Just to answer a few questions / points made via emails/PM's and reviews since this whole thing started...and to offer some commentary.
Asuka’s hairstyle came mostly from watching End of Evangelion -as in the first half, NOT the second- as Asuka lays into the Mass Production model Evangelions. If you watch her as she duels with one of those blades/hidden lances, her hair often reels around behind her like its in a ponytail or something, so I sort of took it a step further, mostly out of curiosity.
The idea for the 'PILOT THE EVA' picture came from South Park and the 'SIT DOWN! OR THE CUTE LITTLE BUNNY GETS IT!' bus driver. Which lead to Stan and Kyle wondering if the Bus Driver really would follow through with it...and Kyle comment 'Oh she would dude, she WOULD'. Which in turn lead to -for some crazy reason- me thinking about instead of Rei being wheeled out to force Shinji to pilot Unit One, of Gendo glaring, picking up a kitten and telling him to pilot the Eva, or it gets it, Shinji asking Misato if he really would do it and everyone in the Eva bay nodding furiously that yes, he would.
Clearly, there was something wrong with that chicken I had for lunch.
Mana Kirishima...I had a lot of questions asking if I was going to use her. My first response was 'no'. My second response was who in the hell was Mana Kirishima?
A friend of a friend had actually brought a copy of Girlfriend of Steel - then downloaded the English fansub version which he lent me. I played through it over a day or so last week, though it very much wasn't a game, more like a lost episode. I appreciated the effort, even if I found a lot of the plot rather stupid. I mean, why would the UN or Japanese Government waste money on the Tridant after the spectacular failure of Jet Alone? Especially after Ramiel proved that brute forcing an AT field just really isn't practical and only an Evangelion can produce an AT field to counter an Angels? Let alone why you would need a frigen 14 year old pilot? The Evas require it...a robot doesn't.
That said, I found Asuka's fuming jealousy utterly delightful...and was stunned by Ganix actually producing a picture of her and Shinji getting THAT close...
http://www.vazcomics.org/mamend/extra/eva_steel.jpg
I mean look! Her hands aren't anywhere near his throat...yet.
So in answer to the dozens of emails, yet I will allow Mana Kirishima to make an appearance in this fanfic.
She will have exactly three lines, be seen once and never be seen again, nor be involved with any super secret Government project...but there you go. I'll figure out somewhere to put her at some point
This chapter was the hardest to write.
Asuka as a character, is simple. She's a 14 year old girl going through puberty who sees herself as far older woman, is confused by her feelings towards Shinji even from a rather early point in time -even more so this time around- and half in denial about those feelings, while having deep dark suppressed memories that she lives in denial over, that subtily drive most of who she is.
Rei on the other hand...
Is it that she didn't feel emotions until they were awoken more by being around Shinji and Asuka? Is is that she felt them and ignored them? Is it that she felt them but couldn't express them? Does she know about who she is in terms of Yui and Liliths Genetic material? Does she understand what that means for her interactions with Shinji? Does she have her own soul in addition to that of Liliths she carries? If she she aware of who she is, is it only only Rei III who can manifest the incredible power of her AT field that we saw used against Tabris? And those questions are just the tip of an enormous iceberg which make writing Rei, especially Rei's inner thoughts, difficult. To say nothing of a Rei II being encouraged to think for herself and evolve.
So yeah, its fun and horrible at the same time
Anyway, enjoy. You might be able to spot a tiny nod to another Evangelion fanfic, used with permission somewhere in here...
Oh and I'm sorry for the formatting, FF.net screws everything up and I can't be bothered to fix it.
Three Colors White
Rei Ayanami’s eyes opened at exactly Seven Thirty AM, as they did just about every morning. It was a routine that had been all but hard coded into her biological clock from an early age. While she
could over or under sleep this happened rarely, most notably during her recovery after Unit Zero’s activation test when discomfort had interrupted her sleep at various random times. The only other time this rhythm had been interrupted had been a sleepless night after Shinji had given her flowers and confronted her with the truth that she was a unique being, who had the power and
right to make her own choices in life.
Without moving her head, she glanced across at where those flowers had stood until a week ago, shortly before the Second Child had arrived. They had looked rather dead by that point in time but she had been unwilling to simply throw them out, until she had mentioned their state to Pilot Ikari…to, Shinji, in passing.
He had been extremely surprised that she still retained the flowers and had gently told her it was perfectly acceptable to throw them out when they started to ‘turn’, and although he was very touched that she had kept the flowers this long, the gesture itself was worth far more then their physical presence…especially when they had gotten to the state she had described them in.
Much like the rest of this apartment she thought in a rather clinical tone as she glanced around. Residual embarrassment over pilot Soryus horror at the state of her dwelling had led her to make a minimal clean up of the mess, throwing out much of the loose debris such as her old bandages and unopened mail, but there was no doubting that her place was far from clean compared to all other ‘homes’ she had entered.
Part of her was still somewhat, if not apathetic, then relatively unsure of the sudden changes being forced upon her by her fellow pilots, but a greater part that Shinji had awoken was increasingly confident in her ability to adapt and evolve into them and even looked forward to moving into a clean, new apartment very close to her friends.
First however, she had a different experience to survive.
A shopping experience.
While normally on a Saturday she would head into NERV for various tests, she had been given leave to proceed on this expedition by no less a person then the Vice Commander, when he had summoned her into his office for a talk.
“The Second and Third Children were in here earlier” the Vice Commander said, without preamble. “Both saw your living conditions yesterday and were, to put it mildly, appalled by them”.
“Yes Sir” she acknowledged, offering nothing more.
“To put it simply Rei, they have all but demanded that you be moved into a new apartment, one up to proper standards of construction, hygiene and safety. I had no good reason, nor any real inclination to refuse such a request, so, after consulting with the Commander, I have done so”.
It sounded so simple and straight forward to the Vice Commander.
In fact the Second and Third Child had started a minor crisis. Gendo had been in Geneva –the new home of the UN after the destruction of New York in the Second Impact- where he had been busy in meetings with Keel and the rest of the Committee, as well as a few closed door UN sessions.
Rei however was of such critical importance to Gendos plans that the Vice Commander would have been in far more trouble had he taken such a decision without consulting him.
Of course, there was the slight problem that on even a secure line to UN headquarters SEELE would be listening to every single word and looking for anything that could be used against Gendo,
or, anything that could threaten
their plans. Rei was just as important to
them as one of the key components of Human Instrumentality, the container for Liliths very soul.
But unlike Gendo,
they wouldn’t care if any Rei’s incarnations became a threat to
Gendo’s plans by developing a free will.
They had all the time in the world after the Angels had been terminated to grow another vessel from scratch, loyal to them, kill the Rei’s, then use their own pawn for their own plans.
Gendo (and Fuyutsuki) on the other hand knew their window of opportunity would probably be measured in
days after the 17th was terminated, not the years needed to develop a new Rei from scratch if something catastrophic happened. Ultimately, this was the reason they kept so many ‘spares’ of the First Child around along with the monthly backups of her mind, just in case the First died in combat, became unmanageable or otherwise was lost to them.
But…the system was not without its drawbacks.
The most glaring problem remained that it wasn’t possible to digitize a human’s memories or thought patterns to any real degree. Attempts had been made with limited success; in fact, that failed technology had been reborn as the key to the Dummy Plug project, with Rei as the basis subject. But the Dummy Plug was just a poor imitation of a human, little more then a trick to fool an Evangelion into synchronizing with a digital file through the A-10 links. A very basic, aggressive ‘intelligence’ that could be used as a last ditch defense, should the pilot be incapacitated that would probably be just as dangerous to any other Evangelion on the field as the Angel it was pointed against.
The backup system for Rei’s memories on the other hand,
was able to, reliably, duplicate every aspect of her thought processes and memories then download them into a new clone. Above the tank of LCL Rei spent so much time in was a mass of piping that concealed a small 7th Generation computer, very similar to the cloned brains used in the MAGI systems. Less powerful then even one of the super computers that made up that triad, it was however far more specialized. The system was designed to map the changes from month to month in Rei’s mind, and then duplicate them in its own neural pathways as neurons and protein chains. In the event that Rei died, the Soul of Lilith would return to one of these vessels –each of which had a tiny fragment of it to anchor Lilith to NERV- almost at once, at which point the chosen clone would have the former Ayanami’s memories dumped unceremoniously and painfully into it, with the data unspooling over a matter of weeks until the new Rei would be indistinguishable from the old.
But as with all things in an imperfect world, the system was not without its drawbacks.
The most glaring of which was that the technology was analogue. Not digital.
There was no such thing as an ‘incremental backup’ of Rei, no chance to revert to an ‘earlier version’. Keeping the backups up to date was utterly critical for several reasons, not the least of which was that her combat training and experiences needed to be kept current. The absolute
last thing they needed was to put a ‘Rei’ in the entry plug of Unit Zero who had missed some critical training, during an Angel attack. Equally important was the fact that the Firsts synchronization ratios continually improved with her dutiful training, albeit at a very slow rate and neither Gendo nor SEELE would have accepted loosing ten percent of that ratio due to a lack of a current ‘image’.
Secondary, but no less real concerns included the clear problems of a Rei who had forgotten years of her life re-appearing to people who knew her. Some temporary memory loss would be expected as the memories unfolded, but that would only be a matter of a week or two until she remembered everything and she could surely be passed off as having temporary amnesia, or just kept in ‘critical care’ isolation if needed.
Loosing several years worth of memories on the other hand for
real…
While Rei was odd enough and withdrawn enough that it was unlikely people would even notice, all it would take would be the
smallest slip of the tongue to start to unravel the first thread, which led to the first rip in the fabric…and neither Gendo nor SEELE were willing take
that chance.
Of course, for
Gendo, Rei’s ‘backup’ presented its own, unique problems. So long as she would do what
he told her to do, then having a backup of Rei able to be replaced at a moments demand was arguably a huge advantage as the system was entirely under his control. Meaning he could freely risk her against the Angels without any concern of her death, which in itself was an advantage, should the need for suicidal tactics in battle become a necessity.
But the nightmare scenario at this stage late in the day, was that Rei might, somehow, start thinking for herself. And as a consequence, decide that she did
not wish to perform her appointed task.
It was, however, unlikely in the extreme of course.
Years of careful isolation from humanity and robbing her of any real interaction had left her utterly beholden to Gendo, even after he had ‘released’ her unsupervised into school and her own apartment. Even Ikari’s impulsive saving of Rei had simply bound her tighter to
his will as the only human to show her the slightest warmth or concern. All evidence suggested she would be ready to do her part when needed.
Except for the other two Children…
They were variables in the equation which had the potential to be disastrous. Kōzō couldn’t help but be perversely proud of the fact that the children, despite all their own problems, had clearly taken Rei protectively under their wing. Asuka had been just as fiery as all his reports had suggested, confronting him with her Mothers brilliance and a passion of her own that that had actually slightly intimidated him as he tried to find some hole,
any hole in her logic.
How
could he or Gendo defend the conditions Rei was being kept in, which probably violated half of Japanese law on the treatment of minors in particular and human beings in general? Even if NERV was mostly above the law, it wasn’t as if the Vice Commander could exactly be expected to
fight for Rei’s status quo without a VERY good reason…and that they had deliberately isolated Rei to make her pliable to Gendo’s purposes would probably not be a reason Asuka, Shinji or just about everyone else at NERV would be inclined to accept.
So the Vice Commander had temporized, offering to move Rei into quarters inside the Geofront, which offered both tighter control over Rei for Gendo
and clearly met the major issues the Second and Third had brought up.
Asuka of course, had had none of that, instead
demanding that she be granted the same rights as both her and Shinji, that it was grossly unfair to force Rei to work and live in the caverns of Central Dogma when there was an apartment building opposite that of Captain Katsuragi with an apartment free, especially given that NERV clearly had no problems with any of the children living about ground, Rei having lived on her own for years before either Shinji or Asuka had –though in their case, Misato had taken them both in.
Her voice had risen and fallen in a cadence of a much older woman as she laid out the exhaustive reasons why it was not acceptable, until Kōzō had finally admitted defeat and given in. Surprising and slightly embarrassing him, Asuka had then walked over and lightly kissed him on his cheek before heading out of the room with a smile on her face, mentioning in passing that she would be taking Rei shopping over the weekend, given the non existent state of her wardrobe.
Kōzō had suspected Asuka in fact found
that a far more heinous crime then her living conditions.
Fuyutsuki had thought about putting off the news, but Gendo wouldn’t care for being kept in the dark, so, he had called him, obstinately to deliver the daily reports.
Unsurprisingly, Gendo had been unconcerned at the news when Fuyutsuki had delivered it in a simple, matter of fact tone at the end of much more mundane news; that at the requests of the other pilots, Rei was being moved to new and more suitable quarters closer to them, leaving unsaid the consequences of the other pilots now unavoidable involvement and concern for the First Child.
Gendos reply had been curt, approving the move and agreeing that the First should be allowed to skip this coming weekends’ tests, to allow the shopping trip to proceed. If SEELE were listening in, which was about as close to a ‘sure bet’ as you could come in this business, Gendo’s orders would be taken to be nothing out of the ordinary, though Keel would probably grumble about a non existent delay to the Human Instrumentality project that everyone knew didn’t exist, but was still a small point to score off Ikari in their ongoing game.
Fuyutsuki however easily read between the lines; No uploads for Rei until they were sure she was stable after this weekend…just in case. He knew Gendo wouldn’t care one way or the other what Rei did with her time or if she was allowed to live a little, just so long as she remembered firmly what she had been created to do. For all his apparent indifference and cruelty to her, he knew Gendo
did care for her, at least on some level as his impulsive, rescue of her had shown. On the other hand, Gendo Ikari had not gotten to his position by making unwarranted assumptions. He might care for Rei more then his own Son, but he wouldn’t hesitate to take action against her should a decades worth of patient work be in danger.
Now, sitting across from Rei as she simply stared at him, Kōzō was trying in vein to determine if this would be the case or not.
“What is your primary purpose Rei?” he asked her bluntly.
Rei didn’t even hesitate in answering as she lied through her teeth. Gendo and the members of SEELE might have had poker faces that would keep them out of Vegas…but Rei would have been promptly banned from the greater state of Nevada itself had
she shown up.
“Primarily; to serve as the catalyst for the Commanders Scenario as well as piloting Unit Zero in an Angel engagement scenario. Secondary considerations include-”
“Yes yes” Kōzō said in a dismissive tone that hid his relief that indeed Rei was still Rei.
Still, halting of the backups until Gendo himself could talk to her was a sensible precaution for now.
“None of this however” he continued, “precludes your interaction with the other Children” Kōzō continued. “To that end, you are to take this weekend off all NERV tests and spend some time with them as part of your team building training. You, Shinji Asuka should become good friends, to reinforce your working relationship. Against the Angels, we can leave nothing to chance, including teamwork. All indications are that the Angels will continue to evolve and adapt, and so must we”.
“Understood” she replied flatly, expertly hiding the sudden swell of emotion as she realized she was being
ordered to spend time with her friends.
This was most advantageous.
“You are also aware I take it, that the Second and Third have pushed for you to be relocated to a new apartment?”
“Yes Sir” she acknowledged again.
“Do you have any problem with this?”
“I do not” Rei said after several seconds of consideration. “The state of my current dwelling appeared to infuriate the Second. It would be prudent to avoid such outcomes if we are to become…friends”.
“Indeed” Fuyutsuki nodded, pleased at her answer. “Well, keep me apprised. The Commander will return on Monday and we will reschedule your tests for some time in the future. Your new apartment will be ready inside forty eight hours, have your apartment cleared out within that time period. Dismissed”.
Outside, Rei maintained her typical dour look as she exited NERV into the Gefront.
The look continued as the mostly empty train ascended the Geofront and into a tunnel to the surface.
Only when the train broke into the brilliant sunset, did she let the slightest smile edge its way onto her face.
Kōzō watched her leave and the door close behind her, shuddering ever so slightly as she finally left. It still haunted him how much she was starting to look like Yui as she got older...
Would Yui forgive him for what he had helped do to her legacy? For what he had stood by and watched Rei be put through by Gendo? For the tiny spark of redemption he still desperately sought, perhaps in her level, familiar gaze staring out from Shinji Ikari?
On balance, he decided that Yui probably would forgive him; she was just that kind of a person. But he on the other hand…
No. He would never be able to forgive himself. His soul had been damned the second he had joined Gendo in fear of SEELE’s threats.
And there was nothing he could do now to stop the avalanche, except perhaps help the children to find some kind of joy out of life. Before death claimed them all.
And Rebirth.
Rei let another slight smile move onto her face once again as she finished her brief shower and, after considering her rather limited wardrobe, dressed in a fresh school uniform, dismissing her new formal and semi formal white NERV uniforms as not suitable for this exercise with the other pilots. She had a rather bland if nutritional breakfast then cleaned up –strange she was getting into that habit when she was about to leave this place- and left, heading down the not terribly well maintained elevator and out onto the street towards the local train station.
She walked alone –except for the Section 2 agents trying poorly not to look like they were following her- through the loud omnipresent clanging and drilling of construction around her neighborhood in the early morning light.
Already from the pale, almost silvery blue hue the sky had taken on, Rei could tell the day would be a warm one, unusually so for this time of year. The Earths axial tilt had been reduced to seventeen degrees from twenty three after Third Impact, a minor difference on paper, but one that had led to an median increase of temperature in the Northern hemisphere and a decrease in the Southern. While the winters were still quite chilly at times in Tokyo-3, snowfalls across Japan had become increasingly rare and heavy winter clothing had all but vanished from the streets as time went on. To some extent, this was why she had never been that bothered with her choice of clothes. The uniforms were durable and comfortable enough to wear in any season.
But apparently, this was grossly insufficient.
As the increasingly crowded train sped into the City, Rei took the opportunity to study other women on the train, who wore a bewildering array of clothes of different cuts, shapes, shades and colors which Rei studied as carefully as any Evangelion training manual, of which she had read more then a few in her life. A few of the styles she thought were agreeable, others less so…the concept of choosing her own clothes suddenly interested her as she superimposed her own image –she had seen ‘herself’ enough in the tanks to be able to easily do this- with the clothes and studied the effect.
Her analysis in fact became so involved her that she found she almost missed the stop as the train decelerated, realizing the twenty minute trip had all but ‘flown’ by. A curious sensation for Rei, who usually tracked every second precisely, but one she could ignore as she left the train, ran her NERV card through the ticket machine –unlimited public transport was one of the few ‘perks’ she found useful as an Eva pilot- and started to walk down towards the shopping center.
“Hey! Ayanami, over here!” the Second Child shouted in her general direction ten minutes later. She easily spotted the excited looking pilot in a small group comprising her and the Third, as well as the Director of Operations, a quartet of Section Two agents and Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji making his way stealthfully towards the group from the direction opposite her.
Adjusting her pace, she shifted towards the group, somewhat pleased to see them waiting for her, fascinated as she watched them conversing. The Second looking rather energized, the Third confused and the Captain amused…until the Special Inspector announced his presence, causing the Captain to whirl with a look of shock on her face, listening to their conversation with interest as she closed distance.
“But…but” Asuka stuttered as she stepped into close range, “I…we, need him to carry everything!” the Second whined in protest at Inspector Kaji saying he was going to take Shinji shopping for ‘guy stuff’ while she and the other two Girls did ‘girl stuff’.
Curious. A custom that males were required to carry purchases for females during shopping. A custom apparently in danger from the aforementioned plans Kaji had to take Shinji for his own shopping, at least for part of this trip.
She must act quickly.
“If you require male assistance to carry purchases” Rei suggested helpfully as her mind compared a list of known assets available with the problem, coming up with an easy solution, “there are six Section Two agents currently assigned to watch us, any three of which could serve that function while leaving an acceptable bodyguard force”.
“What?” Asuka asked with a surprised expression on her face as she looked around. “Where?”
“There” Rei replied, pointing at the gaggle of men, including the two who had followed her from her apartment, trying to their best to look for all the world like a bunch of casually dressed businessmen going in to do some shopping, surprised that pilot Soryu hadn’t seen them. Then again, she could understand that having only been in Tokyo-3 for a short time, she may not have had the chance to memorize the faces of the omnipresent shadows around them.
To Rei, they stood out rather clearly.
“Hey! You six” Asuka shouted, placing her hands on her hips with a confidence that Rei slightly envied as she stabbed a finger out at the suddenly unmasked agents. “Yes,
you group of Two guys” she repeated, “over here, now!”
Turning back to face her, Asuka favored her with a smile.
“That’s some good team thinking First!” she said. Before Rei could manage to think up an acceptable response to the complement however, she narrowed her eyes and stepped closer then Rei would have liked, if not in a hostile manner as she ran her eyes with an intense concentration over her face and hair, making Rei feel slightly uneasy.
“Do you cut your hair yourself? Hell, what kind of skin products are you using?” she demanded both answers at once, causing Rei to wonder if she had somehow given offense.
“Just…soap” Rei replied honestly.
Asuka said something in German.
“Okay, new plan” Asuka said in a determined voice that left no room for arguing. “FIRST we get you a makeover, and
then we go shopping! Hell, makeovers for all three of us!” Asuka declared.
Rei was peripherally aware of Captain Katsuragi all but crying in joy –a difficult concept Shinji had once explained to her- but turned her attention back to the Second, understanding, at least intellectually, what her fellow pilot was offering.
“T..Thank you” was all Rei could think to say, a compliment Asuka appeared to accept with the flash of a grin as she moved to direct her ire at the agents she had called over.
Rei moved off slightly, listening to the two other women start giving orders as she considered the strange overreaction of Captain Katsuragi, before she suddenly realized Shinji had walked up to her, yet again his eyes boring into her as if he knew
exactly what was going through her mind.
“I know this might seem a little overwhelming” he said softly to her with a supportive smile, “but Asuka and Misato really mean well by all this”.
“I understand” she replied, Shinji’s simple statement meaning more to her then he could possibly know.
The idea that her…friends were doing this out of concern and respect for her…
“Think of it as a learning experience” he suggested and Rei focused on him in interest as he
said what she had been thinking for some time.
“If you want to understand more about…human interaction” Shinji continued “then think of this as a lesson in the kind of thing most girls your age
dream of”.
“Then…I will endeavor to show my appreciation” Rei said, deciding not to query Shinji on the concept of dreaming. At least for now.
“No, its not about showing appreciation Rei, though I’m sure they’ll…um…appreciate it” Shinji smiled somewhat earnestly. “It’s about
you having
fun!”
“Perhaps” she replied softly, glancing at the other members of their group, Misato laying down instructions Rei caught snippets of…and understood none of. They might as well have been speaking another language. “But I am not sure how I will do this…if I do not understand”.
“That’s what learning is about” Shinji pointed out to her in a somewhat more direct tone. “Life isn’t a textbook Rei, some things you can only learn by doing”.
“Then I will…do” she repeated.
Ah, treat this entire exercise like a practical classroom lesson.
If only she had even the slightest idea what the test was going to ask…
“But…I am not sure about what I will purchase to wear” she pointed out.
“Well…you might want to try something made of silk” Shinji suggested.
Silk.
Interesting she thought as her mind flashed over everything she knew about the protein fiber…
“I will do so” Rei replied, just as the doors were opened by a security guard, who was promptly almost trampled by the crowd as they surged inside.
Foolish. There was only a small crowd and a large shopping center; the crowd would disperse within seconds of entering, why would they possibly want to-
Any further thoughts were cut off as both the Second Child and Operations Director grabbed an arm each and pulled her at speed into the doors, without even a change to thank Shinji as he and Inspector Ryoji flashed out of sight.
The next ten minutes passed in a blur as the Captain led them at speed through the shopping center, overtaking many other groups moving at less then reckless speed. Rei had no problems keeping up, but found herself slightly in awe of how the two women had turned into examples of…inanity?
No, that wasn’t accurate. Insanity would imply they had lost their sanity, where they appeared to be very much
in control of themselves…just…obsessive.
Yes. Obsessive.
Very curious.
In no time at all, they had arrived at their destination, were whisked through to the back and before she knew it, she was sitting down in a chair, with two older ladies working with a will on the nails on her hands and feet.
The feeling of their files had been slightly strange and uncomfortable at first, but as she forced herself to relax, she found she had gotten used to the sensation and even started to accept it in a way she could even categorize as…enjoyment?
Rei was used to being prodded and poked none too gently, even painfully over the years by scientists such as Doctor Akagi and as such didn’t really find anything ‘flinch’ worthy in the way strangers touched her anymore. But none of
them had ever treated her as gently as these people did, nor have the ultimate goal of making her look and feel ‘beautiful’. She could even characterize this as slightly soothing…
She watched with interest as after they had finished shaping the nail into quite pleasing shapes, the technicians methodically ‘polished’ then painted her nails. She had given some serious thought to the offer of the artificial nail tips, but declined, satisfied with the trimming, cleaning and polishing of her own. A creature of infinite patience, Rei calmly waited until the last of her nails were finished and dried with hot air before she was allowed to stand. She carefully inspected their work…
And decide that yes, on balance, she was actually very pleased with the effect of her now pearly and shimmering nails that glowed as they caught the light…
“This is not an unpleasant outcome” she offered with the slightest smile as she looked up. “I believe this was quite an…enjoyable experience” said continued, starting to reach for her socks in a strange duality, feeling…sadness?
Yes, a slight sadness that this was now over.
“Hold it, where do you think
you’re going?” Asuka broke in.
“We are finished” Rei said in some confusion, generating a spectacular explosion of laughter from Asuka and a grin from Misato.
“Finished? Oh Rei, you’re priceless. Come on, we’ve barely started!” the Second declared, reaching over and taking a firm grip on her hand once again to lead her into the next room, Rei wryly noting in passing at that Asuka had no problem in touching her…and finding herself, for once, actually quite unphased with the constant physical contact.
“
This is the best part” she declared as they passed through a ‘door’ of thin cloth strips, pointing to a series of odd looking beds, each separated by shoulder high screens attended by yet more ‘technicians’ who were clearly making preparations.
Odd.
None the less, she followed the given instructions obediently as she always did, undressing down to nothing but her panties and lying face down, finding the oddly contoured bed surprisingly relaxing as the shapes worked to fit her body and the two women at each bed made their preparations, listening but not responding to the talk and noises of the two people on either side of her, too caught up in the experience.
She heard the Captain next to her suddenly moan in an almost subsonic grunt, followed shortly but Asuka in a similar, but higher pitched moan, followed by several demands of ‘harder!’, then
very precise directions-
At which point Rei felt what she presumed to be oil dribbling onto her back before a pair of gentle, but firm, light but insistent hands started to work it in. Rei closed her eyes and breathed in sharply as the hands moved across her back and sides, feelings she had never felt surging through her nervous system as expert hands found tight muscles and worked them, against their will, to unwind and relax.
Rei had sampled all manner of pain through the years of her life from the sharp acid burning of a long thin cut to the throbbing agony of internal organs being damaged, to the grinding of broken bones rubbing against each other…but she had never felt, nor suspected, that
pleasure could be anything like this, as a second pair of hands went to work on her long legs.
Suddenly, she felt as if she was lost in a sea of bliss and almost unconsciously, she started to let out soft, slight moans of pleasure in chorus with the other two women around her, the volume of their grunts and moans slowly increasing-
Across town somewhere, Shinji Ikari suddenly sneezed, before looking around in confusion and wondering where
that had come from.
Rei Ayanami was thinking deeply as she found her mind drifting, almost floating in the pure relaxation that she had never felt or understood before as the seconds turned to minutes, then tens of minutes. In her clearly far too simplistic analysis, she had thought of pleasure as the absence of pain. While it was true the concepts were opposed in most texts she had read and that no pain was a…pleasurable state of sorts, it was clearly
not pleasure, in of itself, but any deeper thought was impossible as her concentration narrowed to the feelings. Right now, Rei’s nervous system was near overloading with sensations she had never felt before as the quartet of hands, without mercy, worked along her back, legs and sides. She almost felt as if she was melting, being ‘relaxed’ into a puddle that was spreading across the table from all the attention…and all she cared about was that it not stop.
If an Angel had attacked, Rei didn’t know if she would be able to get up.
If
he had demanded she get up, for the first time, Rei thought there was a chance she might have been tempted to disobey…
Or at least take, as that saying went, ‘her sweet time’ in following the order.
But all too soon, the hands slowed, then stopped.
Still, the feeling continued to rebound randomly through her body and Rei simply lay there absorbing them, breathing deeply with her eyes shut as she luxuriated in the strange, overwhelming new sensations tingling up and down her nerves.
She might be a clone, but she still had every nerve any other human did -and few more besides for that matter- letting her mind drift on the currents of feeling…images, thoughts and feelings drifting across her mind...
‘Mountains’.
(
The mist in the morning over the hills of Tokyo-3)-
‘Heavy are the mountains…but that changes…with the passage of time. Sky, blue sky’
(
Staring out the window of the classroom at the crystal blue sky)-
‘What your eyes can't see. What your eyes can see.’
(Shinji following her up the stairs onto the roof)-
‘Water. It is agreeable.’
(
The feel of water as she dove into the pool)-
‘Flowers. So many the same. So many without purpose.’
(Shinji handing over the flowers to her, a blush on his face-)
’Sky. Sky of red. Red the color, the color I hate…yet the color of friends.’
(Unit Two’s pilot in her scarlet plug suit smirking cheerfully at her as she prepared to leave NERV to fight the 7th Angel)-
’From the red soil the humans come.’
(Floating in a tank of LCL in the darkness, all alone, so very alone)-
’Humans made by man and woman.’
(Classmate Hikari’s gaze continually lingering on Classmate Suzuhara)-
’City, a human creation.’
(Being pulled through the shopping center earlier today by her frantic companions)-
’Eva, a human creation as well.’
(“GO AWAY ECHO!”)-
’What are humans? Are they creations of God?’
(A strange but familiar giant white being in the clouds, nine tiny points of white light around it as reached for a tiny red cross in front of it…)-
’Humans, that which is created by humans.’
(“We may need to accelerate your recovery profile”)-
’This is that which is mine, my life, my heart. I am a vessel for my thoughts.’
(“How could you let her live like this Baka?”)-
’The Entry Plug, a throne for the soul.’
(“You are a tool, a disposable, replacement copy of a dead person!”)-
’Who am I? I am I. This object that is unique, that is I. That, which forms, is me.’
(“Rei, you cannot be replaced. You are a unique individual”)-
’Awareness dawns of someone who is not me.’
(“Who are you? An Angel? The person that we call an Angel?”)-
’Who is here, there, beyond me here?’
‘Shinji’
(“Should I initiate romantic contact with pilot Ikari?”)-
’This person I know, Captain Katsuragi.’
(The look of happiness, friendship and…obsession on her face as she pulled her through the shopping center)-
’Doctor Akagi.’
(The look of utter contempt and boredom as she performed her monthly uploads)-
’People, my classmates.’
(“Good luck today Rei!)-
’The pilot of Unit Two…Asuka’
(“Let’s be good friends!”)-
’Commander Ikari?’
(“Merge all souls into one. And then, take me to Yui's side.”)-
’Who are you?’
(“You've existed for the sake of today, this day, Rei”)-
’Who are you?’
(“I’m home”)-
’Who are you...’
(Welcome Home)-
And with that, the world of images shattered as she heard someone calling her name-
“Rei” the voice repeated, accompanied by an electric shock of feeling from a light touch on her shoulder that caused her to open her eyes as, as the voice commented that it was time to move on.
Sitting up, she shivered slightly as her rather flexible back arched, nerve endings firing off as she moved to a sitting position.
“Are you okay?” Asuka asked with a raised eyebrow from beside her as Misato held up a robe.
No. I am far better then ‘alright’ Rei thought to herself.
“I am…content” she replied, trying not to gasp at the contact of the robe with her skin, wrapping it tight around her. Not to preserve her modesty, Rei had rather little concern about that in the presence of these two people, but suddenly
wanting the contact as close as possible with her skin.
Asuka shrugged at her response and twirled, her own robe much more loosely tied off.
“Come along then, this isn’t over yet” she said and Rei obediently forced herself into motion, not even noticing that her clothes had been discreetly removed by the staff as they had left. This time a pair of glass doors with polished metal handles that sealed the room off almost as well as an airlock separated this room from the next. Her curiosity piqued, Rei followed Asuka closely through the first, then instantly felt the moisture and heat as soon as they stepped into the second, though far from unbearable amounts.
The large spa in the next room was bubbling with a veritable cocktail of chemicals, designed to leach the oils from the previous massage, as well as remove deep grim and other microscopic junk out of their skin. Rei, showing a complete disregard for her modesty promptly disrobed and stepped in, closing her eyes and sighing slightly as she let the withering and rolling water wash over her, followed quickly by Asuka and Misato.
Water had indeed always been ‘agreeable’ to Rei, but this was a whole new kind of water. Not the running heat of a shower, not the calm solid mass of a swimming pool. No, instead this water surged and writhed around her, pulling and pushing, almost like she had stepped into a living breathing ecstasy.
It was also pleasant.
“Oh looky, we got these cool things!” Asuka suddenly said in triumph, leaning over the edge to pull a number of what looked like gloves of some kind in from a shelf, tossing a pair to Misato and Rei. Rei studied her pair, they felt slightly odd, almost like a thin, very fine mesh of some kind was on the outside…
Running her hands over the surface, she couldn’t quite describe the sensation. Not soft, but not uncomfortable either…
“Okay, you do my back and I’ll do yours” Asuka said, half crawling and half swimming across to her as Misato placed her gloves aside to lean back and simply enjoy the wonderful hot water for a few minutes.
“I…do not-”
“Okay okay” Asuka sighed. “Look, I’ll do
your back first then, pay attention then do mine, okay?”
“Understood” she said, turning around to face away from pilot Soryu, her curiously now increasing to the point of expectation.
She heard the splashing as the Second moved closer, then the feeling as he legs pressed up against Rei’s-
Soft…so soft…
-followed by Asuka’s breath on her neck as she gently moved her hands up, dribbling some new liquid onto her back before gently moving her hands onto her shoulders-
For a second time, Shinji Ikari sneezed across town, this time much more violently as he again looked around the small room he was inside in irritation.
This…is most…interesting Rei Ayanami thought to herself almost an hour later.
Currently, she was lying with her eyes closed under a pair of slices of cucumber –she didn’t exactly understand why, but obediently followed orders as always - on a reclined chair. She was wearing a new, thinner robe, trying not to writhe in pleasure as she
felt every millimeter of the fabric moving against her skin and the underlying leather coverings.
Countless years in LCL tanks combined with simple showering had left her skin, if not damaged, then with deep buildups of LCL junk inside her pores and over her skin, deadening her ability to ‘feel’, like trying to pick up sand with heavy gloves. The spa had broken down these layers, and then Asuka had methodically removed everything with her ‘exfoliating’ gloves and liquids from her back, before Rei had done the same, then worked every other square inch of her own body with the same attention to detail.
Her skins sensitivity had been heightened to a level that, when combined with the forced relaxation of her muscles, had left her in a state which could only be described as ‘sensory overload’. It had been all she could do to turn around after Asuka had declared her and return the favor to Asuka with the gloves, striving to duplicate the effort as best she could on the seconds back and sides, following her rather exacting directions as best she could.
Finally, they had left the spa and dried off in individual rooms, Rei gasping ever so slightly as she
felt the play of air currents over her new skin cells, standing there undressed for at least a minute until an impatient Asuka had thumped on her door and demanded she get moving. Now, sitting in her reclined chair with her face coated in chemicals, she turned her awareness inward, studying the strange tingling sensations as the chemicals forced her pores open following something called an ‘exfoliating steam treatment’, purging her face of all manner of built up debris-
“Say Rei…” Asukas voice came, from roughly two point five meters from her right.
“Yes?” she answered with part of her concentration, the rest of her mind still far too busy being blasted by sensations she had no experience in…
“You have any ideas what kind of clothes you want to look at” the Second Child asked with a content sigh.
“I was…told…that silk garments are nice” Rei threw out the first thing that came to her mind, thankful that Shinji had suggested
something, but aware with an uneasy feeling that she now had precisely no ‘knowledge’ to fall back on.
Then again…the Third Child had told her to view this as a learning experience…so, she would.
“Ohh, a silk girl eh? Hey, Misato?”
“Eh?”
“Know any good places with silk around here?”
“Eh?”
“Are you listening to me?”
“Eh?”
“…Hey, Kaji!”
“I’m awake, I’m awake!” Captain Katsuragi suddenly called out in a tone of surprise and outrage. “What…oh…hey, that wasn’t fair!”
“Whatever. As I was saying, Rei here is interested in looking at silk clothes; you know any stores around here?”
“Several” Misato assured her, then paused. “I wonder if Shinji is waiting outside...”
Asuka snorted. “The Baka is probably trying to figure out a way to get in and perv on us while we can’t see”.
“Is that a hint of hope I hear in your voice Asuka?” Misato asked in a coy voice.
“NO!” Asuka said in alarm.
“Captain Katsuragi is correct” Rei decided to offer helpfully. “There was a tone of expectation in your voice over such a-”
“No there wasn’t!” Asuka all but screeched in her defense, not quite hiding Misato’s cackles…and causing Rei to blush slightly under her mask. She had just tried to be helpful…
Eventually, she felt the slices of cucumber removed and hands carefully rinsed off her face, then patted it dry until she was told she could open her eyes.
“Well, are we having fun yet Rei?” Asuka asked as she appeared at point blank range of Rei’s gaze as her sight returned, almost causing her to flinch back from the intrusion into her personal space.
“I…believe I am” Rei admitted, her skin slowly becoming used to its state of increased sensitivity not sending quite so overwhelming signals to her brain helping greatly in letting her regain her composure…but it still feel very, very….nice.
“And the final stage, the haircut” Misato sighed, glancing at her own hair in a convenient mirror and twirling a strand in a thumb and finger. “You know, I think I need to have this colored again” she sighed in annoyance as she glanced at the roots, which were starting to again show the much darker, raven black over the lighter purple above.
“Oh lighten up” Asuka said, stepping closer to Rei to study her hair with a critical eye that almost made Rei feel embarrassed next to Asuka’s own hair that
burned like it was trying to dissipate the excess energy bubbling inside Asuka. “The question is what we are going to do with
this…style” she said delicately.
“Oh, I know someone who might be able to help” Misato smiled, gesturing them into the next room.
“Misato!” a man commented in surprise and joy as the Captain led her charges into what even Rei could recognize as a hair salon.
“Hey there Francesco” Misato replied with a sheepish looking grin as she walked over and curiously ‘faked’ kissing his cheeks, a gesture which was returned without any hint of embarrassment or hesitation. “I brought some friends with me”.
“So I see” he said, gesturing them forward.
Asuka of course danced ahead with enthusiasm, getting very appreciative comments as the man clearly saw the same personification of Asuka in her hair that Rei did, joking and laughing with her before his gaze turned professional and after short excited conversation, Asuka was moving off to a chair and he then gestured her forward, feeling almost locked in place by his intense gaze, a strange but not uncomfortable feeling sending shivers down her spine as he focused intently on her.
“Oh, wow” he finally said as he stepped back. “This is…” he hesitated slightly for a few seconds and Rei, feeling strangely impulsive, showed a glimpse of her sense of humor.
“Hair” she supplied in her usual, soft voice.
Everyone in the room burst out laughing at that perfectly delivered line, collectively making even the poor stylists waiting in the room under strict Japanese cultural rules helplessly snicker despite all their efforts.
Asuka on the other hand laughed so much that she doubled over, her face starting to turn the same shade as her hair as she desperately struggled for breath.
“Rei…” she eventually managed to get out, “don’t ever change”.
Oh but I am, she thought in a rare, sudden rebellious surge at Asuka’s clear enjoyment of her joke.
“What…I was going to say” Francesco said a few seconds later, getting himself under control and striving for the cool, calm image he worked
so hard to cultivate, “was that this hairstyle is…basic, but it has all the building blocks to do wonderful things and with that utterly amazing skin of yours…you will be something utterly unique".
“That is…good” Rei agreed. Secretly, she found this ‘Francesco’s’ instant recognition of her as a unique being most pleasing and anything he could do to enhance that, differentiating her from the genetically identical ‘sisters’ deep under Central Dogma, could only be useful.
Sitting down when directed, Francesco showed her a series of pictures, describing the hairstyle he was planning on. Rei understood little of it, but decided the suggested styles were…provocative.
She risked the Commanders displeasure with all of these changes she was undertaking…
But so be it. She had ‘lived’ in a dead zone of obedience to his will for her entire life under the assumption that if she died, another would replace her. And another would replace
her and another would replace
her…
And yet again, she saw Shinji on the school rooftop all those months ago looking deeply into her eyes…
‘You are a unique, free, individual. By definition, your purpose is to live life as you wish to live it!’
If this was her one chance to live…then she would
live. Though…continued discretion to hide this revelation from the Commander would probably be a wise precaution, against the possibility of her termination and ‘replacement’.
At least until the time came when she no longer had to fear such an outcome.
So instead she sat calmly as blue hair started to fall away around her, Francesco working with an intensity easily matching any concentration she had ever put into Evangelion piloting…
“Well?” Francesco asked in a near breathless tone as he finally stepped back an hour later, declaring his work finished.
Rei glanced up at the mirror –she had deliberately
not watched the process to better be surprised at the end – and gasped lightly at the stranger looking back at her.
Her hair had always been very thick and while it had been kept clear of her face, its style had been…basic; evenly combed from the top of her head down around three hundred and sixty degrees to a uniform length.
Now however, she looked in considerable surprise at a very different face. She had been given what her stylist had called an ‘asymmetrical short cut’, her hair, thinned considerably was now parted on the far right and pulled neatly across her head, several forward strands hanging down almost exotically in front of her forehead with two major waves framing her face on the left and right and almost touching down at her chin. To the rear and sides, her hair looked almost messy and random, much as the Second Childs had when she first arrived in Japan, but made up of much longer and thinner strips of hair…all of which shone, courtesy of some highlighting chemicals sprayed on.
It was so utterly different from the face that usually stared back in her mirror that Rei blinked and had to look closer, before smiling ever so slightly once more.
“It is…very acceptable” Rei said.
Where as Francesco would probably take such a reply as a statement of utter dissatisfaction from anyone else, his many rather one sided conversations with this young lady over the last three quarters of an hour had suggested that she truly
did mean what she had said.
“Good!” he smiled, ripping her covers off her and letting her stand with a flourish. Asuka and Misato’s own work had taken much less time; Rei had needed her hair to be washed and worked much harder then theirs, Misato hadn’t even bothered to recolor, just taking a slight cut for today. Asuka’s hair, she had felt a slight jealously at, as it was continually complemented and commented on how well she had taken care of it, as it was slowly gathered tightly, then waved into a snakelike tail that fell down her neck, before releasing and splaying out. The Second spent most of her time chatting with this ‘Francesco’ in German, apparently delighted to have someone fluent in her native language, though he periodicly broke out to query his own client, giving detailed information that Rei appreciated on the process, finding the knowledge fascinating.
Ultimately however, both Misato and Asuka had left her behind as they finished rather quickly, slightly annoying her as they apparently abandoned her...
On the other hand, yet again she absorbed a new feeling, as her stylist ran his hands through her hair, working in various chemicals which he then rinsed, and started the process all over again with a new solution.
The feeling of him briskly massaging her hair…then pulling her thick hair up and slicing it off…
As with the massage and Asuka’s skin treatment, the sensations had ended, but the echoes remained, causing her to shiver.
Now finished, she stood turned and bowed slightly in respect for his skills, before heading for the front door-
Only to be almost run down as Asuka bounded in, her arms carrying several bags.
“Oh hey, you finished! Perfect! Look I got you some clothes to change into, before we go shopping. I looked outside and well, there are so many people around today, I didn’t want you to be seen in that damn uniform while we’re shopping!”
“You went shopping…so I can go shopping?” Rei asked in confusion.
Asuka’s grin slowly reduced to an exasperated expression as she directed her gaze at the ceiling with a sigh. “What are you, Shinji’s Sister or something?” she muttered, missing the startled look from Rei at
that statement before she pulled her gaze back and thrust the bags into her arms. “Look, just put these on, they should fit fine oh…hey Francesco” Asuka suddenly said, turning a pleading expression on him, “can Rei just use you’re change room, real quick?”
“Honey, knowing your fashion sense, Rei can use it for as long as she likes?” he said back as he packed away his tools, getting a grin from Asuka and a blush from Rei as the Second pushed the First into the room and shut the door.