
 
"How long do we have?" asked Professor Takai.
 
"Only until the next Angel attack. If you want a more definite time
schedule than that you're quite welcome to go ask them," Commander
Fuji replied with more than a hint of sarcasm.
 
Major Veitch rolled his eyes. Depend upon a crisis to bring out the
Commander's funny side, he thought.
 
"As we don't know how long we have, we must move as quickly and
productively as possible. Which means that we will begin by
transferring anything that is irreplaceable, such as research data and
samples. At the same time begin reassigning all non-essential
personnel, but do it in small groups at a time, and in such a way as
to prevent the spread of panic. It will make it easier to move the key
personnel in an emergency. A more detailed plan of what is required is
given in your briefing documents. Is there anything else you wish to
raise?"
 
Yuri Takai cleared her throat, "What of the Magi sir?"
 
Fuji leaned back in his chair and smiled a brief smile, "Do not worry
about the Magi, they have all been backed up and a duplicate system is
now in operation at our destination."
 
Major Veitch took a step forward, "And the Evangelions sir?"
 
Fuji nodded his head, "They too are being dealt with. EVA Unit 08 has
already been transferred and is being repaired there. Unit 06 is to
remain here to 'protect' us from attack. The prototype... well, let us
just say the prototype has a special purpose."
 
He looked at his three subordinates, "You have your orders, get to
work. Time is of the essence."
 
All three acknowledged his order with either a salute or a nod,
depending on their station, and quickly left the office.
 
Fuji stood up and walked to the window. He looked out over his command
and sighed. The abandonment of Geofront 1 had begun.
 
**********
 
To be continued...
 
"And now I have told you, but you are disobeying everything that the
Lord our God sent me to tell you. So then, remember this: you will
die in war or starvation or disease in the land where you want to go
and live."
Jeremiah 42:21-22
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------
 
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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