[Fic] Chalice of Dreams (Was: The rebirth of Yui Ikari)

[UrsusArctos]

"The Dead Sea Scrolls. The failure of those wretched scientists. The stupidity of the world. What cure is there for stupidity?" Keel Lorenz paused, as he often did, his fork aimed at his bacon as though it were the Spear of Longinus. A moment later, he stabbed it down decisively, and put the piece of roasted meat into his mouth with a most delighted expression.

"Mmm. Don't you want some, Nagisa?"
The white-haired fifteen-year old looked a little disgusted. "No, thank you." he said, preferring to keep his gaze fixated on his plate of salad instead.
"Try it?"
"Meat is too distasteful to even try once. One lick-" his face controrted briefly as though he were about to vomit "-was enough for a lifetime."
"Well, too bad." Lorenz said.
"Should you be eating that much meat?" Nagisa asked. "Your biomechanics might not be capable of sustaining that much."
"It doesn't matter, these are biomechanics, after all."
"You don't take adequate care of your own health, I see."
Lorenz was actually quiet for a second, before he replied, "At this age, I don't need much in the way of care. As a human, you're young. You need to care more about your health than me about mine."
"Perhaps." Kaworu paused to put an especially large leaf of lettuce into his mouth, "Perhaps. But do remember that my terms of existence are presently different from yours. I don't need to worry about those things, but you must."

After a while, Lorenz spoke up again. "How long have been alive, Nagisa? As a member of your original race?"
Kaworu rolled his eyes. "I do not know how I could put it. I might say I was a person in my late twenties, by Lilin standards of maturity."
"When I was in my late twenties, Nagisa, I saw my sister and father turn into something not unlike what I'm eating."
Kaworu goggled at him, his customary composure completely gone, and then stuffed his napkin into his mouth to prevent himself retching.
"I eat it so that I can get over it. It doesn't seem so bad once you start thinking of people as no different from meat..." His lips twisted into an insane grin. "It helps, believe me."
Kaworu recovered with an effort. "What happened...how?"
"The firebombing of Dresden. In the Second World War."
"Firebombing?"
Lorenz put aside his fork and knife and briefly explained what had happened.
"And when I came back, I saw that the heat from the fires and the bombs had roasted them alive."
Kaworu looked dizzy.
"Killing...I have only ever heard of wars before..."
"Your race was peaceful, because it had no further need for war. That is exactly what I hope for, for our race."
"Yes, but in the midst of this hope, you kill the Children? I can't claim to understand this hope."
"You will understand soon."
The rest of lunch was finished in an uneasy silence. At the end of lunch, Lorenz's butler brought in a fine Riesling, a German wine that Lorenz had the highest regard for.
Kaworu took a sip and rolled it around in his mouth. "It tastes...strange."
"It is an acquired taste." Lorenz replied, smiling.
"Do you have any other family? Apart from your father and sister?"
Lorenz spluttered, and spilt his wine all over.
Nagisa dropped his glass at once and ran over to Lorenz, running his hand over the cyborg's still-natural back. Lorenz stopped spluttering. The butler came running in, but Lorenz said, "I'm all right."
"Take some rest. You seem to have choked on your drink." Kaworu said, easily Lorenz back.
"Thank you, Nagisa." It was a moment before Lorenz realized what the boy had done for him. He realized that the boy's question remained unanswered.
"I had family...I adopted a child once...for some time, life was wonderful with Clara. Then..." his face twitched in an expression of agony and he said, "Excuse me. I would rather wish not to talk about it."
"As you wish." Kaworu bowed to him, smiling gently. Lorenz thought that the boy was rather like Clara had been. Maybe it was because he had been a female earlier? Or maybe just because he was coming to like the boy? Like him? Like an Angel?
No. He couldn't like an Angel. He had had enough pain loving human beings, how could he possibly start to get feelings for an Angel.
Nagisa is just a tool, he reminded himself, grudgingly.
A tool.
A small, unheeded voice in the back of his mind said, "A tool that cares about you."

[UrsusArctos]

Coming up soon: Reichu, Monkey, Tines and Ornette make guest appearances in Keel Lorenz's early life. Also, the origins of Seele and Keel's true feelings following Naoko's death.

EvaGeeks, be prepared!

[BEsERk EVA01]

Will any one of them die?

[UrsusArctos]

Sssh, it's a secret!

[UrsusArctos]

Till Rachel, Aaron, Steve and Jonlin make their next appearance-

Yui Ikari couldn't sleep at all. She hadn't slept properly for years on end- which was something to say for being a giant purple monster that normally stayed bound in one spot.

Turning on the light to its lowest, she looked at Shinji, sleeping in the opposite bed. Poor dear. His father had hurt him- badly. Why had Gendo done such an unreasonable thing? She just couldn't stop thinking about it.

She remembered her earlier visit to the damaged Armor cap, and how Hohenstein and the other Geist team members had described it as being weak against a directed energy attack. Why would the armor for the city be any less effective than it should be, considering the threat it was meant to shield against?

A new model laptop lay on a coffee table- a gift from Hohenstein and his friends. She flipped up the display and powered it on. It was a very impressive system, light years ahead of the models she had seen in 2004. Times had changed, and the change was sinking in, bit by little bit. She walked to the percolator and got herself a cup of coffee...what would she have to face that years of living as a giant had not prepared her for? What of it would be dangerous, lethal to her?

The computer had already finished booting by the time she returned. Peeking to see that Shinji was still asleep, she went to the computer and examined the desktop. She noticed, oddly enough, that there was a folder labeled "Yui". Either Hohenstein had been very thoughtful or he had left something for her. She guessed it was the latter.

Moving the trackball and clicking, she found a document labeled "Wahrheit". She recalled that "Wahrheit" was the German word for "Truth". Curious, she opened it.

PLEASE READ IN PRIVATE

Very well, Yui thought.

It went. "This is the story of a man named Keel Lorenz and the organizations Geist and Seele..."

----

Keel Lorenz was less disturbed than he should have been.
"Akagi is dead?"
"Yes." The Agent replied flatly.
"Suicide?"
"Suspected suicide. We believe she tossed herself down."
"Who was with her when it happened?" Lorenz knew that Akagi was a very weak woman, easy to provoke and not hard to push over the edge...if she was told the right things.
"No one that we know of."
"What about Ikari?"
"He seemed disturbed by it, but not unduly bothered."
Not unduly bothered...the Agent had no idea who he was talking about, or how significant Akagi had been to the creation of the Magi. Even he had to admit, she had proven invaluable with her insights, but all the same-
He asked, "Was someone inside the facility who did not belong there?"
"Chief Ikari brought along a young girl. He was heard introducing her as the daughter of an acquaintance."
That sounded very suspicious.
"What of this girl? Was she with Chief Ikari throughout?"
"She was seen briefly, near the second level. Chief Ikari was missing for at least half an hour after the suicide was discovered, and he didn't show much of a reaction to it. It was almost as though he was expecting it."
Lorenz exploded. "Dummkopf! First you say he was not "unduly bothered" and now you say this? Idiot!"
Cutting the video conference with the scandalized Agent, Lorenz assumed the pose that Gendo preferentially took.
Losing Yui Ikari to the Eva was one thing, that woman had been a potential menace for a while...but to lose Akagi like this! What had Gendo been doing all this time? Had he said something to Akagi? Gendo's relationship with her had kept her in line, and that had been useful, but what was this talk of a child with him? An illegitimate child? Or worse?

Most importantly, what had Ikari and Akagi been doing in the hours before the latter committed suicide? And who saw this child? Lorenz knew that the upper levels were being laid down for the planned fortress city, it was an appropriate time for the changes in plans to be made. Everything had been set for it. And as for Gehirn...it would not serve under Ikari's dictatorship any longer.

Gehirn. he knew, should be dissolved, and Nerv would be founded a year ahead of schedule. But Seele would keep a largely secret organization comprising the rest of Nerv- and that organization would be there as a foil for Ikari. That would be the mind, Geist.

[UrsusArctos]

I'm wondering what to do with all this. Do I write a backdoor Eva thing for the geezers and their past or do I keep it within the original fic, which is now after the Zeruel battle?

---

And does anyone think Rei should chuck a few pointy things at people, TToR404-style?

[UrsusArctos]

Well, to tell the truth, I'm fed up of this fic. My original idea was to get Yui injured by an anti-tank missile that penetrates her A.T. Field, a battle in which the MP Evas are self-destructed by Geist and the a Geist versus Seele scenario gone wrong. In the end, Shinji and Yui are killed by an N2 weapon explosion (Yes, they can come back and do so) and Hohenstein and Morden act to do what they can to prevent 3I. In the end, the best of multiple possible endings is chosen as Hohenstein briefly merges with and then unmerges with GNR, and Shinji and Yui return along with a number of other dead characters, their souls having been collected. Section two is invaded, and the existence of Geist is made public. It ends with the Geofront being launched into space with Kaworu and the souls of the dead Angels inside. Rei makes the choice of going into a different, completely human cloned body. She reunites with (now fully human) Yui and Shinji, who, now reconciled with Gendo, live as a family. Years later, Hohenstein, now a senior administrator, watches on as Geist begins to prepare for a new push into space- the last frontier, intending to do as the FAR had done billions of years ago. It is implied that they do complete the cycle in future.

[Tabasco]

That sounds like it could be a pretty decent idea.

Why the change of heart?

[UrsusArctos]

I'm tired of it. It's sickening.

[BobBQ]

I'm tired of it. It's sickening.

But it was getting interesting!

[UrsusArctos]

"This was taken from the security camera at the entrance."
A stack of 2004 CCTV tapes lay at the foot of the table. Dhruva Vikrant watched as the footage looped over and over again. Gendo Ikari walked in, along with a little girl with a yellow umbrella. The girl's face was obscured, so all he could see was her red dress and little red shoes.

"Just that?" he asked.
"Some of the CCTV footage was destroyed soon after." The Section Two Agent consulted his notes. "There were six people with access to the CCTV storage room, and Ikari Gendo was one of them."
"Were any of the six interrogated?" Vikrant asked.
"Two of them were sacked. Most of the footage was from this particular day."
"And where was this girl seen?"
"Mostly in the second laboratory level...the junior researcher stations and so on. Not many of the seniors were around that day- Akagi Naoko was an exception."
The Seele agent frowned. Ikari would have known that...and giving the girl an umbrella would have left her anonymous before the CCTV cameras. Who was she?
"And...another thing. We found this on the database search listing although the originals were erased."
"When were the originals erased?"
"Three days after the incident."
The Section Two agent handed Vikrant a computer search log, with certain text highlighted in yellow.
"This had been left lying around for years."
"Ayanami Rei? Isn't that the First Children?"
"Yes."
"And the authorization for the search is...Dr. Akagi's?"
"Yes."
"Good work."
So the Committee's suspicions had been correct. This girl had been linked to Dr. Akagi's death, but how?
"The search fields came up as a blank? All data was erased? "
"Section Two carried out an investigation, but we could find no traces of the files that were erased. Nothing is known about the First Children...the data provided earlier is known to be a falsification."
Vikrant glanced up at the tape again, frozen on a single frame. The skin of the girl's legs was visible, and although it wasn't possible to say so from the lighting, it appeared unnaturally pale.
"The First Children...no, this can't be her. The description of the girl?"
"Those who saw her described her as being pale, with light blue hair and an unnaturally strong gaze. According to one description, her eyes appeared to be pink, or crimson."
"Albinism? No...the First Children shows the same traits. The hair, I understand, is not dyed?"
The Section Two agent paused. "I have no means of knowing so, sir. I could give you a list of the people who provided the descriptions of the girl."
"Do it." Vikrant glanced between the First Children's photograph and the image on the screen. "The First is fourteen, but the child here looks like she could be barely...five? Six? Seven? For someone who should be 10 in 2010, she looks...small." Rei Ayanami was diminutive, but there was something distinctly wrong about this child. She was far too small.
"Get me Heinrich Hohenstein on the phone."

"Vikrant. Dhruva Vikrant." Hohenstein knew him- he was a former private investigator, now directly under the pay of Keel Lorenz. "Hohenstein."
"Hohenstein, it's Vikrant. Are you free?"
"Yes."
"I need to know about this Ayanami Rei."
"Rei Ayanami." Hohenstein used the western name order while speaking in English. "What do you want to know about Rei?"
"Her date of birth, and a list of known medical conditions."
"I thought Nerv had already provided that?" He asked.
"You should know that those are fake."
You should know...damn prude!
"Did it take you that long to figure that out?"
"Hohenstein. That girl. Who is she?"
Hohenstein glanced at Rei, who was listening intently.
"A genetically modified copy of Yui Ikari, seemingly with the soul of Naoko Akagi implanted."
"What?"
"Yes." Hohenstein was amused at his reaction. He wasn't as sharp as he was made out to be, was he?
"And Geist has been holding on to this piece of information all this time?"
"I said 'seemingly'." Hohenstein said smoothly. "I didn't say I knew for sure. It seems likely, considering all facts."
"Ikari is known to be close to the girl, and I heard that he was close to Akagi Naoko."
"Ikari was close to Naoko Akagi." Hohenstein used the western name order again."And he does appear to be close to her incarnate. Base personality traits are within an eighty-seven percent match of the Magi Melchior, and sixty-eight to the Magi Casper, so I'd say we have at least a partial incarnate here."
"Hohenstein, do you know what it means?"
"If this information hasn't been released, it means that Polaris didn't deem it suitable for release yet. Matters of information release are left with Polaris...you know that." Polaris was the liasion agent between the Geist agents and Seele's private agents. "For your information, Yui Ikari's genetic samples had been taken long before her death, so cloning her would have been a simple matter. That might be of relevance."
Vikrant took a deep breath. "This is not good."
"I'd rather let you talk to the other agents on what you'd do...we'd be happy to run our investigations at our own pace."
Hohenstein hung up before the Seele agent could say anything more.

"I lied through it pretty easily, Rei...but Seele is bound to set up more problems for us."
Rei was impassive. "Naoko Akagi...Akagi Naoko..." She unconsciously ran her hand up to her throat. "Why do I hate that woman?"
Hohenstein had no answer to that, and he said so flatly.
Rei said, "I keep thinking...keep remembering..."
Hohenstein was thinking of something else at that moment.
"What for?" he said, loudly. "First it was 'shoot first and ask questions later' and now it is 'Investigate'. That can mean no good."
Rei asked. "I do not understand."
"Don't you think they should have been investigating as soon as Yui returned to human form, instead of trying to kill us first and investigate later? Unless..."
He picked up the phone and began to dial Yui's number.
"It's Hohenstein...something new has started. Are you free now?"

So he had likely ordered the assassination...why?

[UrsusArctos]

The sad story of Hermann T. Deutschlander (aka Kristian Lorenz, to later call himself Kiel or Keel)...who wants a crack at it? Does it sound good enough the way I put it?

[majlund]

In my opinion you're doing quite fine. The past shapes future events so it's nice to have background information available.

[UrsusArctos]

I'd appreciate it if more people were to give their opinion of what they think of it, I'm running the whole thing in the dark right now.

Looks like it's much more of a background story on a whole lot of people at the moment, but Yui should be back later.

[BEsERk EVA01]

It's very well written, but I think it's because people want to read what you're writing, instead of commenting on it. In my opinion, it's becoming more and more interesting by every post.

[UrsusArctos]

The Alarms went off in the Command Center.
"What?" Ritsuko Akagi asked. "What did you say happened?"
Yui Ikari was on the other line. "Get Heinrich Hohenstein at once..."
Right on cue, Hohenstein opened the door, accompanied by Linda Cole.
"Did I...?"
"Oh, never mind..." she put down the phone. "Do you know..."
"Morden knows best. Nevada, right?"
"Yes."
Cole said, "To think that all our precautions blew up in our face."
"The facility survived." Hohenstein said. "If that had gone too, it would have taken the second working engine with it!"
Yui asked, "Have you seen Gendo-kun yet?"
Hohenstein shook his head.
Morden stormed into the room. "The idiots...what were they thinking?"
"You got the data?"
"Yes. The satellite uplink is back up again...Eva Unit 04 was phase-shifted into a dirac sea before the extant wavefunction collapse. Short-term particle-based radiation and limited direct mass-energy conversion within a seventy-one meter radius. Blast was about ten to fifteen kilotons of TNT, about the power of Hiroshima."
"And the facility survived?" Yui had never head of anything other than an Angel that could withstand so much force.
"Sure, the facility is sprawled out. Back in the days when the United States was working on the Manhattan project, they kept the most dangerous experiments far away from the rest of their main facilities...the S2 test site was ten kilometers away from the main complex and on the other side of a hill. The shockwaves were reflected back, for the most extent."
Cole looked at her cellphone. "It's Ikari."
"A meeting, I expect." Yui said.
"It won't be a pleasant one, either." Ritsuko flashed the Geist agents a look.
Yui said, "I don't understand.", looking equally peeved. Ritsuko's open hostility had been steadily whittling away at her patience, and although Yui was too self-composed to strike out with her more angelic abilities, she had no qualms about slapping the blonde scientist in the face.
Morden said, "It had to do with the delay. I just hope the crap didn't hit the fan."

Gendo's expression was as impassive as ever even in Yui's presence- perhaps not the best of signs. Fuyutsuki, on the other hand, was visibly flushed. Maya Ibuki was with Ritsuko, whose face was in the shadow, and Misato stood with Aoba and Hyuga. Yui stood next to Hohenstein, the sole Geist agent to be present at the meeting, and Morden, keenly aware of the tension in the atmosphere, took care to stay in the shadow as much as possible.

"Why are your companions not present?"
"They were instructed to continue their investigations as per their original orders." Hohenstein said softly. "And for your information, your sham Marduk Institute has been blown. Ryoji Kaji was keen to comply with us."
That drew a gasp from someone. Hohenstein didn't need to look to know it was Misato.
"Before we get into the present situation, I'd like to inform you that Ryoji Kaji's tenure as special inspector for Seele has been suspended on charges of corporate espionage and selling confidential information to an external party. He is currently interred in a secure facility."
Fuyutsuki stiffened. "A spy? What is the meaning of this?" He turned to Misato. Rumors of Misato's involvement with Kaji had been going around ever since he had arrived.
"She is not associated with him professionally." Hohenstein said. "As far as we are concerned, Major Katsuragi is clear of all involvement."
Gendo asked, "Now can we get to the core of the matter? Of the disappearance of Yongoki?"

"Not any disappearance." He turned around. "Morden, if you can put it in layman's terms?"
Morden loosened his tie and swallowed.
"It has to do with the Sephiroth system." he said, "What we discovered in Antarctica, the true artifacts of the First Ancestral Race."
Hohenstein glanced at each person in turn. They were all listening.

"As you all know." Morden said. "Only children born after Second Impact can pilot the Evangelions. More specifically, children who have had no true maternal contact due to the absence of their mothers. All the children must have a subconscious desire to bond with their mothers- with a level of adult maturity, but with their childhood influence not completely removed by hormonal or cerebral changes. Optimum age is between 13 to 15 for most children, and up to 18 in exceptions."
"The selection of the children?" Misato asked.
Hohenstein answered that. "Commander Ikari, mostly. With a little approval from the Chairman. His Marduk institute and its report are all a sham. Each of the 108 companies registered proved to be dummy organizations, and the only verifiable names in the board of the directors were him, Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki and Chairman Lorenz. And I wouldn't be surprised if the core configuration and soul availability concerns were left to Dr. Akagi."
Akagi, still in shadow, said nothing, but Maya turned her head towards her and asked something he couldn't hear.
"And in case of Shinji." Yui said, "It was an obvious choice."
"You know more about us than we could be happy about." Fuyutsuki said.
"A massive understatement...where were we? Yes, on the Children."

Morden picked up again. "There's a second reason. Children born-more specifically, children concieved before Second Impact and children concieved afterwards are fundamentally different. Those concieved later are already physically altered in a manner suited to pilot an Evangelion. Brianwave transmissibility is over one hundred percent in the latter examples due to alterations in their quantum state."
Misato asked, "Quantum state?"
"Yes. They are all in a state in which they can physically dissolve and turn to a form similar to the seawater of primitive earth, or rather like LCL. A soup of life, from which everything evolved." Morden added. "Only now, it's possible for all lifeforms to return to the soup instead. Have you heard of the phenomenon called corpse liquefaction?"
Fuyutsuki nodded. "Approximately three weeks after death, corpses have started to turn into a semi-fluid form. As far as I know, no proper scientific study has been done..."
"There has." Morden corrected him. "Chemical reactions previously unobserved were taking place. Their physical constituents were degenerating into what were previously thought to be impossible compounds. The end product was very similar to that seen in the Eva entry plug..."
Yui asked, "Bones included, correct?"
"Bones included."
"But when that happened to me inside the Eva, there was enough physical substance left to create Ayanami."
Morden paused, and Hohenstein could see that he was unsure of what to say. Indeed, speaking to someone who had died as a human, lived as a near-God, returned to semi-human status again and so calmly acknowledged the fact was disturbing.
"Y...you were not completely shifted at the time. The phase shift was gradual."
"Should anyone here attempt a contact experiment, they would leave no remains?"
Morden slowly said, "Yes."

"We are digressing." Gendo said pointedly.
"All with good intent." Hohenstein replied. "If we do not understand what we are talking about, we can't come to the point, can we?"
Morden said, "I'll come to the point. The S2 engine was working perfectly fine, I'd seen the telemetry data."
"If it was working properly, why did the accident happen?" Gendo asked, shifting backwards slightly.
Morden wiped his sweaty forehead before answering. "They were trying to correct the shift. Throw a monkey wrench into Third Impact, if you may."
Gendo asked "What?" in the closest possible thing to an expression of shock.
"It'll be a hell of a long explanation." Morden said. "All that I can say is that the worst might happen from now on. I don't know what's happened to the world."
Yui said, "I don't feel bad. Actually, I feel rather strong." The implications of it hit her. "Could it be..."
Hohenstein's phone rang, breaking the silence.
"Yes...all right."
The message had been brief, but it spoke of the worst.
Yui asked, "What?"
"The worst." Hohenstein said. "Commander Ikari, excuse us."

[Tabasco]

I'll go along with Berserk's comment. Usually, ACCs are nice and heartwarming and/or likable as a counterbalance to the NGE crew.
Hohenstein is neither, which is a nice change of pace.


And seeing the 14th die in a hail of LGBs and rocket fire is never a bad thing either.

[UrsusArctos]

Do let me know what you think about the characters' past, and the Lorenz's lunch with Nagisa. I intend to reword Keel's past, particularly with regards to that pilot's fate.

I'm adding on to the previous, unfinished part instead of adding an extra post.

Edit: Editing finished...Eva-04 shenanigans, Arael and Armisael to come soon if I don't come up with more chapters from the past.

[BobBQ]

Do let me know what you think about the characters' past, and the Lorenz's lunch with Nagisa. I intend to reword Keel's past, particularly with regards to that pilot's fate.

The lunch bit was very interesting. Character pasts were also interesting, but maybe a little rough.

Regardless, I look forward to more.

[UrsusArctos]

"Konovalov. Lyra Konovalov. That is you name, correct?" Lorenz looked up at the young Russian. She cradled her injured arm and stared down at the floor, eyes glittering with anger.
Lorenz flipped through her small copy of the Torah. It was a marvel that the Jews were still allowed to carry this in the Soviet Union- hadn't Stalin decided to exterminate them as well?
He glanced up at the pilot again. No response. He spoke in Russian again. "If you decide to be so uncooperative, we could have you shot right here. Or we could send you to the nearby SS troops to dispose of you properly."
Lorenz loathed saying so, especially to this woman. He had lost all love for the Nazis and their brutality.
"Do as you like with me. My future is finished." She leaned backwards in her chair. "I wish only to be back in the skies again, this time as a spirit."

Useless little fool. She was less like Carla than he had thought...or was she?
"I can tell you this...you are going to condemn yourself the way you're going presently. Or...I could give you a reason to live."
She refused to glance at him. "I've had enough pigs wishing to take me for a whore."
Lorenz was stung by the reply. He rather forcefully said, "No." That came as a surprise to both the prisoner and to the guards. He glanced at the guards, not bothered about maintaining his composure. As far as he was concerned, they would probably think she was making some stupid demand to which he was refusing. His eyes, though...his eyes had been irritating him due to constant exposure to dust and gun smoke, and had been watering rather frequently. The soldiers wouldn't know they were tears- although the prisoner might. She did.
"Why?" she asked.
"You look like my sister...my father and sister were roasted dead in a firebomb attack."
Konovalov looked at him for a while and said, "My father was a tank designer killed in the purges, and my mother was killed during the early bombing of Moscow."
"We have both lost our loved ones to a war that does not belong to us. Do people of your religion feel happy in the Soviet Union?"
"We have become increasingly afraid." she said.

A quick glance at the guards was enough to see that they were getting curious about the conversation, although they couldn't follow a word of it.
They were just seventeen-year olds fresh from the farm, mere children who wanted to get home more than anything else. Lorenz knew enough personal details about them- they were fairly naive and with their heads mostly clear of Nazi propaganda.

Nevertheless, Lorenz briefly considered sending them out, before deciding that it would only increase their suspicion. As things were, there was no need at all for him to do anything but talk to the prisoner. Fake explanations could be made easily enough.

"You are aware that the western allies are close to our position?"
Close was an understatement. The western allies- he refused to mention the Americans or British by name, should the guards pick up on the word- were likely to overrun their position within forty-eight hours. The Soviet forces, to whom Konovalov belonged, were further behind, but not far enough that they couldn't send their wretched Schlaecter aircraft to complement the American and British fighter-bombers.
"I am."
"Very well...after this war, Lyra Konovalov, we shall leave this war-torn country for a better land."
"That is a dream."
"Hopefully, I will have the resources to make the dream possible, if my former possessions survive the war."
A few minutes later, and Lyra Konovalov left the room, with the two guards ogling her. Lorenz paid the guards no attention. Konovalov's security would be ensured- he had been careful to mention to the guards the word "chivalry" and "honor". Even if he thought he would have her for himself- well, let them. It seemed incredibly crazy in retrospect, but he had managed to win the Russian pilots' trust more easily than he anticipated, and he would try to start again after the war...

He wrote quickly, finishing his faked interview. It would pass a cursory glance, and nobody but the guards needed to know how long the interview had lasted. If Lyra was anything like Carla, he had something to look forward to in future.

He was careful to pocket the Torah as he stepped out of the small hotel room.

--------------

Heinrich Hohenstein shook his head.
"How. How?"
"This came off the Philippines."
It was a video taken from the bridge of a warship. It was somewhat unsteady, shaking as the crewman held it.
"I couldn't get a bearing on that contact, sir...close to due west, two-seven-zero degrees."
"No radar contacts within twenty kilometers."
It was at that moment that something did appear- what looked like a giant multicolored soap bubble briefly flashed into existence, at the right edge of the screen.
"God almighty."
"What the hell was that?"
"I saw it too..."
The camera was now fixated on the spot where the flash had been seen, and a white orb briefly flickered.
"There it is!"
"What the hell..."
"Radar contact, sir! Nine hundred meters off the port bow!"
"Jesus!"
Hohenstein felt a chill run down his spine as a ghostly shape materialized out of the nothingness. It was unmistakeable. Forty-seven meters tall, humanoid, large pylons, chrome bindings...an Evangelion. Evangelion Unit-04.
"It's one of those bloody Angels!" a voice shouted. Right on cue, an alarm went off, accompanied by more shouts.
"Firing solution for the torpedoes?"
"Main gun loaded..."
There was a heavy, coughing thump as the forward 5-inch weapon discharged. Right on cue, an A.T. Field appeared to take the shell.
"Goddamn it..."
"Sea-whizz opening fire!"
"Firing solution for RAMs set..."
Hohenstein shook his head. The ship was now maneuvering wildly, but the huge chrome Eva appeared to be hovering in position. It seemed blurred, insubstantial...
"Sonar report!"
"The contact is...it sounds like a drain, sir! Like a fucking drain!"
Hohenstein asked, "A drain?"
Just as quickly as it came, the Eva vanished into thin air, the disappearance bringing along a momentary silence from the bridge crew. Hohenstein feared the worst - suspecting that the Eva had appeared in front of the ship and attacked it- but the tape went on for another two minutes with nothing happening.
Cole said, "Good God."
Morden said, "It was like a ghost."
Yui said, "That Eva, did it have a soul?"
Cole answered, "It did. But why...?"
Hohenstein said, "The list...Shabilikov is with Kaji. The list of planned Children...for Eva-04...who was meant to be in it?"