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lavanya_sixChapter 12 - Volcano Day
Chapter 13 - Moonfall (working title)
Chapter 14 - The Great Classroom 2-A Apple Peel-off
The elevator descended into Terminal Dogma.
"You know," Ritsuko said to him hastily, lighting up her third cigarette in the past fifteen minutes, "for someone with an intimate knowledge of our futures you've really managed to fuck yourself over."
Gendo Ikari inclined his head towards his companion and said, "Don't construe my confession as giving you permission for glibness."
"Sorry," she muttered, cigarette dangling from her lips, "but how do you expect me to react to finding out SEELE had me murdered?"
He stood perfectly still, facing forward towards the car doors. He had no need to watch the ticker even if he couldn't already measure the pace of the car's journey from his innumerable trips up from and down to the Terminal Dogma on it. "I have no intention of allowing them to discover the secret of the Dummy Plug this time around."
"Thanks." She stared up at the clicking level counter, breathing in an out through the haze of gray smoke that surrounded "God, I hate this muzak crap. If they're going to play Sinatra just use the real thing."
He adjusted his glasses. "As for my performance, let me just say that I find myself empathizing with Cassandra."
"We're going to need S2 Engines to deal with the 14th Angel, we might even need to bring the Lance into play."
"I've considered that last option," replied the clean-shaven man, "and dismissed it. We would have to use it well before the Angel enters the city limits to minimize damage to NERV HQ from the resulting explosion. SEELE would ask too many questions."
Ritsuko raked her fingers through her hair. She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "When are we bringing in Captain Katsuragi?"
"Not until she's a Major," he replied, "and not until I have the Lance."
"We should bring her in tonight."
"No."
"But the 8th Ang---"
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I said 'no', Doctor."
The elevator shuttered slightly as its rate of descent slowed.
He asked her, "May I?"
Wordlessly, Doctor Akagi handed over her cigarette. He accepted the offering, took a short drag, and then handed it back.
"Don't worry. I have a plan," he said, breathing smoking out his nostrils.
"What? Like your plan not to warn us about the 5th Angel's particle beam weapon? If Misato hadn't--"
"But she did."
"If Misato hadn't," said Ritsuko, "Shinji would likely have been killed."
The elevator came to a smooth halt. There was a pause, then the car's doors opened with a tinny electronic ding. Gendo gestured towards the opening. "Ladies first," he said, a hint of his normal condescending charm leaking into his voice.
The blonde scientist briskly stepped forward.
The pair navigated the twilight depths of the Dogma in silence, with Ritsuko taking her lead from her lover. Several minutes later the twosome approached an otherwise non-descript laboratory. There was nothing to indicate it was anything but one among dozens of other labs abandoned in place after the preliminary spawning and cyberization of Unit-01 had been completed over a decade beforehand. The cold steel door of this particular lab was emblazoned with the designation ROOM 601.
"I keep everything here," he said, tapping his forehead with a gloved finger. "However, I recognize that human memory is fallible with the passage of time, so when I first came back I started a... journal... of sorts to keep certain facts straight." He gestured to the locked door. "It grew."
Ritsuko regarded the doorway with dubious humor. "I see."
He pulled a PDA out of his uniform jacket and tapped out a sequence of commands. The heavy mechanical lock of ROOM 601 shifted with a dull clang. The steel door slid open. Beyond there was only darkness. Thought hesitant, Ritsuko still entered first. He waited a moment, then followed.
The door closed behind them.
=-=-=-=-=---==-=-
CHAPTER 12: Volcano Day
=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-
The elevator descended into Terminal Dogma.
"You know," Ritsuko said to him hastily, lighting up her third cigarette in the past fifteen minutes, "for someone with an intimate knowledge of our futures you've really managed to fuck yourself over."
Gendo Ikari inclined his head towards his companion and said, "Don't construe my confession as giving you permission for glibness."
"Sorry," she muttered, cigarette dangling from her lips, "but how do you expect me to react to finding out SEELE had me murdered?"
He stood perfectly still, facing forward towards the car doors. He had no need to watch the ticker even if he couldn't already measure the pace of the car's journey from his innumerable trips up from and down to the Terminal Dogma on it. "I have no intention of allowing them to discover the secret of the Dummy Plug this time around."
"Thanks." She stared up at the clicking level counter, breathing in an out through the haze of gray smoke that surrounded "God, I hate this muzak crap. If they're going to play Sinatra just use the real thing."
He adjusted his glasses. "As for my performance, let me just say that I find myself empathizing with Cassandra."
"We're going to need S2 Engines to deal with the 14th Angel, we might even need to bring the Lance into play."
"I've considered that last option," replied the clean-shaven man, "and dismissed it. We would have to use it well before the Angel enters the city limits to minimize damage to NERV HQ from the resulting explosion. SEELE would ask too many questions."
Ritsuko raked her fingers through her hair. She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "When are we bringing in Captain Katsuragi?"
"Not until she's a Major," he replied, "and not until I have the Lance."
"We should bring her in tonight."
"No."
"But the 8th Ang---"
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I said 'no', Doctor."
The elevator shuttered slightly as its rate of descent slowed.
He asked her, "May I?"
Wordlessly, Doctor Akagi handed over her cigarette. He accepted the offering, took a short drag, and then handed it back.
"Don't worry. I have a plan," he said, breathing smoking out his nostrils.
"What? Like your plan not to warn us about the 5th Angel's particle beam weapon? If Misato hadn't--"
"But she did."
"If Misato hadn't," said Ritsuko, "Shinji would likely have been killed."
The elevator came to a smooth halt. There was a pause, then the car's doors opened with a tinny electronic ding. Gendo gestured towards the opening. "Ladies first," he said, a hint of his normal condescending charm leaking into his voice.
The blonde scientist briskly stepped forward.
The pair navigated the twilight depths of the Dogma in silence, with Ritsuko taking her lead from her lover. Several minutes later the twosome approached an otherwise non-descript laboratory. There was nothing to indicate it was anything but one among dozens of other labs abandoned in place after the preliminary spawning and cyberization of Unit-01 had been completed over a decade beforehand. The cold steel door of this particular lab was emblazoned with the designation ROOM 601.
"I keep everything here," he said, tapping his forehead with a gloved finger. "However, I recognize that human memory is fallible with the passage of time, so when I first came back I started a... journal... of sorts to keep certain facts straight." He gestured to the locked door. "It grew."
Ritsuko regarded the doorway with dubious humor. "I see."
He pulled a PDA out of his uniform jacket and tapped out a sequence of commands. The heavy mechanical lock of ROOM 601 shifted with a dull clang. The steel door slid open. Beyond there was only darkness. Thought hesitant, Ritsuko still entered first. He waited a moment, then followed.
The door closed behind them.
