End of Evangelion: Fresh Air A Crossover Fanfic by Patrick Drazen To the reader: I must seem like some kind of addict to anyone who follows Eva fanfic. I wrote one poem, and assumed that I would move onto something else. Of course, that was after having seen only up to episode 17. Then I saw the whole series; an amazing piece of work, but it left me with some dissatisfactions, which I could only exorcise through a four-part fanfic, "Ending, Beginning". And I assumed that was the end. But then a French otaku, whose handle is "Axel Terizaki", approached me about a rewrite, this time highlighting Asuka. The request was flattering; the writing was tough, but I have been trying to produce another four-part story, "A Reason To Hope", which should be finished soon. And I assumed that would be the end. Until someone sent me "End of Evangelion". Unlike the series, I found this to be a mix of the fascinating and the unbearable. The notion of a full-scale armed invasion into NERV at the same time Angels shaped like a flock of pigeons(!) attacked from above was, you'll excuse the expression, overkill. Shinji's appearance in the hospital at the beginning has no context; the return of a modified Spear of Longinus made no sense; character deaths were perfunctory and pointless, and (unlike the series) there's an overall feeling that effects were larded on for the sake of effects being larded on. Matters cannot stand thus. Hence this, my final (no, I REALLY mean it this time!) Eva fanfic, and, as noted above, a crossover to boot: End of Evangelion: Fresh Air "We're gonna jump up to Electric Avenue/And then we'll take it higher" * * * Thousands of troops moved into position through the woods around Tokyo-3. Hundreds of planes waited for the order to scramble. A naval force unmatched since the Pacific War waited in the wings. A flock of EVAs waited in their respective cargo holds, ready to be activated against the most dread menace... "ATTENTION ALL UNITS! ATTENTION ALL UNITS! STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN! THE OPERATION IS SCRUBBED! THE OPERATION IS SCRUBBED!" Ng Yi-Peng, commander of the Chinese troops in the UN contingent, grabbed the radio as if he wanted to choke the life out of it. "What do you mean, scrubbed?! Who the hell is this?!" "This is Xavier Escudero, liaison to the Secretary General. He transmitted the orders just a minute ago. You could speak with him directly, but he couldn't tell you more than I already have. It's over." "Our orders came from higher up than..." "We know. SEELE has been neutralized." "What?" "Any further disclosure will compromise security. Suffice it to say that your bosses at SEELE have been eliminated. All twelve of them. All at once." The radio went dead. * * * Escudero called the Minister. "The troops have been notified, as requested, although I'm worried about the Chinese..." "Did you tell them about SEELE?" "Yes. I told them we know that they've been playing both ends against the middle, working for both the UN and SEELE. Now there's nowhere they can run for cover." "That should make them think. Every time the Chinese have acted rashly in their history, it's proven a costly mistake. They'll check our story, then back down." "If I may ask, how was SEELE neutralized?" "It was a test of some new units the Ministry will be deploying. Beyond that, you may not ask." The Minister cut communication with Escudero, then opened another line. "Lieutenant." "Yes sir," a woman's voice answered. "NERV is all yours now. The UN has been called off. And you'd better be able to do what we think you can, and do it before sunset. Just in case some hotheaded troops decide to go in on their own." "Unless the maps you have are mistaken, it should be no problem for me and my men." To herself she thought "Stupid old fart." "The maps are correct as of a week ago. And I heard that." "Sorry, sir. Commencing operation. Will reestablish communication on channel MR when we're secure." This time she made sure to pull out the wire before thinking, "This will take some getting used to." She reconnected. "Batou." "Ready and waiting, boss-lady." "Is everyone in place?" "In position." "Ishikawa, what's their ice like?" "In a word, pathetic. They were so busy trying to keep out intruders that they let most of their internal checks go to hell. I got a swipe card from our U.N. plant, and giving him author status with the Magi was no trouble at all. At 1100 straight up there'll be a security blackout for six seconds; the evacuation will sound at 1103." "You called it a Magi? Like the Three Wise Men?" "Or in this case, The One Really Screwed Up Woman. The programmer, Naoko Akagi, sectored the core off into three units, but in her own mind each was based on a different part of her personality: Scientist, Mother, Woman. She never tried to integrate the three or subordinate them to a dominant personality. Different sectors dominated at different times. This computer's been at constant war with itself since the get-go." "Just what we need, a lunatic AI. Come on, everyone, it's time." * * * Misato literally dragged Shinji out of the car and into NERV. Ever since the battle with the 17th Angel he'd been worse than Asuka. Asuka had been in the infirmary since before that battle, and was now almost completely catatonic. Shinji still had some will to live, but not much. He would go wherever Misato pushed him, and possibly speak if asked a simple question. He had been sullen and withdrawn when he first arrived in Tokyo-3 just a few months ago, and at first it seemed that he was loosening up, becoming more human. Then he had to kill Kaoru, the only person who had ever told Shinji "I love you", and ended up worse than ever before. Misato put Shinji in a direct elevator to where his Eva 01 unit was kept. "Listen to me, Shinji. We don't have to worry about other Angels; you killed the last one. But SEELE or your father may try to pull something, now that it's all over. Go down and protect your Eva. You can launch it yourself from inside the plug if you need to. I'll try to find Rei and your father." She closed the door and started the car down on its long trip. She turned away from the descending car. "It's almost over, Shinji-kun," she muttered to herself. "Maybe then you'll tell me what you need. I don't have a clue." She heard footsteps and looked down the hall. She saw Commander Ikari and Rei Ayanami cross her path about fifty meters away. "Commander! Wait!" She ran down the hall and turned the corner where she'd seen the two disappear. The last thing she saw was the gun Gendo Ikari was pointing at her, and the flash of the muzzle. * * * At exactly 1100 hours, the very moment Gendou Ikari murdered Misato Katsuragi, the security system at NERV failed for precisely six seconds. Nothing else was disrupted, and no alarms went off. Just enough time for the lieutenant's team to get in and fan out. * * * Gendo and Rei entered the lowest sub-basement in Central Dogma, to a chamber that was home for the being Gendo called Lilith, a gigantic, doughy, vaguely human figure. "Yui," he said, "it's time. Your destiny is to merge with Lilith." Rei nodded her head and began to disrobe. "Stop, both of you!" Ritsuko stepped out of the shadows, keeping the gun steady on Commander Ikari. "You didn't come when I was waiting for you. Sorry; I just changed mother's program. All for this final moment. Mother, please die with me." Ritsuko reached into the pocket of her labcoat and pushed the button on the detonator. Nothing happened. She fished the detonator out of her pocket. "Wha..? Not activated? Caspar opposed it! Mother... you want to protect your man and let your daughter..." She never finished the sentence; Gendo pulled a gun and levelled it at Akagi. "Akagi, actually, your mother did not take her own life. I shot her." Ritsuko shook her head. "That is not true..." "The last thing you hear should be the truth." Gendo pulled the trigger. It only took one shot to kill Ritsuko; just like Misato. He pocketed the gun. The evacuation alarm began to sound, but Gendo was too far gone to hear it. "I am with Adam now," Gendo said, as if to himself. "This is the only way to meet with Yui again. The forbidden conjunction of Adam and Lilith... Let's begin, Rei." Another woman's voice came out of the air. "They say that when you face your own death, you remember your entire life." With a burst of static, a woman suddenly appeared next to Commander Ikari, wearing a skin-tight body suit and holding a gun, this time only one inch from the Commander's head. "Sorry to make you sit through the show a second time." For the first time that day, Gendo started to sweat. He had anticipated Ritsuko, Misato, Ibuki, even his own pathetic excuse for a son; anyone who could be a potential threat to his grand plan at this last second--but not this total stranger who appeared from out of nowhere. "Who are you?" "I'm the choice you have. You can live and face a United Nations tribunal for crimes against humanity. Or the trial can be held in your absence." Gendo looked at Rei, just in time to see Rei's left arm fall off. "Clone, eh?" the woman said. "You must let me help her! Her AT Field..." "There never was an AT Field, and you knew it. Or did you think you could beat the Dolly Effect? Keep the cells from reverting to their original age? You poor bastard. But that's what happens when you mix bad science with bad religion." Rei was literally going to pieces before their eyes. "You know, in a way, it's a shame she didn't last longer," the woman said almost casually. "Another few minutes and you would have watched her go through menopause." "You Goddamn..." Gendo snarled. "Gendo Rokubungi, it's time to leave." "You're right, Yui. It's time." In the blink of an eye, Gendo Ikari, commander of nothing, stuck the barrel of his gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. * * * As the evacuation alarm sounded, Makoto locked the last door to Central Dogma, then handed Ibuki a pistol. "I...I can't do it!" she cried. "But you got perfect scores on the range!" "When I wasn't firing at people!" The door flew open. No blast, no force; it opened as if it had never been locked. One burly man stepped through. He wore a t-shirt and fatigues and carried an automatic Seburo C-25. But it was the eyes that Makoto and Ibuki noticed. They thought at first that he wore wire-rim glasses, but then they saw that what they thought were lenses were embedded in the man's head, where his eyes should have been. Once he sensed that the two young people were too terrified to shoot, he lowered his own weapon with a disgusted look on his face. "Same old song and dance." He seemed to be talking to himself. "Bunch of old farts start a war and send children off to die in it." He looked back at Makoto and Ibuki. "I just came by to tell you that you're unemployed. If you want to live or die, that's up to you. But this place will be levelled at sunset, so you have until then to clear out." He turned and left without another word. * * * Inside the 01's entry pod, still sticking halfway out of the Eva's back, the lieutenant found a schoolboy; he couldn't have been older than fourteen, she guessed. But he was barely a boy. If ever someone looked like a whipped dog, it was this boy. Like a dog who'd been whipped and then thrown out into a driving rain, expected to find his own way back in. She touched him on the shoulder; he didn't look up. His face was still buried in his arms. "What's your name, boy?" Hearing a strange voice made Shinji look up. What he saw was stranger still; a woman with a face younger than Misato's, yet at the same time more battle-hardened. He could tell she'd seen things even more horrible than the Second Impact. But still she offered a hand to Shinji and helped him step out of the pod. "Shinji Ikari. Where is everyone?" For an answer, the woman reached into the entry pod and pulled the face plate off of the communications panel. Tore it out, bolts and all, with one hand. As Shinji watched in shock, she pulled out one long cable and seemed to plug it into the back of her neck. "Chief, I've got one of the pilots; son of the Commander, no less." "Batou found one other pilot; a girl in the infirmary. Her mind is almost completely gone. The other pilots are dead. Support personnel are being detained for questioning as they leave." "Is it true they only used teenagers as pilots? Why?" "As far as Ishikawa can tell, the idea was to put the children in highly excitable, emotionally stimulating situations, then draw on those emotions when piloting the Evas. The goal was for the Evas to live forever, but they needed the children's emotional energy to get them started." "Bastards. Vampires posing as scientists." The lieutenant then turned to Shinji. "Everyone is either dead or under arrest. You're the last one, except for a girl in the hospital. You know anything about her? Where are her parents?" "Asuka. She...Her mother killed herself. Her father may be back in Germany, or maybe in America, but I don't think he gives a damn about her." He looked for the first time into the face of the woman. "Were you sent to arrest me?" "I was sent to find you, and now I've found you. What do you want me to do next?" Shinji looked at the lieutenant steadily as he said, "I want you to kill me." "Why? You're going to die someday anyway. What do you want?" "I want you to kill me." "Because you can't bring yourself to do it? What do you want?" "I want..." Shinji finally broke down. "I want to forget. I want to forget that my father's a monster; I want to forget that my mother was killed while I watched; I want to forget what I did to Touji and Kaoru and everyone. Please make me forget." The lieutenant had worked her way up from the narcotics and psychotropics unit of the police department; she'd learned long ago not to be fooled by an act. Failing to recognize an act can get you killed. But this sobbing child wasn't putting on an act, and--for the first time in a long time--her heart went out to this boy. "Do you really hate yourself that much?" "You don't know what I've done..." Shinji shook his head. "Actually, Shinji, I do." He looked up at her again. "It's all just information. It's not worth killing yourself." "I don't want to be in this head! I want to be anybody else! Can you make it happen?" For an answer, she turned away and started talking to the empty air. "Chief, I think the commander's son can be useful, at least to the..." She seemed to be cut off. "He's a willing volunteer; how many of those do we get?" Another pause. "At least map him, then listen to what he has to say." Another pause. "I don't care; I'm bringing him in." She yanked the cord out of her neck again. "What did you mean, map?" "Map the sectors of your brain, seeing what is stored where. That way, we can introduce a new set of memories and a new identity, if that's what you want." "You can do that?" "Like I said, it's all information. We call it a SimEx--Simulated Experience. Once it's in your head, you'd be surprised how quickly you'll think it's real." "As long as I can stop being me. Who are you, anyway? Can I be like you?" Shinji impulsively touched the lieutenant's arm, then drew the hand back. It felt--wrong. Her arm had the right kind of give as if there was skin on the surface, but underneath... "Yeah," the lieutenant sighed, "the cybernetics take some getting used to. But you don't have to worry about prosthetics; we're just going to make a few changes in what we call your ghost." "But who are you?" Shinji asked again as they got on the elevator for the long ride to the surface. "NERV? SEELE? The UN?" "None of the above," the lieutenant smiled. "The Japanese government was wise enough to hold back on full cooperation with any of those entities. I'm with--hell, I may as well tell you, since we can wipe it out later. I'm with a newly-formed elite corps in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs known as Section Nine. I'm Lieutenant Motoko Kusanagi, and I'm about seventy-five percent artificial." Shinji now stared at the back of her neck, where he saw a series of plugs. "Will...Will Asuka be..." "I don't know. If she's too far gone, even a SimEx won't help. We could tell her that she likes you, if that's what you want her to think. But the rest is still up to you and time." "And she'll believe it?" "Who knows? We're still figuring out all the rules of the game." The elevator moved slowly and steadily toward the surface. * * * The end of Shin Seiki Evangelion, and the beginning of the Human/Machine Interface...