EVA Ambivilence
Evangelion Fan Fiction by .Richard Flynn.

Chapter 2.

School the next day yielded no new surprises. Since Matsushito had officially started training, he became absent for the next number of days. 'No surprise' Shinji thought, and he continued his regular boring day as if nothing had changed. Asuka on the other hand was nearly in tears.
"It's just not fair!" she shouted. "He should have every right to come to school, instead of being locked down underground by those political assholes!"
"Gee Asuka," began Hikari, Asuka's best friend. "You really seem to like this guy don't you."
"Yeah, well after hanging around these losers all day it's nice to know what a real man is like!" and she hinted towards Shinji, Kensuke and Touji.
"What, who you calling a real man?!" Touji argued. "This is the second time you've said that you bitch!"
"BITCH, how dare you call me that!"
"Well, you wanted to see a real man, c'mon I'll show you a real man!" And the two continued to argue noisily in front of the whole class. Shinji and Kensuke calmly laying at the back of the class.
Kensuke sighed. "Ahh, the peace and tranquility." He commented sarcastically. Shinji was still dumbfounded and took time to consider whether he should laugh at the comment or not. He was suddenly jolted to reality as the class loudspeaker began to blare a crackling sound. Next came the rustling of papers in the background as the administrative staff made their way to the microphone.
"Would the following students make their way to head administration please. Asuka Langley and Shinji Ikari. That is all", excuse this interruption. Both slowly made their way out of class taking their bags. To their surprise, Misato was waiting for them. It wasn't just her presence, but her striking black suit, sat them both in awe.
"There's an emergency down at NERV. I suggest that you come with me." And she left without another word.

On entrance to NERV, both looked at a scene of disaster with total shock. They both walked forward slowly treading in puddles of blood and on distorted pieces of flesh. The entire of the Evangelion test room floor was covered in it.
"This happened mere minutes ago. It was fortunate I was informed so quickly, I believed that you should both see this." And Misato cautiously walked forward, towards the remains of Unit-05's huge jaws. Of which seemed to have been torn off the main body with immense force. A rib here, an arm there. The entire of Unit-05 had been completely destroyed. Its green paint on numerous ragged limbs, almost unrecognizable under the stain of blood. What could possibly have happened to have caused such a disaster. The actual room itself had also been heavily damaged. The observation window showed signs of being bashed in. The shape of an Eva's knuckles proved quite evident. Asuka stood there motionless as her morbid thoughts suddenly changed to worry.
"Where's Matsushito?!" she pleaded.
"Don't worry." Misato answered. "Not so good I'm afraid, he's had a hell of a beating. To be quite honest, it's quite likely that he may not make it through the night. You see, a catscan showed signs of brain damage. In this case I suppose you can only hope for the best."
All this was just too sudden however. She looked around at the hundreds of workers busily clearing away the gruesome debris, but that seemed just to aggravate her, and she quickly ran out, bursting into tears.
"Misato, exactly what happened here?" said Shinji inquisitively.
"I was on the upper levels, so I don't know exactly all the facts. All I know is that Ritsuko and the others were doing some new experiment. One that fused together the DNA of Unit-05 and that of the pilot. Well, I spose it's obvious how successful they were."
"But how could that experiment have done this?" Shinji asked.
"Look, Shinji. I don't know anything! I'm only saying what Ritsuko told me. However, knowing her, that was probably all lies. Personally I don't know how an experiment could wipe out an Evangelion so easily." And the two watched for a while as the remains of Unit-05's six eyed face was hoisted from the ground.
Later they entered the hospital where Matsushito was being taken care of. He'd regained consciousness and it seemed as if he hadn't endured any damage to his brain at all.
"I honestly don't understand it." Said the head nurse to Misato.
"All signs pointed to terrible brain damage. We were actually preparing a body bag, appears now that we won't need it afterall. What a quick recovery!"
"Hmm..." Misato pondered. It appeared to her that NERV was taking very good care of Matsushito. However, she didn't know why. With the loss of Unit-05, there was no real reason why NERV should continue baby sitting him. In situations not unlike this, most inactive pilots would be transferred back to where they came. Something smelled badly, and she was determined to find out what.

The next day at NERV, Ritsuko was sipping at her still warm coffee as the morning slowly dragged on. A luxury which she didn't often have. She began tapping the keys of her computer with her fingertips, quickly racing through the Magi's databases. At that moment a knock was heard on her door.
"Enter." She answered. And slowly, Shinji entered with his school books in hand.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you." He spluttered.
"No, don't worry, I've got another hour till I start work anyway. So Shinji, tell me, how's life treating you?!"
"Well... not so good to be honest. I saw what happened to Unit-05."
"Oh, I see." She answered.
"Actually, that's what I'm here for. Misato doesn't seem to know much about what happened, but since you were there, I thought that you might be able to tell me a little more." Ritsuko turned back to her computer screen and continued typing.
"You know, Shinji, that information is top secret. I'm sorry but I can't tell you anything."
"But Ritsuko, I MUST know. Anything concerning the Eva's should concern the pilots as well, you of all people should know that." Ritsuko faced him, quite annoyed, but her face untensed.
"Urghh... alright then. But I never told you this okay." Shinji gave a short nod as Ritsuko fiddled around with some papers.
"NERV is constantly building new Eva's Shinji. Each one with more advanced technology than the last. Already there are plans for Evangelion units 10 and 11. Unit-05 on the otherhand, was a prototype of a new design. It was intended to be the first with electromagnetic wings and telepathic abilities." Shinji sat there motionless, hanging on to every word that came out her mouth.
"It was to be the beginning of a race of man-made gods. Blasphemy from my point of view. But it was believed by my superiors that the current Evangelion series was out of date. Old technology. Like with all Eva's a pilot has to be found. You should know that."
"Yeah, so..."
"So, when Matsushito was found for us by one of our investors, my superiors believed testing for the new 'Super-Evangelion' was immediately necessary. You see Matsushito is a mentally gifted child. You may not have noticed it, but he's mind is far more advanced than yours. I hate to admit it, but his arithmetic calculation speed is slightly faster than that of the magi."
Shinji's eye widened as one shock led to another. "And, this guy's in our class. Why?"
"I really don't know Shinji, it must have seemed to be a convenient place to put him at the time. All respective Evangelion candidates were placed together for their own protection anyway. The first activation test was scheduled and carried out the day after we received Unit-05. It was activated successfully, though the pilot became mentally unstable, hence, Unit-05 went berserk. We managed to cut the power supply before it caused any major damage to our facility. But soon after, it began tearing itself apart piece by piece. Now the 'Super-Evangelion' is destroyed and it looks quite doubtful that NERV will persist with creating a new genesis of Eva's."
"But, wait, this just doesn't make sense, I mean, I was told there was some kind of new experiment fusing together pilot and Eva DNA. What was that all about?" Ritsuko's eyed widened considerably and she fought to catch her breath. A warm sweat beginning to drip down her face.
"Listen to me carefully Shinji. There is no, repeat NO such experiment, you got that!"

Shinji never spoke a word the next day. Even when it turned out that Asuka had used his homework as a tissue the day before, he never made a fuss. He unconsciously went so far as to ignore Misato completely. The whole day, thinking about what Ritsuko had told him the day before. Super Evangelion, mentally gifted, experiments. What could all this possibly mean. And the way that Ritsuko denied the existence of that new experiment, just seemed to strike him as though she was hiding something. Something was up. Something was going on behind the pilot's backs and indeed the large majority of NERV's staff. He had to find out what it was. Now with some of the facts revealed, both Shinji and Misato both began to suspect something. Whatever it was that was happening, was definitely big and only those in high command would know about it. Perhaps they were all being deceived. Without warning a book hit him in the back of head.
"Come on Shinji!" shouted Kensuke. "School's over!"
"Yeah, you've been like, day dreaming since first period!" continued Touji.
'Gee,' Shinji thought to himself. 'I don't remember coming to school.' It was apparent to him that what Ritsuko had said, really sunk in. And he'd been hung up about it all day. As the three stooges walked home, Shinji commented to Kensuke about what he heard.
"Unit-05, a Super Evangelion, WOW! Shouted Kensuke.
"I never heard about that!"
"Heard about what!" said Asuka as she came running towards them.
"Don't tell the demon anything Shinji." Began Touji. "Who knows what she'll do with the information." And he sarcastically gave Asuka the finger.
"Who are you calling a demon anyway huh!" and once again a large fight was stirred.
"Oh boy," Kensuke sighed. "For your sake Shinji, I hope it isn't that bad at NERV."
"If only you knew." Shinji answered. "None of us get along over there anyway."
"Speaking of which, where's Rei? She normally walks home with us."
"I wouldn't know that, besides, she's never here anyway."
"Just for curiosity's sake, where do you think she is Shinji?"
"Err... well..."

Deep within the depths of NERV, Rei was taking part in a simple experiment. She laid herself down on a bench as a large glass case covered her and a series of monitoring machines began a virtual sweep on her body. Ritsuko and the others were in the control booth as the readings on her DNA came flooding in to their computer terminals.
"Ritsuko, tell me again why we are doing this pointless experiment." Began Maya.
"I told you before Maya," said Ritsuko. "With the advance of time comes the need to advance Eva technology as well. The creation of the Evangelion was a major step forward, why stop there?"
"Hmm..."
"Okay Rei, the test is complete, you can come out now. We'll just remove the locks on the hatches."
"Very well." Rei agreed.
"What's going on Maya? Why haven't you taken the locks off yet?!"
"Believe me mam I'm trying. But there's something wrong, something's shorting out the power. I can't override it, the system won't let me in!"
"Keep trying, the power supply is what keeps Rei's tube filled with oxygen. Any more time without it and she could die!
"I'm telling you mam, it's not accepting the signal!" All of a sudden a warning from the Magi came onto the screen.
'Warning, rapid temperature increase detected. Control booth glass collapse imminent'
"Ritsuko, the Magi are right. The temperature in the lab is increasing dramatically."
"No, that can't be. That room hasn't got any heaters whatsoever. Where's the damm heat coming from?!"
"It's coming through the walls mam. In a few minutes the temperature in the lab will be over 100 degrees!"
Just then, the glass in the booth began to crack.
"Shit! Everyone evacuate! NOW!" Ritsuko shouted.
"But mam, what about Rei?" Maya asked.
"There's nothing we can do for her now. Anyone who goes into that room is instantly dead, now MOVE!"
and in a few moments the booth had been cleared. Meanwhile in Rei's glass stasis tube, Rei laid. Still unaware as to the situation unfolding outside, but starting to feel the heat. Her heartbeat suddenly rose, as she sensed someone outside. Her glass tube slowly beginning to crack. Then she heard a voice. Bitter, twisted and cold in the background as she began breathing heavily.
"Well then, who have we here..."

Corridors away, where Ritsuko and the others had fled the test lab, cold, shrieking screams of pain, were heard above the disorder. All of them becoming silent, as the sounds of spilt blood and Rei's fear ran through their ears.

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