Thanks as always for the comments. So I thought I'd drop a preview of Chapter 19. This scene has just finished being edited so it will match up with the released version.
Also I didn't really get the chance to drop any music last time I posted a chapter. Mostly because I wanted to keep it as spoiler free as possible so didn't want to post any potential hints. I reference Mari and Rei listening to music a lot. In particular I kinda imagine this as 'their' song, lyrics just remind me so much of the two of them.
Meat Loaf - Bad For GoodStaying on the theme of Meat Loaf I often mention music or reference it in my stories, either through chapter titles or in the chapters themselves. This is a song I very much picture Asuka & Shinji lying down in each others arms and listening to. It's probably one of my favourite tracks of all time really.
Meat Loaf - Rock & Rolls Dreams Come ThroughRitsuko, much to her chagrin was beginning to realize that her day was still not yet done nor was likely to be done any time soon. Despite her reputation as something of a workaholic, a trait she sometimes proudly embraced, today was even starting to get her down. She found herself longing to return to her quarters and fall asleep instantly in Maya’s arms as she was prone to doing.
It was supposed to have been a fairly routine operation. They would dock with Neo-London and take on board Evangelion Unit 08. When that had happened Mari and Rei would undergo a synchronization test followed by an activation test. Unfortunately for Ritsuko and the crew of the Wunder their plans had been severely altered.
Barclay had been there to meet them, demanding that the test be pushed back a couple of hours so that his team could perform some final checks and also give a list of demands to Ritsuko outlining the actions of the Wunder for the next few weeks. They were to patrol what was left of mainland Europe, hopping from city to city and outpost to outpost dropping off supplies and being little more than a glorified trade vehicle.
Ritsuko went with it though, knowing that stepping out of line could see her at risk of being replaced. As Misato’s right hand for so many years and being associated with NERV she knew that she was on very thin ice. She would toe the line as best she could, if only because she knew her being in charge was best for the crew.
It was not shortly after these initial conversations that the Angel had struck. They had barely even had a chance to load the data for Mari and Rei into the Evangelion’s data banks before it had struck. Ritsuko had had to order both Rei and Mari out into Unit 08 without performing any tests first. So much could have gone wrong yet they had managed to scrape by somehow.
Once this was complete she had been called to yet another meeting with Barclay. This one to confirm the status of Sofia, the dead WILLE committee member. Ritsuko had been told very little beyond it being confirmed that she had indeed been murdered and that it was being investigated internally. She was also told that she was to not say anything to any of her crew at all.
Finally she was here, in the comforting territory of her personal laboratory. She was here for two reasons, one was for a sudden meeting with Hyuga. The second was to continue her work on Rei’s medication. She glanced at the small vial in her hand and the orange liquid within it before setting it safely into a small plastic case.
Curled up in a small basket next to her desk was Spot the cat and standing near to her was Hyuga himself. She turned to face the man and crossed her legs as he spoke.
“Samples from the Angel?” He asked as he nodded his head towards the case.
Ritsuko shook her head, “Barclay is still keeping hold of anything we could possibly analyze from the Angel unfortunately. No, this is Rei’s medication. I’ve been working on a few alterations to it. My aim is to enable her to not have to take is as often, reduce any potential side effects and ensure she does not have another episode when an Angel attacks as she has done in the past. With her being a pilot not, it’s of utmost importance she is functional.”
Hyuga raised a curious eyebrow, “Medication? Is she sick?”
Ritsuko made every effort to not show any change in expression on her face. It had become so easy for her to forget that very few people knew the truth of what Rei Ayanami really was. There was even fewer who knew of her past with Ritsuko and she was going to keep it that way.
“In a sense yes, she is. It is something she had unfortunately had to deal with since birth but it is quite manageable. Rei’s immune system has not quite developed as well as it should have as she grew up so she requires the medication to manage that.”
“I didn’t know.” Replied Hyuga, “Although I did always think she looked very sickly.”
“When she was younger she was ill quite a lot. This was developed to help her, there were certain things it could not do. For example her red eyes and pale skin would remain as would her body’s inability to process meat. Despite that it does give her a better quality of life.” Ritsuko continued to explain.
“Of course her reaction to the Angel’s is something much more recent. I’m not completely sure what triggered this change within her and why she reacts as she does but I can prevent it from happening again.” Ritsuko half lied, the truth was she did know why Rei was reacting as she did when an Angel approached but it was not something she was willing to explain at this time.
“I see. You’ve done a lot for her, a lot more than most would have done.” Hyuga added his voice cheerful.
“I questioned myself when she arrived if I should have helped her. I knew there was a great risk to us all but I was ordered to help her by Katsuragi and that is exactly what I have done. It turned out by doing that we have acquired ourselves a new pilot and Rei has been beneficial to us and will continue to do so.”
Before Hyuga could say another word Ritsuko decided that it would be best to move the conversation on, “I presume that you are not here to discuss the pilot’s medical situation though?”
Hyuga seemed to stutter a bit before shaking his head, “N-No I’m not. I’m actually here because I had an opportunity to look into how Katsuragi was able to do what she did.”
Ritsuko immediately sat upright in her chair and focused her gaze on him, “You have made progress?”
“Yes I have. It seems that Katsuragi wasn’t acting alone as we first thought, in fact based on what I’ve found it looks like she might have been planning this for some time. I found… Well the people we was in touch with were…”
Hyuga trailed off nervously but Ritsuko quickly snapped him back to attention, “Out with it.”
“Okay, but this information it could be… very bad. I don’t quite want to believe it but I’ve double checked it and it all checks out.”
“I don’t care if it could be bad, finding out how Katsuragi was able to do this is our priority. She managed to endanger not only the lives of this crew with that stunt but she also sent two pilots out into the unknown. We were lucky Unit 08 was ready to be taken on otherwise we’d have lost our only method of stopping any future Angel attacks. We can deal with the repercussions of this later, what was it?”
Hyuga nodded, “You’re right. Going through the data I started to find little blocks that were completely garbled, they made no sense at all but then I remembered learning from Kaji about a technique a certain group used to transmit data. They’d encrypt it in such a way that it just looked like garbage data. The recipient would know what to look for because there would always be a pattern to it but most people would ignore it. Some of our systems are ancient and it’s a miracle they’re functioning so it would make sense to lose a few bits here and there.”
Ritsuko raised her eyebrows at the mention of Kaji, “So she was in contact with the same group that Kaji was recently. Who exactly is this group?”
“Espèrer. Kaji spent a lot of time at various Espèrer camps before he died. He was travelling to one in Northern Algeria before he died.”
Ritsuko took in a deep breath and tried to remain calm. She simply nodded, acknowledging what Hyuga had told her, “You’re absolutely certain that it is them. No mistake has been made here?”
“I’m certain…” Hyuga confirmed, “This is why I said it was bad. I haven’t been able to decode the transmissions yet but I was able to confirm that they were transmitted to and from known Espèrer sites. All signs point to them interfering with our systems.
“I see. In which case I want you to investigate this further with Maya. Show her everything you have collected and find out more. Dates, times, what was sent and where from. Have you told anyone else about this?”
Hyuga shook his head, “No, I haven’t.”
“Good, keep it that way. I will speak to Katsuragi personally about this incident and find out what the hell is going on if I can. For now we keep this to ourselves, tensions are already high between Espèrer and WILLE recently and something like this gives WILLE an excuse to go after them.”
“Tensions are high? I thought…” Hyuga started.
“It is nothing for us to concern ourselves with apparently but Barclay alluded to some recent negotiations going badly with Espèrer relating to land and equipment. I try to distance myself from politics but it seems serious, so for now we keep this quiet. Do you understand?”
Hyuga nodded, “Yes captain, I’ll start putting together what I know and inform Maya.”
Hyuga started to leave the room before Ritsuko called after him, “Hyuga, inform Maya tomorrow. It’s been a long day for us all and it would be better to face this after we have all rested. Oh and, good work.”