Branch Commander Matt Atanian sat in his office and rubbed his temples. His office was located some fourteen stories under what was appeared to outsiders as the Church in the Acres, but was in actuality the covert entranceway into NERV-01, NERV’s Eastern United States branch.
He had just gotten off the vid with his counterpart at NERV-02 in Nevada and was currently giving birth to a migraine with another ulcer soon to follow. He ripped open a packet of Alka Seltzer tablets and unceremoniously dropped them into the glass of iced tea he had sitting on his desk.
His counterpart had been quite self-amused that they had managed to complete Evangelion Unit-04’s construction ahead of schedule and since Evangelion Unit-03 was still not ready, they had gotten the approval from supreme commander Ikari to be the first to install and test the S2 engine in two week’s time.
Matt could care less about being first to anything and he would much rather his branch’s Unit-03 be done right. But unfortunately, in these trying times, speed did count for something and that meant he was going to hear an earful from all his superiors, up to and including Commander Ikari. That meant he was going to have to issue more orders that he didn’t like which in turn were going make a lot of people very cross with him.
Then there was the matter of the field report he just received from Special Inspector Bertovich about potential pilot candidates and after he saw the names on the list, he knew Field Commander Porter was going to want both sets of their testicles on a platter.
Matt chugged down his fizzing concoction and groaned. How the hell did he get roped into helping saving mankind? Worst yet, how the hell did he get roped into helping save mankind and not even let himself get any credit for it?
That was the real thing that rubbed Matt wrong. All the cloak and dagger secrecy stuff. He couldn’t help but think it was wrong to use kids as the pilots for those giant mechanized monstrosities and Tokyo-3 wasn’t exactly forthcoming with all the answers. He trusted Ikari about as far as he could comfortably spit out a rat.
As far as the rest of the world knew, there was no NERV-01 lying beneath Springfield, Massachusetts. There was no giant black robot being built to save mankind from an event called Third Impact beneath their feet. Matt was just a regular Assistant Scoutmaster and the kids he oversaw were just normal scouts.
Which of course was all a total fabrication. That was just a convenient cover to get NERV access to potential pilot candidates and if the time came one of those kids was going to have to fight to save all of mankind, but hey, no pressure.
Matt did his job, however, and he did it well. He might one day have to send a kid to his possible death, but dammit, he was going to damn well make sure they were as best prepared and as best protected as possible before that happened.
There was a beep and he looked up to his door. The red light above his door was glowing and that meant someone was at his door. There was another beep.
“Come,” Matt stated.
The door slid open and his Field Commander, Sarah Porter, walked in with a purposeful stride in her step. Matt tensed up a moment. He was dreading their next encounter because of what he was going to have to tell her. While it was understood that he held rank over her, that didn’t mean she couldn’t disagree with him -- which she did, often and at tones and volumes best described as unfriendly and at worst described as militantly belligerent.
She gave a half-hearted salute, which he returned equally half-heartedly, and then she placed both of her palms on his desk and looked straight at him. “What’s this about increasing shifts from twelve hours to fourteen? Christ, Matt, we’ve got people working around the clock to the point of collapse as it is and now you want to work them harder. What in God’s green Earth possessed you to issue that order?!”
Matt calmly absorbed Sarah’s anger and eyed his empty glass, wishing he had more tea and more Alka Seltzer. He then calmly steeped his fingers to his chin and looked her in the eye. “I didn’t have much of a choice. Commander Ikari wants Unit-03 and he wanted it yesterday. Unit-04 is completed which is further pushing the demand from NERV for us to produce something physical to show our superiors and seeing as we don’t exactly hire people by placing want ads. I'll pull some extra staff from the dummy office at MIT, but we can't get too much extra staff from there if we'll maintain the façade of NERV-01's office being there, and it will be a few days before any help can arrive. So, if we're going to meet Ikari's expectations, it'll mean longer shifts for everyone, and that includes senior staff like you and I.”
Sarah snorted, her nostrils flaring angrily. “Tokyo-3 can kiss my ass. Why doesn’t our government stand up to that Napoleon wannaba, Ikari?”
“Please, you know as well as I do that if Ikari says ‘jump’, our government asks ‘how high?’” Matt said in a bemused tone.
“Well, it still stinks, Matt. Our people can’t keep this up at the pace were running now, not if it’s going be done right. Those kids deserve better,” Sarah said, crossing her arms.
“Geez, don’t you think I know that, Sarah? The last thing I want is to send one of our kids into combat with one of those alien monstrosities and have them die because we had to cut corners. I’ll burn this whole place to the ground before I do that. But you know as well as I do that if we don’t produce the results they want, we can be replaced by people who will and you and I both know that those people might not be as considerate to the welfare of those kids as us,” Matt said in an angry, defensive tone.
Sarah softened a little bit and looked at the tired and weary face of Matt. She quickly turned away, not wanting to appear soft at the moment. “How the hell did NERV-02 get done so fast?”
“I don’t want to think about it,” Matt said wearily. “Hawley is not above cutting corners if it gets the attention and praise sent his way.”
“God, I pity those poor kids over there,” Sarah said sadly.
“You might want to save that pity for our kids,” Matt responded seriously.
“What do you mean?”
Matt leaned back in his chair and looked Sarah in her eyes, dead serious. “I mean, its another reason why I ordered the increased shifts. If Unit-04 is ready, that means they’re going to need a pilot. If ours meets their needs and there’s nothing tying them here, then they’re going to get shipped off and who knows what kind of danger they’ll be in thanks to Hawley’s need for speed.”
“They just can’t raid us like that!” Sarah gasped.
“They can if we can’t show that they’re needed here and the only thing that can keep them here is there being a completed Evangelion Unit needing a pilot or pilots. So, yes, it is incredibly unfair to ask our people to work even harder when they’ve toiled above and beyond, but when it comes to those kids, I’m more than willing to be unfair,” Matt replied with grim determination.
Sarah stiffened her posture and smartly saluted Matt. “Unit-03 with be completed by the end of the week and there will be no cutting of corners. If it’s not ready and safe for those kids by then, you’ll have my resignation on your desk on Monday.”
Sarah turned to march out, but not before Matt called out to her, “Wait please, Sarah! There is some other matters I need to discuss with you while you are here.”
Sarah paused and turned back to him, “Matt?”
Matt motioned to the chair in front of his desk, “Please, take a seat.” Matt then clasped his hands together and placed them under his nose. “I need to know how the candidates are doing. Who stands out?”
Sarah sat there for a silent moment, collecting her thoughts. “Well we can outright eliminate some of the boys as potential pilots. Their sync ratios are too low that it would risk inability to activate at best and potential psychosis at worst.”
“Can you give me a list of names?”
“I can provide you the complete list when I return to my office but off the top of my head, we can eliminate Mr. Swett, Mr. Becker, Mr. Proctor, Mr. Shmuler, Mr. Gamble, and Mr. Yung,” Sarah answered.
“Well, there was no way I was going to give Justy the keys even if he was qualified. He’d probably side with the enemy,” Matt mused. “So, what of the others?”
“Well, of the potential candidates, I would rank Mr. Abdowmassy, Mr. Quadrozzi, and Mr. Hughes as solid ‘B’ rank. They wouldn’t be my first choice, but with time, they could be adequate pilots. Mr. Gelinas is a surprising ‘A’ ranking. He seems to be extremely perceptive which might explain his high sync ratio. The best candidate, however, is Mr. Pendrell.”
“Kenny? Really?” Matt interrupted with a surprised look.
“Yes. His sync ratio is only matched by those of the Second Child and the Third Child. I would classify him as an ‘S’ rank and if we had to launch combat operations today, I would be confident in trusting our lives to him,” Sarah reported.
“That’s pretty high praise,” Matt commented.
“He’s a special boy. He’s very quiet, and a little introverted, but I think he is the Fourth Child,” Sarah said with a nod.
“Okay. I’ll take that recommendations under consideration. Never the less, I would appreciate that this information doesn’t come to NERV’s attention until after Unit-03 is completed. Not that I doubt your word that you’ll complete the project on time, but I would much rather not give Hawley anything he would think of stealing,” Matt stated calmly.
“And if Hawley or Commander Ikari directly asks me for my reports or my data?” Sarah asked, concerned.
“Why, didn’t you know that the MAGI-04 is undergoing systems upgrades? I would say it will be at least a week before they are completed, especially with all the resources being diverted toward the completion of Unit-03,” Matt said with a coy smile.
“Understood, sir,” Sarah replied with the knowing nod.
Matt’s smile then faded and he regained his grim look. “One last piece of business. I just received a report from Special Inspector Bertovich. He has located two new pilot candidates and he’ll be bringing them here this afternoon. They will be placed under your direct supervision immediately.”
“New Candidates? Who are they?” Sarah asked.
Matt closed his eyes and sighed. He the handed over a piece of paper to Sarah and when she grasped it, he refused to release it. He looked into Sarah’s eyes and said, “I swear, I had nothing to do with this.”
Sarah arched a confused eyebrow and took the paper and began to read it, “Let’s see… Girls… twins, aged 16… Located at Canadian Private Academy…” She frowned more and more as she read this and soon the frown turned into a full blown scowl, “Originally from Western Massachusetts… names… THAT SUNAVABITCH!!!! I WILL FRICKIN’ KILL THAT BASTARD!!” Sarah screamed as she leapt from her seat and promptly marched out of Matt’s office, angrily kicking the door as she left.
Matt slumped back in his seat. That went as well as he has had expected. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Jason was about to experience Hell’s fury first hand. He stood up from his chair and decided that he wanted some fresh air.
After a rapid ascent up the elevator, Matt found himself exiting the Church in the Acres. He listened and heard the birds chirping. The leaves on the trees were a verdant green and the smell of fresh mowed grass filled his nostrils. Another October afternoon. Matt really missed having different seasons, but considering how bad the rest of the world got it, perpetual summer seemed like a trite thing to complain about.
He had to think back to that horrible day when the Second Impact occurred, some fifteen years ago. He was still a child then and the memories of the pure chaos that erupted afterward was not something he liked to think about often. The United States was changed in so many ways. Most of the coastal cities were wiped out by the rising ocean levels. New York City, Boston, Baltimore, were all under water. Half of Philadelphia was rendered unlivable by the rising river banks. New Orleans, Houston, and Los Angeles were now memories and seventy-five percent of Florida is no more. The northern United States and Canada were now part of the new grain belt, the year long growing season helping what was left of the Western Hemisphere stave off famine.
There had been a movement to rename Worchester or Springfield to Boston-2, but neither city was keen on the idea and it was quickly shelved. It seemed that people were having a difficult time adjusting to so many major cities no longer existing. He heard from Jay that they had attempted to rename Pittsburgh to New Philadelphia and the city threatened to secede and become its own state if they tried. Matt guessed that Tokyo-2 was the exception rather than the rule.
Matt adjusted his black hat and trench coat, tugging his collar slightly at the heat. He checked his watch and as expected, Jason Bertovich pulled up to the Church parking lot in a blue van. As he exited, he then slid the side door open and out walked the expected arrivals, the twin girls, and more importantly, Sarah’s younger sisters, Kirstin and Nicole Porter. Kirstin graciously accepted her duffle bag from Jason and proceeded to walk toward the church. Nicole slung her bag over her shoulder and then walked alongside Jason, arm wrapped around Jason’s arm. He gave a wave to Matt.
“Commander Atanian, so pleasant to see you this fine Fall day,” Jason said with a smile, scratching his light stubble.
“Special Inspector Bertovich,” Matt greeted with a stone-faced look. “A fair warning, Field Commander Porter is extremely displeased by this development, and I can't say I'm very excited about it either.”
“Oh? Dear me. If only I answered to her,” Jason said with an annoyed tone.
“Don’t worry about my sister, Jay. Me and Kirstin will talk to her,” Nicole said.
“Nicole, why don’t you join your sister. I’ll be down briefly, but first I need to discuss some private matters with the Commander,” Jason said to Nicole. Nicole gave him an unsure look, but ungrasped his arm and went into the church.
Matt looked to Jason and studied him for a moment. The calm demeanor he had with Nicole in tow seemed to dissipate and he now looked at Matt with a serious look. Matt broke the silence, “Jay, what the bloody hell were you thinking? Sarah is going to kill you, you know that, don’t you. There’s one thing she holds most sacred to her and you do this? For God sakes, man, she sent them to Canada to get them away from this life and you thought it was a great idea to bring them back.”
Jason looked to Matt and placed his hand on Matt’s shoulder, “Believe me, the last person I want to make an enemy is Sarah Porter. She scares me more than any Angel could. I did what I had to do. But know this, I don’t answer to Sarah and I don’t have to explain my actions to her.”
Matt was taken aback by this tone. “You’ve never one to play the rank and file game before. Why now?”
“Matt, I’ve always taken yours and Sarah’s authority and what you do for those kids into consideration when performing my duties. I really don’t need you questioning my choices now,” Jason said weary of the conversation.
“Well, you might not answer to Sarah officially, but believe me, she’s going to make you answer to her and if I were you, I’d have my reasons well prepared to be spelled out because if it comes down to you or my Field Commander, I’m not going to stand in her way,” Matt cautioned.
“Well, as long as we all know which side our bread is buttered,” Jason said with a dismissive shrug. “We better head in for the debriefing and official transfer of Nicole and Kirstin to NERV-01’s official care.”
Matt nodded and led Jason to the service elevator. He swiped his key card and they rapidly descended down to the bowels of the Earth. Matt led Jason to the small briefing room, where Kirstin and Nicole both were seating. Nicole sipped her glass of water. A uniformed security officer saluted Matt before Matt dismissed him to his other duties.
There was an awkward silence in the room as they all waited for the final participant to join them. They didn’t have to wait long and the door slid open and Sarah walked in. She scanned the room, and upon seeing Jason, her eyes narrowed into a murderous glare.
“Sister, it’s so good to see you!” Kirstin chimed.
“Hi, sis,” Nicole added.
“Commander Porter, such a pleasure to see yo…” Jason began to say before Sarah proceeded to punch him directly in the jaw causing Jason to drop like a wounded duck.
Matt knew it was coming but still winced in sympathetic pain. Nicole and Kirstin each leapt from their seats. Nicole went down to tend to Jason who was gingerly rubbing his jaw. Kirstin interjected herself between Sarah and the prone Jason.
“Jesus, Sis! What the hell?!” Nicole shouted.
“You bastard! You have exactly ten seconds to get out of the room before they have to cart you out!” Sarah shouted over the shoulder of Kirstin who was trying to keep her sister back with limited success.
“Sister, please calm down!” Kirstin pleaded.
Jason stepped up off the floor and rubbed his jaw some more, “I take it that you are not happy with my candidate selections?”
Sarah’s scowl grew much darker and Matt was beginning to worry that if he didn’t intervene, Sarah might actually follow through and murder Jason. Jason looked to Matt with an expectant glare.
“Commander Porter, please sit down! Sarah!! STOP NOW!” Matt barked, which caught everyone in the room by surprise. Sarah looked over to the stern look Matt was giving and angrily took a seat next to Kirstin who was sitting next to Nicole who had taken a seat next to Jason.
Matt sat back down. “Now, if we can have some order, we will now debrief Special Inspector Bertovich and the potential Pilot Candidates. Mr. Bertovich, do you have your reports on Miss Porter and Miss Porter?”
Jason reached into the satchel he had sitting on the table and pulled out two manila folders and tossed one to each Sarah and Matt. “Didn’t need to actually write one of my own. My counterpart at NERV-02 did all the work for me.”
Matt and Sarah each arched an eyebrow and opened the folders. After a few moments of silent reading, their eyes widened.
“Despite efforts by Field Commander Porter to exclude them from the Pilot Candidate program, both girls are prime candidates for the program and, in fact, may offer potentially extraordinary data on whether multiple pilots of similar sync ratios could increase Evangelion Unit function…” Matt read quietly aloud.
“It is the recommendation of this agent that both sisters be immediate transferred to NERV-02 and be placed as priority pilot candidates…” Sarah read and then looked to Jason, “What is this?”
“That is the report that would’ve been filed if I hadn’t stolen it from my counterpart and then sabotaged his backups. I was, therefore, able to get my recommendations for these two lovely ladies to be taken into the custody of NERV-01 out to Tokyo-3 before my counterpart could prepare and send a new version of this report that you are now holding,” Jason said with smug smile, wincing a moment and then rubbing his jaw again.
“What is going on, here?” Sarah asked in confused tone.
Jason got up from his seat and walked to stand between Kirstin and Nicole and he then placed one hand on Kirstin’s left and Nicole’s right shoulders. “Sarah, I know how important these two are to you. You think I would put them in danger without some reason behind it? Frankly, the fact you thought that sending them to Canada would keep them out of NERV’s grasp was shockingly naïve.”
Sarah frowned angrily, “How dare you…”
“No, sister, you need to listen to him,” Kirstin said firmly, much to Sarah’s surprise.
“Thank you, Kirstin,” Jason said a smile and then continued, “Sarah, as much as I appreciate you wanting to keep them safe and away from this life, you failed to realize that the best way to do that was to keep them close to you. When they are here you could manipulate the information about them to make them seem like less viable candidates and if push came to shove, if another branch tried to have them transferred, you could’ve had them both quarantined. In Canada, they were sitting ducks and Hawley knew that they were out there and was looking for an excuse to bring them to Nevada,” Jason explained.
Sarah slumped, feeling deflated. Kirstin touched her sister’s hand and smiled. Sarah smiled back weakly. “Really, sister, we do appreciate all you did
for us, but we’re really happy to just be back here. Back home with you,” Kirstin said warmly.
Jason looked to Sarah and then to Matt, “Now, what’s done is done. We can’t rewrite the past so we just have to move on. It’s too late to manipulate data and make them no longer seem like viable candidates. In order to get them back home and not sent to Area 51, sorry NERV-02, I had to make them seem like a vital necessity to our operations, so they’re going to have to enter the pilot candidate program and they’re going to have to be placed the accelerated track, meaning immediate participation in the testing and simulations. At least the good news is now that they’re here, we can work to keep them here.”
“You would really do that?” Sarah asked quietly, completely defused now from her earlier rage.
“You have my word,” Jason said with seriousness.
“What’s going on, Jay? What exactly are you playing at?” Matt asked.
“Sorry, trade secrets. All I can tell you is that I had some very interesting conversations with my counterpart from Tokyo-3 and from what he’s told me, I think it’s best if we play things as close to the vest as possible when it comes to NERV Command and NERV-02. Commander Ikari is not being up front with anyone and if we’re not careful, we’re all gonna pay for it,” Jason explained. A quiet stillness then fell over the room.
“How close to the vest are we talking about, here?” Matt asked.
“In a perfect world, complete information blackout. That’s not gonna happen, but any opportunity we get to delay or misdirect information, you should take it. Discreetly, of course,” Jason answered.
“You’re talking about outright insubordination, even possible treason,” Sarah stated. She then looked to her two sisters and looked back and smiled, “Count me in.”
“I concur,” Matt said from the head of the table. “For now, what was said here does not leave this room, no one else is know of what was discussed here.” Matt then looked to Kirstin and Nicole, “Girls, that means the other pilot candidates.”
Kirstin and Nicole each nodded in agreement.
Matt then looked to Sarah, “Maintain the current schedule and conduct pilot tests as planned. Inform Drs. Wells and Hoelscher of our new pilots and please bring your sisters up to speed on the protocols. I would like them to be ready for tomorrow evening’s scheduled simulation.”
Sarah nodded and she and her sisters stood up and filed out of the room. Sarah looked to Jason and quickly looked away. Nicole looked back and smiled at him, and then all three departed.
Matt continued to sit and he looked across the briefing room table at Jason who had returned to his seat. Jason reached into his satchel and pulled out a small square device. He set it on the table and pressed the red button on the top panel. A moment later there was a green light and Jason gave a thumbs up gesture to Matt.
“Okay, we can talk now,” Jason informed him.
“I thought you didn’t need to explain yourself to Sarah,” Matt said with a smug smile.
Jason rubbed his jaw again. “Change of heart. I wanted to live long enough to have this conversation with you,” Jason replied with a sheepish grin. “Damn, she does pack a punch, though.”
Matt returned the grin for a moment and then his face grew stony. “This is incredibly risky, you know. As far as SEELE is concerned, we’re plotting a mutiny. They can come down on us and shut us down, ship those kids off and have us executed,” Matt said worriedly, gripping his ulcer ridden stomach.
“We’re playing our part. Kaji has helped us out tremendously so far and we need to play our role if he’s to succeed. If we play our role, those kids will be much better off. It might not be good for you and me, but if that’s the price we got to pay to protect them, then I’m all in,” Jay said, rubbing his tired face.
“What about Sarah? She’s on record as being a willing participant,” Matt asked concerned.
“She’s part of the contingency plan. She and he sisters will be safe. I wasn’t lying when I gave my word to her,” Jason answered.
“Okay. Understood,” Matt said, relieved. “So, what’s next?”
“I’ve already talked to Dr. Hoelscher and Dr. Wells and informed them of the twin’s arrival. They seemed excited at the prospect of testing my NERV‑02 counterpart’s suggestions on multiple pilot sync ratio testing. There was some early data on that idea during the Gaghiel attack on the UN carrier, but the pilots’ individual personalities seemed incompatible.
“In about one week, Unit-03 should be completed. That is really inconsequential, but we need to maintain appearances to both Ikari and SEELE. NERV-02 has already set everything into motion when they completed Unit-04, so everything is now on a two week countdown.”
“What will their next move be?” Matt asked.
“Before our German friends from NERV-03 deliver the S2 engine to be installed, Hawley is going to try and strong arm us. He’s gonna try and force us to openly rebel, knowing that SEELE will lay down the hammer if we try to resist. As I said before, no matter how well Nicole and Kirstin do on their sync ratio tests and combat drills, they will not leave this place,” Jason told Matt.
Matt closed his eyes and sighed, “That means we’re going to have to sacrifice Kenny to them.” Matt then looked at Jason with a steely gaze, “I am extremely uncomfortable with that idea, Jay.”
“I won’t lie and say this plan is without risks. There are risks, but I want you to know that as just I promised Sarah, I promise you this; when the time comes, your boy will come home, safe and sound,” Jason said with calm resolve.
“I’m going to damn well hold you to that promise, Jay,” Matt said grimly.
“I expect as much. Just keep this in mind. No matter what happens and how things may seem, my commitment to those kids is absolute. Before this is all said and done, we’re all going to do things we may not think we’re capable of, but if we don’t lose sight of what’s important, we’ll come through.” Jason then poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table. After taking a prolonged drink from his glass, he sat the almost empty glass down on the table and looked to his friend. “What else is on your mind?”
“This Kaji guy, can we trust him? What’s his stake in all this. I still don’t see how this benefits him,” Matt said worriedly.
“He’s playing a much bigger game and we just happen to be pieces he’s moving to advance his own goals. That much I know, but I’m willing to be used if our goals are accomplished in the process. It’s a deal with the devil, but a deal worth making,” Jason answered.
“And all it will costs us is our souls,” Matt responded glumly.
“Matt, my friend, our souls are long gone. Our generation lost their souls when we let NERV come into existence. Let’s not make the next generation sell theirs,” Jason countered.
Matt nodded sadly, stood up, and stretched his back. He then looked to Jason who was packing up his satchel but who had yet deactivated his dampening field. “So, will we be seeing you at tomorrow’s tests and simulation?”
Jason tilted his head side to side. “Maybe. I will be on errands tomorrow, but if I take care of everything, I may drop in. If anything, I bet Nicole looks awesome in a plugsuit.”
Matt gave Jay a crooked eye. “Dirty old man.”
“Sorry, but I decided to go for the newer model Porter since the older model is already claimed,” Jason said with a smirk and then deactivated the device. He looked back to Matt, “Be seeing you, Commander Atanian.” Jason then left the briefing room.
“Be seeing you, Special Inspector,” Matt replied and then after a brief pause, likewise, left the room.
The next evening found Matt and Sarah addressing the group of Scouts that Sarah had qualified as being the candidates with the most potential. Sitting in the front row of the two rows of hard plastic seats were Kenny Pendrell, who was wearing a Black plugsuit with blue highlights, Nicole Porter, who was wearing a light pink plugsuit with green highlights and thus resembling her middle name of Sakura, next to her was Kirstin Porter, who was wearing a light yellow plugsuit with white highlights, and finally Bill Gelinas, who was wearing a khaki plugsuit with olive and red details.
Sitting in the second row were the three Scouts whom Sarah had assigned as ‘B’ rank. Mike Quadrozzi, Aaron Abdowmassy, and Billy Hughes. They were each wearing their Scout uniforms. Standing in from of them, currently in front of a large green chalkboard that had been rolled in was Matt and Sarah. Standing off to the side were the two resident scientists in the employ of NERV-01, Computer Expert Dr. John Hoelscher and Engineer Dr. Lina Wells. A bouncy Asian women wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope walked in and joined them.
Matt nodded to Sarah and she began pacing back and forth, finally speaking, “Okay, ladies and gentleman, tonight is the big night. We will be running our first full blown combat simulation. The four of you will be entering into the plug simulators which are exact replicas of what will be Evangelion Unit-03’s entry plug.
“In this simulation you will be representing three Evangelion Units. Kenny, you will be representing Evangelion Unit-01. Nicole and Kirstin, you will be testing the prototype mutli-pilot plug controlling a unit representing Evangelion Unit-02. Bill, you will be representing Evangelion Unit-00.
“I will be issuing orders from the control room, Drs. Hoelscher and Wells will be monitoring the systems, Commander Atanian will be also monitoring activities, and finally, Dr. Lin will be monitoring your physical well being.
“This simulation will be against the Third Angel, Sachiel. This is a representation based on the field data collected during the real Unit-01’s battle with this enemy in Tokyo-3. Please be aware, even though this is a simulation, this will be extremely intense. First off, this enemy is programmed to be hyperadaptable and unpredictable. Even though it is based off a defeated angel, do not make the mistake of thinking it is only limited to the abilities it displayed. The MAGI-04 will using data from all Angel encounters so far and simulating new attack abilities and strategies. In essence folks, treat it as if it’s a brand new enemy and approach it with caution.
“Secondly, this simulation will involve full-on sync ratio testing. That means your brains will think it is real combat and your bodies will respond thusly. While we will be monitoring you throughout the test, there are still risks involved and you can be hurt if you do not treat this exercise with the utmost seriousness. Are there any questions or concerns you four would like to voice now?”
The four nervously looked amongst themselves. Nicole and Kirstin seemed really unsure and nervous, but shook their heads no. Sarah, frowned a little, but nodded her head and then continued, “Okay, then. Kenny, as you are the most experienced and senior pilot candidate, you will be taking point in this exercise. If, for some reason, communications from me and Commander Atanian should be cut off or lost, you will act as emergency field leader. Nicole and Kirstin, you will be following Kenny’s lead and providing back-up and support maneuvers. Bill, you will be providing long-range support. You will also be guarding the entrance to what is representing Tokyo-3. Should Kenny and my sisters fail to defeat the enemy, you will be the final line of defense to protect the city.”
“Geez, no pressure,” Bill said wryly.
Sarah gave him a stern look, “This is no joking matter, Mr. Gelinas. You were chosen because you are one of the top four candidates. If you are unsure that you can fulfill your duties, we want to know now. Because if you aren’t sure, you are wasting everyone’s time.”
Bill stiffened and shook his head negative. Sarah then returned her attention to all seven of them. He took a breath and finished her speech, “Aaron, Mike, and Billy, you will be joining us in the control room to monitor the simulation. Please study everything that occurs and be prepared to be debriefed on what happened. You will be participating in tomorrow’s simulation, so you need to pay particular attention because tomorrow you will be facing the same risks as your fellow pilot candidates do tonight. That is all.”
Sarah then stepped back. Matt took a step forward and looked at all seven pilot candidates. He studied their faces for a moment and then began to speak, “Guys, I want you know that I think this is incredibly unfair. This is not right that the adults of this world are thrusting this tremendous responsibility on kids like you. I can understand if you’re worried, or nervous, or even scared. I’m just as scared for you.
“I know I’m supposed to make a sort of rah-rah, win-one-for-the-Gipper, pep-talk type speech so you’re all ready to throw yourselves on live grenades for NERV’s benefit. I suck at those, sorry. I wish I could give you the confidence to not feel scared and not feel pressured to do this job. I can’t because that’s a lie. You have every right to feel that way and you have every right to be angry at us for putting you in this position.
“I can only say three things right now that are honest and true - I am sorry; May God keep you safe; and thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Matt then closed his eyes and turned away to face the chalkboard. A moment passed and there was the noise of chairs scraping the floor as the kids got up to follow the Doctors and Sarah to their posts.
Matt sighed lightly and after he was sure they all left, he slowly rubbed his eyes and the bridge of his nose with his right hand. He turned around and gasped in surprise to see Kenny still standing there. Matt looked down to the boy and boy stared back at him, his piercing eyes boring holes into Matt’s psyche. Matt was unsure what to say.
The boy spoke, “Commander Atanian…”
“Yes, Kenny?” Matt answered, trying to keep his voice in check.
“We won’t let you down. I know you and Commander Porter do so much for us and I wanted to let you know that we will do our best to protect everyone. Thank you, Commander Atanian.” Kenny then smartly saluted the surprised Matt and quickly walked away to join the others.
Matt took a seat on one of the empty chairs. He found himself snickering lightly. This boy, this mere child of fourteen, was telling him to not worry because the children would protect him from harm and he sincerely meant it. For the first time since he was seven, Matt found himself openly weeping.
Kenny caught up with his fellow pilot candidates and walked alongside them, as they entered the large hangar. To the far right of him he could make out the menacing silhouette of the gargantuan humanoid-like Unit-03. Kenny felt as if it was looking down on them, waiting to unleash judgment.
Doctors Hoelscher and Wells showed the sisters and the scouts the three mock entry-plugs. They looked like long tubes and they were connected to several thick cables and wires leading to MAGI-04 as well as the control room. The doctors opened the first one and invited them to look inside. It looked like space age cockpit with a reclined seat, two handle-like objects at the end of the armrests, and a small control panel coming up between where the pilot’s legs would be.
Bill Gelinas entered the tube and took his seat. The doctors then closed the door and sealed the locking mechanism. They then walked to the next tube and opened it. It was like the first except their were two seating units that were arranged back to back so when two pilots were sitting and leaning back, the tops of their heads would most likely touch. This was obvious the entry plug for the twins. Nicole and Kirstin each took a breath and then stepped inside. The doctors then sealed the locking mechanism and motioned Kenny to follow them to the last tube.
Kenny did not hesitate once the entrance hatch was opened. He stepped inside and took his seat. He closed his eyes as the hatch closed and when he opened them he found himself in the dark. He heard the loud clanks and clicks of the locking mechanism activating. He felt very alone in this dark claustrophobic tube.
He was anticipating the chamber’s flooding. He had gotten somewhat used to it, but he still found it very unnerving when the process began. The blood-like smell really bothered him and there was still the instinct to hold your breath until there was no longer any choice but to breath in the yellow oxygenated liquid.
As the liquid rose to his chest, he wondered how the twins were dealing with this right now. From what he learned, they only did their first sync test this morning, so that meant this was only their second exposure to being submerged in the LCL. He smiled a little to himself when he thought of the girl named Kirstin. She had smiled so kindly to him when they were introduced this morning. Then again, she smiled to everyone as they were introduced to her. She just seemed very kind natured.
A few moments later, he was submerged and he gasped in a lungful of the viscous stuff. He mentally calmed himself and reminded himself he was not drowning. The interior of the tube illuminated and within moments there was a color shift. Soon he could see the blue sky and buildings of what was supposed to be Tokyo-3.
He turned his head to his left he could see the giant red and orange Unit-02 and to his right and slightly behind him at the edge of his peripheral vision he was able to glance Unit-00.
Several ‘windows’ opened up in the ‘air’ around him. The one right in front of him was Matt and Sarah. At his lower right were the two technical doctors, Hoelscher and Wells, and to his lower left was the smiling Dr. Lin. Finally directly to his left and right were his teammates. At his left was a split screen containing Kirstin and Nicole and at his right was Bill’s nervous face. Kenny was really hoping everyone wouldn’t start talking at once because he wasn’t sure if his neck could take it.
Sarah spoke, “Systems check everyone. Are you receiving me?”
“Yes, Commander Porter,” Kenny answered.
“We’re here, sister,” Kirstin replied.
“Live and uncensored,” Bill said with a grin. Sarah’s image rolled her eyes and Matt grinned a little.
“Dr. Wells and I will be monitoring your sync ratios during this test as well as the technical systems. If there are any problems, we will inform you of them. If there are major problems, we may shut your link down and remove you from the simulation. So if any of you suddenly see an Evangelion Unit vanish, please disregard and continue the simulation,” Dr. Hoelscher explained.
“And I will be monitoring your general health and well being. Basically, the same as my colleagues, except I’m more focused on the flesh and not the circuitry. If anything goes wrong or goes too far, I am authorized to cut off your sync connection and shut down your entry plug. Any questions, kids?” Dr. Lin asked.
“Um… where’s the bathroom on this thing?” Bill asked.
“Just like astronauts, baby. Though you might want to hold it in if you don’t want to breath it,” Dr. Lin said with a chuckle.
“Terrific…” Nicole muttered.
Sarah coughed loudly and all eyes refocused on her. “The simulation will begin in sixty seconds on my mark. Please make your requests for armaments.”
Kenny thought for a moment and decided since he was taking point, he would be more focused on close combat. “Please equip me with the Magoroku Exterminate Sword.” A moment later, a long, sleek purple and black space-age katana appears in his Eva’s hand.
“Progressive knife for the left hand and Desert Eagle Mark XIX for the right hand,” Nicole requested and Kenny saw the large handgun and red handled utility knife appear.
“Sniper Rifle,” Bill stated. A large sniper rifle modeled on the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum with a stabilizing bipod halfway down the barrel. Unit-00 sighted the weapon and then proceeded to climb on top of the building that marked the entrance to Tokyo-03. The Eva then splayed its body on top of the roof and Kenny could see the long barrel of the rifle peeking over the edge.
“Remember everyone, if your umbilicals are disconnected or damaged you will only have five minutes of power before your system shuts down. If that happens, we will direct you to the nearest power umbilical. Good luck everyone,” Matt stated.
“Okay, everyone. MARK!” Sarah barked and suddenly all the screens featuring adults winked shut. Kenny looked to his right and left and looked to Bill and the sisters. “Good luck,” Kenny said calmly.
“You too,” Kirstin replied.
“I got you guys covered, so go show it how awesome Troop 192 is,” Bill added.
Kenny mentally counted down from Sarah’s mark. Never before have sixty seconds felt like an eternity. He could see the tension on everyone’s faces and he hoped it wasn’t obvious on his.
In the control room, Matt and Sarah intently hovered over the digitized representation of the battle to come. Above them, a large screen was also showing the scene and the non-participating pilots were watching just as intently. Still Matt and Sarah refused to look up from their tinier, shared screen.
“Heart rates, Blood pressure, and adrenalin levels all rising. No serious problems detected,” Dr. Lin announced.
“Sync Ratios are all at established baselines. Systems all nominal,” Dr. Wells added.
Kenny clenched his control handle tightly. It was coming. He could feel it.
“Kenny! To your right!” Nicole shouted.
Kenny only had a brief moment to react and he sent Unit-01 leaping backward as beam of crimson energy shot at him. Nicole and Kirstin also leapt away and skidded to a stop.
Nicole grunted as the Eva landed. Kirstin, who was facing away from the front observed Nicole’s view through a floating window. She gasped lightly as she looked at the albino masked monster.
“Bill, drive it back!” Sarah ordered.
Bill fired a shot and the large cannon-like round stopped in mid-air, mere feet from the Angel’s mask. Ripples of energy floated around the bullet and finally it dropped to the pavement like a stone, shattering the pavement as it hit.
“It’s an A.T. Field!” Kenny shouted.
“Shit!” Bill groaned.
The Third Angel, Sachiel looked toward Bill’s direction and raised its gangly arm. A red glow emerged from the Angel’s palm.
“He’s a sitting duck up there!” Matt shouted.
Nicole narrowed her eyes and got into a three point stance, from which Unit-02 shot out like a Olympic sprinter toward Sachiel. The twins tackled the beast just as the energy lance was released, causing it to fire harmlessly into the air.
“The twins have put up their own A.T. Field! Incedible!” Dr. Wells exclaimed.
“Bill, you’re a sitting target up there. Get out of there!” Sarah ordered.
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Bill shouted, at which point Unit-00 rolled back and leapt down from it’s perch atop the building. He quickly ducked behind a nearby building to take a breather away from being fired on.
“Nicole, Kirstin! Evade!” Kenny barked as he came down from his aerial leap, the Magorox pointed down in a double-handed stabbing motion.
Unit-02 tucked and rolled away as Kenny came down. His sword stopped in midair as it struck the A.T. Field. Sachiel stood up from it’s prone position and dug it’s spindly claw into Unit-01’s chest plate. Kenny gasped as he could feel his own chest throb in pain and suddenly his world was spinning out control as he was hurled to the side like a rag doll, crashing into a nearby building.
“Kenny!” Kirstin screamed.
“Focus!” Nicole shouted back. “It’s coming in for another go at us!”
Sachiel lumbered toward the sisters who had taken a defensive position. As it swiped and clawed at them, Unit-02 danced and evaded like a martial artist. But not only did they just dodge, they were able to get off glancing slashes with the progressive knife and near misses from their monstrous handgun.
“This is incredible!” Wells shouted out to Sarah and Matt. “The twins, their sync ratio is through the roof. It’s even higher than the Second Child’s best score right now!”
“That’s crazy! This is only their second sync test and only their first time piloting together like this,” Sarah said doubtfully.
“Just look at the readings! It’s almost as if both sisters are acting as one mind. A right brain; left brain function played by each girl. Kirstin is creating opportunities for counter attacks with her artful dodges and Nicole is analyzing every pass for openings to attack. This is breathtaking!” Wells groaned in ecstasy.
“How are my sisters doing, Doctor?” Sarah shouted over to Dr. Lin.
“All readings still within acceptable parameters, Commander,” Lin answered back, eyes glued to her screens.
Unit-02 continued its dance with Sachiel, dodging energy lance blasts whilst trying to maneuver in for an attack on it’s core only to be rebuffed by an equally capable opponent.
“Sister, we need to move away from here! I can’t keep this up much longer!” Kirstin shouted over shoulder to Nicole.
“Just one more go, I knicked him last time. I know I can score a hit this time!” Nicole shouted back.
“Nicole, this is a not a game!” Sarah’s face shouted from an out of the way view screen.
Before Nicole could argue the point, she felt the clenched grip of powerful hands around her throat, much as Kirstin did. Sachiel had proved the superior dancer and was now holding Unit-02 off its feet by the throat.
“We can’t move!” Kirstin shouted.
“Bill, for the love of God, help us!” Nicole gasped, the grip on her own throat tightening.
Unit-00 emerged from behind a building and began firing rounds at Sachiel in order to get him to release his prey and back away. The Angel did no such thing. The rounds continued to stop in midair, unable to penetrate the A.T. Field. The beast released one hand from Unit-02’s neck, and was still able to hold the mech aloft by its neck with only one hand. It pointed its palm in Bill’s direction and began firing energy lances, causing Unit-00 to duck back behind the buildings for protection.
As it did this, the strange black eye holes in it’s bird-like mask never looked away from Unit-02’s. It just stared at them and held them there, studying them.
“What’s it going to do?” Nicole asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not attacking but we can’t get away either,” Kirstin replied.
“Well, we’ll see about that! If it’s going leave our arms free, then he we’ll just have to make him let us go…” Nicole started. Before she could finish the sentence, two brilliant beams of white light shot forth from Sachiel’s eye sockets, boring directly into the face of Unit-02.
“What on Earth is it doing?!” Sarah shouted in a panic. “This is nothing like the field reports!”
“It’s part of the program. The MAGI-04 is hyperadapting and has created a new attack,” Dr. Hoelscher answered back.
“Well, what kind of attack is it?!” Matt and Sarah both screamed at the computer expert.
“I don’t know yet! We have to wait to see what the impact of what it’s doing is!” Dr. Hoelscher shouted back.
Sarah bit her thumbnail and in the process cracked it painfully. Sarah didn’t react to the small drip of blood emanating from her mangled thumbnail. Matt could only stare dumbly at the screen and worry.
Nicole found herself floating in a sea of white. She opened her eyes and realized that she was naked. She quickly attempted to cover herself, though that might have been a futile effort. She looked to her left and saw he twin floating by her, eyes half open in a daze and, like her, naked.
“Where are we?” Nicole asked aloud.
“Mmmm?” Kirstin mumbled, shaking her head lightly trying to fight off sleep.
In the distance she could see three shadows. Shadows that were moving rapidly toward her, or was she floating toward them. She felt so disoriented. Wasn’t she fighting a giant monster just now? It was all fading away into the haze of blurred memory. Still the shadows loomed closer.
Nicole struggled to fight off these feelings of confusion. She knew that something was very wrong and if she didn’t keep thinking calmly and rationally, she and Kirstin would be in very big trouble.
“Always the calm, cool, and collected one, eh, Little Cherry Blossom?” a voice called out. Nicole went very still and her blood ran cold. She knew that voice, that matronly, soothing voice.
“Obachan?” Kirstin mumbled dreamily. She opened her eyes and looked to the shadows and smiled warmly. Nicole could see them now and she too found herself losing the battle to stay calm. Coming toward her was her now deceased and beloved grandmother. The elderly Japanese woman, wearing a white burial kimono, her grey hair pulled back in a neat bun-knot, that warm face, creased with so many wrinkles from age and a life well lived.
Following her were two more figures. They were so foreign and yet so painfully familiar. Nicole’s memories of them were so blurred, but she knew their faces so well from all the pictures Obachan had shown them. The woman’s auburn hair, exactly the same shade as hers and Kirstin’s The man, his piercing eyes, she saw everyday in the mirror nestled inside her own reflection. This was impossible, but she couldn’t argue against it.
“Mama? Papa?” Nicole said in a choked voice. The woman and man smiled and the held their arms open to which Nicole and Kirstin floated to embrace their long lost parents.
Nicole felt the warm enveloping embrace of her father’s strong arms. She could only wish this moment would never end. He grandmother floated between the reunited family and lovingly whispered into the girls’ ears, “You were always such disappointments.”
Nicole and Kirstin gasped in horror at hearing these words from their beloved grandmother, spoken without a hint of malice or anger. Nicole looked to her father who smiled gently and spoke, “That’s why we died. It was to get away from you.”
“What?!” Nicole gasped, choking back tears of anger and confusion.
Their mother looked to Kirstin, giving the same kind-natured smile that Kirstin had perfected, and said, “and your sister hates you too. That’s why she
brought you here to die. Now she won’t be burdened by you.”
“No… Mother… No,” Kirstin wept. The sisters then could feel their mother and father’s hands plunge into their soft flesh, their fingers burrowing their way into their torsos.
Kenny shook his head clear of the landing he just took through two buildings. He gingerly forced the Evangelion to stand up again and he took stock
of his position. A moment later his ears were filled with the twins’ stereo screams of absolute terror and horror beyond imagination.
Back in the control room, red light flashed everywhere and klaxons blared out warnings of problems.
“Oh my god! The girls’ brainwaves are fluctuating like mad! Heart rates are through the roof! Blood pressure dropping! Adrenaline is being produced at a level I’ve never seen before!” Dr. Lin shouted, panicked.
“Sync rates are completely scrambled! It’s as if their psyche itself is being attacked!” Dr. Wells added.
“Nicole! Kirstin!” Sarah screamed at the monitor.
“SHUT DOWN THE SIMULTATION! NOW!!!” Matt barked.
“I’ve already tried! It’s not responding! The system is refusing the manual emergency shutdown!” Dr. Lin screamed.
“SHUT IT DOWN, DAMMIT !” Matt screamed at Dr. Hoelscher.
“We can’t! The whole system is locked out! The MAGI-04 is running rogue!” Dr. Hoelscher shouted back, futilely tapping keys on the console.
“Oh my God…. Bill! Kenny! HELP THEM!!!” Sarah screamed hysterically.
“They can’t hear you! Communications to the simulation are locked out! They’re flying blind in there!” Dr. Wells shouted through clenched teeth.
“We got to get them out of there! Those kids are going to get killed by a damn simulation!” Matt angrily shouted.
Sarah ran out of the control room and toward the hangar bay. Matt and the Doctors gave pursuit. As she entered the hangar, running in a half-trot, half dash, she looked around in an uncertain panic until she spotted what she wanted. Mounted on the wall under the steel and glass cabinet containing the industrial fire extinguisher, was a large fire ax. Sarah wrenched it from the wall and marched toward the entry plug simulators.
“Oh my god! STOP HER!” Dr. Lin and Dr. Hoelscher shouted at the same time.
Matt instinctively dashed toward her and tackled Sarah as he moved toward to start chopping the cables that connected the entry plugs to the MAGI‑04. Let go of me dammit!!!” Sarah screamed as she fought to get out from under Matt’s weight and grip.
“Commander, you can’t stop the simulation that way! Suddenly pulling the plug will kill them all!” Dr. Lin shouted at Sarah hoping volume would prevail if rationality wouldn’t.
Dr. Lin spoke further, while Sarah continued to struggle, “Their minds are in a very deep state right now. They need to be pulled out slowly like a diving bell, let their bodies get used to the pressure again. Even an emergency shutdown still works on the same principle, but with an increased risks of possible mental trauma, like a case of the bends but on the psyche.
“Outright shutting it down by cutting the power would be like teleporting someone from the bottom of the ocean onto the top of Mt. Everest. Their heart would explode and their brain would collapse. They would be dead in a matter of seconds!”
Sarah stopped struggling and tears flowed down her face, “Well what can we do? We can’t do nothing!”
“The only way the simulation can end now is if all the pilots are defeated or if the Angel is destroyed,” Dr. Hoelscher stated.
“So, our only hope is if the other two defeat that monster before my sisters die?!” Sarah asked while weeping.
The three doctors looked to each other and then nodded. “Yes,” Dr. Wells confirmed. Sarah felt the energy leave her body and she lay limp on the ground no longer struggling, her eyes beginning to become unfocused, staring off to the distance at the angry god staring down at them, Evangelion Unit-03.
Matt shook Sarah from her dazed state and then slapped her harshly. “No, you’re not going to give up on those four, dammit! You said you were confident in Kenny! You said he was special! You said you trusted him with our lives! Well, lives are in his hands now and you’re going to sit in that control room with me and pray that he succeeds and you’re NOT going to give up on him or Bill or YOUR SISTERS!”
Sarah blinked a couple times and reached for her stinging cheek, fresh tears streaming from her eyes. She blinked and nodded blankly and watched as Matt walked back toward the control room, a grim look of determination on his face.
In the simulation, Kenny grabbed his ears upon hearing the unearthly scream. He felt the whole world shake under his feet. “Commander Atanian! Commander Porter! What’s going on?” There was no response. “Can anyone hear me?” Kenny shouted again.
“I can!” Gelinas answered back, “but I think I’m the only one. I’m getting no answer from the control room. I think we’re on our own here. Is this part of the simulation?”
“No. I think something is very wrong here, Mr. Gelinas! The twins are very much in trouble and they should’ve been pulled out by now. I think we’re on our own,” Kenny postulated.
“Fan-fucking-tastic!” Bill groaned. “I joined the Scouts to go camping and now I’m going to be killed by an imaginary monster.“
“Mr. Gelinas! Please be quiet! We are not going to die. We are going to defeat the Angel, end the simulation, and get Miss Kirstin and Miss Nicole help, understood?” Kenny barked back with authority.
“Who died and left you in charge?” Bill grumbled to himself.
“Commander Porter left me in charge, and I plan to prove that faith in me was well founded,” Kenny stated confidently and then gripped his controls tightly, “Let’s see what we’re up against.”
Kenny willed Unit-01 back to the battlefront, darting between buildings, finally seeing Unit-00, still ducking behind building reloading his gargantuan rifle. Kenny motioned for Bill to stay hidden and he then darted back to where he last saw Nicole and Kirstin.
Standing in front of Sachiel was Unit-02, now hunched down like a primitive humanoid, eyes glowing a haunting dark yellow. Kenny had only a moment to take this in as Unit-02 raised its handgun at Kenny and proceeded to fire multiple shots. Kenny leapt back and to the side and quickly darted back behind a building.
“What the hell!? Why are they attacking you? We’re on their side!” Bill shouted, having observed what had happened.
“Their Evangelion unit is under the control of the Angel. That scream was probably them going under his control. They can’t control it anymore,” Kenny reasoned.
“Oh that’s just great. This just went from three-on-one to two-on-two? Even when it was three-on-one, the odds weren’t that great. What do we do?” Bill asked, gritting his teeth.
“We need to incapacitate Unit-02 and defeat the Angel,” Kenny answered.
“Yeah, and how do we do it?! We can’t even get a hit on the beak masked thing and we can’t just attack the other one because we might hurt Nicole and Kirstin. So, if you have any brilliant ideas, I’d love to hear them,” Bill said with angry sarcasm.
Kenny closed his eyes and let scenarios rapidly play out in his mind and then he grinned a creepy confident grin that seemed to say, ‘Why yes, I am a genius, thank you.’ “Okay, here’s the plan. I’m going to cut Unit-02’s umbilical. You’re going to lead it away from me and the Angel. You will need to keep it occupied for five minutes at which point, the Evangelion will shut down and Nicole and Kirstin should be released from the simulation or at least no longer active participants.”
“So basically I have to let that thing try to kill me for five minutes without fighting back and hope the battery runs out before I bite the big one?” Bill asked with a groan.
“Yes,” Kenny answered.
“And I take it that you’re going to fight that thing while I do that?” Bill queried, mentally preparing for his task.
“That is correct, Mr. Gelinas,” Kenny confirmed.
“And how exactly do you plan to fight something you haven’t been able to land a hit on so far, if you don’t mind me asking,” Bill asked, checking his rifle again.
“I’ll think of that when I get to that part,” Kenny replied and then bolted back into the fray.
“Terr-fuckin-riffic,” Bill sighed and then followed suit.
Kenny charged toward Sachiel and his puppet, Unit-02. “I’ll get back to you,” Kenny shouted to Sachiel as Unit-01 spun like a running back dodging a tackle from a linebacker and acrobatically leapt over Unit-02’s slash from its Prog Knife. Seeing his target he chopped down on Unit-02’s umbilical line, his Magorox cleaving it in two pieces. He then evaded the follow up attack from Unit-02 as it spun around to stab at him again.
Kenny straightened himself and deftly backed away from Unit-02’s erratic bezerker attacks, mentally counting down the seconds until it would stop. Bill charged in and side tackled Unit-02.
“Hey Red, come and get me!” Bill shouted and then Unit-00 gave Unit-02 a single digit salute, much to everyone who was observing’s surprise. Unit‑02 changed its focus and leapt toward Bill like a feral animal. “Don’t just stand there, Braniac! I got this. Go get the final boss!” Bill shouted to Kenny as he leapt away from another attack.
Unit-01’s hand tightened its grip on the sword. Kenny then shifted his focus on Sachiel who was preparing to take another shot at Bill as he was occupied with Unit-02. “Oh no you don’t! I’m your opponent now!” Kenny grumbled angrily and Kenny felt something well up into him like a geyser of energy.
In the control room, Sarah clasped her hands to her chest as she watched her sisters mindlessly attack Bill’s Unit-00. Matt focused on Kenny’s battle with the Angel and silently cheered him on, hoping the positive energy would be felt by Kenny and lead him to victory.
“Kenny’s Sync Ratio us climbing exponentially. This is incredible! It’s like he is pulling it from some sort of hidden reserve,” Dr. Wells commented.
“A.T. Field detected!” Dr. Hoelscher added.
“The Angel’s?” Matt asked.
“No… It’s Kenny’s! He’s producing his own A.T. Field! My god, this boy is amazing!” Dr. Wells answered, eyes darting back and forth over the data emerging from the battle occurring in front of them.
Bill rumbled in his seat as Unit-00 galloped away from his pursuer. “Oh sure, keep it occupied for five minutes, nooooooooooooo problem. Yeah, my ass no problem,” Bill grumbled under his breath. He was gonna make all three of them treat him to pizza if he lived through this.
Suddenly his sprint came to a lurching halt as he jerked backwards. He glanced behind himself, saw what had happened, and he groaned. Unit-02 was now gripping his umbilical line and was about to jerk him back to its waiting arms and waiting knife.
“Hey, you want it? You can have it!” Bill shouted and pushed the release button. The plug of the umbilical popped off Unit-00’s lower spine like a lizard shedding it’s tail. Unit-02 flew backward in a comical pratfall as it attempted to pull it in as he released all tension.
Bill steadied himself and prepared for his next move. He eyed the frantic red clock counting down the five minutes he had before he became helpless. Suddenly, he realized that Unit-02 was not attempting to get up and continue the fight. Five minutes had elapsed. Bill sighed a breath of relief and smiled, “Yo, Kenny! Big red is down and out for the count.”
Kenny’s face appeared to his right, sweating profusely, “That’s great news, Mr. Gelinas, because I’m in very desperate need of your assistance and I
think time is very much of the essence.”
“I’m on it!” Bill shouted and charged back to where he saw the two mammoth figures embraced in a struggle. He then realized that Kenny was behind
Sachiel and had placed it in a full-nelson style hold.
Dr. Wells and Dr. Hoelscher looked to each other, smiled and looked back to the very tense Matt and Sarah. “Commanders, he’s managed to break down the Angel’s A.T. Field using his own! The Angel is vulnerable!”
Matt and Sarah looked at each other and then to the screen, eyes finally betraying that all hope was not lost.
Bill stood there, unsure what to do. Kenny’s face appeared again and gave a strained smiled, “You need to take out the core, Mr. Gelinas. The red thing under its ribcage. One well-placed shot from that cannon you’re carrying should do it.”
Bill raised the rifle to a ready position and then stopped, “Kenny, are you sure this is going to work?”
“I’ve neutralized its shield, but I can’t hold it much longer, so you need to shoot. NOW!” Kenny said, sweat now glistening off his brow.
“But if I shoot it like this, you’re get hit by the round too,” Bill said, eyeing both through the rifle’s scope.
“DO IT! WE NEED TO END THE SIMULATION NOW! I’LL BE FINE, DAMMIT! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!!!” Kenny screamed frantically, feeling his strength leaving his body, knowing if he lost this battle of will, the Angel would reestablish it’s A.T. Field and that would be the end.
A moment later, Kenny heard the loud cannon-like blast, followed by a searing hot pain in his stomach. He released his grip on the Angel and felt no more struggle from the monster.
On the large screen in the control room, they all watched as Bill’s round split the Angel Sachiel’s core neatly in two and then it fell limply to the ground, to fight no more. Unit-01 stumbled backward as it released Sachiel from his hold. A moment later the screen went black and the words ‘SIMULATION COMPLETE’ appeared in bold digital text.
Aaron, Mike, and Hughes cheered loudly at their friends’ victory. Sarah and Matt wasted no time, as soon as the words appeared, they charged from the room to return to the hangar. Dr. Lin gave chase, calling in for additional medical personnel to meet them in the Hangar and to expect up to four casualties on her personal hand comm-unit.
Dr. Wells and Dr. Hoelscher leaned back from their seats, looked to each other and then breathed a relieved sigh.
Matt and Sarah ran to the entry-plug simulators. Matt grabbed a nearby worker and yelled for him to get anyone he could to help him get the kids out of those things. Matt gave first attention to Nicole and Kirtin’s tube. He grabbed the locking mechanism and wrenched it open as quick as he could turn the metal handle. As the hatch opened, yellow LCL flooded over him, pouring over him and Sarah, who didn’t give it a second thought as they could now see the slumped forms of Nicole and Kirstin laying in the reclining positions of the cockpit seats. Matt gingerly picked up Kirstin first and gently handed her to the waiting Sarah. Sarah slumped down the side of the tube and cradled her sister in her arms, quietly weeping tears of fear, anger, sadness, and relief.
Kirstin’s eyes were open but not focused on anything, a garish grin crept on her lips.
Matt reached Nicole and as he lifted her from her seat, she thanked him by vomiting all over his drenched clothes. He brought her out to Sarah and laid the girl down by her sister. Sarah wrapped her arm around Nicole’s shoulders and head and held both them to her chest, trying to not lose her mind to the emotions that were running over her, tears flowing freely. Nicole could only groan listlessly. Kirstin, still staring out into nothing, cracked a creepy giggle.
Matt dashed to Kenny’s tube and allowed himself to be drenched again as more LCL washed over him, washing away Nicole’s lunch, but filling his nostrils with that horrible blood smell. As the liquid eased, he saw Kenny sitting in his seat, hand clenched over his stomach, red blood spreading over the torso of his plugsuit. He looked up to Matt and smiled. Matt couldn’t help but return the smile. Kenny then gave him a thumbs up gesture and proceeded to pass out, head slumping listlessly to the left.
“MEDICS!!!” Matt shouted. Two men quickly wheeled a gurney to the entrance of the entry plug and quickly loaded him onto it, checking his pulse, breathing, and other priorities as they did. They nodded to each and quickly wheeled him away.
Matt looked back to Sarah and the twins, watching with a burning feeling in his ulcer-ridden gut as Dr. Lin checked on the still catatonic Kirstin. He then heard a light rapping from behind him coming from the inside of the third tube.
“Can I come out now?” Bill asked meekly.
Matt called over two of the workers who proceeded to open the locking mechanism. As the LCL gushed out, he weakly stepped out. He took two steps and much like Nicole, vomited up the LCL that was inside his lungs. He coughed a few times and then looked to Matt, “Are the others okay?”
Matt shook his head in an unsure manner, “We don’t know yet. Are you okay?”
Bill shrugged weakly, “I don’t know yet, either.”
Matt patted him on the head. A moment passed and Matt then embraced the boy in a hug filled with genuine relief. “I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry.”
“It’s okay, Matt. I’m okay,” Bill said, lightly pushing Matt away, trying to exert some sort of cool aura. The boy who didn’t need hugs. Not when everyone else nearly died. No hugs for him. Hugs for them. They earned the hugs. All he did was not die.
Matt looked down at Bill and nodded in understanding. He wiped a tear away from his eye and laughed a little, “That was a hell of a shot, kid.”
“And they said all that time at the arcade was a waste,” Bill replied and then turned to join his friends who had come down to the hangar to greet him.
Matt stood there and tried to sort all the emotions that were running through him at this moment. Despair at what might happen to Kenny and the twins. Relief at the fact that Bill appeared to be safe. Amazement at what those kids had accomplished despite impossible odds. A new emotion bubbled to the surface, it had been kept in check until now but with nothing else to do, it erupted like a geyser.
This was no random accident. This was a deliberate attack on NERV-01 and more infuriating, an attack on those kids. He was going to find out who was responsible and he was going to make them pay, and as he clenched his fists in rage, he was determined that if any of his kids were
permanently hurt, he would make them pay with their lives.
He had just gotten off the vid with his counterpart at NERV-02 in Nevada and was currently giving birth to a migraine with another ulcer soon to follow. He ripped open a packet of Alka Seltzer tablets and unceremoniously dropped them into the glass of iced tea he had sitting on his desk.
His counterpart had been quite self-amused that they had managed to complete Evangelion Unit-04’s construction ahead of schedule and since Evangelion Unit-03 was still not ready, they had gotten the approval from supreme commander Ikari to be the first to install and test the S2 engine in two week’s time.
Matt could care less about being first to anything and he would much rather his branch’s Unit-03 be done right. But unfortunately, in these trying times, speed did count for something and that meant he was going to hear an earful from all his superiors, up to and including Commander Ikari. That meant he was going to have to issue more orders that he didn’t like which in turn were going make a lot of people very cross with him.
Then there was the matter of the field report he just received from Special Inspector Bertovich about potential pilot candidates and after he saw the names on the list, he knew Field Commander Porter was going to want both sets of their testicles on a platter.
Matt chugged down his fizzing concoction and groaned. How the hell did he get roped into helping saving mankind? Worst yet, how the hell did he get roped into helping save mankind and not even let himself get any credit for it?
That was the real thing that rubbed Matt wrong. All the cloak and dagger secrecy stuff. He couldn’t help but think it was wrong to use kids as the pilots for those giant mechanized monstrosities and Tokyo-3 wasn’t exactly forthcoming with all the answers. He trusted Ikari about as far as he could comfortably spit out a rat.
As far as the rest of the world knew, there was no NERV-01 lying beneath Springfield, Massachusetts. There was no giant black robot being built to save mankind from an event called Third Impact beneath their feet. Matt was just a regular Assistant Scoutmaster and the kids he oversaw were just normal scouts.
Which of course was all a total fabrication. That was just a convenient cover to get NERV access to potential pilot candidates and if the time came one of those kids was going to have to fight to save all of mankind, but hey, no pressure.
Matt did his job, however, and he did it well. He might one day have to send a kid to his possible death, but dammit, he was going to damn well make sure they were as best prepared and as best protected as possible before that happened.
There was a beep and he looked up to his door. The red light above his door was glowing and that meant someone was at his door. There was another beep.
“Come,” Matt stated.
The door slid open and his Field Commander, Sarah Porter, walked in with a purposeful stride in her step. Matt tensed up a moment. He was dreading their next encounter because of what he was going to have to tell her. While it was understood that he held rank over her, that didn’t mean she couldn’t disagree with him -- which she did, often and at tones and volumes best described as unfriendly and at worst described as militantly belligerent.
She gave a half-hearted salute, which he returned equally half-heartedly, and then she placed both of her palms on his desk and looked straight at him. “What’s this about increasing shifts from twelve hours to fourteen? Christ, Matt, we’ve got people working around the clock to the point of collapse as it is and now you want to work them harder. What in God’s green Earth possessed you to issue that order?!”
Matt calmly absorbed Sarah’s anger and eyed his empty glass, wishing he had more tea and more Alka Seltzer. He then calmly steeped his fingers to his chin and looked her in the eye. “I didn’t have much of a choice. Commander Ikari wants Unit-03 and he wanted it yesterday. Unit-04 is completed which is further pushing the demand from NERV for us to produce something physical to show our superiors and seeing as we don’t exactly hire people by placing want ads. I'll pull some extra staff from the dummy office at MIT, but we can't get too much extra staff from there if we'll maintain the façade of NERV-01's office being there, and it will be a few days before any help can arrive. So, if we're going to meet Ikari's expectations, it'll mean longer shifts for everyone, and that includes senior staff like you and I.”
Sarah snorted, her nostrils flaring angrily. “Tokyo-3 can kiss my ass. Why doesn’t our government stand up to that Napoleon wannaba, Ikari?”
“Please, you know as well as I do that if Ikari says ‘jump’, our government asks ‘how high?’” Matt said in a bemused tone.
“Well, it still stinks, Matt. Our people can’t keep this up at the pace were running now, not if it’s going be done right. Those kids deserve better,” Sarah said, crossing her arms.
“Geez, don’t you think I know that, Sarah? The last thing I want is to send one of our kids into combat with one of those alien monstrosities and have them die because we had to cut corners. I’ll burn this whole place to the ground before I do that. But you know as well as I do that if we don’t produce the results they want, we can be replaced by people who will and you and I both know that those people might not be as considerate to the welfare of those kids as us,” Matt said in an angry, defensive tone.
Sarah softened a little bit and looked at the tired and weary face of Matt. She quickly turned away, not wanting to appear soft at the moment. “How the hell did NERV-02 get done so fast?”
“I don’t want to think about it,” Matt said wearily. “Hawley is not above cutting corners if it gets the attention and praise sent his way.”
“God, I pity those poor kids over there,” Sarah said sadly.
“You might want to save that pity for our kids,” Matt responded seriously.
“What do you mean?”
Matt leaned back in his chair and looked Sarah in her eyes, dead serious. “I mean, its another reason why I ordered the increased shifts. If Unit-04 is ready, that means they’re going to need a pilot. If ours meets their needs and there’s nothing tying them here, then they’re going to get shipped off and who knows what kind of danger they’ll be in thanks to Hawley’s need for speed.”
“They just can’t raid us like that!” Sarah gasped.
“They can if we can’t show that they’re needed here and the only thing that can keep them here is there being a completed Evangelion Unit needing a pilot or pilots. So, yes, it is incredibly unfair to ask our people to work even harder when they’ve toiled above and beyond, but when it comes to those kids, I’m more than willing to be unfair,” Matt replied with grim determination.
Sarah stiffened her posture and smartly saluted Matt. “Unit-03 with be completed by the end of the week and there will be no cutting of corners. If it’s not ready and safe for those kids by then, you’ll have my resignation on your desk on Monday.”
Sarah turned to march out, but not before Matt called out to her, “Wait please, Sarah! There is some other matters I need to discuss with you while you are here.”
Sarah paused and turned back to him, “Matt?”
Matt motioned to the chair in front of his desk, “Please, take a seat.” Matt then clasped his hands together and placed them under his nose. “I need to know how the candidates are doing. Who stands out?”
Sarah sat there for a silent moment, collecting her thoughts. “Well we can outright eliminate some of the boys as potential pilots. Their sync ratios are too low that it would risk inability to activate at best and potential psychosis at worst.”
“Can you give me a list of names?”
“I can provide you the complete list when I return to my office but off the top of my head, we can eliminate Mr. Swett, Mr. Becker, Mr. Proctor, Mr. Shmuler, Mr. Gamble, and Mr. Yung,” Sarah answered.
“Well, there was no way I was going to give Justy the keys even if he was qualified. He’d probably side with the enemy,” Matt mused. “So, what of the others?”
“Well, of the potential candidates, I would rank Mr. Abdowmassy, Mr. Quadrozzi, and Mr. Hughes as solid ‘B’ rank. They wouldn’t be my first choice, but with time, they could be adequate pilots. Mr. Gelinas is a surprising ‘A’ ranking. He seems to be extremely perceptive which might explain his high sync ratio. The best candidate, however, is Mr. Pendrell.”
“Kenny? Really?” Matt interrupted with a surprised look.
“Yes. His sync ratio is only matched by those of the Second Child and the Third Child. I would classify him as an ‘S’ rank and if we had to launch combat operations today, I would be confident in trusting our lives to him,” Sarah reported.
“That’s pretty high praise,” Matt commented.
“He’s a special boy. He’s very quiet, and a little introverted, but I think he is the Fourth Child,” Sarah said with a nod.
“Okay. I’ll take that recommendations under consideration. Never the less, I would appreciate that this information doesn’t come to NERV’s attention until after Unit-03 is completed. Not that I doubt your word that you’ll complete the project on time, but I would much rather not give Hawley anything he would think of stealing,” Matt stated calmly.
“And if Hawley or Commander Ikari directly asks me for my reports or my data?” Sarah asked, concerned.
“Why, didn’t you know that the MAGI-04 is undergoing systems upgrades? I would say it will be at least a week before they are completed, especially with all the resources being diverted toward the completion of Unit-03,” Matt said with a coy smile.
“Understood, sir,” Sarah replied with the knowing nod.
Matt’s smile then faded and he regained his grim look. “One last piece of business. I just received a report from Special Inspector Bertovich. He has located two new pilot candidates and he’ll be bringing them here this afternoon. They will be placed under your direct supervision immediately.”
“New Candidates? Who are they?” Sarah asked.
Matt closed his eyes and sighed. He the handed over a piece of paper to Sarah and when she grasped it, he refused to release it. He looked into Sarah’s eyes and said, “I swear, I had nothing to do with this.”
Sarah arched a confused eyebrow and took the paper and began to read it, “Let’s see… Girls… twins, aged 16… Located at Canadian Private Academy…” She frowned more and more as she read this and soon the frown turned into a full blown scowl, “Originally from Western Massachusetts… names… THAT SUNAVABITCH!!!! I WILL FRICKIN’ KILL THAT BASTARD!!” Sarah screamed as she leapt from her seat and promptly marched out of Matt’s office, angrily kicking the door as she left.
Matt slumped back in his seat. That went as well as he has had expected. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Jason was about to experience Hell’s fury first hand. He stood up from his chair and decided that he wanted some fresh air.
After a rapid ascent up the elevator, Matt found himself exiting the Church in the Acres. He listened and heard the birds chirping. The leaves on the trees were a verdant green and the smell of fresh mowed grass filled his nostrils. Another October afternoon. Matt really missed having different seasons, but considering how bad the rest of the world got it, perpetual summer seemed like a trite thing to complain about.
He had to think back to that horrible day when the Second Impact occurred, some fifteen years ago. He was still a child then and the memories of the pure chaos that erupted afterward was not something he liked to think about often. The United States was changed in so many ways. Most of the coastal cities were wiped out by the rising ocean levels. New York City, Boston, Baltimore, were all under water. Half of Philadelphia was rendered unlivable by the rising river banks. New Orleans, Houston, and Los Angeles were now memories and seventy-five percent of Florida is no more. The northern United States and Canada were now part of the new grain belt, the year long growing season helping what was left of the Western Hemisphere stave off famine.
There had been a movement to rename Worchester or Springfield to Boston-2, but neither city was keen on the idea and it was quickly shelved. It seemed that people were having a difficult time adjusting to so many major cities no longer existing. He heard from Jay that they had attempted to rename Pittsburgh to New Philadelphia and the city threatened to secede and become its own state if they tried. Matt guessed that Tokyo-2 was the exception rather than the rule.
Matt adjusted his black hat and trench coat, tugging his collar slightly at the heat. He checked his watch and as expected, Jason Bertovich pulled up to the Church parking lot in a blue van. As he exited, he then slid the side door open and out walked the expected arrivals, the twin girls, and more importantly, Sarah’s younger sisters, Kirstin and Nicole Porter. Kirstin graciously accepted her duffle bag from Jason and proceeded to walk toward the church. Nicole slung her bag over her shoulder and then walked alongside Jason, arm wrapped around Jason’s arm. He gave a wave to Matt.
“Commander Atanian, so pleasant to see you this fine Fall day,” Jason said with a smile, scratching his light stubble.
“Special Inspector Bertovich,” Matt greeted with a stone-faced look. “A fair warning, Field Commander Porter is extremely displeased by this development, and I can't say I'm very excited about it either.”
“Oh? Dear me. If only I answered to her,” Jason said with an annoyed tone.
“Don’t worry about my sister, Jay. Me and Kirstin will talk to her,” Nicole said.
“Nicole, why don’t you join your sister. I’ll be down briefly, but first I need to discuss some private matters with the Commander,” Jason said to Nicole. Nicole gave him an unsure look, but ungrasped his arm and went into the church.
Matt looked to Jason and studied him for a moment. The calm demeanor he had with Nicole in tow seemed to dissipate and he now looked at Matt with a serious look. Matt broke the silence, “Jay, what the bloody hell were you thinking? Sarah is going to kill you, you know that, don’t you. There’s one thing she holds most sacred to her and you do this? For God sakes, man, she sent them to Canada to get them away from this life and you thought it was a great idea to bring them back.”
Jason looked to Matt and placed his hand on Matt’s shoulder, “Believe me, the last person I want to make an enemy is Sarah Porter. She scares me more than any Angel could. I did what I had to do. But know this, I don’t answer to Sarah and I don’t have to explain my actions to her.”
Matt was taken aback by this tone. “You’ve never one to play the rank and file game before. Why now?”
“Matt, I’ve always taken yours and Sarah’s authority and what you do for those kids into consideration when performing my duties. I really don’t need you questioning my choices now,” Jason said weary of the conversation.
“Well, you might not answer to Sarah officially, but believe me, she’s going to make you answer to her and if I were you, I’d have my reasons well prepared to be spelled out because if it comes down to you or my Field Commander, I’m not going to stand in her way,” Matt cautioned.
“Well, as long as we all know which side our bread is buttered,” Jason said with a dismissive shrug. “We better head in for the debriefing and official transfer of Nicole and Kirstin to NERV-01’s official care.”
Matt nodded and led Jason to the service elevator. He swiped his key card and they rapidly descended down to the bowels of the Earth. Matt led Jason to the small briefing room, where Kirstin and Nicole both were seating. Nicole sipped her glass of water. A uniformed security officer saluted Matt before Matt dismissed him to his other duties.
There was an awkward silence in the room as they all waited for the final participant to join them. They didn’t have to wait long and the door slid open and Sarah walked in. She scanned the room, and upon seeing Jason, her eyes narrowed into a murderous glare.
“Sister, it’s so good to see you!” Kirstin chimed.
“Hi, sis,” Nicole added.
“Commander Porter, such a pleasure to see yo…” Jason began to say before Sarah proceeded to punch him directly in the jaw causing Jason to drop like a wounded duck.
Matt knew it was coming but still winced in sympathetic pain. Nicole and Kirstin each leapt from their seats. Nicole went down to tend to Jason who was gingerly rubbing his jaw. Kirstin interjected herself between Sarah and the prone Jason.
“Jesus, Sis! What the hell?!” Nicole shouted.
“You bastard! You have exactly ten seconds to get out of the room before they have to cart you out!” Sarah shouted over the shoulder of Kirstin who was trying to keep her sister back with limited success.
“Sister, please calm down!” Kirstin pleaded.
Jason stepped up off the floor and rubbed his jaw some more, “I take it that you are not happy with my candidate selections?”
Sarah’s scowl grew much darker and Matt was beginning to worry that if he didn’t intervene, Sarah might actually follow through and murder Jason. Jason looked to Matt with an expectant glare.
“Commander Porter, please sit down! Sarah!! STOP NOW!” Matt barked, which caught everyone in the room by surprise. Sarah looked over to the stern look Matt was giving and angrily took a seat next to Kirstin who was sitting next to Nicole who had taken a seat next to Jason.
Matt sat back down. “Now, if we can have some order, we will now debrief Special Inspector Bertovich and the potential Pilot Candidates. Mr. Bertovich, do you have your reports on Miss Porter and Miss Porter?”
Jason reached into the satchel he had sitting on the table and pulled out two manila folders and tossed one to each Sarah and Matt. “Didn’t need to actually write one of my own. My counterpart at NERV-02 did all the work for me.”
Matt and Sarah each arched an eyebrow and opened the folders. After a few moments of silent reading, their eyes widened.
“Despite efforts by Field Commander Porter to exclude them from the Pilot Candidate program, both girls are prime candidates for the program and, in fact, may offer potentially extraordinary data on whether multiple pilots of similar sync ratios could increase Evangelion Unit function…” Matt read quietly aloud.
“It is the recommendation of this agent that both sisters be immediate transferred to NERV-02 and be placed as priority pilot candidates…” Sarah read and then looked to Jason, “What is this?”
“That is the report that would’ve been filed if I hadn’t stolen it from my counterpart and then sabotaged his backups. I was, therefore, able to get my recommendations for these two lovely ladies to be taken into the custody of NERV-01 out to Tokyo-3 before my counterpart could prepare and send a new version of this report that you are now holding,” Jason said with smug smile, wincing a moment and then rubbing his jaw again.
“What is going on, here?” Sarah asked in confused tone.
Jason got up from his seat and walked to stand between Kirstin and Nicole and he then placed one hand on Kirstin’s left and Nicole’s right shoulders. “Sarah, I know how important these two are to you. You think I would put them in danger without some reason behind it? Frankly, the fact you thought that sending them to Canada would keep them out of NERV’s grasp was shockingly naïve.”
Sarah frowned angrily, “How dare you…”
“No, sister, you need to listen to him,” Kirstin said firmly, much to Sarah’s surprise.
“Thank you, Kirstin,” Jason said a smile and then continued, “Sarah, as much as I appreciate you wanting to keep them safe and away from this life, you failed to realize that the best way to do that was to keep them close to you. When they are here you could manipulate the information about them to make them seem like less viable candidates and if push came to shove, if another branch tried to have them transferred, you could’ve had them both quarantined. In Canada, they were sitting ducks and Hawley knew that they were out there and was looking for an excuse to bring them to Nevada,” Jason explained.
Sarah slumped, feeling deflated. Kirstin touched her sister’s hand and smiled. Sarah smiled back weakly. “Really, sister, we do appreciate all you did
for us, but we’re really happy to just be back here. Back home with you,” Kirstin said warmly.
Jason looked to Sarah and then to Matt, “Now, what’s done is done. We can’t rewrite the past so we just have to move on. It’s too late to manipulate data and make them no longer seem like viable candidates. In order to get them back home and not sent to Area 51, sorry NERV-02, I had to make them seem like a vital necessity to our operations, so they’re going to have to enter the pilot candidate program and they’re going to have to be placed the accelerated track, meaning immediate participation in the testing and simulations. At least the good news is now that they’re here, we can work to keep them here.”
“You would really do that?” Sarah asked quietly, completely defused now from her earlier rage.
“You have my word,” Jason said with seriousness.
“What’s going on, Jay? What exactly are you playing at?” Matt asked.
“Sorry, trade secrets. All I can tell you is that I had some very interesting conversations with my counterpart from Tokyo-3 and from what he’s told me, I think it’s best if we play things as close to the vest as possible when it comes to NERV Command and NERV-02. Commander Ikari is not being up front with anyone and if we’re not careful, we’re all gonna pay for it,” Jason explained. A quiet stillness then fell over the room.
“How close to the vest are we talking about, here?” Matt asked.
“In a perfect world, complete information blackout. That’s not gonna happen, but any opportunity we get to delay or misdirect information, you should take it. Discreetly, of course,” Jason answered.
“You’re talking about outright insubordination, even possible treason,” Sarah stated. She then looked to her two sisters and looked back and smiled, “Count me in.”
“I concur,” Matt said from the head of the table. “For now, what was said here does not leave this room, no one else is know of what was discussed here.” Matt then looked to Kirstin and Nicole, “Girls, that means the other pilot candidates.”
Kirstin and Nicole each nodded in agreement.
Matt then looked to Sarah, “Maintain the current schedule and conduct pilot tests as planned. Inform Drs. Wells and Hoelscher of our new pilots and please bring your sisters up to speed on the protocols. I would like them to be ready for tomorrow evening’s scheduled simulation.”
Sarah nodded and she and her sisters stood up and filed out of the room. Sarah looked to Jason and quickly looked away. Nicole looked back and smiled at him, and then all three departed.
Matt continued to sit and he looked across the briefing room table at Jason who had returned to his seat. Jason reached into his satchel and pulled out a small square device. He set it on the table and pressed the red button on the top panel. A moment later there was a green light and Jason gave a thumbs up gesture to Matt.
“Okay, we can talk now,” Jason informed him.
“I thought you didn’t need to explain yourself to Sarah,” Matt said with a smug smile.
Jason rubbed his jaw again. “Change of heart. I wanted to live long enough to have this conversation with you,” Jason replied with a sheepish grin. “Damn, she does pack a punch, though.”
Matt returned the grin for a moment and then his face grew stony. “This is incredibly risky, you know. As far as SEELE is concerned, we’re plotting a mutiny. They can come down on us and shut us down, ship those kids off and have us executed,” Matt said worriedly, gripping his ulcer ridden stomach.
“We’re playing our part. Kaji has helped us out tremendously so far and we need to play our role if he’s to succeed. If we play our role, those kids will be much better off. It might not be good for you and me, but if that’s the price we got to pay to protect them, then I’m all in,” Jay said, rubbing his tired face.
“What about Sarah? She’s on record as being a willing participant,” Matt asked concerned.
“She’s part of the contingency plan. She and he sisters will be safe. I wasn’t lying when I gave my word to her,” Jason answered.
“Okay. Understood,” Matt said, relieved. “So, what’s next?”
“I’ve already talked to Dr. Hoelscher and Dr. Wells and informed them of the twin’s arrival. They seemed excited at the prospect of testing my NERV‑02 counterpart’s suggestions on multiple pilot sync ratio testing. There was some early data on that idea during the Gaghiel attack on the UN carrier, but the pilots’ individual personalities seemed incompatible.
“In about one week, Unit-03 should be completed. That is really inconsequential, but we need to maintain appearances to both Ikari and SEELE. NERV-02 has already set everything into motion when they completed Unit-04, so everything is now on a two week countdown.”
“What will their next move be?” Matt asked.
“Before our German friends from NERV-03 deliver the S2 engine to be installed, Hawley is going to try and strong arm us. He’s gonna try and force us to openly rebel, knowing that SEELE will lay down the hammer if we try to resist. As I said before, no matter how well Nicole and Kirstin do on their sync ratio tests and combat drills, they will not leave this place,” Jason told Matt.
Matt closed his eyes and sighed, “That means we’re going to have to sacrifice Kenny to them.” Matt then looked at Jason with a steely gaze, “I am extremely uncomfortable with that idea, Jay.”
“I won’t lie and say this plan is without risks. There are risks, but I want you to know that as just I promised Sarah, I promise you this; when the time comes, your boy will come home, safe and sound,” Jason said with calm resolve.
“I’m going to damn well hold you to that promise, Jay,” Matt said grimly.
“I expect as much. Just keep this in mind. No matter what happens and how things may seem, my commitment to those kids is absolute. Before this is all said and done, we’re all going to do things we may not think we’re capable of, but if we don’t lose sight of what’s important, we’ll come through.” Jason then poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on the table. After taking a prolonged drink from his glass, he sat the almost empty glass down on the table and looked to his friend. “What else is on your mind?”
“This Kaji guy, can we trust him? What’s his stake in all this. I still don’t see how this benefits him,” Matt said worriedly.
“He’s playing a much bigger game and we just happen to be pieces he’s moving to advance his own goals. That much I know, but I’m willing to be used if our goals are accomplished in the process. It’s a deal with the devil, but a deal worth making,” Jason answered.
“And all it will costs us is our souls,” Matt responded glumly.
“Matt, my friend, our souls are long gone. Our generation lost their souls when we let NERV come into existence. Let’s not make the next generation sell theirs,” Jason countered.
Matt nodded sadly, stood up, and stretched his back. He then looked to Jason who was packing up his satchel but who had yet deactivated his dampening field. “So, will we be seeing you at tomorrow’s tests and simulation?”
Jason tilted his head side to side. “Maybe. I will be on errands tomorrow, but if I take care of everything, I may drop in. If anything, I bet Nicole looks awesome in a plugsuit.”
Matt gave Jay a crooked eye. “Dirty old man.”
“Sorry, but I decided to go for the newer model Porter since the older model is already claimed,” Jason said with a smirk and then deactivated the device. He looked back to Matt, “Be seeing you, Commander Atanian.” Jason then left the briefing room.
“Be seeing you, Special Inspector,” Matt replied and then after a brief pause, likewise, left the room.
The next evening found Matt and Sarah addressing the group of Scouts that Sarah had qualified as being the candidates with the most potential. Sitting in the front row of the two rows of hard plastic seats were Kenny Pendrell, who was wearing a Black plugsuit with blue highlights, Nicole Porter, who was wearing a light pink plugsuit with green highlights and thus resembling her middle name of Sakura, next to her was Kirstin Porter, who was wearing a light yellow plugsuit with white highlights, and finally Bill Gelinas, who was wearing a khaki plugsuit with olive and red details.
Sitting in the second row were the three Scouts whom Sarah had assigned as ‘B’ rank. Mike Quadrozzi, Aaron Abdowmassy, and Billy Hughes. They were each wearing their Scout uniforms. Standing in from of them, currently in front of a large green chalkboard that had been rolled in was Matt and Sarah. Standing off to the side were the two resident scientists in the employ of NERV-01, Computer Expert Dr. John Hoelscher and Engineer Dr. Lina Wells. A bouncy Asian women wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope walked in and joined them.
Matt nodded to Sarah and she began pacing back and forth, finally speaking, “Okay, ladies and gentleman, tonight is the big night. We will be running our first full blown combat simulation. The four of you will be entering into the plug simulators which are exact replicas of what will be Evangelion Unit-03’s entry plug.
“In this simulation you will be representing three Evangelion Units. Kenny, you will be representing Evangelion Unit-01. Nicole and Kirstin, you will be testing the prototype mutli-pilot plug controlling a unit representing Evangelion Unit-02. Bill, you will be representing Evangelion Unit-00.
“I will be issuing orders from the control room, Drs. Hoelscher and Wells will be monitoring the systems, Commander Atanian will be also monitoring activities, and finally, Dr. Lin will be monitoring your physical well being.
“This simulation will be against the Third Angel, Sachiel. This is a representation based on the field data collected during the real Unit-01’s battle with this enemy in Tokyo-3. Please be aware, even though this is a simulation, this will be extremely intense. First off, this enemy is programmed to be hyperadaptable and unpredictable. Even though it is based off a defeated angel, do not make the mistake of thinking it is only limited to the abilities it displayed. The MAGI-04 will using data from all Angel encounters so far and simulating new attack abilities and strategies. In essence folks, treat it as if it’s a brand new enemy and approach it with caution.
“Secondly, this simulation will involve full-on sync ratio testing. That means your brains will think it is real combat and your bodies will respond thusly. While we will be monitoring you throughout the test, there are still risks involved and you can be hurt if you do not treat this exercise with the utmost seriousness. Are there any questions or concerns you four would like to voice now?”
The four nervously looked amongst themselves. Nicole and Kirstin seemed really unsure and nervous, but shook their heads no. Sarah, frowned a little, but nodded her head and then continued, “Okay, then. Kenny, as you are the most experienced and senior pilot candidate, you will be taking point in this exercise. If, for some reason, communications from me and Commander Atanian should be cut off or lost, you will act as emergency field leader. Nicole and Kirstin, you will be following Kenny’s lead and providing back-up and support maneuvers. Bill, you will be providing long-range support. You will also be guarding the entrance to what is representing Tokyo-3. Should Kenny and my sisters fail to defeat the enemy, you will be the final line of defense to protect the city.”
“Geez, no pressure,” Bill said wryly.
Sarah gave him a stern look, “This is no joking matter, Mr. Gelinas. You were chosen because you are one of the top four candidates. If you are unsure that you can fulfill your duties, we want to know now. Because if you aren’t sure, you are wasting everyone’s time.”
Bill stiffened and shook his head negative. Sarah then returned her attention to all seven of them. He took a breath and finished her speech, “Aaron, Mike, and Billy, you will be joining us in the control room to monitor the simulation. Please study everything that occurs and be prepared to be debriefed on what happened. You will be participating in tomorrow’s simulation, so you need to pay particular attention because tomorrow you will be facing the same risks as your fellow pilot candidates do tonight. That is all.”
Sarah then stepped back. Matt took a step forward and looked at all seven pilot candidates. He studied their faces for a moment and then began to speak, “Guys, I want you know that I think this is incredibly unfair. This is not right that the adults of this world are thrusting this tremendous responsibility on kids like you. I can understand if you’re worried, or nervous, or even scared. I’m just as scared for you.
“I know I’m supposed to make a sort of rah-rah, win-one-for-the-Gipper, pep-talk type speech so you’re all ready to throw yourselves on live grenades for NERV’s benefit. I suck at those, sorry. I wish I could give you the confidence to not feel scared and not feel pressured to do this job. I can’t because that’s a lie. You have every right to feel that way and you have every right to be angry at us for putting you in this position.
“I can only say three things right now that are honest and true - I am sorry; May God keep you safe; and thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Matt then closed his eyes and turned away to face the chalkboard. A moment passed and there was the noise of chairs scraping the floor as the kids got up to follow the Doctors and Sarah to their posts.
Matt sighed lightly and after he was sure they all left, he slowly rubbed his eyes and the bridge of his nose with his right hand. He turned around and gasped in surprise to see Kenny still standing there. Matt looked down to the boy and boy stared back at him, his piercing eyes boring holes into Matt’s psyche. Matt was unsure what to say.
The boy spoke, “Commander Atanian…”
“Yes, Kenny?” Matt answered, trying to keep his voice in check.
“We won’t let you down. I know you and Commander Porter do so much for us and I wanted to let you know that we will do our best to protect everyone. Thank you, Commander Atanian.” Kenny then smartly saluted the surprised Matt and quickly walked away to join the others.
Matt took a seat on one of the empty chairs. He found himself snickering lightly. This boy, this mere child of fourteen, was telling him to not worry because the children would protect him from harm and he sincerely meant it. For the first time since he was seven, Matt found himself openly weeping.
Kenny caught up with his fellow pilot candidates and walked alongside them, as they entered the large hangar. To the far right of him he could make out the menacing silhouette of the gargantuan humanoid-like Unit-03. Kenny felt as if it was looking down on them, waiting to unleash judgment.
Doctors Hoelscher and Wells showed the sisters and the scouts the three mock entry-plugs. They looked like long tubes and they were connected to several thick cables and wires leading to MAGI-04 as well as the control room. The doctors opened the first one and invited them to look inside. It looked like space age cockpit with a reclined seat, two handle-like objects at the end of the armrests, and a small control panel coming up between where the pilot’s legs would be.
Bill Gelinas entered the tube and took his seat. The doctors then closed the door and sealed the locking mechanism. They then walked to the next tube and opened it. It was like the first except their were two seating units that were arranged back to back so when two pilots were sitting and leaning back, the tops of their heads would most likely touch. This was obvious the entry plug for the twins. Nicole and Kirstin each took a breath and then stepped inside. The doctors then sealed the locking mechanism and motioned Kenny to follow them to the last tube.
Kenny did not hesitate once the entrance hatch was opened. He stepped inside and took his seat. He closed his eyes as the hatch closed and when he opened them he found himself in the dark. He heard the loud clanks and clicks of the locking mechanism activating. He felt very alone in this dark claustrophobic tube.
He was anticipating the chamber’s flooding. He had gotten somewhat used to it, but he still found it very unnerving when the process began. The blood-like smell really bothered him and there was still the instinct to hold your breath until there was no longer any choice but to breath in the yellow oxygenated liquid.
As the liquid rose to his chest, he wondered how the twins were dealing with this right now. From what he learned, they only did their first sync test this morning, so that meant this was only their second exposure to being submerged in the LCL. He smiled a little to himself when he thought of the girl named Kirstin. She had smiled so kindly to him when they were introduced this morning. Then again, she smiled to everyone as they were introduced to her. She just seemed very kind natured.
A few moments later, he was submerged and he gasped in a lungful of the viscous stuff. He mentally calmed himself and reminded himself he was not drowning. The interior of the tube illuminated and within moments there was a color shift. Soon he could see the blue sky and buildings of what was supposed to be Tokyo-3.
He turned his head to his left he could see the giant red and orange Unit-02 and to his right and slightly behind him at the edge of his peripheral vision he was able to glance Unit-00.
Several ‘windows’ opened up in the ‘air’ around him. The one right in front of him was Matt and Sarah. At his lower right were the two technical doctors, Hoelscher and Wells, and to his lower left was the smiling Dr. Lin. Finally directly to his left and right were his teammates. At his left was a split screen containing Kirstin and Nicole and at his right was Bill’s nervous face. Kenny was really hoping everyone wouldn’t start talking at once because he wasn’t sure if his neck could take it.
Sarah spoke, “Systems check everyone. Are you receiving me?”
“Yes, Commander Porter,” Kenny answered.
“We’re here, sister,” Kirstin replied.
“Live and uncensored,” Bill said with a grin. Sarah’s image rolled her eyes and Matt grinned a little.
“Dr. Wells and I will be monitoring your sync ratios during this test as well as the technical systems. If there are any problems, we will inform you of them. If there are major problems, we may shut your link down and remove you from the simulation. So if any of you suddenly see an Evangelion Unit vanish, please disregard and continue the simulation,” Dr. Hoelscher explained.
“And I will be monitoring your general health and well being. Basically, the same as my colleagues, except I’m more focused on the flesh and not the circuitry. If anything goes wrong or goes too far, I am authorized to cut off your sync connection and shut down your entry plug. Any questions, kids?” Dr. Lin asked.
“Um… where’s the bathroom on this thing?” Bill asked.
“Just like astronauts, baby. Though you might want to hold it in if you don’t want to breath it,” Dr. Lin said with a chuckle.
“Terrific…” Nicole muttered.
Sarah coughed loudly and all eyes refocused on her. “The simulation will begin in sixty seconds on my mark. Please make your requests for armaments.”
Kenny thought for a moment and decided since he was taking point, he would be more focused on close combat. “Please equip me with the Magoroku Exterminate Sword.” A moment later, a long, sleek purple and black space-age katana appears in his Eva’s hand.
“Progressive knife for the left hand and Desert Eagle Mark XIX for the right hand,” Nicole requested and Kenny saw the large handgun and red handled utility knife appear.
“Sniper Rifle,” Bill stated. A large sniper rifle modeled on the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum with a stabilizing bipod halfway down the barrel. Unit-00 sighted the weapon and then proceeded to climb on top of the building that marked the entrance to Tokyo-03. The Eva then splayed its body on top of the roof and Kenny could see the long barrel of the rifle peeking over the edge.
“Remember everyone, if your umbilicals are disconnected or damaged you will only have five minutes of power before your system shuts down. If that happens, we will direct you to the nearest power umbilical. Good luck everyone,” Matt stated.
“Okay, everyone. MARK!” Sarah barked and suddenly all the screens featuring adults winked shut. Kenny looked to his right and left and looked to Bill and the sisters. “Good luck,” Kenny said calmly.
“You too,” Kirstin replied.
“I got you guys covered, so go show it how awesome Troop 192 is,” Bill added.
Kenny mentally counted down from Sarah’s mark. Never before have sixty seconds felt like an eternity. He could see the tension on everyone’s faces and he hoped it wasn’t obvious on his.
In the control room, Matt and Sarah intently hovered over the digitized representation of the battle to come. Above them, a large screen was also showing the scene and the non-participating pilots were watching just as intently. Still Matt and Sarah refused to look up from their tinier, shared screen.
“Heart rates, Blood pressure, and adrenalin levels all rising. No serious problems detected,” Dr. Lin announced.
“Sync Ratios are all at established baselines. Systems all nominal,” Dr. Wells added.
Kenny clenched his control handle tightly. It was coming. He could feel it.
“Kenny! To your right!” Nicole shouted.
Kenny only had a brief moment to react and he sent Unit-01 leaping backward as beam of crimson energy shot at him. Nicole and Kirstin also leapt away and skidded to a stop.
Nicole grunted as the Eva landed. Kirstin, who was facing away from the front observed Nicole’s view through a floating window. She gasped lightly as she looked at the albino masked monster.
“Bill, drive it back!” Sarah ordered.
Bill fired a shot and the large cannon-like round stopped in mid-air, mere feet from the Angel’s mask. Ripples of energy floated around the bullet and finally it dropped to the pavement like a stone, shattering the pavement as it hit.
“It’s an A.T. Field!” Kenny shouted.
“Shit!” Bill groaned.
The Third Angel, Sachiel looked toward Bill’s direction and raised its gangly arm. A red glow emerged from the Angel’s palm.
“He’s a sitting duck up there!” Matt shouted.
Nicole narrowed her eyes and got into a three point stance, from which Unit-02 shot out like a Olympic sprinter toward Sachiel. The twins tackled the beast just as the energy lance was released, causing it to fire harmlessly into the air.
“The twins have put up their own A.T. Field! Incedible!” Dr. Wells exclaimed.
“Bill, you’re a sitting target up there. Get out of there!” Sarah ordered.
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Bill shouted, at which point Unit-00 rolled back and leapt down from it’s perch atop the building. He quickly ducked behind a nearby building to take a breather away from being fired on.
“Nicole, Kirstin! Evade!” Kenny barked as he came down from his aerial leap, the Magorox pointed down in a double-handed stabbing motion.
Unit-02 tucked and rolled away as Kenny came down. His sword stopped in midair as it struck the A.T. Field. Sachiel stood up from it’s prone position and dug it’s spindly claw into Unit-01’s chest plate. Kenny gasped as he could feel his own chest throb in pain and suddenly his world was spinning out control as he was hurled to the side like a rag doll, crashing into a nearby building.
“Kenny!” Kirstin screamed.
“Focus!” Nicole shouted back. “It’s coming in for another go at us!”
Sachiel lumbered toward the sisters who had taken a defensive position. As it swiped and clawed at them, Unit-02 danced and evaded like a martial artist. But not only did they just dodge, they were able to get off glancing slashes with the progressive knife and near misses from their monstrous handgun.
“This is incredible!” Wells shouted out to Sarah and Matt. “The twins, their sync ratio is through the roof. It’s even higher than the Second Child’s best score right now!”
“That’s crazy! This is only their second sync test and only their first time piloting together like this,” Sarah said doubtfully.
“Just look at the readings! It’s almost as if both sisters are acting as one mind. A right brain; left brain function played by each girl. Kirstin is creating opportunities for counter attacks with her artful dodges and Nicole is analyzing every pass for openings to attack. This is breathtaking!” Wells groaned in ecstasy.
“How are my sisters doing, Doctor?” Sarah shouted over to Dr. Lin.
“All readings still within acceptable parameters, Commander,” Lin answered back, eyes glued to her screens.
Unit-02 continued its dance with Sachiel, dodging energy lance blasts whilst trying to maneuver in for an attack on it’s core only to be rebuffed by an equally capable opponent.
“Sister, we need to move away from here! I can’t keep this up much longer!” Kirstin shouted over shoulder to Nicole.
“Just one more go, I knicked him last time. I know I can score a hit this time!” Nicole shouted back.
“Nicole, this is a not a game!” Sarah’s face shouted from an out of the way view screen.
Before Nicole could argue the point, she felt the clenched grip of powerful hands around her throat, much as Kirstin did. Sachiel had proved the superior dancer and was now holding Unit-02 off its feet by the throat.
“We can’t move!” Kirstin shouted.
“Bill, for the love of God, help us!” Nicole gasped, the grip on her own throat tightening.
Unit-00 emerged from behind a building and began firing rounds at Sachiel in order to get him to release his prey and back away. The Angel did no such thing. The rounds continued to stop in midair, unable to penetrate the A.T. Field. The beast released one hand from Unit-02’s neck, and was still able to hold the mech aloft by its neck with only one hand. It pointed its palm in Bill’s direction and began firing energy lances, causing Unit-00 to duck back behind the buildings for protection.
As it did this, the strange black eye holes in it’s bird-like mask never looked away from Unit-02’s. It just stared at them and held them there, studying them.
“What’s it going to do?” Nicole asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not attacking but we can’t get away either,” Kirstin replied.
“Well, we’ll see about that! If it’s going leave our arms free, then he we’ll just have to make him let us go…” Nicole started. Before she could finish the sentence, two brilliant beams of white light shot forth from Sachiel’s eye sockets, boring directly into the face of Unit-02.
“What on Earth is it doing?!” Sarah shouted in a panic. “This is nothing like the field reports!”
“It’s part of the program. The MAGI-04 is hyperadapting and has created a new attack,” Dr. Hoelscher answered back.
“Well, what kind of attack is it?!” Matt and Sarah both screamed at the computer expert.
“I don’t know yet! We have to wait to see what the impact of what it’s doing is!” Dr. Hoelscher shouted back.
Sarah bit her thumbnail and in the process cracked it painfully. Sarah didn’t react to the small drip of blood emanating from her mangled thumbnail. Matt could only stare dumbly at the screen and worry.
Nicole found herself floating in a sea of white. She opened her eyes and realized that she was naked. She quickly attempted to cover herself, though that might have been a futile effort. She looked to her left and saw he twin floating by her, eyes half open in a daze and, like her, naked.
“Where are we?” Nicole asked aloud.
“Mmmm?” Kirstin mumbled, shaking her head lightly trying to fight off sleep.
In the distance she could see three shadows. Shadows that were moving rapidly toward her, or was she floating toward them. She felt so disoriented. Wasn’t she fighting a giant monster just now? It was all fading away into the haze of blurred memory. Still the shadows loomed closer.
Nicole struggled to fight off these feelings of confusion. She knew that something was very wrong and if she didn’t keep thinking calmly and rationally, she and Kirstin would be in very big trouble.
“Always the calm, cool, and collected one, eh, Little Cherry Blossom?” a voice called out. Nicole went very still and her blood ran cold. She knew that voice, that matronly, soothing voice.
“Obachan?” Kirstin mumbled dreamily. She opened her eyes and looked to the shadows and smiled warmly. Nicole could see them now and she too found herself losing the battle to stay calm. Coming toward her was her now deceased and beloved grandmother. The elderly Japanese woman, wearing a white burial kimono, her grey hair pulled back in a neat bun-knot, that warm face, creased with so many wrinkles from age and a life well lived.
Following her were two more figures. They were so foreign and yet so painfully familiar. Nicole’s memories of them were so blurred, but she knew their faces so well from all the pictures Obachan had shown them. The woman’s auburn hair, exactly the same shade as hers and Kirstin’s The man, his piercing eyes, she saw everyday in the mirror nestled inside her own reflection. This was impossible, but she couldn’t argue against it.
“Mama? Papa?” Nicole said in a choked voice. The woman and man smiled and the held their arms open to which Nicole and Kirstin floated to embrace their long lost parents.
Nicole felt the warm enveloping embrace of her father’s strong arms. She could only wish this moment would never end. He grandmother floated between the reunited family and lovingly whispered into the girls’ ears, “You were always such disappointments.”
Nicole and Kirstin gasped in horror at hearing these words from their beloved grandmother, spoken without a hint of malice or anger. Nicole looked to her father who smiled gently and spoke, “That’s why we died. It was to get away from you.”
“What?!” Nicole gasped, choking back tears of anger and confusion.
Their mother looked to Kirstin, giving the same kind-natured smile that Kirstin had perfected, and said, “and your sister hates you too. That’s why she
brought you here to die. Now she won’t be burdened by you.”
“No… Mother… No,” Kirstin wept. The sisters then could feel their mother and father’s hands plunge into their soft flesh, their fingers burrowing their way into their torsos.
Kenny shook his head clear of the landing he just took through two buildings. He gingerly forced the Evangelion to stand up again and he took stock
of his position. A moment later his ears were filled with the twins’ stereo screams of absolute terror and horror beyond imagination.
Back in the control room, red light flashed everywhere and klaxons blared out warnings of problems.
“Oh my god! The girls’ brainwaves are fluctuating like mad! Heart rates are through the roof! Blood pressure dropping! Adrenaline is being produced at a level I’ve never seen before!” Dr. Lin shouted, panicked.
“Sync rates are completely scrambled! It’s as if their psyche itself is being attacked!” Dr. Wells added.
“Nicole! Kirstin!” Sarah screamed at the monitor.
“SHUT DOWN THE SIMULTATION! NOW!!!” Matt barked.
“I’ve already tried! It’s not responding! The system is refusing the manual emergency shutdown!” Dr. Lin screamed.
“SHUT IT DOWN, DAMMIT !” Matt screamed at Dr. Hoelscher.
“We can’t! The whole system is locked out! The MAGI-04 is running rogue!” Dr. Hoelscher shouted back, futilely tapping keys on the console.
“Oh my God…. Bill! Kenny! HELP THEM!!!” Sarah screamed hysterically.
“They can’t hear you! Communications to the simulation are locked out! They’re flying blind in there!” Dr. Wells shouted through clenched teeth.
“We got to get them out of there! Those kids are going to get killed by a damn simulation!” Matt angrily shouted.
Sarah ran out of the control room and toward the hangar bay. Matt and the Doctors gave pursuit. As she entered the hangar, running in a half-trot, half dash, she looked around in an uncertain panic until she spotted what she wanted. Mounted on the wall under the steel and glass cabinet containing the industrial fire extinguisher, was a large fire ax. Sarah wrenched it from the wall and marched toward the entry plug simulators.
“Oh my god! STOP HER!” Dr. Lin and Dr. Hoelscher shouted at the same time.
Matt instinctively dashed toward her and tackled Sarah as he moved toward to start chopping the cables that connected the entry plugs to the MAGI‑04. Let go of me dammit!!!” Sarah screamed as she fought to get out from under Matt’s weight and grip.
“Commander, you can’t stop the simulation that way! Suddenly pulling the plug will kill them all!” Dr. Lin shouted at Sarah hoping volume would prevail if rationality wouldn’t.
Dr. Lin spoke further, while Sarah continued to struggle, “Their minds are in a very deep state right now. They need to be pulled out slowly like a diving bell, let their bodies get used to the pressure again. Even an emergency shutdown still works on the same principle, but with an increased risks of possible mental trauma, like a case of the bends but on the psyche.
“Outright shutting it down by cutting the power would be like teleporting someone from the bottom of the ocean onto the top of Mt. Everest. Their heart would explode and their brain would collapse. They would be dead in a matter of seconds!”
Sarah stopped struggling and tears flowed down her face, “Well what can we do? We can’t do nothing!”
“The only way the simulation can end now is if all the pilots are defeated or if the Angel is destroyed,” Dr. Hoelscher stated.
“So, our only hope is if the other two defeat that monster before my sisters die?!” Sarah asked while weeping.
The three doctors looked to each other and then nodded. “Yes,” Dr. Wells confirmed. Sarah felt the energy leave her body and she lay limp on the ground no longer struggling, her eyes beginning to become unfocused, staring off to the distance at the angry god staring down at them, Evangelion Unit-03.
Matt shook Sarah from her dazed state and then slapped her harshly. “No, you’re not going to give up on those four, dammit! You said you were confident in Kenny! You said he was special! You said you trusted him with our lives! Well, lives are in his hands now and you’re going to sit in that control room with me and pray that he succeeds and you’re NOT going to give up on him or Bill or YOUR SISTERS!”
Sarah blinked a couple times and reached for her stinging cheek, fresh tears streaming from her eyes. She blinked and nodded blankly and watched as Matt walked back toward the control room, a grim look of determination on his face.
In the simulation, Kenny grabbed his ears upon hearing the unearthly scream. He felt the whole world shake under his feet. “Commander Atanian! Commander Porter! What’s going on?” There was no response. “Can anyone hear me?” Kenny shouted again.
“I can!” Gelinas answered back, “but I think I’m the only one. I’m getting no answer from the control room. I think we’re on our own here. Is this part of the simulation?”
“No. I think something is very wrong here, Mr. Gelinas! The twins are very much in trouble and they should’ve been pulled out by now. I think we’re on our own,” Kenny postulated.
“Fan-fucking-tastic!” Bill groaned. “I joined the Scouts to go camping and now I’m going to be killed by an imaginary monster.“
“Mr. Gelinas! Please be quiet! We are not going to die. We are going to defeat the Angel, end the simulation, and get Miss Kirstin and Miss Nicole help, understood?” Kenny barked back with authority.
“Who died and left you in charge?” Bill grumbled to himself.
“Commander Porter left me in charge, and I plan to prove that faith in me was well founded,” Kenny stated confidently and then gripped his controls tightly, “Let’s see what we’re up against.”
Kenny willed Unit-01 back to the battlefront, darting between buildings, finally seeing Unit-00, still ducking behind building reloading his gargantuan rifle. Kenny motioned for Bill to stay hidden and he then darted back to where he last saw Nicole and Kirstin.
Standing in front of Sachiel was Unit-02, now hunched down like a primitive humanoid, eyes glowing a haunting dark yellow. Kenny had only a moment to take this in as Unit-02 raised its handgun at Kenny and proceeded to fire multiple shots. Kenny leapt back and to the side and quickly darted back behind a building.
“What the hell!? Why are they attacking you? We’re on their side!” Bill shouted, having observed what had happened.
“Their Evangelion unit is under the control of the Angel. That scream was probably them going under his control. They can’t control it anymore,” Kenny reasoned.
“Oh that’s just great. This just went from three-on-one to two-on-two? Even when it was three-on-one, the odds weren’t that great. What do we do?” Bill asked, gritting his teeth.
“We need to incapacitate Unit-02 and defeat the Angel,” Kenny answered.
“Yeah, and how do we do it?! We can’t even get a hit on the beak masked thing and we can’t just attack the other one because we might hurt Nicole and Kirstin. So, if you have any brilliant ideas, I’d love to hear them,” Bill said with angry sarcasm.
Kenny closed his eyes and let scenarios rapidly play out in his mind and then he grinned a creepy confident grin that seemed to say, ‘Why yes, I am a genius, thank you.’ “Okay, here’s the plan. I’m going to cut Unit-02’s umbilical. You’re going to lead it away from me and the Angel. You will need to keep it occupied for five minutes at which point, the Evangelion will shut down and Nicole and Kirstin should be released from the simulation or at least no longer active participants.”
“So basically I have to let that thing try to kill me for five minutes without fighting back and hope the battery runs out before I bite the big one?” Bill asked with a groan.
“Yes,” Kenny answered.
“And I take it that you’re going to fight that thing while I do that?” Bill queried, mentally preparing for his task.
“That is correct, Mr. Gelinas,” Kenny confirmed.
“And how exactly do you plan to fight something you haven’t been able to land a hit on so far, if you don’t mind me asking,” Bill asked, checking his rifle again.
“I’ll think of that when I get to that part,” Kenny replied and then bolted back into the fray.
“Terr-fuckin-riffic,” Bill sighed and then followed suit.
Kenny charged toward Sachiel and his puppet, Unit-02. “I’ll get back to you,” Kenny shouted to Sachiel as Unit-01 spun like a running back dodging a tackle from a linebacker and acrobatically leapt over Unit-02’s slash from its Prog Knife. Seeing his target he chopped down on Unit-02’s umbilical line, his Magorox cleaving it in two pieces. He then evaded the follow up attack from Unit-02 as it spun around to stab at him again.
Kenny straightened himself and deftly backed away from Unit-02’s erratic bezerker attacks, mentally counting down the seconds until it would stop. Bill charged in and side tackled Unit-02.
“Hey Red, come and get me!” Bill shouted and then Unit-00 gave Unit-02 a single digit salute, much to everyone who was observing’s surprise. Unit‑02 changed its focus and leapt toward Bill like a feral animal. “Don’t just stand there, Braniac! I got this. Go get the final boss!” Bill shouted to Kenny as he leapt away from another attack.
Unit-01’s hand tightened its grip on the sword. Kenny then shifted his focus on Sachiel who was preparing to take another shot at Bill as he was occupied with Unit-02. “Oh no you don’t! I’m your opponent now!” Kenny grumbled angrily and Kenny felt something well up into him like a geyser of energy.
In the control room, Sarah clasped her hands to her chest as she watched her sisters mindlessly attack Bill’s Unit-00. Matt focused on Kenny’s battle with the Angel and silently cheered him on, hoping the positive energy would be felt by Kenny and lead him to victory.
“Kenny’s Sync Ratio us climbing exponentially. This is incredible! It’s like he is pulling it from some sort of hidden reserve,” Dr. Wells commented.
“A.T. Field detected!” Dr. Hoelscher added.
“The Angel’s?” Matt asked.
“No… It’s Kenny’s! He’s producing his own A.T. Field! My god, this boy is amazing!” Dr. Wells answered, eyes darting back and forth over the data emerging from the battle occurring in front of them.
Bill rumbled in his seat as Unit-00 galloped away from his pursuer. “Oh sure, keep it occupied for five minutes, nooooooooooooo problem. Yeah, my ass no problem,” Bill grumbled under his breath. He was gonna make all three of them treat him to pizza if he lived through this.
Suddenly his sprint came to a lurching halt as he jerked backwards. He glanced behind himself, saw what had happened, and he groaned. Unit-02 was now gripping his umbilical line and was about to jerk him back to its waiting arms and waiting knife.
“Hey, you want it? You can have it!” Bill shouted and pushed the release button. The plug of the umbilical popped off Unit-00’s lower spine like a lizard shedding it’s tail. Unit-02 flew backward in a comical pratfall as it attempted to pull it in as he released all tension.
Bill steadied himself and prepared for his next move. He eyed the frantic red clock counting down the five minutes he had before he became helpless. Suddenly, he realized that Unit-02 was not attempting to get up and continue the fight. Five minutes had elapsed. Bill sighed a breath of relief and smiled, “Yo, Kenny! Big red is down and out for the count.”
Kenny’s face appeared to his right, sweating profusely, “That’s great news, Mr. Gelinas, because I’m in very desperate need of your assistance and I
think time is very much of the essence.”
“I’m on it!” Bill shouted and charged back to where he saw the two mammoth figures embraced in a struggle. He then realized that Kenny was behind
Sachiel and had placed it in a full-nelson style hold.
Dr. Wells and Dr. Hoelscher looked to each other, smiled and looked back to the very tense Matt and Sarah. “Commanders, he’s managed to break down the Angel’s A.T. Field using his own! The Angel is vulnerable!”
Matt and Sarah looked at each other and then to the screen, eyes finally betraying that all hope was not lost.
Bill stood there, unsure what to do. Kenny’s face appeared again and gave a strained smiled, “You need to take out the core, Mr. Gelinas. The red thing under its ribcage. One well-placed shot from that cannon you’re carrying should do it.”
Bill raised the rifle to a ready position and then stopped, “Kenny, are you sure this is going to work?”
“I’ve neutralized its shield, but I can’t hold it much longer, so you need to shoot. NOW!” Kenny said, sweat now glistening off his brow.
“But if I shoot it like this, you’re get hit by the round too,” Bill said, eyeing both through the rifle’s scope.
“DO IT! WE NEED TO END THE SIMULATION NOW! I’LL BE FINE, DAMMIT! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!!!” Kenny screamed frantically, feeling his strength leaving his body, knowing if he lost this battle of will, the Angel would reestablish it’s A.T. Field and that would be the end.
A moment later, Kenny heard the loud cannon-like blast, followed by a searing hot pain in his stomach. He released his grip on the Angel and felt no more struggle from the monster.
On the large screen in the control room, they all watched as Bill’s round split the Angel Sachiel’s core neatly in two and then it fell limply to the ground, to fight no more. Unit-01 stumbled backward as it released Sachiel from his hold. A moment later the screen went black and the words ‘SIMULATION COMPLETE’ appeared in bold digital text.
Aaron, Mike, and Hughes cheered loudly at their friends’ victory. Sarah and Matt wasted no time, as soon as the words appeared, they charged from the room to return to the hangar. Dr. Lin gave chase, calling in for additional medical personnel to meet them in the Hangar and to expect up to four casualties on her personal hand comm-unit.
Dr. Wells and Dr. Hoelscher leaned back from their seats, looked to each other and then breathed a relieved sigh.
Matt and Sarah ran to the entry-plug simulators. Matt grabbed a nearby worker and yelled for him to get anyone he could to help him get the kids out of those things. Matt gave first attention to Nicole and Kirtin’s tube. He grabbed the locking mechanism and wrenched it open as quick as he could turn the metal handle. As the hatch opened, yellow LCL flooded over him, pouring over him and Sarah, who didn’t give it a second thought as they could now see the slumped forms of Nicole and Kirstin laying in the reclining positions of the cockpit seats. Matt gingerly picked up Kirstin first and gently handed her to the waiting Sarah. Sarah slumped down the side of the tube and cradled her sister in her arms, quietly weeping tears of fear, anger, sadness, and relief.
Kirstin’s eyes were open but not focused on anything, a garish grin crept on her lips.
Matt reached Nicole and as he lifted her from her seat, she thanked him by vomiting all over his drenched clothes. He brought her out to Sarah and laid the girl down by her sister. Sarah wrapped her arm around Nicole’s shoulders and head and held both them to her chest, trying to not lose her mind to the emotions that were running over her, tears flowing freely. Nicole could only groan listlessly. Kirstin, still staring out into nothing, cracked a creepy giggle.
Matt dashed to Kenny’s tube and allowed himself to be drenched again as more LCL washed over him, washing away Nicole’s lunch, but filling his nostrils with that horrible blood smell. As the liquid eased, he saw Kenny sitting in his seat, hand clenched over his stomach, red blood spreading over the torso of his plugsuit. He looked up to Matt and smiled. Matt couldn’t help but return the smile. Kenny then gave him a thumbs up gesture and proceeded to pass out, head slumping listlessly to the left.
“MEDICS!!!” Matt shouted. Two men quickly wheeled a gurney to the entrance of the entry plug and quickly loaded him onto it, checking his pulse, breathing, and other priorities as they did. They nodded to each and quickly wheeled him away.
Matt looked back to Sarah and the twins, watching with a burning feeling in his ulcer-ridden gut as Dr. Lin checked on the still catatonic Kirstin. He then heard a light rapping from behind him coming from the inside of the third tube.
“Can I come out now?” Bill asked meekly.
Matt called over two of the workers who proceeded to open the locking mechanism. As the LCL gushed out, he weakly stepped out. He took two steps and much like Nicole, vomited up the LCL that was inside his lungs. He coughed a few times and then looked to Matt, “Are the others okay?”
Matt shook his head in an unsure manner, “We don’t know yet. Are you okay?”
Bill shrugged weakly, “I don’t know yet, either.”
Matt patted him on the head. A moment passed and Matt then embraced the boy in a hug filled with genuine relief. “I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry.”
“It’s okay, Matt. I’m okay,” Bill said, lightly pushing Matt away, trying to exert some sort of cool aura. The boy who didn’t need hugs. Not when everyone else nearly died. No hugs for him. Hugs for them. They earned the hugs. All he did was not die.
Matt looked down at Bill and nodded in understanding. He wiped a tear away from his eye and laughed a little, “That was a hell of a shot, kid.”
“And they said all that time at the arcade was a waste,” Bill replied and then turned to join his friends who had come down to the hangar to greet him.
Matt stood there and tried to sort all the emotions that were running through him at this moment. Despair at what might happen to Kenny and the twins. Relief at the fact that Bill appeared to be safe. Amazement at what those kids had accomplished despite impossible odds. A new emotion bubbled to the surface, it had been kept in check until now but with nothing else to do, it erupted like a geyser.
This was no random accident. This was a deliberate attack on NERV-01 and more infuriating, an attack on those kids. He was going to find out who was responsible and he was going to make them pay, and as he clenched his fists in rage, he was determined that if any of his kids were
permanently hurt, he would make them pay with their lives.
A day passed and the second round of simulations had obviously been cancelled by Matt’s own orders. He found himself walking down the hall in the medical wing of NERV-01. He paused and saw the closed door to the room that now housed Nicole and Kirstin. He knew Sarah was still inside, she hadn’t left their sides since they were brought there yesterday. He could only see in his mind’s eye, Sarah sitting alone in a chair holding one of each sister’s hands, praying that the insane God that did this to them would please end this cruel joke.
He had talked to Dr. Lin before deciding to take his walk. She could only give a disheartening prognosis at best. Nicole had managed to respond to some verbal cues, but could barely maintain consciousness long enough to do anything other than throw fits of convulsed retching while clutching her stomach in agony.
Kirstin’s prognosis was much less hopeful. She was still catatonic, eyes unblinking, an unsettling grin etched on her lips. She was now laying there, being fed intravenously, and every few hours she would giggle wickedly or shout something nonsensical in Japanese. Between the both of them, Sarah was brought to tears on an almost hourly basis.
Matt struggled with himself, wanting to march in there and pull Sarah away, if nothing else to save her from going mad with grief, but how could he? How could he take her away from the thing she loved most dear on this Earth? How could he face her when he himself had put those girls in that danger? He punched the wall angrily and kept walking, wincing at hearing a fresh bout of Sarah’s sobbing.
He then came to Kenny’s room. They had managed to stabilize him, and in fact, he had regained consciousness that morning, but he was far from out of the woods. As far as his mind knew, he had been shot viciously in the stomach by a high-power assault rifle and thus his body was reacting to that injury as if it had happened. Matt creaked the door open slowly and glanced inside. He saw Kenny laying there, sleeping now, tubes running in and out of him. A small vase of flowers sat on the small table near the bed. Matt wondered who had left them. The boy had no family that Matt knew of. He lived in NERV-01’s barracks.
Matt, closed the door again, not wanting to face the thought that Kenny might leap up and scream “Failure! You killed us! MURDERER!” and then die just to make sure Matt knew how much he was to blame.
He hadn’t gone to see Bill yet. By all medical reports, Bill had survived the incident relatively unharmed, but Dr. Lin kept him there overnight to monitor him. Matt thought he should see him. The other boys had visited him in the morning and the look of worry on their faces when he spoke to them earlier that day to alert them to the cancellation of further simulations spoke volumes. Bill might have been okay physically, but something was not right inside the boy.
Matt came to Bill’s room and rapped on the door lightly. There was no answer. Matt rapped again and still no response. Matt eased the door open slowly and peeked inside. The room was empty. The bed was still unmade and a half-finished tray of food lay on the bedside table. Matt opened the door fully and walked inside, looking around worriedly.
It was then that he spotted the note laying on the pillow, a half-folded sheet of yellow tablet paper. Matt grabbed it and saw his name scrawled on the fold. He opened it and began to read.
Dear Matt,
Sarah was right. I’m wasting everyone’s time here and I shouldn’t stay. I wasn’t able to stop that thing from hurting Nicole and Kirstin and I almost killed Kenny. I can’t do this any longer. Please don’t look for me and please tell everyone that I’m very, very sorry.
Bill
Matt gripped the note tightly and swore under his breath. A moment later his personal comm beeped. He angrily pulled it from his coat and flipped it open, “What?!”
Dr. Hoelscher’s voice came back through the speaker, “Commander, we need you come down the control room. We have very important news to show you.”
“I’ve got a situation here, it’ll have to wait!” Matt answered back angrily.
“No, it can’t wait! We may have found out who sabotaged the MAGI-04 and you need to see this, immediately!” Hoelscher informed him.
Matt’s eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth in fury, “I’ll be there in two minutes,” He growled. He quickly stuffed the note and comm. into his coat and sprinted down the hall toward his goal.
Matt walked into the control room and saw Drs. Wells and Hoelscher sitting the consoles. They turned in his direction and then looked at each other with grim looks. Matt, fists still clenched and his eyes still twisted into a grotesque mask of anger looked at them. “I want answers and I want them now.”
The pair looked to each other again and frowned. Holescher stood up and motioned Matt to come to the console. “Someone yesterday broke into the MAGI-04 storage facility and manually reprogrammed the computer. They basically inputted the data on the mental attack that it used against the Porter sisters, and specifically geared it to be most effective against their personal psyches by using data from their personal psychological profiles.”
Matt growled, “So far, you are only telling me things that are further enraging me. You are NOT giving me any actual answers to my questions. Who DID this!?’
Hoelscher took a cautious step backward and looked back to Dr. Wells. She then spoke up, “The perpetrator was able to hack into the security system and he blacked out the cameras for the time ranging from five minutes prior to the simulation to about the time the simulation ended. Most of that security data was deleted and thought lost.”
“So do we have a suspect or not?” Matt asked slowly, trying to contain his frustration.
“We were able to recover some of the deleted data. We are still working to recover all of it, but we have something that at least gives us a suspect,” Dr. Hoelscher said nervously.
“Why do you sound so uncertain? I want to see for myself,” Matt demanded.
Dr. Hoelscher nodded and then moved his hand to the console. He paused and looked back to Matt, “What we have is some footage of someone leaving the MAGI-04 storage facility. So all we know is that he was there during that time period. What we don’t know is if he was the only one. We don’t have the footage of him or possible others entering the facility.”
“Show me,” Matt said authoritatively.
Hoelscher touched a panel and the digital security footage ran. It was of a large metal door clearly marked as MAGI-04. There was a digital card reader and multiple scanners set up at the entrance to ensure only authorized personnel could enter. A few seconds passed, then the door opened slightly and a man emerged from storage facility. He appeared to have something under his arm, but what it was unclear. He briefly looked to his left and right and then quickly walked away heading left of the camera’s field of view.
“Rewind, zoom, and enhance” Matt ordered. The image backtracked about 10 seconds to the point where the figure was most visible. The image then zoomed by a factor of ten and the digitized pixelization smoothed itself out. Matt’s stomach lurched angrily as the acid ate away more of his lining.
On the screen, as clear as day, was Special Inspector Bertovich. Matt looked to Hoelscher and Wells, “Where is he?”
Hoeslcher looked to Wells nervously and then back to Matt, “Commander, I would like to remind you that right now all we have is that he was there, we have no proof that he was involved in what happened to the kids. We are still trying to recover all the data. Right now, we need to focus on detaining him and questioning him, we can’t just make assumptions…”
“Where is he?” Matt asked again, harshly stressing the word ‘is’ while clenching and unclenching his fists. “I want to know where he is, right now, and I want him to be there when I go there. So, once again, I ask, where is he?”
Dr. Wells tapped her fingers on the console. “Initiating facial recognition scan and searching the security system. If he’s anywhere within a mile of the compound, we’ll find him.”
The monitors flashed images at a sickening speed. Matt continued to clench and unclench his fists. A few minutes passed and then the screen froze. Matt stopped moving and a chill ran up his spine. On the large monitor for all three to see was the Church in the Acres parking lot. Standing next to a blue van was Jason Bertovich, and he was talking to someone. Matt looked at who it was and realized that it was Bill Gelinas. Bill had a duffle bag draped over his shoulder and after a moment of conversation, got into the van and Jay proceeded to get in the driver’s side.
“STOP HIM! DON’T LET HIM LEAVE!” Matt shouted to the two technical experts.
A moment later the van drove away, taking both Bill and Jay away, and Matt futilely slammed his fist down on the console he was standing next too. Tears of frustration running down his hot cheeks.
Jay had tricked them all. He had managed to so thoroughly sabotage NERV-01 that it would be impossible to recover at this point. The work on Unit‑03 would certainly not be complete in time, not with Sarah in the state she was in. Bill was being whisked away to Nevada by the agent that Hawley sent. SEELE most definitely knew that they were planning to at the least defy orders if not an outright insurrection against Tokyo-3 and Ikari, so most likely him and Sarah would be removed from duty, or more likely, quietly executed for treason.
But the worst thing of all, that traitorous scum had hurt his kids and that was so mind-blowingly aggravating that Matt felt like he could start throwing chairs around the control room in a fit of insane rage. He wanted to grab Bertovich by the neck and snap it like a chicken’s. He wanted to rip out the man’s still beating heart and show it to him as he had to look at the faces of the all the people whom he had harmed by that villainous act.
But he couldn’t do any of those things. It was too late. Jay had escaped and by the time he could mount a capture force, he would be within NERV‑02’s custody. Matt was left impotent to stop him and all he could do was live with knowing that he had brought this evil into his house. He had trusted that man and now everyone was paying for that sin. It was his fault.
Matt unclenched his fists and walked away in a defeated, weary slump, leaving the two worried doctors to only look at each other, unsure what else they could do. They returned to their work and hoped that they could at least find more answers.
Dr. Hoelscher looked to Dr. Wells. She looked up to him from her seat and he pulled her head to his chest and hugged her tightly. She stood up and kissed him gently. They both sighed sadly and returned to their seats and their consoles.
A few hours had passed and Dr. Hoeslcher pushed his seat away from the console and rubbed his weary eyes with his palms. “If Special Inspector Bertovich did do this, he’s one hell of a programmer to both hack our security systems and the MAGI-04.”
“What track is your train of thought arriving on?” Dr. Wells asked.
“Okay, it’s possible that he acted alone and managed to do all of this himself at the behest of our enemies, whomever they may be. But here’s the thing that’s bothering me, Lina, Bertovich’s a bright guy and a hell of an agent, but if he had the technical and computer know-how to do all that, there’s no way in hell NERV would use him as an espionage agent. He’d be in Tokyo-3 right now working on the Eva’s.”
“Okay, but what if he had remote help? Couldn’t he get in and set up a remote link and just sit back as the computer guy did all the work?” Dr. Wells asked.
“I thought of that, but it doesn’t fit with what damage was done. The reprogramming that was done on the MAGI-04 was pretty damned sophisticated, it was something that couldn’t be done via remote because the connection would simply be too slow and the systems defenses would stop it cold. This had to be done from inside the MAGI-04’s core and done quickly on the fly in order to get it to do what they wanted to do. So, that leaves the question, if there’s doubt that Bertovich could do all this himself, that means he needed someone else there to assist him,” Dr. Hoeslcher mused. He then looked to Dr. Well’s computer and then to her face, “Any luck on retrieving the lost security data?”
Dr. Wells shrugged her shoulders. “It’s slow going, I’m moving backward recovering bit by bit. I’ve managed to get about three more minutes of footage, but honestly there’s nothing new to be seen. Just the damn door and then Bertovich walks out and that’s it.”
Dr. Hoelscher pulled out the pen that rested in his lab coat pocket and thoughtfully chewed on the end of it. “Can you replay everything we recovered
so far?”
“Okay,” Dr. Wells answered and tapped her fingers along the console. The security image appeared on the large screen and for three minutes there was a image of a door and then Jay Bertovich walks out and exits stage left.
Dr. Hoelscher tapped the pen against his cheek and then chewed it a bit more. “When you played that, were you also playing the sound?”
“No, actually,” Dr. Wells answered, a little surprised by the question.
John’s eyes brightened a bit. “Can you replay it all again and this time include the sound recordings?”
“Yes, sure,” Dr. Wells said and she gracefully danced her fingers along the console again. The video scrap replayed again, this time with John straining his ears to see if there was something they had missed. For a brief moment, his head jerked in surprise and then went still again.
“Lina, can you please replay it one more time,” Dr. Hoelscher asked. The video replayed a third time and this time he nodded to himself in satisfaction. “Please replay the first thirty second and listen with me.”
The video played again and Dr. Wells strained her ears as well and then she noticed it. He looked to Dr. Hoelscher with a surprised look. He nodded. “So you hear it too? The two quiet pops followed by the muffled tap?”
Dr. Wells nodded affirmative, “What was that?”
“Can we clean it up and amplify the sound? The metal security door and the 24 inch thick bunker that houses the MAGI-04 probably makes any loud noise sound muffled and quiet,” Dr. Hoelscher proposed.
Dr. Wells nodded and he frantically tapped the console controls. She then looked to Dr Hoeslcher and nodded again, “This is the maximum amplification we can do and I was able to filter almost ninety percent of the background noise, so this is about as good at it’s gonna get.”
“Ok, let’s hear it,” Dr. Hoelscher requested. The recording played a fifth time and when the audio came to life, there was a sudden shared look of expected shock between them.
“That sounds like…” Dr. Wells began.
“I know. Gunshots. Two gunshots and then something hitting the ground. That’s exactly what it sounds like,” Dr. Hoelscher confirmed.
“But, how? What? That would mean…” Dr. Wells stammered quietly.
“It means that what we know so far is that two shots were fired, something hits the floor and a few minutes later Bertovich walks away. Something more happened there and I think it definitely involved someone else,” Dr. Hoelscher mused aloud.
“But if Bertovich shot someone, why didn’t we see a body lying there in the storage facility when we inspected it to check on damage to the MAGI-04
after the simulation went wrong?” Dr. Wells asked.
“We didn’t know we were supposed to be looking for one. That whole room is just a cramped collection of narrow aisles and row after row of computer terminals. If he wanted to hide a body in there, he very could have done it and done it in the three or so minutes between the shots being fired and his leaving,” Dr. Hoelscher answered. “That sounds like something Bertovich as an espionage agent could have done and it’s much more believable than him being able to reprogram all those systems by himself.”
“But that still doesn’t answer the biggest question of why he shot someone, especially if he was working to sabotage the MAGI-04,” Dr. Wells pondered aloud.
“No, but I bet if we find that body and find out who he or she was, we’re going to at least get much closer to the truth than we are now. I’m going to go down there now with a security team and get to the bottom of this. Lina, I need you to keep recovering that security footage. I think if we both find what were looking for, we’ll get all the answers we need,” Dr. Hoeslcher proposed.
“Agreed,” Dr. Wells stated and then kissed Dr. Hoelscher on the cheek. He smiled at her and then left the room in hopes of unraveling this mystery.
Matt sat in his office and stared mournfully at the now empty bottle sitting on his desk. He picked it up and tipped it toward his glass and few drops of brown liquid dripped out. Matt frowned again and set the bottle back down. He picked up the glass and stared at the brown liquid, less than maybe half a swallows worth, and poured it down is gullet. It burned, but only slightly, his throat now numb to the effects of his self-medication.
The red light above his door flashed again and Matt continued to ignore it. It had been doing that on and off for the last two or three hours. He had posted a message on the door making it quite clear that he was not in, so it was getting to be slightly annoying that whomever was rap, rap, rapping at his chamber door was still trying to get him to answer it. Maybe the sign that read ‘Gone Drinkin’ hanging on his door was not doing its job.
He had also turned off his personal comm. He had left a voice message stating that anyone wishing to speak to him, they could kindly find someone else who gave a damn, because he, quite frankly, didn’t. He had left that message shortly after he had received a communiqué from Tokyo-3 that it was decided to move up the timetable on the S2 Engine test at NERV-02, which was now slated for tomorrow. NERV-Germany was delivering the S2 Engine as he was reading it and with the impending arrival of their new pilot, they would be ready for the test.
He was calculating the risks of stepping out of his office to procure more ‘medication’ versus being spotted by someone who actually expected him to do something leader-like. The more he began to sober up and remember why he was self-medicating, the more the risks seemed very worth it.
Outside Matt’s Office, Dr. Hoelscher pushed the button again and contemplated enacting a security override to open Commander Atanian’s door. He knew he was there and considering all that had happened in the last few hours, he had a good idea what he was doing in there. After he had gotten back to the control room, eager to tell Lina what he and the security had discovered, she had informed him of Tokyo-3’s announcement of the S2 test to take place within the next twenty-four hours. That hadn’t come as a surprise, after what he had discovered, but he really needed to see Commander Atanian to share his opinions on the matter.
John paced a few moments and then walked away. He rationalized that even if he did force an audience with the Commander, he would not likely be in much of a state to listen to what he had to say. Dr. Hoelscher decided to come back in the morning. He decided to refocus his efforts on helping Lina with the data recovery, which if he was guessing correctly, would help prove his theory true.
It was about noon the next day when Dr. Hoelscher finally got his audience with the red-eyed Commander. He and Dr. Wells sat in the twin chairs facing Matt’s desk. Matt regarded them with the same interest that a lizard regards the rest of the world. He quickly began to sober up as he listened to his two technicians tell him what they had learned.
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Matt asked, swallowing two aspirin and chasing them with a chilled glass of iced tea.
Dr. Hoelscher nodded and spoke again, “When I took the security team down to the MAGI-04 storage facility, we found two bodies hidden in a floor panel near a terminal junction. Both had been shot once, through the head, and placed there.”
“Okay, so that’s great. We can add murder to everything else Bertovich did. It’s not like he was going to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year anyway,” Matt said gruffly.
“Well, yes, Bertovich most likely killed these two men, but there might possibly be just cause behind it,” Dr. Hoelscher responded.
“Oh? I’d love to hear the just cause for hurting our kids. Because from where I’m sitting, that’s what he did, and I frankly don’t care if the men he killed were Stalin and Hitler, because I want still want his head for that!” Matt growled.
Dr. Wells looked to Dr. Hoelscher and then spoke, “We don’t think Special Inspector Bertovich was responsible for the attack on the simulation.”
“Oh? And I’m assuming you have some sort of proof of his innocence?” Matt said dismissively.
Dr. Hoelscher tossed two open manila folders on the desk, each contained a picture paper clipped to some documentation. “Here’s the lowdown on our two bodies. Len Nakrifs, chief computer programmer and technician for NERV-02, and Special Inspector Richard Palmer, Bertovich’s counterpart at NERV-02. Between the pair, they have all the skills necessary to break into the MAGI-04 storage facility, black out the security systems, reprogram the MAGI-04, and input the psyche attack program.”
Matt looked over the folders and weighed this information, “Maybe Bertovich was working with these two and then he betrayed them. Seems to me that escaping would be a lot easier if it’s only one person versus three.”
Dr. Hoelscher took that in and tilted his head from left to right before speaking, “Well, I can’t discount it, but it doesn’t seem to make sense. I mean, if Bertovich was working for NERV-02, why send Palmer too? It’s redundant and very damaging if all three were caught.”
“Well, I don’t think Bertovich had any intentions of getting caught,” Matt added.
“There’s also the matter of the lost security footage,” Dr. Wells said, handing her tablet PC with the lost footage cued up for viewing over to Matt.
Matt took the PC and he watched Palmer and Nakrifs apparently fiddling with the security locks, opening the door and entering the storage facility. After about five minutes, Jason comes to the door, inspects the security locks, then opens the door. There is another couple minutes of footage of the door then Matt heard the cleaned up audio of two gunshots followed by a light crash. Finally, after three more minutes, Jason exits and walks off. Matt handed the PC back to Dr. Wells and steeped his fingers to his chin. “Maybe, he let them into the facility and then after they did their task he killed them to clean up after himself.”
“Commander, I think you’re letting your emotions hamper your common sense,” Dr. Hoelscher opined. “If that was the case, there would be no need for Palmer to be there. Bertovich would’ve just let in Dr. Nakrifs, so he could’ve done his reprogramming. If Bertovich was aiding them, why would he have them waste valuable time having to override the storage facility locks and the security system. He would’ve done that himself.”
Matt frowned slightly and then spoke, “I’m sorry, as much as I respect your skills and expertise, I think you’re trying too diligently to prove your friend’s innocence. The simple fact is that no matter what happened down there between NERV-02’s operatives and Mr. Bertovich, the fact remains that after it was over, Mr. Bertovich fled the facility, he took Bill Gelinas with him, and he presumably just delivered a very shaken young man into the clutches of some people who are about to put him right back in the cockpit of something that could very well permanently hurt him. If you can explain why he did that and how it was supposed to help us, I would welcome it. Can you?”
Drs. Hoelscher and Wells shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Both looked to each other and then back to the waiting Matt. The red light above the door flashed. A moment later, the door opened before Matt gave permission, which surprised all three.
Standing in the doorway was a lanky Japanese man wearing a wrinkled shirt with a loosened tie, his long hair tied in a ponytail and random sprigs of
stubble littering his chin. The man smiled and gave a small wave, “I think I might be able to answer that question.”
Matt stood up from his seat and looked to the man with angered surprise. “And who the hell might you be? I ask this, despite seeing that you can apparently hear our conversations and break into my office at will, and therefore I’m assuming I’m not going to like the answer.”
The man continued to smile and gave a half-hearted little bow, “My apologies. My name is Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji. I believe you are familiar with me through our mutual acquaintance.”
Matt’s eyes narrowed into a stone cold glare. Dr. Hoeslcher nervously shifted again in his seat, afraid that he may become collateral damage by being in between Matt and the mysterious Kaji.
Kaji held his hands out in front of him as if trying to defuse the situation. “I’m sure I’m not a popular guy with you right now, possibly even less so than Jay, but I’m hoping you’ll hold back any violent tendencies until I have a chance to answer some of the questions I’m sure you have.”
Matt continued to glare, there was an audible cracking of knuckles as Matt’s hands slowly balled themselves into fists. Dr. Wells prepared to duck if Matt decided to fling himself over the desk and at Kaji like some sort of feral jungle cat.
What followed next, was possibly the least expected thing that any of them thought they would hear. A distinctive slurping sound, that of a someone sucking on a straw inserted in a fast food cup, trying to milk the few last precious drops of liquid refreshment. The person making that sound entered the room and that person was Bill Gelinas.
Bill was wearing a Souvenir T-shirt from Las Vegas, the iconic sign splashed across his chest. He had his duffle bag slung over his shoulder and he played a little with the straw and the cup in hopes of tapping a new reserve of beverage.
Matt looked positively stupefied. Suddenly he was no longer sure what he was to do next. Drs. Hoeslcher and Wells, looked equally confused, though somewhat relieved by this development.
“Wha..? Who…? How…? WHY?!?” Matt managed to blurt out in quick succession.
Kaji looked to Bill, who had finally given up on his drink and had tossed the cup into the small trashcan sitting near the door, and nudged him slightly.
Bill looked back to Kaji and then turned to Matt, “Sorry, about bailing earlier. I kinda… um… I needed to get away.”
“Are you okay? Has he hurt you in any way?” Matt asked slowly, trying to gauge the situation better.
Bill arched his eyebrows in surprise. “Hurt me? Kaji? Nah, he’s cool. He treated me to burgers at Mandalay Bay before he got me back here.”
Matt sagged slightly, feeling very confused. “What happened with you and Special Inspector Bertovich?”
“Oh, Jay? No, he didn’t do anything to me. He saw me leaving and we ended up having a talk. He listened to what happened in the simulation and when I said I was quitting, he asked me if that was what I really wanted.”
“Did you?” Matt asked.
Bill weighed this question for a moment, “I wasn’t sure at the time. I felt really confused about a lot of things and I told him that. He offered to take me away to clear my head, said that when he got all muddled in the head, he liked to take his mind off the hook for a day or so. He ended up chartering a private jet and we flew to Vegas.”
“He took a 16 year old kid to Vegas?” Dr. Wells asked incredulously.
“He’s not a saint,” Kaji said with a chuckle.
“Bill, what happened out there? Did he take you anyplace, well, anyplace like here?” Matt asked.
“No. We watched some football down at Caesar’s Palace sports book and then he showed me the Luxor. Oh, and then we had steaks at the Bellagio the size of your head. He got me a suite at The Mirage and that’s about it,” Bill answered, pausing between destinations named to sort his thoughts.
“That’s it? Nothing weird of unusual?” Matt interrogated softly.
Bill weighed this question more thoughtfully. “Well, after he checked me in, he asked me for a set of my clothes and then told me, ‘Bill, I’m going to go out for awhile. My card will cover any room service and movies so knock yourself out. Tomorrow morning a guy named Kaji is gonna pick you up and bring you home.’ He then gave me a code word and said that if anyone came to the door and didn’t give the code word to call hotel security. That’s the last I saw of him.”
“Code word?”
“Melon,” Kaji supplied with a grin.
Matt turned back to Bill. “He took some of your clothes?” he asked, suspicious.
“Yeah, my Scout Uniform. Kinda weird, but seriously, for helping me get away for a night I would’ve given him my whole duffle bag,” Bill said. He then shifted a little with nervous energy, “Um, how’re Kenny and the girls? I kinda want to see them.”
Matt was taken aback a little by the sudden shift in conversation. He was so focused on being furious over what happened to his kids that he hadn’t given their actual conditions much thought. “Um…”
“Kenny is doing much better from yesterday. He’s might be awake now, if you want to see him,” Dr. Wells interjected.
“What about Nicole and Kirstin?” Bill asked.
Dr. Wells’ face grew a little sad, but behind the sadness was a glimmer of hope. “They’ll need a lot of special attention for awhile, but we’re going to work very hard to help them and Sarah. Bill, you didn’t do anything wrong and you shouldn’t blame yourself. By acting as you did, you made it possible for us to get to them and we’re all very thankful for what you did.”
In spite the assurance, Bill sagged his shoulders slightly, but he nodded in understanding. “I think… I think I would like to see Kenny, at least.”
Dr. Wells nodded and smiled warmly, “I’ll alert Dr. Lin that we’ll be paying a visit down to the medical wing.” She walked over to Bill and led him out of Matt’s office, leaving Dr. Hoeslcher, Matt, and Kaji. Matt turned to Kaji, who in return smiled again. “What exactly is going on here?” Matt asked.
Kaji slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’m a little pressed for time and I’m not exactly at liberty to divulge everything, but here’s what I can tell you. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you, but please note that your boy is back safe and sound, so I’m hoping you’ll at least entertain what I’m saying.”
Matt nodded slowly and retook his seat. Kaji kept his hands in his pockets and leaned slightly against the far wall. He looked to Dr. Hoeslcher and then appeared to be weighing something in his mind. After a couple moments of silence, he spoke, “Things got really fucked up, Commander. Trust me, there’s no one more sorry that your kids got caught in the crossfire than me. Hawley jumped the gun big time, and by the time I could alert Jay to it, the attack was already launched. When Jay informed me that he wasn’t able to stop the attack before dealing with Hawley’s agents, I advised him of the course he took.
“Jay contacted Hawley and offered to bring him the best remaining pilot candidate. In exchange, Hawley would cease any further covert attacks on NERV-01. Jay then brought Bill to Vegas to give the appearance of bringing Bill to NERV-02. I rendezvoused with Bill at Jay’s drop off point from which point I lost contact with Jay.”
“But, why? Why would Hawley sabotage us like that?” Matt asked.
“He wanted your kids, or at least as many as he could get. If he sabotaged your operations, he could demand their transfer and knowing that you would not turn them over, he was counting on having NERV use military force to storm in and take them, at any cost. Jay discovered this and acted to try and avoid further harm,” Kaji answered.
“Sounds plausible. It fits with what we could gather from the security footage,” Dr. Hoelscher chimed in. Matt shifted his eyes to the engineer and gave a slightly annoyed look.
“Okay, so if what you’re saying is all true, where is he now?” Matt asked Kaji.
Kaji shrugged. “I lost contact with him after he last contacted me with the rendezvous time and drop off point. I can only assume he is somehow interacting with NERV-02, but how exactly, I’m not sure. Right now, he’s acting of his own accord,” Kaji answered. A moment later, his pocket rang loudly and he pulled a small cell phone from his pocket. He opened it and gave no greeting. He listened for a few moments and suddenly his face went ashen. He continued to listen and looked to Matt, “My god.”
“What? What’s wrong?!” Matt queried worriedly.
“Hawley went through with the S2 test even without his pilot of choice,” Kaji answered, still listening to his phone.
“And…?” Dr. Hoelscher asked.
“It’s gone,” Kaji replied.
“What’s gone?” Matt asked confused.
Kaji snapped the phone shut and looked Matt dead in the eyes with a serious expression, “NERV-02. It’s completely gone. Everything within a 89 KM radius of the facility has vanished from the face of the Earth.”
“Dear God…” Dr. Hoelscher gasped.
Matt was about to express his disbelief when alarms began sounding. He picked up the phone on his desk that was a direct connection to the main control room. “Status update? How big a radius? Okay, turn off the damn alarm, but maintain alert status. Inform me when any more news is available.” He hung up the phone and looked back to Kaji.
“As impossible as I wish your report could have been, Mr. Kaji,” Matt said with little emotion, “it seems we have confirmation through more official channels.” He then reached into his desk for a remote control and pointed at the large monitor on the wall Kaji was leaning on. After fiddling with a few buttons, the screen came to life with feed from the main control room's monitors... and all any attempts to bring up video feed from the Nevada branch resulted in was static. Status readouts along the bottom of the screen transcribed attempts to communicate with anyone at NERV-02, and all such attempts went unanswered. Matt then brought up a wide angle satellite view next, which showed most of the Western United States, and the middle of Nevada featured a large blight: rapidly dissipating concentric rings of red smoke, and in the center a brightly glowing radiation that was beginning to dim. It was hard to comprehend the scale of it, but Matt knew intellectually that once the area was clear, the resulting crater would be easily visible from orbit. Matt dropped the remote on the desk and slumped back in his chair.
“My god, all those personnel, those pilot candidates, hell, the near by cities full of civilians!” Hoelscher exclaimed, unable to comprehend the devastation he was seeing. “Sweet God in Heaven, what happened?”
“We don’t know. Everything is extremely confused now,” Kaji answered. “Commander, I wish I could stay and answer questions all day, but I believe the timetable has been moved forward exponentially. Delivering Bill was not the only reason I came here personally. There are items Jay left for me in care of the facility and I need to locate them immediately if I’m going to be able to fulfill my deal with him.”
“Wait, what things? What deal?” Matt asked, confused.
“Jason’s aid in my goals was dependent on one thing and one thing only. He would only help me if I guaranteed the safety of the Pilot Candidates and as many NERV-01 personnel as possible. That is now in serious jeopardy if we do not locate the items he was to leave here in care of this facility. He said that he left them in care of a young man, I believe named Kenny,” Kaji answered, tension creeping in on his previously cool demeanor.
Matt looked at Kaji’s serious expression. He picked up the red phone on his desk again, and this time pressed the hot key for Dr. Wells. A moment later, Dr. Wells’ voice came back over the tiny speaker, “Commander? Are the reports true?”
“I'm afraid I don't have time for that right now, Doctor. Are you and Bill with Kenny now?” Matt asked.
“We had just walked into his room when the alert sounded,” Dr. Wells answered.
Matt could hear conversation going on behind her.
“Is Kenny awake?” Matt asked.
“Yes. He and Bill are talking. Commander, what is going on?” Dr. Wells asked, almost pleadingly.
Matt wished he could take the time to reassure her, but even if he had the time he wasn't entirely sure at present that reassurances would be anything but lies. “Can you please put Kenny on the comm? I need to talk to him,” Matt responded, still eying Kaji, unsure if he was doing the right thing at the moment.
“Commander, is it really necessity? I think we should leave the boys be for the moment…” Dr. Wells asked worriedly.
“I need to insist, I’m afraid. I think Kenny might have information that is of vital importance to everyone and time is apparently of the essence. Please put him on,” Matt said, keeping his tone even and cool.
There was silence for a moment and then Matt heard some quiet rustling as the phone was handed about. A moment later, the tired and quiet voice of Kenny came over the speaker, “Is it true what they say is happening, Commander Atanian?”
Matt winced at hearing his formal title. He really preferred the kids all call him Matt, but he decided to forgo correcting the boy, not that it would do much good anyway since Kenny almost refused to use anything but polite, formal speech unless the situation was dire. He also felt a pang of guilt over brushing off Kenny's concern for the moment, but time was of the essence. “Kenny, I was informed that Mr. Bertovich, the Special Inspector, had left something in your care. I’m sorry, but it is very important that we locate it immediately. Can you tell me what he left with you and where it is?”
There was an awkward pause. Matt tapped the phone a few times to make sure line had not gone dead. “Kenny?”
“Commander, I’m sorry, but I never spoke to Special Inspector Bertovich. We only ever met in passing and I really have no idea what this item that was supposedly left with me could be,” Kenny answered.
Kenny's genuinely confused tone gave Matt the impression that he was very much telling the truth. He eyed Kaji again who arched a confused eyebrow in response.
“You’re positive that no one left anything with you for safekeeping? It might not have been Mr. Bertovich personally, but maybe someone else,” Matt asked.
“I’m sorry, Commander, but no one has asked me to do that. I really wish I could help, but I really have no idea,” Kenny answered, his tone conveying how badly he wished he could be helping.
Matt’s shoulders sagged more as he closed his eyes and sighed quietly. “Okay, Kenny, Thank you for your help. Please get some rest,” Matt said gently.
“Okay, Commander,” Kenny replied.
Matt sighed. Kenny had nothing, and Matt did not know what to do next. He frowned as he began to hang up the phone. But before Matt could place the phone down, Kenny’s voice came through the ear piece again. Matt could faintly hear it over the distance between the phone and his ear. “Oh, and Comman… Matthew… Thank you very much for the flowers.”
Matt's hand halted, the phone mere centimeters from being placed back on its receiver. Slowly, almost as if hypnotized, he brought the phone back to his ear. “What flowers, Kenny?”
“The flowers you left for me. The nurse said they were left there yesterday. The card said that you sent them,” Kenny answered, again his tone was very confused.
“Kenny, are the flowers still there?” Matt queried.
“Yes,” Kenny answered slowly.
“Kenny, will you please read me the card. I know it sounds odd, but I think it might be important,” Matt asked, trying not to sound urgent or rushed.
There was another pause as Kenny placed the comm down on his end and he pulled the card from the little envelope attached to the small vase. A moment later, he came back on and said, “The card reads, ‘Kenny, I’m very sorry for this. Thank you. Matt,’ Oh, and...”
“What, Kenny?” Matt prompted.
“I don't know why I didn't notice this before, perhaps I was still groggy when I first looked at the card? But under your name is a series of numbers and letters.”
“Can you please read them to me, Kenny?” Matt asked.
“It reads, ‘LTSLV4L713’. That’s all,” Kenny answered.
“LTSLV4L713,” Matt repeated as he scrawled it across his desk blotter calendar. “Thank you, Kenny. That’s exactly what we needed to know. You did great, Kenny. When you recover, I’m going to take you all out for the best meal in town.” Matt then hung the phone up and looked at the letters and numbers he just scrawled down.
“What is that?” Kaji asked, looking down at the same scrawl.
“It was a message to me from Jay. He left it in care of Kenny, just like he said he did. This is where your items are,” Matt answered.
Dr. Hoelscher looked down at the scrawl and looked back to Matt. Both nodded in understanding and spoke at the same time, “Long Term Storage, Level 4, Locker 713.”
Matt stood up from his seat and led the others from his office. Matt led, with Kaji and Dr. Hoelscher behind him walking abreast of each other. A short while later, they were in the Long Term Storage facility, a place where supplies and personal items were stored in case of a prolonged emergency lockdown.
Matt followed the signs above the aisles and eventually brought them to the row of storage lockers, each two foot by two foot stacked four high. Matt walked down the row checking the numbers until he came to locker 713. There was a key card lock in place so that only the person who owned the locker or security personnel could open it. Matt swiped his card and used his authorization override code. There was an audible click as the lock tumblers opened. A moment later, the locker’s door popped open slightly.
Matt swung the door open wider and looked inside. Even for a small space, it looked sparse. Inside there was what appeared to be a small laptop computer with some cables still attached and a large box with a lid, like those used to store files. Matt pulled out the computer and the cables dangled haphazardly from it. Matt took a closer look and realized that there was a small splattering of red on the metal casing. He handed the computer to Dr. Hoelscher and then reached for the box.
Matt set the document box down on the floor and knelt down next to it. All three peered down as he lifted the lid. Inside were little blue books, hundreds of them, neatly bundled together in stacks, held with rubber bands. There also appeared to be two or three mini-discs, no larger than the size of an Eisenhower silver dollar. Kaji picked up one of the discs and pulled out a small device from his pocket. He inserted the disc into the device and stared at it.
Matt unbundled one of the rubberbanded bunches and examined one of the little blue booklets. It was a passport. He recognized the face in the picture as one of the medical personnel, a nurse by the name of Angela Manors, but the passport in his hand said her name was Anako Manners. It was a forgery, but a very convincing forgery.
Under the bundles of passports, there were additional bundles of forged documents – birth certificates, drivers’ licenses, even credit cards. Matt rifled through them and then looked up at Kaji who was grinning broadly. “What is on the disc, Kaji?”
“Jay’s contingency plan. Basically he managed to secure new identities for pretty much every person in the facility. New identities as well as instructions on how to get to a secured location he had set up in case of the worst case scenario.” Kaji then pushed a button on the device and place it back into his pocket. He reach into his other pocket and pulled out his phone. He pushed a button and held the phone to his ear. After a moment, he spoke, “Kaji. Delta, Omega, Alpha, Epsilon, Omega, Omega, Six, Eight, Three,” He then paused for a moment and listened. He frowned and then continued, “Evac Level Three. NERV-01. Data to Follow. Priority Code Red. Authorization Kaji Beta Sigma Alpha One Nine Two.”
Kaji then snapped his phone shut and looked to Matt. “Commander, I need a word with you, in private.”
Matt turned to Dr. Hoeslcher, “John, would you please give us a moment?”
John shrugged, “Sure, I’m going to take this computer to the lab and analyze it’s contents. I suspect this belonged to our departed friends Nakrif and Palmer.” John then walked away, leaving Matt and Kaji alone standing over a box of illicit documents.
“So, what’s going to happen? What do we do next?”
Kaji frowned and then spoke, “Commander, In a little under three hours time, NERV and SEELE are going to launch a operation in which every person in this facility will be killed and their presence here erased. EVA Unit-03 will be seized and transported to Japan. The official story that will be disseminated through the rank and file will be that your government, after seeing what happened to NERV-02, will demand that EVA Unit-03 be removed from their sovereign borders and transferred to Tokyo-3 immediately in order to prevent further incidents.”
“I see,” Matt said calmly. “Of course, if Tokyo-3 wants Unit-03, they can have it. Frankly, we’re glad to wash out hands of it. There’s no need for them to seize it by deadly force.”
“Unfortunately, the last thing NERV and SEELE wants is witnesses. It’s simply easier and more efficient to wipe out the entire facility and issue an official lie than try and negotiate the silence of every person here,” Kaji explained.
Matt frowned, “I guessed it was something like that. Jay said we sold our collective souls when we allowed NERV and SEELE to come into existence. He was a prophet, that one.”
“So, in exactly, one hour, my people are going to evacuate the facility and, using the data Jay left us along with the documents here, we’re going to help hide as many people as we can from those bastards. Their lives as they knew them will be effectively over, but at least they won't be dead. That’s the best I can promise you,” Kaji said, a serious look of determination on his face.
Matt nodded and studied Kaji for a moment. He frowned and then spoke, “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“We can’t evacuate everyone, at least not without running the risk of getting caught by NERV’s and SEELE’s forces. There needs to be at least a token resistance cell left behind to buy the evacuees some additional time. It’s pretty much a suicide mission because the other side will not be taking prisoners,” Kaji explained.
Matt listened. When Kaji finished, Matt closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nostrils. “I understand. I will procure that resistance and I will stay behind to buy you the time your people need to get those kids out of here.” Matt then placed his slightly trembling hand on Kaji’s shoulder. “Please make sure that every Pilot Candidate and all female personnel make it out of here safely. I recommend placing Drs. Lin and Wells and Field Commander Porter in charge of this operation once they’re set up in their new location.”
“Women and Children first, eh? A bit old fashioned, isn't it?”
“And they say chivalry is dead," Matt replied with a grin that utterly failed to hide that he was resigning himself to his fate.
“A man after my own heart,” Kaji retorted with an equally grim smile.
“I’m going to ask for volunteers to help buy you time, but I’m not going to force anyone to stay. If any of my people, men or women want to leave this place, you get them to safety, you hear me?” Matt stated seriously.
Kaji nodded and bent down to pick up the document box. He then walked away with it, briefly looking back to Matt, “Be seeing you, Commander.”
Matt watched as Kaji turned a corner and disappeared. “Doubtful,” he whispered to himself. He then looked up to the ceiling above and imagined he could see the blue sky of Massachusetts, “I don’t know if you hear us at all or if you’ve entirely washed your hands of the human race, but if you can indulge me in one tiny miracle, please keep Sarah and those kids safe. I’d like to go to Hell knowing that I at least did one thing right.”
A moment passed and he too walked away from the lockers in hopes of finding those few men willing to throw away their lives in a hopeless cause.
Two hours later, Matt found himself sitting alone in his office. He reflected on how he had sat here just a scant few days ago having a heated conversation with Sarah. How he longed to be back there, facing her angry combative glare.
He didn’t see her as she was evacuated. He didn’t know what to say. He could only hide in his office and watch her through the security cameras. He watched as she and Dr. Lin followed behind the gurneys that transported her sisters to wherever they were going to. He could only pray that one day those girls would be okay and that Sarah would find happiness of her own. He knew that she and the two doctors were the right ones to keep his people and most importantly his kids safe.
He knew it was going to be hard going at first, especially for Sarah considering everything else that she would be dealing with, but he also knew that they would adjust. He also knew that one day NERV and SEELE would be unnecessary and maybe on that day the world would regain some semblance of sanity.
Still his thoughts lingered on Sarah. She was a fine co-commander and she did truly care for the kids as much as he did, which is why he admired her so much, despite her lack of enthusiasm with working with him. He wondered that if in another time and place if they might have eventually found something between them. He then snickered and shook his head sadly at that silly thought.
He decided to stop focusing on the recent past and instead focus on the upcoming future. In less than an hour, he and fifteen volunteers would have to try and hold off a highly trained force of US Black Ops soldiers backed by SEELE and NERV. Sixteen men in all, technicians and security personnel mostly, most of them with no real combat experience.
Their numbers were originally seventeen. Dr. Hoelscher had volunteered to stay behind with Matt, even going as far as kissing Dr. Wells one last time, confirming what Matt always suspected -- that they were an item and probably had been for some time. In the end, as Dr. Hoelscher gave the analyzed laptop to Kaji, Matt requested that Kaji take Dr. Hoelscher onto his team. Considering all he knew about what NERV-02 had done to sabotage NERV-01, he knew that his skills would be better served helping Kaji undermine NERV and SEELE rather than staying here to be target practice for some soldier. Dr. Hoeslcher protested, and Matt was touched by the man's show of loyalty, but in the end that loyalty demanded he follow Matt's order to leave. He reluctantly left with Kaji, knowing that it was the last time they would ever grace each other’s presence.
Matt turned on the large monitor on the wall and watched as his volunteers prepared for the incoming intrusion. He watched with interest as a young member of the security team named of Dan Wellington appeared to be jury-rigging several propane tanks into… something. Considering the number of times he had been put on report for fire related incidents, Matt was glad he was on their side.
He flipped through more channels and observed his men. Men like Derek Provost, lovingly nicknamed ‘The Leprechaun,’ a slightly oversexed technician who was currently spending his last moments loading clips into rifles whilst ogling Miss November in the magazine he carried in his other hand. Men like Mark Albert who was quietly manning the front entrance and who would give the first signal when the attack began. Each of them were men of honor and courage and he was grateful for their service... but also he was loathing himself for putting them in a situation that everyone knew was unsurvivable. He turned off the monitor and got up to join them.
As he walked to his door, he paused. He strained his ears and listened as he was sure he had heard something. He turned his head to the ceiling and realized that he could hear movement up there. He nervously reached into his coat and pulled out a service revolver, wondering if SEELE was opting for a sneak attack as opposed to a full on assault.
The metal vent from his ceiling clanged loudly and fell to the floor with crash of metal. Matt pointed the revolver to the hole where the vent had been. A hand holding a white handkerchief emerged, waving fervently. Matt lowered the revolver and called out, “Who are you? Friend or foe?”
A moment later Jay Bertovich dropped down into the room and held both hands up to show he was not holding a weapon. “Depends, did Kaji come through, and are you planning on using that on me?”
Matt looked at Jay and studied him. His clothes were dirty and rumpled and there appeared to be a dried bloodstain on his lower left torso. His breathing was slightly labored and he appeared to be in discomfort. Despite that, he still wore that same smug smirk that had been his calling card for all the time they had knew each other. “You’re lucky you didn’t show up three hours ago, otherwise I would’ve shot you in the spine and then let Sarah take her time finishing you off.”
“Ouch,” He said, smirking, “I take it that Kaji came through then?”
“They’re all gone to wherever your secret hidey hole is. It’s just you, me, and about fifteen men,” Matt answered.
“Thank god,” Jay said with a look of genuine relief.
“Don’t be too thankful, you arrived just in time to get killed by our government in an attempt to cover up whatever thing that SEELE and NERV felt needed covering up,” Matt deadpanned.
“Yeah, I’m always the victim of bad timing. Well, except when it came to NERV-02. Guess this is Karma balancing itself,” Jay mused, sitting himself down on a chair facing Matt’s desk.
Matt retook his seat. “I'll admit, when we heard about what happened in Nevada, I was worried you'd been killed. What happened at NERV-02, Jay? It was wiped off the face of the Earth. Was that you?”
Jay shook his head, “You got me. I had managed to get out and was commandeering a helicopter when something just sucked NERV-02 into the sand. I assume something went wrong with the S2 Engine test, but who the hell knows. Maybe SEELE and NERV double-crossed them just like us. I just don’t know.”
“So what were you doing at NERV-02? It wasn’t delivering Bill, so what were you doing there, if you don’t mind divulging,” Matt asked, He reached into the mini fridge under his desk and pulled out a chilled pitcher of iced tea and two chilled glasses. He filled both of them and offered one to Jason.
Jay graciously accepted it and took a short sip. He licked his lips and smiled, “That’s pretty good.”
“Thanks. Sorry I can't offer you something more potent for your final drink.”
“It's fine,” Jason assured him. He smirked. “As much as it might be nice to be otherwise, probably better to stay clear headed for what is coming.” He took another sip and set the glass down. “Anyway, I had unfinished business there and I took care of it. Me and Mr. Hawley had some things to iron out.”
“I assume you took care of it the same way you took care of Nakrif and Palmer?” Matt asked unemotionally.
“They hurt Nicole and her sister. I settled the balance,” Jay said, eyes sparking briefly with anger. He then took another sip and winced slightly. “I almost missed this little party you’re throwing here. They nearly punched my ticket then and there.” Jay then lifted his shirt slightly and showed the large gauze pad that was hastily taped to his lower left torso. There was a dark red stain soaking through and he weakly smiled as he lowered his shirt.
“Can I ask a weird question?” Matt asked.
“Sure, I’ll try and give a weird answer,” Jay responded.
“Why did you take Bill’s Scout uniform?” Matt queried, still not sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.
“Just my own twisted sense of humor. They were expecting me to show up with a Scout, so I did. Well, kinda,” Jay said with a sheepish smile.
“Kinda?”
“Well, I showed up with a blow-up doll dressed in Bill’s Uniform. Vegas is a great town, let me tell you. You can get anything at three in the morning. Hawley was mighty pissed about that,” Jay laughed and then winced again. He coughed harshly, covering his mouth with his fist. He pulled his hand away and stared mournfully at the splattering of blood he had spit on his fist.
“You didn't have to come back, you know,” Matt said. “Could have found a nice, quiet spot to ride this out, gotten yourself some medical attention.”
Jason coughed again, and looked at his glass. “I'm starting to wish you did have something a bit stronger to offer,” he said. “Oh well, can't be helped.” He looked up at Matt for a moment, but then looked down before he could bring himself to answer Matt's implied question. “I owed you an explanation,” he quietly said. He sipped the remaining contents of his glass, and slowly put it down. Matt couldn't see that the rim of the glass was stained red.
“Jason, my friend,” Matt said, “we’re about thirty minutes out from the invasion. I should probably join the others, and I would consider it an honor to have you at my side.” Matt then finished the last of his own iced tea in two steady gulps.
Jay coughed once more, this time not bothering to cover his mouth. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. He grimaced and then smiled weekly. “Yeah, about that. Looks like I’m going on ahead to scout out Hell. Tell you what, I’ll tell them all that you’re coming. That’ll give them something to really be worried about.” Jay then closed his eyes.
Matt frowned. Just a few hours ago he had wanted to personally kill this man and now he was playing witness to his last moments, and silently grieving it. Jay opened his eyes again and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small device, similar to the one Kaji had carried. Jay pressed a few buttons and then looked to Matt and smirked, “Leave ‘em on a song…”
Jay closed his eyes, let the breath leave his body, and few moments later, the tiny speaker on the device came to life with the mellow sound of Frank Sinatra crooning his rendition of Fly Me to the Moon. Matt couldn’t help but grin. He went to the coat rack in the corner of his office and put on his black trench coat and placed his wide brimmed black fedora on his head.
Matt took one final look at his office, with Frank continuing to fill the air with his smooth voice. His eyes fell upon Jason. “See you soon,” he said. He shut off the lights and closed the door behind him.
He had talked to Dr. Lin before deciding to take his walk. She could only give a disheartening prognosis at best. Nicole had managed to respond to some verbal cues, but could barely maintain consciousness long enough to do anything other than throw fits of convulsed retching while clutching her stomach in agony.
Kirstin’s prognosis was much less hopeful. She was still catatonic, eyes unblinking, an unsettling grin etched on her lips. She was now laying there, being fed intravenously, and every few hours she would giggle wickedly or shout something nonsensical in Japanese. Between the both of them, Sarah was brought to tears on an almost hourly basis.
Matt struggled with himself, wanting to march in there and pull Sarah away, if nothing else to save her from going mad with grief, but how could he? How could he take her away from the thing she loved most dear on this Earth? How could he face her when he himself had put those girls in that danger? He punched the wall angrily and kept walking, wincing at hearing a fresh bout of Sarah’s sobbing.
He then came to Kenny’s room. They had managed to stabilize him, and in fact, he had regained consciousness that morning, but he was far from out of the woods. As far as his mind knew, he had been shot viciously in the stomach by a high-power assault rifle and thus his body was reacting to that injury as if it had happened. Matt creaked the door open slowly and glanced inside. He saw Kenny laying there, sleeping now, tubes running in and out of him. A small vase of flowers sat on the small table near the bed. Matt wondered who had left them. The boy had no family that Matt knew of. He lived in NERV-01’s barracks.
Matt, closed the door again, not wanting to face the thought that Kenny might leap up and scream “Failure! You killed us! MURDERER!” and then die just to make sure Matt knew how much he was to blame.
He hadn’t gone to see Bill yet. By all medical reports, Bill had survived the incident relatively unharmed, but Dr. Lin kept him there overnight to monitor him. Matt thought he should see him. The other boys had visited him in the morning and the look of worry on their faces when he spoke to them earlier that day to alert them to the cancellation of further simulations spoke volumes. Bill might have been okay physically, but something was not right inside the boy.
Matt came to Bill’s room and rapped on the door lightly. There was no answer. Matt rapped again and still no response. Matt eased the door open slowly and peeked inside. The room was empty. The bed was still unmade and a half-finished tray of food lay on the bedside table. Matt opened the door fully and walked inside, looking around worriedly.
It was then that he spotted the note laying on the pillow, a half-folded sheet of yellow tablet paper. Matt grabbed it and saw his name scrawled on the fold. He opened it and began to read.
Dear Matt,
Sarah was right. I’m wasting everyone’s time here and I shouldn’t stay. I wasn’t able to stop that thing from hurting Nicole and Kirstin and I almost killed Kenny. I can’t do this any longer. Please don’t look for me and please tell everyone that I’m very, very sorry.
Bill
Matt gripped the note tightly and swore under his breath. A moment later his personal comm beeped. He angrily pulled it from his coat and flipped it open, “What?!”
Dr. Hoelscher’s voice came back through the speaker, “Commander, we need you come down the control room. We have very important news to show you.”
“I’ve got a situation here, it’ll have to wait!” Matt answered back angrily.
“No, it can’t wait! We may have found out who sabotaged the MAGI-04 and you need to see this, immediately!” Hoelscher informed him.
Matt’s eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth in fury, “I’ll be there in two minutes,” He growled. He quickly stuffed the note and comm. into his coat and sprinted down the hall toward his goal.
Matt walked into the control room and saw Drs. Wells and Hoelscher sitting the consoles. They turned in his direction and then looked at each other with grim looks. Matt, fists still clenched and his eyes still twisted into a grotesque mask of anger looked at them. “I want answers and I want them now.”
The pair looked to each other again and frowned. Holescher stood up and motioned Matt to come to the console. “Someone yesterday broke into the MAGI-04 storage facility and manually reprogrammed the computer. They basically inputted the data on the mental attack that it used against the Porter sisters, and specifically geared it to be most effective against their personal psyches by using data from their personal psychological profiles.”
Matt growled, “So far, you are only telling me things that are further enraging me. You are NOT giving me any actual answers to my questions. Who DID this!?’
Hoelscher took a cautious step backward and looked back to Dr. Wells. She then spoke up, “The perpetrator was able to hack into the security system and he blacked out the cameras for the time ranging from five minutes prior to the simulation to about the time the simulation ended. Most of that security data was deleted and thought lost.”
“So do we have a suspect or not?” Matt asked slowly, trying to contain his frustration.
“We were able to recover some of the deleted data. We are still working to recover all of it, but we have something that at least gives us a suspect,” Dr. Hoelscher said nervously.
“Why do you sound so uncertain? I want to see for myself,” Matt demanded.
Dr. Hoelscher nodded and then moved his hand to the console. He paused and looked back to Matt, “What we have is some footage of someone leaving the MAGI-04 storage facility. So all we know is that he was there during that time period. What we don’t know is if he was the only one. We don’t have the footage of him or possible others entering the facility.”
“Show me,” Matt said authoritatively.
Hoelscher touched a panel and the digital security footage ran. It was of a large metal door clearly marked as MAGI-04. There was a digital card reader and multiple scanners set up at the entrance to ensure only authorized personnel could enter. A few seconds passed, then the door opened slightly and a man emerged from storage facility. He appeared to have something under his arm, but what it was unclear. He briefly looked to his left and right and then quickly walked away heading left of the camera’s field of view.
“Rewind, zoom, and enhance” Matt ordered. The image backtracked about 10 seconds to the point where the figure was most visible. The image then zoomed by a factor of ten and the digitized pixelization smoothed itself out. Matt’s stomach lurched angrily as the acid ate away more of his lining.
On the screen, as clear as day, was Special Inspector Bertovich. Matt looked to Hoelscher and Wells, “Where is he?”
Hoeslcher looked to Wells nervously and then back to Matt, “Commander, I would like to remind you that right now all we have is that he was there, we have no proof that he was involved in what happened to the kids. We are still trying to recover all the data. Right now, we need to focus on detaining him and questioning him, we can’t just make assumptions…”
“Where is he?” Matt asked again, harshly stressing the word ‘is’ while clenching and unclenching his fists. “I want to know where he is, right now, and I want him to be there when I go there. So, once again, I ask, where is he?”
Dr. Wells tapped her fingers on the console. “Initiating facial recognition scan and searching the security system. If he’s anywhere within a mile of the compound, we’ll find him.”
The monitors flashed images at a sickening speed. Matt continued to clench and unclench his fists. A few minutes passed and then the screen froze. Matt stopped moving and a chill ran up his spine. On the large monitor for all three to see was the Church in the Acres parking lot. Standing next to a blue van was Jason Bertovich, and he was talking to someone. Matt looked at who it was and realized that it was Bill Gelinas. Bill had a duffle bag draped over his shoulder and after a moment of conversation, got into the van and Jay proceeded to get in the driver’s side.
“STOP HIM! DON’T LET HIM LEAVE!” Matt shouted to the two technical experts.
A moment later the van drove away, taking both Bill and Jay away, and Matt futilely slammed his fist down on the console he was standing next too. Tears of frustration running down his hot cheeks.
Jay had tricked them all. He had managed to so thoroughly sabotage NERV-01 that it would be impossible to recover at this point. The work on Unit‑03 would certainly not be complete in time, not with Sarah in the state she was in. Bill was being whisked away to Nevada by the agent that Hawley sent. SEELE most definitely knew that they were planning to at the least defy orders if not an outright insurrection against Tokyo-3 and Ikari, so most likely him and Sarah would be removed from duty, or more likely, quietly executed for treason.
But the worst thing of all, that traitorous scum had hurt his kids and that was so mind-blowingly aggravating that Matt felt like he could start throwing chairs around the control room in a fit of insane rage. He wanted to grab Bertovich by the neck and snap it like a chicken’s. He wanted to rip out the man’s still beating heart and show it to him as he had to look at the faces of the all the people whom he had harmed by that villainous act.
But he couldn’t do any of those things. It was too late. Jay had escaped and by the time he could mount a capture force, he would be within NERV‑02’s custody. Matt was left impotent to stop him and all he could do was live with knowing that he had brought this evil into his house. He had trusted that man and now everyone was paying for that sin. It was his fault.
Matt unclenched his fists and walked away in a defeated, weary slump, leaving the two worried doctors to only look at each other, unsure what else they could do. They returned to their work and hoped that they could at least find more answers.
Dr. Hoelscher looked to Dr. Wells. She looked up to him from her seat and he pulled her head to his chest and hugged her tightly. She stood up and kissed him gently. They both sighed sadly and returned to their seats and their consoles.
A few hours had passed and Dr. Hoeslcher pushed his seat away from the console and rubbed his weary eyes with his palms. “If Special Inspector Bertovich did do this, he’s one hell of a programmer to both hack our security systems and the MAGI-04.”
“What track is your train of thought arriving on?” Dr. Wells asked.
“Okay, it’s possible that he acted alone and managed to do all of this himself at the behest of our enemies, whomever they may be. But here’s the thing that’s bothering me, Lina, Bertovich’s a bright guy and a hell of an agent, but if he had the technical and computer know-how to do all that, there’s no way in hell NERV would use him as an espionage agent. He’d be in Tokyo-3 right now working on the Eva’s.”
“Okay, but what if he had remote help? Couldn’t he get in and set up a remote link and just sit back as the computer guy did all the work?” Dr. Wells asked.
“I thought of that, but it doesn’t fit with what damage was done. The reprogramming that was done on the MAGI-04 was pretty damned sophisticated, it was something that couldn’t be done via remote because the connection would simply be too slow and the systems defenses would stop it cold. This had to be done from inside the MAGI-04’s core and done quickly on the fly in order to get it to do what they wanted to do. So, that leaves the question, if there’s doubt that Bertovich could do all this himself, that means he needed someone else there to assist him,” Dr. Hoeslcher mused. He then looked to Dr. Well’s computer and then to her face, “Any luck on retrieving the lost security data?”
Dr. Wells shrugged her shoulders. “It’s slow going, I’m moving backward recovering bit by bit. I’ve managed to get about three more minutes of footage, but honestly there’s nothing new to be seen. Just the damn door and then Bertovich walks out and that’s it.”
Dr. Hoelscher pulled out the pen that rested in his lab coat pocket and thoughtfully chewed on the end of it. “Can you replay everything we recovered
so far?”
“Okay,” Dr. Wells answered and tapped her fingers along the console. The security image appeared on the large screen and for three minutes there was a image of a door and then Jay Bertovich walks out and exits stage left.
Dr. Hoelscher tapped the pen against his cheek and then chewed it a bit more. “When you played that, were you also playing the sound?”
“No, actually,” Dr. Wells answered, a little surprised by the question.
John’s eyes brightened a bit. “Can you replay it all again and this time include the sound recordings?”
“Yes, sure,” Dr. Wells said and she gracefully danced her fingers along the console again. The video scrap replayed again, this time with John straining his ears to see if there was something they had missed. For a brief moment, his head jerked in surprise and then went still again.
“Lina, can you please replay it one more time,” Dr. Hoelscher asked. The video replayed a third time and this time he nodded to himself in satisfaction. “Please replay the first thirty second and listen with me.”
The video played again and Dr. Wells strained her ears as well and then she noticed it. He looked to Dr. Hoelscher with a surprised look. He nodded. “So you hear it too? The two quiet pops followed by the muffled tap?”
Dr. Wells nodded affirmative, “What was that?”
“Can we clean it up and amplify the sound? The metal security door and the 24 inch thick bunker that houses the MAGI-04 probably makes any loud noise sound muffled and quiet,” Dr. Hoelscher proposed.
Dr. Wells nodded and he frantically tapped the console controls. She then looked to Dr Hoeslcher and nodded again, “This is the maximum amplification we can do and I was able to filter almost ninety percent of the background noise, so this is about as good at it’s gonna get.”
“Ok, let’s hear it,” Dr. Hoelscher requested. The recording played a fifth time and when the audio came to life, there was a sudden shared look of expected shock between them.
“That sounds like…” Dr. Wells began.
“I know. Gunshots. Two gunshots and then something hitting the ground. That’s exactly what it sounds like,” Dr. Hoelscher confirmed.
“But, how? What? That would mean…” Dr. Wells stammered quietly.
“It means that what we know so far is that two shots were fired, something hits the floor and a few minutes later Bertovich walks away. Something more happened there and I think it definitely involved someone else,” Dr. Hoelscher mused aloud.
“But if Bertovich shot someone, why didn’t we see a body lying there in the storage facility when we inspected it to check on damage to the MAGI-04
after the simulation went wrong?” Dr. Wells asked.
“We didn’t know we were supposed to be looking for one. That whole room is just a cramped collection of narrow aisles and row after row of computer terminals. If he wanted to hide a body in there, he very could have done it and done it in the three or so minutes between the shots being fired and his leaving,” Dr. Hoelscher answered. “That sounds like something Bertovich as an espionage agent could have done and it’s much more believable than him being able to reprogram all those systems by himself.”
“But that still doesn’t answer the biggest question of why he shot someone, especially if he was working to sabotage the MAGI-04,” Dr. Wells pondered aloud.
“No, but I bet if we find that body and find out who he or she was, we’re going to at least get much closer to the truth than we are now. I’m going to go down there now with a security team and get to the bottom of this. Lina, I need you to keep recovering that security footage. I think if we both find what were looking for, we’ll get all the answers we need,” Dr. Hoeslcher proposed.
“Agreed,” Dr. Wells stated and then kissed Dr. Hoelscher on the cheek. He smiled at her and then left the room in hopes of unraveling this mystery.
Matt sat in his office and stared mournfully at the now empty bottle sitting on his desk. He picked it up and tipped it toward his glass and few drops of brown liquid dripped out. Matt frowned again and set the bottle back down. He picked up the glass and stared at the brown liquid, less than maybe half a swallows worth, and poured it down is gullet. It burned, but only slightly, his throat now numb to the effects of his self-medication.
The red light above his door flashed again and Matt continued to ignore it. It had been doing that on and off for the last two or three hours. He had posted a message on the door making it quite clear that he was not in, so it was getting to be slightly annoying that whomever was rap, rap, rapping at his chamber door was still trying to get him to answer it. Maybe the sign that read ‘Gone Drinkin’ hanging on his door was not doing its job.
He had also turned off his personal comm. He had left a voice message stating that anyone wishing to speak to him, they could kindly find someone else who gave a damn, because he, quite frankly, didn’t. He had left that message shortly after he had received a communiqué from Tokyo-3 that it was decided to move up the timetable on the S2 Engine test at NERV-02, which was now slated for tomorrow. NERV-Germany was delivering the S2 Engine as he was reading it and with the impending arrival of their new pilot, they would be ready for the test.
He was calculating the risks of stepping out of his office to procure more ‘medication’ versus being spotted by someone who actually expected him to do something leader-like. The more he began to sober up and remember why he was self-medicating, the more the risks seemed very worth it.
Outside Matt’s Office, Dr. Hoelscher pushed the button again and contemplated enacting a security override to open Commander Atanian’s door. He knew he was there and considering all that had happened in the last few hours, he had a good idea what he was doing in there. After he had gotten back to the control room, eager to tell Lina what he and the security had discovered, she had informed him of Tokyo-3’s announcement of the S2 test to take place within the next twenty-four hours. That hadn’t come as a surprise, after what he had discovered, but he really needed to see Commander Atanian to share his opinions on the matter.
John paced a few moments and then walked away. He rationalized that even if he did force an audience with the Commander, he would not likely be in much of a state to listen to what he had to say. Dr. Hoelscher decided to come back in the morning. He decided to refocus his efforts on helping Lina with the data recovery, which if he was guessing correctly, would help prove his theory true.
It was about noon the next day when Dr. Hoelscher finally got his audience with the red-eyed Commander. He and Dr. Wells sat in the twin chairs facing Matt’s desk. Matt regarded them with the same interest that a lizard regards the rest of the world. He quickly began to sober up as he listened to his two technicians tell him what they had learned.
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Matt asked, swallowing two aspirin and chasing them with a chilled glass of iced tea.
Dr. Hoelscher nodded and spoke again, “When I took the security team down to the MAGI-04 storage facility, we found two bodies hidden in a floor panel near a terminal junction. Both had been shot once, through the head, and placed there.”
“Okay, so that’s great. We can add murder to everything else Bertovich did. It’s not like he was going to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year anyway,” Matt said gruffly.
“Well, yes, Bertovich most likely killed these two men, but there might possibly be just cause behind it,” Dr. Hoelscher responded.
“Oh? I’d love to hear the just cause for hurting our kids. Because from where I’m sitting, that’s what he did, and I frankly don’t care if the men he killed were Stalin and Hitler, because I want still want his head for that!” Matt growled.
Dr. Wells looked to Dr. Hoelscher and then spoke, “We don’t think Special Inspector Bertovich was responsible for the attack on the simulation.”
“Oh? And I’m assuming you have some sort of proof of his innocence?” Matt said dismissively.
Dr. Hoelscher tossed two open manila folders on the desk, each contained a picture paper clipped to some documentation. “Here’s the lowdown on our two bodies. Len Nakrifs, chief computer programmer and technician for NERV-02, and Special Inspector Richard Palmer, Bertovich’s counterpart at NERV-02. Between the pair, they have all the skills necessary to break into the MAGI-04 storage facility, black out the security systems, reprogram the MAGI-04, and input the psyche attack program.”
Matt looked over the folders and weighed this information, “Maybe Bertovich was working with these two and then he betrayed them. Seems to me that escaping would be a lot easier if it’s only one person versus three.”
Dr. Hoelscher took that in and tilted his head from left to right before speaking, “Well, I can’t discount it, but it doesn’t seem to make sense. I mean, if Bertovich was working for NERV-02, why send Palmer too? It’s redundant and very damaging if all three were caught.”
“Well, I don’t think Bertovich had any intentions of getting caught,” Matt added.
“There’s also the matter of the lost security footage,” Dr. Wells said, handing her tablet PC with the lost footage cued up for viewing over to Matt.
Matt took the PC and he watched Palmer and Nakrifs apparently fiddling with the security locks, opening the door and entering the storage facility. After about five minutes, Jason comes to the door, inspects the security locks, then opens the door. There is another couple minutes of footage of the door then Matt heard the cleaned up audio of two gunshots followed by a light crash. Finally, after three more minutes, Jason exits and walks off. Matt handed the PC back to Dr. Wells and steeped his fingers to his chin. “Maybe, he let them into the facility and then after they did their task he killed them to clean up after himself.”
“Commander, I think you’re letting your emotions hamper your common sense,” Dr. Hoelscher opined. “If that was the case, there would be no need for Palmer to be there. Bertovich would’ve just let in Dr. Nakrifs, so he could’ve done his reprogramming. If Bertovich was aiding them, why would he have them waste valuable time having to override the storage facility locks and the security system. He would’ve done that himself.”
Matt frowned slightly and then spoke, “I’m sorry, as much as I respect your skills and expertise, I think you’re trying too diligently to prove your friend’s innocence. The simple fact is that no matter what happened down there between NERV-02’s operatives and Mr. Bertovich, the fact remains that after it was over, Mr. Bertovich fled the facility, he took Bill Gelinas with him, and he presumably just delivered a very shaken young man into the clutches of some people who are about to put him right back in the cockpit of something that could very well permanently hurt him. If you can explain why he did that and how it was supposed to help us, I would welcome it. Can you?”
Drs. Hoelscher and Wells shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Both looked to each other and then back to the waiting Matt. The red light above the door flashed. A moment later, the door opened before Matt gave permission, which surprised all three.
Standing in the doorway was a lanky Japanese man wearing a wrinkled shirt with a loosened tie, his long hair tied in a ponytail and random sprigs of
stubble littering his chin. The man smiled and gave a small wave, “I think I might be able to answer that question.”
Matt stood up from his seat and looked to the man with angered surprise. “And who the hell might you be? I ask this, despite seeing that you can apparently hear our conversations and break into my office at will, and therefore I’m assuming I’m not going to like the answer.”
The man continued to smile and gave a half-hearted little bow, “My apologies. My name is Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji. I believe you are familiar with me through our mutual acquaintance.”
Matt’s eyes narrowed into a stone cold glare. Dr. Hoeslcher nervously shifted again in his seat, afraid that he may become collateral damage by being in between Matt and the mysterious Kaji.
Kaji held his hands out in front of him as if trying to defuse the situation. “I’m sure I’m not a popular guy with you right now, possibly even less so than Jay, but I’m hoping you’ll hold back any violent tendencies until I have a chance to answer some of the questions I’m sure you have.”
Matt continued to glare, there was an audible cracking of knuckles as Matt’s hands slowly balled themselves into fists. Dr. Wells prepared to duck if Matt decided to fling himself over the desk and at Kaji like some sort of feral jungle cat.
What followed next, was possibly the least expected thing that any of them thought they would hear. A distinctive slurping sound, that of a someone sucking on a straw inserted in a fast food cup, trying to milk the few last precious drops of liquid refreshment. The person making that sound entered the room and that person was Bill Gelinas.
Bill was wearing a Souvenir T-shirt from Las Vegas, the iconic sign splashed across his chest. He had his duffle bag slung over his shoulder and he played a little with the straw and the cup in hopes of tapping a new reserve of beverage.
Matt looked positively stupefied. Suddenly he was no longer sure what he was to do next. Drs. Hoeslcher and Wells, looked equally confused, though somewhat relieved by this development.
“Wha..? Who…? How…? WHY?!?” Matt managed to blurt out in quick succession.
Kaji looked to Bill, who had finally given up on his drink and had tossed the cup into the small trashcan sitting near the door, and nudged him slightly.
Bill looked back to Kaji and then turned to Matt, “Sorry, about bailing earlier. I kinda… um… I needed to get away.”
“Are you okay? Has he hurt you in any way?” Matt asked slowly, trying to gauge the situation better.
Bill arched his eyebrows in surprise. “Hurt me? Kaji? Nah, he’s cool. He treated me to burgers at Mandalay Bay before he got me back here.”
Matt sagged slightly, feeling very confused. “What happened with you and Special Inspector Bertovich?”
“Oh, Jay? No, he didn’t do anything to me. He saw me leaving and we ended up having a talk. He listened to what happened in the simulation and when I said I was quitting, he asked me if that was what I really wanted.”
“Did you?” Matt asked.
Bill weighed this question for a moment, “I wasn’t sure at the time. I felt really confused about a lot of things and I told him that. He offered to take me away to clear my head, said that when he got all muddled in the head, he liked to take his mind off the hook for a day or so. He ended up chartering a private jet and we flew to Vegas.”
“He took a 16 year old kid to Vegas?” Dr. Wells asked incredulously.
“He’s not a saint,” Kaji said with a chuckle.
“Bill, what happened out there? Did he take you anyplace, well, anyplace like here?” Matt asked.
“No. We watched some football down at Caesar’s Palace sports book and then he showed me the Luxor. Oh, and then we had steaks at the Bellagio the size of your head. He got me a suite at The Mirage and that’s about it,” Bill answered, pausing between destinations named to sort his thoughts.
“That’s it? Nothing weird of unusual?” Matt interrogated softly.
Bill weighed this question more thoughtfully. “Well, after he checked me in, he asked me for a set of my clothes and then told me, ‘Bill, I’m going to go out for awhile. My card will cover any room service and movies so knock yourself out. Tomorrow morning a guy named Kaji is gonna pick you up and bring you home.’ He then gave me a code word and said that if anyone came to the door and didn’t give the code word to call hotel security. That’s the last I saw of him.”
“Code word?”
“Melon,” Kaji supplied with a grin.
Matt turned back to Bill. “He took some of your clothes?” he asked, suspicious.
“Yeah, my Scout Uniform. Kinda weird, but seriously, for helping me get away for a night I would’ve given him my whole duffle bag,” Bill said. He then shifted a little with nervous energy, “Um, how’re Kenny and the girls? I kinda want to see them.”
Matt was taken aback a little by the sudden shift in conversation. He was so focused on being furious over what happened to his kids that he hadn’t given their actual conditions much thought. “Um…”
“Kenny is doing much better from yesterday. He’s might be awake now, if you want to see him,” Dr. Wells interjected.
“What about Nicole and Kirstin?” Bill asked.
Dr. Wells’ face grew a little sad, but behind the sadness was a glimmer of hope. “They’ll need a lot of special attention for awhile, but we’re going to work very hard to help them and Sarah. Bill, you didn’t do anything wrong and you shouldn’t blame yourself. By acting as you did, you made it possible for us to get to them and we’re all very thankful for what you did.”
In spite the assurance, Bill sagged his shoulders slightly, but he nodded in understanding. “I think… I think I would like to see Kenny, at least.”
Dr. Wells nodded and smiled warmly, “I’ll alert Dr. Lin that we’ll be paying a visit down to the medical wing.” She walked over to Bill and led him out of Matt’s office, leaving Dr. Hoeslcher, Matt, and Kaji. Matt turned to Kaji, who in return smiled again. “What exactly is going on here?” Matt asked.
Kaji slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’m a little pressed for time and I’m not exactly at liberty to divulge everything, but here’s what I can tell you. Whether you choose to believe me or not is up to you, but please note that your boy is back safe and sound, so I’m hoping you’ll at least entertain what I’m saying.”
Matt nodded slowly and retook his seat. Kaji kept his hands in his pockets and leaned slightly against the far wall. He looked to Dr. Hoeslcher and then appeared to be weighing something in his mind. After a couple moments of silence, he spoke, “Things got really fucked up, Commander. Trust me, there’s no one more sorry that your kids got caught in the crossfire than me. Hawley jumped the gun big time, and by the time I could alert Jay to it, the attack was already launched. When Jay informed me that he wasn’t able to stop the attack before dealing with Hawley’s agents, I advised him of the course he took.
“Jay contacted Hawley and offered to bring him the best remaining pilot candidate. In exchange, Hawley would cease any further covert attacks on NERV-01. Jay then brought Bill to Vegas to give the appearance of bringing Bill to NERV-02. I rendezvoused with Bill at Jay’s drop off point from which point I lost contact with Jay.”
“But, why? Why would Hawley sabotage us like that?” Matt asked.
“He wanted your kids, or at least as many as he could get. If he sabotaged your operations, he could demand their transfer and knowing that you would not turn them over, he was counting on having NERV use military force to storm in and take them, at any cost. Jay discovered this and acted to try and avoid further harm,” Kaji answered.
“Sounds plausible. It fits with what we could gather from the security footage,” Dr. Hoelscher chimed in. Matt shifted his eyes to the engineer and gave a slightly annoyed look.
“Okay, so if what you’re saying is all true, where is he now?” Matt asked Kaji.
Kaji shrugged. “I lost contact with him after he last contacted me with the rendezvous time and drop off point. I can only assume he is somehow interacting with NERV-02, but how exactly, I’m not sure. Right now, he’s acting of his own accord,” Kaji answered. A moment later, his pocket rang loudly and he pulled a small cell phone from his pocket. He opened it and gave no greeting. He listened for a few moments and suddenly his face went ashen. He continued to listen and looked to Matt, “My god.”
“What? What’s wrong?!” Matt queried worriedly.
“Hawley went through with the S2 test even without his pilot of choice,” Kaji answered, still listening to his phone.
“And…?” Dr. Hoelscher asked.
“It’s gone,” Kaji replied.
“What’s gone?” Matt asked confused.
Kaji snapped the phone shut and looked Matt dead in the eyes with a serious expression, “NERV-02. It’s completely gone. Everything within a 89 KM radius of the facility has vanished from the face of the Earth.”
“Dear God…” Dr. Hoelscher gasped.
Matt was about to express his disbelief when alarms began sounding. He picked up the phone on his desk that was a direct connection to the main control room. “Status update? How big a radius? Okay, turn off the damn alarm, but maintain alert status. Inform me when any more news is available.” He hung up the phone and looked back to Kaji.
“As impossible as I wish your report could have been, Mr. Kaji,” Matt said with little emotion, “it seems we have confirmation through more official channels.” He then reached into his desk for a remote control and pointed at the large monitor on the wall Kaji was leaning on. After fiddling with a few buttons, the screen came to life with feed from the main control room's monitors... and all any attempts to bring up video feed from the Nevada branch resulted in was static. Status readouts along the bottom of the screen transcribed attempts to communicate with anyone at NERV-02, and all such attempts went unanswered. Matt then brought up a wide angle satellite view next, which showed most of the Western United States, and the middle of Nevada featured a large blight: rapidly dissipating concentric rings of red smoke, and in the center a brightly glowing radiation that was beginning to dim. It was hard to comprehend the scale of it, but Matt knew intellectually that once the area was clear, the resulting crater would be easily visible from orbit. Matt dropped the remote on the desk and slumped back in his chair.
“My god, all those personnel, those pilot candidates, hell, the near by cities full of civilians!” Hoelscher exclaimed, unable to comprehend the devastation he was seeing. “Sweet God in Heaven, what happened?”
“We don’t know. Everything is extremely confused now,” Kaji answered. “Commander, I wish I could stay and answer questions all day, but I believe the timetable has been moved forward exponentially. Delivering Bill was not the only reason I came here personally. There are items Jay left for me in care of the facility and I need to locate them immediately if I’m going to be able to fulfill my deal with him.”
“Wait, what things? What deal?” Matt asked, confused.
“Jason’s aid in my goals was dependent on one thing and one thing only. He would only help me if I guaranteed the safety of the Pilot Candidates and as many NERV-01 personnel as possible. That is now in serious jeopardy if we do not locate the items he was to leave here in care of this facility. He said that he left them in care of a young man, I believe named Kenny,” Kaji answered, tension creeping in on his previously cool demeanor.
Matt looked at Kaji’s serious expression. He picked up the red phone on his desk again, and this time pressed the hot key for Dr. Wells. A moment later, Dr. Wells’ voice came back over the tiny speaker, “Commander? Are the reports true?”
“I'm afraid I don't have time for that right now, Doctor. Are you and Bill with Kenny now?” Matt asked.
“We had just walked into his room when the alert sounded,” Dr. Wells answered.
Matt could hear conversation going on behind her.
“Is Kenny awake?” Matt asked.
“Yes. He and Bill are talking. Commander, what is going on?” Dr. Wells asked, almost pleadingly.
Matt wished he could take the time to reassure her, but even if he had the time he wasn't entirely sure at present that reassurances would be anything but lies. “Can you please put Kenny on the comm? I need to talk to him,” Matt responded, still eying Kaji, unsure if he was doing the right thing at the moment.
“Commander, is it really necessity? I think we should leave the boys be for the moment…” Dr. Wells asked worriedly.
“I need to insist, I’m afraid. I think Kenny might have information that is of vital importance to everyone and time is apparently of the essence. Please put him on,” Matt said, keeping his tone even and cool.
There was silence for a moment and then Matt heard some quiet rustling as the phone was handed about. A moment later, the tired and quiet voice of Kenny came over the speaker, “Is it true what they say is happening, Commander Atanian?”
Matt winced at hearing his formal title. He really preferred the kids all call him Matt, but he decided to forgo correcting the boy, not that it would do much good anyway since Kenny almost refused to use anything but polite, formal speech unless the situation was dire. He also felt a pang of guilt over brushing off Kenny's concern for the moment, but time was of the essence. “Kenny, I was informed that Mr. Bertovich, the Special Inspector, had left something in your care. I’m sorry, but it is very important that we locate it immediately. Can you tell me what he left with you and where it is?”
There was an awkward pause. Matt tapped the phone a few times to make sure line had not gone dead. “Kenny?”
“Commander, I’m sorry, but I never spoke to Special Inspector Bertovich. We only ever met in passing and I really have no idea what this item that was supposedly left with me could be,” Kenny answered.
Kenny's genuinely confused tone gave Matt the impression that he was very much telling the truth. He eyed Kaji again who arched a confused eyebrow in response.
“You’re positive that no one left anything with you for safekeeping? It might not have been Mr. Bertovich personally, but maybe someone else,” Matt asked.
“I’m sorry, Commander, but no one has asked me to do that. I really wish I could help, but I really have no idea,” Kenny answered, his tone conveying how badly he wished he could be helping.
Matt’s shoulders sagged more as he closed his eyes and sighed quietly. “Okay, Kenny, Thank you for your help. Please get some rest,” Matt said gently.
“Okay, Commander,” Kenny replied.
Matt sighed. Kenny had nothing, and Matt did not know what to do next. He frowned as he began to hang up the phone. But before Matt could place the phone down, Kenny’s voice came through the ear piece again. Matt could faintly hear it over the distance between the phone and his ear. “Oh, and Comman… Matthew… Thank you very much for the flowers.”
Matt's hand halted, the phone mere centimeters from being placed back on its receiver. Slowly, almost as if hypnotized, he brought the phone back to his ear. “What flowers, Kenny?”
“The flowers you left for me. The nurse said they were left there yesterday. The card said that you sent them,” Kenny answered, again his tone was very confused.
“Kenny, are the flowers still there?” Matt queried.
“Yes,” Kenny answered slowly.
“Kenny, will you please read me the card. I know it sounds odd, but I think it might be important,” Matt asked, trying not to sound urgent or rushed.
There was another pause as Kenny placed the comm down on his end and he pulled the card from the little envelope attached to the small vase. A moment later, he came back on and said, “The card reads, ‘Kenny, I’m very sorry for this. Thank you. Matt,’ Oh, and...”
“What, Kenny?” Matt prompted.
“I don't know why I didn't notice this before, perhaps I was still groggy when I first looked at the card? But under your name is a series of numbers and letters.”
“Can you please read them to me, Kenny?” Matt asked.
“It reads, ‘LTSLV4L713’. That’s all,” Kenny answered.
“LTSLV4L713,” Matt repeated as he scrawled it across his desk blotter calendar. “Thank you, Kenny. That’s exactly what we needed to know. You did great, Kenny. When you recover, I’m going to take you all out for the best meal in town.” Matt then hung the phone up and looked at the letters and numbers he just scrawled down.
“What is that?” Kaji asked, looking down at the same scrawl.
“It was a message to me from Jay. He left it in care of Kenny, just like he said he did. This is where your items are,” Matt answered.
Dr. Hoelscher looked down at the scrawl and looked back to Matt. Both nodded in understanding and spoke at the same time, “Long Term Storage, Level 4, Locker 713.”
Matt stood up from his seat and led the others from his office. Matt led, with Kaji and Dr. Hoelscher behind him walking abreast of each other. A short while later, they were in the Long Term Storage facility, a place where supplies and personal items were stored in case of a prolonged emergency lockdown.
Matt followed the signs above the aisles and eventually brought them to the row of storage lockers, each two foot by two foot stacked four high. Matt walked down the row checking the numbers until he came to locker 713. There was a key card lock in place so that only the person who owned the locker or security personnel could open it. Matt swiped his card and used his authorization override code. There was an audible click as the lock tumblers opened. A moment later, the locker’s door popped open slightly.
Matt swung the door open wider and looked inside. Even for a small space, it looked sparse. Inside there was what appeared to be a small laptop computer with some cables still attached and a large box with a lid, like those used to store files. Matt pulled out the computer and the cables dangled haphazardly from it. Matt took a closer look and realized that there was a small splattering of red on the metal casing. He handed the computer to Dr. Hoelscher and then reached for the box.
Matt set the document box down on the floor and knelt down next to it. All three peered down as he lifted the lid. Inside were little blue books, hundreds of them, neatly bundled together in stacks, held with rubber bands. There also appeared to be two or three mini-discs, no larger than the size of an Eisenhower silver dollar. Kaji picked up one of the discs and pulled out a small device from his pocket. He inserted the disc into the device and stared at it.
Matt unbundled one of the rubberbanded bunches and examined one of the little blue booklets. It was a passport. He recognized the face in the picture as one of the medical personnel, a nurse by the name of Angela Manors, but the passport in his hand said her name was Anako Manners. It was a forgery, but a very convincing forgery.
Under the bundles of passports, there were additional bundles of forged documents – birth certificates, drivers’ licenses, even credit cards. Matt rifled through them and then looked up at Kaji who was grinning broadly. “What is on the disc, Kaji?”
“Jay’s contingency plan. Basically he managed to secure new identities for pretty much every person in the facility. New identities as well as instructions on how to get to a secured location he had set up in case of the worst case scenario.” Kaji then pushed a button on the device and place it back into his pocket. He reach into his other pocket and pulled out his phone. He pushed a button and held the phone to his ear. After a moment, he spoke, “Kaji. Delta, Omega, Alpha, Epsilon, Omega, Omega, Six, Eight, Three,” He then paused for a moment and listened. He frowned and then continued, “Evac Level Three. NERV-01. Data to Follow. Priority Code Red. Authorization Kaji Beta Sigma Alpha One Nine Two.”
Kaji then snapped his phone shut and looked to Matt. “Commander, I need a word with you, in private.”
Matt turned to Dr. Hoeslcher, “John, would you please give us a moment?”
John shrugged, “Sure, I’m going to take this computer to the lab and analyze it’s contents. I suspect this belonged to our departed friends Nakrif and Palmer.” John then walked away, leaving Matt and Kaji alone standing over a box of illicit documents.
“So, what’s going to happen? What do we do next?”
Kaji frowned and then spoke, “Commander, In a little under three hours time, NERV and SEELE are going to launch a operation in which every person in this facility will be killed and their presence here erased. EVA Unit-03 will be seized and transported to Japan. The official story that will be disseminated through the rank and file will be that your government, after seeing what happened to NERV-02, will demand that EVA Unit-03 be removed from their sovereign borders and transferred to Tokyo-3 immediately in order to prevent further incidents.”
“I see,” Matt said calmly. “Of course, if Tokyo-3 wants Unit-03, they can have it. Frankly, we’re glad to wash out hands of it. There’s no need for them to seize it by deadly force.”
“Unfortunately, the last thing NERV and SEELE wants is witnesses. It’s simply easier and more efficient to wipe out the entire facility and issue an official lie than try and negotiate the silence of every person here,” Kaji explained.
Matt frowned, “I guessed it was something like that. Jay said we sold our collective souls when we allowed NERV and SEELE to come into existence. He was a prophet, that one.”
“So, in exactly, one hour, my people are going to evacuate the facility and, using the data Jay left us along with the documents here, we’re going to help hide as many people as we can from those bastards. Their lives as they knew them will be effectively over, but at least they won't be dead. That’s the best I can promise you,” Kaji said, a serious look of determination on his face.
Matt nodded and studied Kaji for a moment. He frowned and then spoke, “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“We can’t evacuate everyone, at least not without running the risk of getting caught by NERV’s and SEELE’s forces. There needs to be at least a token resistance cell left behind to buy the evacuees some additional time. It’s pretty much a suicide mission because the other side will not be taking prisoners,” Kaji explained.
Matt listened. When Kaji finished, Matt closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nostrils. “I understand. I will procure that resistance and I will stay behind to buy you the time your people need to get those kids out of here.” Matt then placed his slightly trembling hand on Kaji’s shoulder. “Please make sure that every Pilot Candidate and all female personnel make it out of here safely. I recommend placing Drs. Lin and Wells and Field Commander Porter in charge of this operation once they’re set up in their new location.”
“Women and Children first, eh? A bit old fashioned, isn't it?”
“And they say chivalry is dead," Matt replied with a grin that utterly failed to hide that he was resigning himself to his fate.
“A man after my own heart,” Kaji retorted with an equally grim smile.
“I’m going to ask for volunteers to help buy you time, but I’m not going to force anyone to stay. If any of my people, men or women want to leave this place, you get them to safety, you hear me?” Matt stated seriously.
Kaji nodded and bent down to pick up the document box. He then walked away with it, briefly looking back to Matt, “Be seeing you, Commander.”
Matt watched as Kaji turned a corner and disappeared. “Doubtful,” he whispered to himself. He then looked up to the ceiling above and imagined he could see the blue sky of Massachusetts, “I don’t know if you hear us at all or if you’ve entirely washed your hands of the human race, but if you can indulge me in one tiny miracle, please keep Sarah and those kids safe. I’d like to go to Hell knowing that I at least did one thing right.”
A moment passed and he too walked away from the lockers in hopes of finding those few men willing to throw away their lives in a hopeless cause.
Two hours later, Matt found himself sitting alone in his office. He reflected on how he had sat here just a scant few days ago having a heated conversation with Sarah. How he longed to be back there, facing her angry combative glare.
He didn’t see her as she was evacuated. He didn’t know what to say. He could only hide in his office and watch her through the security cameras. He watched as she and Dr. Lin followed behind the gurneys that transported her sisters to wherever they were going to. He could only pray that one day those girls would be okay and that Sarah would find happiness of her own. He knew that she and the two doctors were the right ones to keep his people and most importantly his kids safe.
He knew it was going to be hard going at first, especially for Sarah considering everything else that she would be dealing with, but he also knew that they would adjust. He also knew that one day NERV and SEELE would be unnecessary and maybe on that day the world would regain some semblance of sanity.
Still his thoughts lingered on Sarah. She was a fine co-commander and she did truly care for the kids as much as he did, which is why he admired her so much, despite her lack of enthusiasm with working with him. He wondered that if in another time and place if they might have eventually found something between them. He then snickered and shook his head sadly at that silly thought.
He decided to stop focusing on the recent past and instead focus on the upcoming future. In less than an hour, he and fifteen volunteers would have to try and hold off a highly trained force of US Black Ops soldiers backed by SEELE and NERV. Sixteen men in all, technicians and security personnel mostly, most of them with no real combat experience.
Their numbers were originally seventeen. Dr. Hoelscher had volunteered to stay behind with Matt, even going as far as kissing Dr. Wells one last time, confirming what Matt always suspected -- that they were an item and probably had been for some time. In the end, as Dr. Hoelscher gave the analyzed laptop to Kaji, Matt requested that Kaji take Dr. Hoelscher onto his team. Considering all he knew about what NERV-02 had done to sabotage NERV-01, he knew that his skills would be better served helping Kaji undermine NERV and SEELE rather than staying here to be target practice for some soldier. Dr. Hoeslcher protested, and Matt was touched by the man's show of loyalty, but in the end that loyalty demanded he follow Matt's order to leave. He reluctantly left with Kaji, knowing that it was the last time they would ever grace each other’s presence.
Matt turned on the large monitor on the wall and watched as his volunteers prepared for the incoming intrusion. He watched with interest as a young member of the security team named of Dan Wellington appeared to be jury-rigging several propane tanks into… something. Considering the number of times he had been put on report for fire related incidents, Matt was glad he was on their side.
He flipped through more channels and observed his men. Men like Derek Provost, lovingly nicknamed ‘The Leprechaun,’ a slightly oversexed technician who was currently spending his last moments loading clips into rifles whilst ogling Miss November in the magazine he carried in his other hand. Men like Mark Albert who was quietly manning the front entrance and who would give the first signal when the attack began. Each of them were men of honor and courage and he was grateful for their service... but also he was loathing himself for putting them in a situation that everyone knew was unsurvivable. He turned off the monitor and got up to join them.
As he walked to his door, he paused. He strained his ears and listened as he was sure he had heard something. He turned his head to the ceiling and realized that he could hear movement up there. He nervously reached into his coat and pulled out a service revolver, wondering if SEELE was opting for a sneak attack as opposed to a full on assault.
The metal vent from his ceiling clanged loudly and fell to the floor with crash of metal. Matt pointed the revolver to the hole where the vent had been. A hand holding a white handkerchief emerged, waving fervently. Matt lowered the revolver and called out, “Who are you? Friend or foe?”
A moment later Jay Bertovich dropped down into the room and held both hands up to show he was not holding a weapon. “Depends, did Kaji come through, and are you planning on using that on me?”
Matt looked at Jay and studied him. His clothes were dirty and rumpled and there appeared to be a dried bloodstain on his lower left torso. His breathing was slightly labored and he appeared to be in discomfort. Despite that, he still wore that same smug smirk that had been his calling card for all the time they had knew each other. “You’re lucky you didn’t show up three hours ago, otherwise I would’ve shot you in the spine and then let Sarah take her time finishing you off.”
“Ouch,” He said, smirking, “I take it that Kaji came through then?”
“They’re all gone to wherever your secret hidey hole is. It’s just you, me, and about fifteen men,” Matt answered.
“Thank god,” Jay said with a look of genuine relief.
“Don’t be too thankful, you arrived just in time to get killed by our government in an attempt to cover up whatever thing that SEELE and NERV felt needed covering up,” Matt deadpanned.
“Yeah, I’m always the victim of bad timing. Well, except when it came to NERV-02. Guess this is Karma balancing itself,” Jay mused, sitting himself down on a chair facing Matt’s desk.
Matt retook his seat. “I'll admit, when we heard about what happened in Nevada, I was worried you'd been killed. What happened at NERV-02, Jay? It was wiped off the face of the Earth. Was that you?”
Jay shook his head, “You got me. I had managed to get out and was commandeering a helicopter when something just sucked NERV-02 into the sand. I assume something went wrong with the S2 Engine test, but who the hell knows. Maybe SEELE and NERV double-crossed them just like us. I just don’t know.”
“So what were you doing at NERV-02? It wasn’t delivering Bill, so what were you doing there, if you don’t mind divulging,” Matt asked, He reached into the mini fridge under his desk and pulled out a chilled pitcher of iced tea and two chilled glasses. He filled both of them and offered one to Jason.
Jay graciously accepted it and took a short sip. He licked his lips and smiled, “That’s pretty good.”
“Thanks. Sorry I can't offer you something more potent for your final drink.”
“It's fine,” Jason assured him. He smirked. “As much as it might be nice to be otherwise, probably better to stay clear headed for what is coming.” He took another sip and set the glass down. “Anyway, I had unfinished business there and I took care of it. Me and Mr. Hawley had some things to iron out.”
“I assume you took care of it the same way you took care of Nakrif and Palmer?” Matt asked unemotionally.
“They hurt Nicole and her sister. I settled the balance,” Jay said, eyes sparking briefly with anger. He then took another sip and winced slightly. “I almost missed this little party you’re throwing here. They nearly punched my ticket then and there.” Jay then lifted his shirt slightly and showed the large gauze pad that was hastily taped to his lower left torso. There was a dark red stain soaking through and he weakly smiled as he lowered his shirt.
“Can I ask a weird question?” Matt asked.
“Sure, I’ll try and give a weird answer,” Jay responded.
“Why did you take Bill’s Scout uniform?” Matt queried, still not sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.
“Just my own twisted sense of humor. They were expecting me to show up with a Scout, so I did. Well, kinda,” Jay said with a sheepish smile.
“Kinda?”
“Well, I showed up with a blow-up doll dressed in Bill’s Uniform. Vegas is a great town, let me tell you. You can get anything at three in the morning. Hawley was mighty pissed about that,” Jay laughed and then winced again. He coughed harshly, covering his mouth with his fist. He pulled his hand away and stared mournfully at the splattering of blood he had spit on his fist.
“You didn't have to come back, you know,” Matt said. “Could have found a nice, quiet spot to ride this out, gotten yourself some medical attention.”
Jason coughed again, and looked at his glass. “I'm starting to wish you did have something a bit stronger to offer,” he said. “Oh well, can't be helped.” He looked up at Matt for a moment, but then looked down before he could bring himself to answer Matt's implied question. “I owed you an explanation,” he quietly said. He sipped the remaining contents of his glass, and slowly put it down. Matt couldn't see that the rim of the glass was stained red.
“Jason, my friend,” Matt said, “we’re about thirty minutes out from the invasion. I should probably join the others, and I would consider it an honor to have you at my side.” Matt then finished the last of his own iced tea in two steady gulps.
Jay coughed once more, this time not bothering to cover his mouth. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. He grimaced and then smiled weekly. “Yeah, about that. Looks like I’m going on ahead to scout out Hell. Tell you what, I’ll tell them all that you’re coming. That’ll give them something to really be worried about.” Jay then closed his eyes.
Matt frowned. Just a few hours ago he had wanted to personally kill this man and now he was playing witness to his last moments, and silently grieving it. Jay opened his eyes again and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small device, similar to the one Kaji had carried. Jay pressed a few buttons and then looked to Matt and smirked, “Leave ‘em on a song…”
Jay closed his eyes, let the breath leave his body, and few moments later, the tiny speaker on the device came to life with the mellow sound of Frank Sinatra crooning his rendition of Fly Me to the Moon. Matt couldn’t help but grin. He went to the coat rack in the corner of his office and put on his black trench coat and placed his wide brimmed black fedora on his head.
Matt took one final look at his office, with Frank continuing to fill the air with his smooth voice. His eyes fell upon Jason. “See you soon,” he said. He shut off the lights and closed the door behind him.
This has been a
and
presentation of:
Of Possible Alternatives
(a.k.a. The God of Copyright Infringement Takes a Holiday)
-------- Part Five --------
by Jason Bertovich
with a bit of fiddling around with by Matthew Atanian
©2013 by Jason Bertovich and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
Perspectives created by Jason Bertovich
Kenny's Laboratory created by Matthew Atanian
Of Possible Alternatives
(a.k.a. The God of Copyright Infringement Takes a Holiday)
-------- Part Five --------
by Jason Bertovich
with a bit of fiddling around with by Matthew Atanian
©2013 by Jason Bertovich and Matthew Atanian
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
Perspectives created by Jason Bertovich
Kenny's Laboratory created by Matthew Atanian