Episode 8: Double Event
Part VII: Apocalypse, Please

Express Access Elevator MEDIAN-T1

The retrieval team said something about the train system having restart issues. Shinji was too tired to care. They herded him into a long, thin hallway and closed the door. He wandered down three flights of stairs and stumbled into the elevator he found at the end of the path.

He rested his aching head against the bulkhead. God. He needed... something to eat, to start with. Plus a nap. A very long nap. Then maybe some time in the Zero Room... like, say, a month or so. He scratched his head and yawned.

Then someone threw an arm around his neck and yanked his head back by the hair.

"Push. The. Button," Asuka growled in his ear.

... crap.

Shinji swallowed. He slowly reached out his hand and pushed the down symbol.

As soon as the door shut, Asuka immediately forced him down on his knees and put him in an underarm headlock. "YOU LEFT ME OUT THERE TO DIE, YOU MORON!"

"I d-didn't - Asuka, just listen -"

"And what, you just thought I'd let you get away with it?!" she snarled. "IDIOT! I knew how to kill with my bare hands before I got my first bra!"

"I w-was trying to draw one of them away!" Shinji attempted to pull her arm away from his throat. "When it didn't work, I came back!" In retrospect, he thought, it probably would've helped if he'd actually said something beforehand. But explaining things while doing them was hard.

"Oh, please! A likely story!" She tightened her grip. "Just admit it! You got scared and wussed out, didn't you?!"

"Well, no - I mean, y-yeah, sure, I was scared, but I -"

"HA!" She twisted her hips back and forth, trying to dislodge his hands from her arm. "And anyway - even if you were smart enough to think of something like that, which I doubt - what if they'd just killed me while you were gone? Huh?! Did you think of THAT, Einstein?! What the hell made you so sure I'd even be ALIVE by the time you came back?!"

"Oh, gee, I don't know," he snapped. "Because you're you?!"

The door slid open. They both froze.

Rei stepped into the elevator. She tilted her head. "I'm... not quite certain how to interpret these sorts of things," she said. "Is that intended as an affectionate gesture?"

"Huh?" Asuka said blankly. She glanced down.

At that precise moment, Shinji realized for the first time that the side of his face was pressed directly against Asuka's breast.

Elevator Shaft T1. 1 km below the surface.

Despite being more than five hundred meters away from the descending elevator car, the acoustic sensors at the midway point clearly picked up the distinct sound of a slap.

Express Access Elevator MEDIAN-T1

Shinji gingerly rubbed the side of his face. Gah. Even his teeth felt numb. Asuka stood as far away from him as possible, arms crossed over her chest, the color of her face nigh-exactly matching that of her red plug suit. Rei looked between the two of them curiously.

There was precisely nothing fair about a world, Shinji reflected, where he had to deal with this right after a combat mission. (He winced as sensation started to return to his face, all of it painful.) She felt kind of nice while it lasted, though, part of him whispered inside of his head. Oh, God, no, he thought with a mounting sense of terror. Don't think that. Not here. She'll sense it. And she knows where they keep the rifles now.

They spent the rest of the trip down immersed in an awkward silence. When the elevator doors finally opened, they found themselves on the top deck of one of the maintenance bays to the side of the Eva Cages. Shinji made sure to let Asuka exit first, then stepped out of the elevator.

The four-story room was full of people, he noticed. The catwalks were crammed with technicians, security troops (some of them sporting various cuts and wounds from the battle), support crews, engineers, scientists, administrators - just about every branch of NERV seemed to be represented. The room buzzed with the low hum of a dozen murmured conversations. No one seemed to notice the pilots' arrival.

Shinji was just starting to consider the serious question of which individual in the crowded room, if any, would be most likely to know the location of the nearest ramen cup or sandwich - or anything remotely edible, really - when, down in the lower catwalks, someone began to clap.

"Oh, come on," the Doctor muttered as he put his hands together. "We're still here, aren't we?"

Misato gave him a sour look - but, all the same, raised her hands and joined in.

One by one, people turned and started to clap. The entire room filled with the sound of applause. Then with cheers.

Shinji felt himself blush. He self-consciously rubbed the back of his head and looked around. Glancing to his right, he found himself watching as the largest, most genuine smile he'd ever seen on Asuka spread across her face. She stepped to the edge of the catwalk and tilted her head back, as if soaking the moment in. Behind her, Rei blinked and once again tilted her head to the side.

Shinji couldn't help smiling as well. He leaned against the catwalk railing. So, he thought, actual recognition, huh. He had to admit - as much as his body ached and his head still hurt - it did feel pretty good.

Near Access Point Magnum. 50 meters beneath Tokyo-3.

Away from the main tunnels, far from the security patrols hunting for stragglers beneath the access point, a lone single-eye hesitated on its way down an undocumented steam conduit. It vomited on a nearby grate, the metal dissolving into an acidic sludge within seconds, then skittered down the newly-opened side passage. The sound of its footsteps eventually vanished into the darkness.

The Geofront. Outside NERV Headquarters.

The Doctor and Shinji walked through the large grassy field that they'd been politely - if quite firmly - escorted to by a number of men in dark suits. They found Shinji's father there, flanked by Vice-Commander Fuyutski and Rei, waiting for them in front of a jumpjet on a helipad.

"NERV thanks you for your assistance with this matter, Doctor," Father said. Was it just Shinji, or did he seem kind of... cheerful? "If you enter this base again without my express permission, I do believe I shall have you shot."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And you really think that'd be enough to stop me?"

"I'd be disappointed if it did. I believe you know the way out." With that, Father turned and strode towards the jet. The vice-commander followed.

Rei hesitated. She looked towards the Doctor, her expression unreadable.

"Rei! Come along," Father called.

She turned and walked after the commander.

Inside the jumpjet

The aircraft took off. Dodging beneath the monorail tracks, it headed for the exit point.

Fuyutski collapsed in his seat with a sigh. "Well. That certainly was humiliating on just about every level possible."

"Wait for it," the commander replied.

Rei stared out the window, looking at nothing in particular.

The Geofront

They strolled away through the fields, the men in dark suits shadowing them from a discrete distance.

"So," the Doctor eventually said. "That was your dad, huh?"

Shinji looked away. "Yeah..."

The Doctor opened his mouth.

Shinji held up his hands. "Look, I know what you're going to say. I know, all right? It's just... well..." He struggled for a moment, trying to find the right words, before giving up. "... h-he's my father, you know?"

"Yeah," the Doctor said quietly.

They walked in silence for a moment.

"So... do he and Rei spend a lot of time together?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh," Shinji said. "Yeah."

"And how do you feel about that?"

Shinji shrugged. "It used to bother me, I guess. Then I talked to her about it, and, well... she's Rei, you know? I don't really think she knows him any better than I do."

"And besides," the Doctor said, "it's not like there aren't practical reasons he might wanna keep around a completely loyal, highly-trained martial artist with super strength."

Shinji paused. "You mean, like a bodyguard?... I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Well, there you go."

They walked for another moment.

"So... do you think if I trained, maybe...?"

"Yeahhhhh, not really what I wanted you to take away from this conversation."

"Sorry..."

"Look, I know you don't want to hear this, but..." The Doctor hesitated. "I honestly can't tell what your father's game is at this point. He was one step ahead of me the whole time we were in there. Been a while since that's happened. And until I know what he's up to... I can't promise I won't have to stop him."

"Well... w-what if he doesn't have a game?" Shinji asked. "What if he isn't up to anything except... you know... his job?"

The Doctor didn't answer. He looked up at the jumpjet's contrail hanging below the Geofront's roof, a concerned frown on his face.

Secure Teleconference Room. NERV Matsushiro Secondary Test Facility. Some time later.

"And just how long did you intend to conceal this from us, Ikari?" the Frenchman growled.

Fuyutski uneasily shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he eyed the holographic monoliths that hung in the air before them. He hadn't expected the entire inner circle to show up this time - all sixteen members, in direct communication for the first time in years. The old men were usually meticulous about keeping things compartmentalized. This meeting was obviously more than business as usual.

"That was never my intention," the commander replied. "I merely waited until I had sufficient evidence to bring the matter to the circle's attention."

"That's not good enough, Gendo," the chairman said. "You should have told us about this Doctor creature the moment you first suspected his true nature."

The commander raised his eyebrow. "Shall I report every potential situation or rumor that comes across my desk, then?"

"This is different," someone else rumbled from behind a voice filter - the American, probably, Fuyutski guessed. "There is no mention of the Doctor or his species within the Scrolls. He's a completely unknown factor."

"Is he? I wonder." The commander calmly adjusted his glasses. "If memory serves, the Qumran library mentions an unnamed 'teacher of righteousness' at certain points..."

"Those sections have no bearing on our mission and you know it!" the Frenchman snapped. "Why would you even bring up that mystical nonsense?!"

Gendo shrugged. "I am merely speculating."

Behind him, Fuyutski resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Dear God. Were the old men really that blind?...

"Though the emergence of another player would be by itself cause for concern," Monolith Ten interjected, "we cannot allow it to distract from the even more pressing issues before us."

"Absolutely," the American agreed. "We stand on the verge of disaster. Our entire scenario is at risk."

"First Sahaquiel arrives out of sequence," the Russian said. "And now both Matarael and Israfel at the same time?"

"The Scrolls explicitly state that the enemy will never commit two of its number to battle at once," the Frenchman insisted. "This behavior is completely outside our models."

"We've always known the Scrolls may be more of a rough guide to the enemy's tactics as opposed to a set procedure," Gendo said. "These recent events suggest this is indeed the case. For some reason, it seems that their plans have changed."

"But how is that even possible?!" The Frenchman sounded on the verge of tearing out his hair. "Given the source of the Scrolls' information -"

"Excuse me," Monolith Eight said calmly. It spoke without a filter - and with a woman's voice. British accent. A tone as cold as ice. Fuyutski raised his eyebrows. Interesting. He hadn't heard that she'd gotten the nod to join the inner circle. "Not to spend too much time on speculation - but what if these problems are related?"

"How so?" the chairman asked.

"What if the enemy has detected this Doctor's interference somehow, and has updated their tactics in response?"

"Yes. I was just thinking that myself," Monolith Nine said.

Gendo tilted his head slightly. "I admit the possibility. However, one might question to what extent other factors might or might not have contributed -"

"With all due respect to your status within the organization, Commander," Monolith Eight cut in. "If there's even the slightest possibility that neutralizing him could deescalate the enemy's level of investment - shouldn't we take that risk before events spiral even further out of our control?"

Other voices in the chamber muttered agreement.

Gendo spread his hands. "Please allow me to make my position clear. I have no intention of advocating or interfering on the Doctor's behalf. I will back whatever judgment regarding his fate the circle as a whole might render."

"So why, then -" the Frenchman started.

Gendo raised a finger. "However - now more than ever, NERV's focus must be on the threat of the Angels. I intend to use the Doctor against them for as long as possible. To that end, in order to preserve the illusion of a working relationship, I must insist that any action taken against him must come through your own resources, not NERV's. I trust that this request does not seem unreasonable."

The muttering continued. From the sound of things, Fuyutski gleaned that certain members remained less than pleased.

"We have much to consider, and a great number of decisions to make," the chairman said. The tumult died down. "We should take the time to contemplate our course of action. Let us break for now. We will reconvene in six hours."

The monoliths vanished - all save for the chairman's.

"Be careful, Gendo," the chairman said. "If any of the circle detects so much as a hint of treason from you at this juncture, you know how I'll have to respond."

Gendo narrowed his eyes. "I believe I made my loyalties quite clear to you a long time ago."

"Mmh. Just don't forget - the fate of a single child cannot possibly be weighed against that of all humanity."

"Of course."

The final monolith faded from view. The lights came back up.

"Well," Fuyutski said, "that was different."

"They're panicking, of course." The commander shrugged. "The script they've invested their entire lives in is falling to pieces before their eyes. The stress is already making them irrational. Did you notice they delayed the meeting in order to avoid the traditional Sabbath day?"

Fuyutski raised an eyebrow. "Are any of them even Jewish?"

"The Frenchman's grandfather was, I believe. Not that it matters."

"If they're afraid, that's just going to make them even more dangerous." Fuyutski crossed his arms. "Like cornered rats."

"Mmh." Gendo pushed back his glasses. "How fortunate for us, then, that they already have a scapegoat."

Something clicked inside of Fuyutski's head. "You mean the Doctor."

"Of course." The commander stroked his beard. "The next move is to give him some clue as to their plans. We can go through that other one. They should be in contact through Katsuragi soon enough."

"So that's why you've been putting up with him," Fuyutski said. "You've been planning to play him off against the old men this entire time."

"Obviously."

"And what if the Doctor refuses to play the part you've assigned him? Say, for instance, he irrationally decides not to make himself the enemy of just about every government on the planet."

"Ah, but don't you see, old friend? That's the best part."

Behind his gloved hands, Gendo smiled.

"Once he understands their plans - he'll refuse to consider any other option."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

And that wraps it up for the first two-parter. Aside from the playlist I posted a long time ago, tracks influencing the past two episodes include:

- "Sick of You" - Cake [Showroom of Compassion]
- "Mirror Mirror (White Trailer)" - Jeff Williams (feat. Casey Lee Williams) [Rwby Volume 1 Soundtrack]
- "Category 5" - Ramin Djawadi [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]
- "Double Event" - Ramin Djawadi [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]
- "Canceling the Apocalypse" - Ramin Djawadi [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]
- "Go Big Or Go Extinct" - Ramin Djawadi & Tom Morello [Pacific Rim Soundtrack]
- "Invaders Must Die" - The Prodigy [Invaders Must Die (Bonus Track Version)]

Until next time, space cowboys and -girls.