Fifth Times the Charm

Rei was having a slow day. Since the damaged Unit-00 hadn’t yet been fixed she was unable to fulfill her purpose and fight the Angel when it appeared. That responsibility had fallen to Shinji who had recently returned from the battle with Pilot Soryu – apparently mostly unharmed – in hand. From the brief glimpses of conversations she overheard whilst walking through the halls she gathered that something unexpected had happened in the battle. Something about a goat-headed Evangelion…but she couldn’t have heard right. Deciding to find out what all the interest was she made her way to the Eva loading bays hoping to ask Shinji what the interest was all about.

As the large metal doors which lead to the bays opened Rei was presented with a scene she was not expecting. There on her right was Shinji’s purple Eva, where it should have been but right across from it, in the adjacent restraints, was a grey and silver rams-headed Eva she had never seen before. She just stood there for a moment, her blank face revealing none of the honest shock she felt on the inside. We’re they expecting the arrival of another Eva in addition to the failed Unit-03, perhaps one to replace the damaged Unit-00? So far as she knew, no.

Deciding that idle speculation would get her nowhere she resolved to ask Shinji directly and so headed over to the boy as he jumped down from his Entry Plug and landed on the catwalk.

“Shinji.” She said in her quite voice.

“Rei?” started Shinji ripping his eyes off the silver Eva before him to look at the approaching blue haired girl, “Rei did you see a boy with brown hair in a grey plug suit?”

“I did not. Is this boy the Evas pilot?”

“Yeah,” confirmed Shinji, “really wanted to thank him for…”

“Where is he?!”

Shinji violently flinched at the sudden yell from his father as he entered the bay; even Rei lightly shuddered at the sudden exclamation.

“Pilot Ikari where is the pilot of that Evangelion?” said Gendo as he approached the pair pointing at the abomination to his left.

“I…I don’t know,” replied his son in a timed voice, “He ejected and just ran out, I thought Rei passed him but…she didn’t. Sorry.”

Gendo mentally cursed and, saying nothing more to the pair, did a quick 180 and speed marched back the way he’d come.

“No one is to touch that thing!” he yelled at some passing techs – who he guessed where there to start the repairs on Unit-01 – indicating the grey Eva and quickly pushed into the hall pulling out his cell-phone.

Pulling out his phone in the hall he speed-dialed Fuyutsuki, the tone rang once before his old teacher answered.

“He’s not he, he ejected the moment he docked and ran off. I don’t know where he is. Can you see him on the security monitors?”

“I can do better than that,” said Kozo to Gendo’s surprise.

“What?”

“Err…you may want to come to your office he’s…hold on.” There was some whispered distant words which Gendo couldn’t make out and then. “He wants to talk to you.”

Gendo froze.

“Wha…”

“Gendo,” his eyes widened at the voice; it was him…in his office! “, it’s been too long! How have you been you old bastard?”

“Hastings!” Shit, he doubled his speed, practically running to his office five levels up.

“The one and only,” said the boy with a chuckle, “so how’s things? Not well I hope.”

The two had only met once at a UN conference but they had each left lasting impressions on the other. They both despised each other. To Gendo Jason Hastings was a spoiled arrogant brat, flaunting his families fortune and abusing the position of power he had been given. No matter how smart the little prick was, in his mind the Hasting needed a good beating to teach him some manners and how to show the proper respect to his elders and betters. To Jason Gendo Ikari was a pompous arrogant rock-headed pig that needed to learn some humility.

Gendo reached an elevator and pushed the up button, thanking whatever god was watching that the lift opened instantly. Dashing in the moment he could squeeze through he hammered the button for his level and waited as the doors closed painfully slow and he headed up.

“What the hell are you doing here Hastings?” only four floors to go, “And how the hell did you make an Evangelion?”

“Oh so you did see my new toy? What did you think of it?” Gendo clearly heard the smile in the boys voice and snarled. He was treating this like some kind of game!

“That thing is not a toy Hastings! Now tell me how you made it!” two floors.

“Well; you know,” said Jason nonchalantly, “pulled some strings, spent a ton of cash, called in some favors, bribed some people in the right places and blackmailed a couple of officials with some very revealing photos they didn’t want their spouses to see. So, in short, the normal way.” He finished with a laugh.

The doors dinged open and Gendo shot down the hall like the devil was on his heels.

“But how did you possibly get it passed the UN, there’s no way they would have let you build it! You’re a 17 year old boy!” As he finished he reached the double doors to his office.

“Well,” said Hastings as Gendo pushed opened his doors, “that is exactly,” he sprinted into his office and saw Fuyutsuki standing on his side of the desk looking at the back of the swivel chair which slowly turned to face him as he slowed to a stand still in front of his, his, desk, “what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Jason hung up the phone smiling an evil Cheshire cat smile and, tossing the phone back to the Vice-commander, stared down the Commander of NERV, who looked furious.

Shinji watched his father push past some random techs and move quickly down the hall beyond, pulling out his phone. He must really want to find that boy. He saw Rei looking after him as well and felt a small pang in his chest he couldn’t identify. The silence between them drew on…and on. The techs politely moved past them getting to work on Unit-01 ignoring (as ordered) the new addition to NERVs giant robot collection. Shinji gulped, no longer able to take the silence he decided to break it.

“So what are you do….”
“Where is Pilot Soryu Shin…”

The two flustered to a silence again having both deciding to speak at the same time. After a moment Shinji thought it was safe to try again and being polite went to offer that Rei speak first.

“Sorry what were you going t…”
“Please ask your question firs…”

He blushed as they interrupted each other again but, this time, decided not to wait before saying.

“Please go first.”

Rei nodded and in her usual distant monotone asked.

“Where is Pilot Soryu, Shinji?”

“Err…she was taken to the medical wing.” He said averting his eyes from her brilliant red ones staring at him, “She wasn’t seriously hurt but they think there may be some psychological trauma from the Angel. They took her just to be sure; think she’ll need to stay there over night at least…just to be safe.” He finished weakly his eyes going distant. If that Angel had messed with her head…it was his fault he didn’t act, he froze, he…

“I see.” Said Rei reacting as much as she would to a conversation about the weather and drawing him from his downward spiral of thoughts. But silence fell again after a minuet and the spiral returned full force, his thoughts betraying him dragging him down deeper and deeper to places he didn’t want to go.

“What was it you where going to ask me Shinji?”

He started once again brought back up to the surface of his mind.

“What?”

“Your question?” she probed simply.

“Oh, I…I was just wondering why you were down here.” He flushed warm, damn why did talking to her always make him so nervous?

For a few seconds Rei just looked at him with her passive expressionless face analyzing his reaction to asking that simply question.

“I heard there was a new Eva,” she said finally turning to look and the smooth faced Evangelion with its giant ram horns and shimmering granite complexion, “I wished to see if they were true or not. Now I see that they are.”

“Oh I see…that’s the reason.” ‘Of course’ He thought. For a moment he thought that maybe she was here to see…but she wasn’t so, “Yeah, there’s a new Evangelion, never seen one like it though.” He added turning and joining Rei in looking at its exposed head.

A lot of the metal was melted and/or distorted from heat damage, large black scorch marks from the explosion – which, incidentally, had turned that whole basin into a smoldering wasteland– streaked across the face and horns like some kind of bizarre Camouflage Face Paint. For a time the two pilots just stood there and looked up at the face before them taking it in, all kinds of thoughts (both related to the Eva before them and not) drifting through their heads. But; the more time Shinji spent looking up at the thing the more uncomfortable he began to feel.

It was just…wrong. Something was off about this new Eva, something…different. Shinji couldn’t put his finger on it but, as he looked at the things eyes, his skin began to crawl and there was tingle creeping up his spine and the eyes… They seemed to draw him in almost like, like they were trying to eat him as if the longer he looked into those dead eyes the more they wanted to consume him body and soul. There was something watching him from inside the horned Eva; a thing, a presence, a something in there that was actively looking at him, watching him, wanting to devour him. An image flashed through his minds eye one of the head before him springing to life, a mouth ripping open from behind the metal face and swallowing him whole. He shivered and, closing his eyes, turned away from it. He didn’t think he like this Eva that much.

As he turned away so did Rei and the two mutually headed out of the bay; Shinji heading to get cleaned up, Rei heading somewhere other than the. The duo walked in silence Rei at Shinji’s side, still not making up her mind where to go, and Shinji smiling on the inside. He really loved having Rei near him, it made him feel…happy. He unconsciously smiled.

“Is everything alright Shinji?” said Rei noticing the expression.

“What? Y-Yes, everything’s fine.”

Silence fell again but after a moment Rei spoke again.

“What happened?”

“Huh?”

“In the battle,” she clarified, “What happened?”

“Oh,” Shinji thought wondering how best to explain the bizarre events of the last two hours and, after taking a moment to sort out the events in his on mind, found the words “well…”

As Shinji explained how the grey Eva had ridden into battle on the back of a giant burning plane and how it had crashed it into the back of Angel. Rei listen with genuine interest, intrigued by the tale of the ram-horned Eva and its pilot who had saved Asuka with such apparent ease. Whoever they were, whoever they could be to have elicited such anger from Commander Ikari, she very much wanted to meet them.

“…then the bomb went off and he was thrown back.” Finished up Shinji recalling the moments just after the grey Eva had detonated that ‘bomb’ or whatever that thing had been, “He slammed into a mountain and stayed there until the recovery team came and picked us up. And; well, that’s it. We we’re brought back here and...you know the rest.”

They reached the men’s changing room as Shinji finished telling Rei everything he knew and they stopped, Shinji never taking his eyes off her but her expression revealed nothing about what she felt. As he was about to say something, he wasn’t sure what, Rei spoke.

“Thank you for telling me Shinji.”

“N-not a problem.”

Turning to face down the hall she was about to walk off but, as she was about to take the first step she hesitated.

“I hope to see you at the party tomorrow.” She added in barely more than a whisper.

And with that she walked away, heading off in the direction of the women’s changing room, leaving Shinji slightly nonplused, party? What party?