Chain 026: Neon Genesis Evangelion

Chain 026: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Location: ̶T̶o̶k̶y̶o̶-̶3̶,̶ ̶2̶0̶1̶5̶  Japan, January 1, 2006 [-50]
Age: 24
Identity: Pattern Orange
Drawbacks: [+800] Uncomfortable Symbolism, A Dark Pantheon, Hark The Herald
(Abilities: Savant; Regeneration; Hyperkinesis; Achron; Judgment Day; Empath; Groupthink; Legilimens; Occlumency; Setup Wizard; Wandless Magic)

[400/1750]  Metaphysical Biology, PhD
[500/1750]  Waveform Anatomy
[700/1750]  Hybrid
[1100/1750] AT Field Mastery
[1200/1750] Pattern Ultraviolet
[1400/1750] Secondary Field
[Free]      Basic AT Field Functions
[Free]      Advanced AT Field Functions
[Free]      Plane Ticket Out Of There
[Free]      Human-Style Progressive Weapon
[1450/1750] Imported Preferences
[1750/1750] MAGI Supercomputer Triumvirate

The first thing to do, when coming into a place like this, is figure out how best to survive. As long as you keep your head down and don't use flashy magic, for instance, it's easy to pass under the radar.

Going out and finding Shinji Ikari, though, that was a little more difficult than things usually seem. Not much, but difficult enough. After all, normally I'd just stumble across the plot and get into it, and instead... putting myself this far back, I had to go out to the town where Shinji and his relations lived and shoehorn my way into his life. I was a quick enough study to find the right levers to blackmail his uncle and aunt into doing as I instructed. Not to mention I had the means to put surveillance on them and interrupt them every time they thought they could get around my blackmail in order to not be kept under my control, just a few moments before they would have dialed the phone.

They shot me, once. Right in the forehead. My body is apparently now a construct that lacks vital organs, so I'm just human-shaped. I'm still me; I can live with this.

Shinji though... he couldn't fight back effectively, and his aunt and uncle weren't OVERTLY cruel. The last time I'd seen relatives this bad, though, their last name was 'Dursley'. When his caretakers decided to cause problems, I quite literally popped in (apparation is handy) and slapped the sense out of them (wandless stunners are also handy). After which point I shrugged, told Shinji that I was from another world, and asked if he wanted to go to space.

(The kid wasn't even six yet. Of COURSE he wants to go to space.)

After modifying their memories, Shinji and I went to a Raptor I'd left planetside; once we were a thousand feet up or so, I jumped to Hyperion and gave him a tour. I've been keeping it parked in orbit opposite Earth, to minimize any chances of exposure, but the kid got to check it out and joyride through the corridors for a few hours, before I offered to start using the equipment on board to tutor him. He was more than fine with that - classes weren't fun and they were boring him. The effects this had ... well, for starters, I grew a quick Shinji clone and sent it to class in his place. I just left its piloting to the supercomputer in my warehouse, who used it to get data on the locals - his guardians never knew the difference.

Meanwhile, for the next eight years, I raised Shinji as I would have raised any of my other children in the past. (Oh yes, I have had children. Did you expect me to be celibate? Come now, I'm a man, I have needs. Even if I am an old man, now.) He learned of what happened to the world - at least, the official records - and received the same education that any of the children would have, back in my old empire. He got the basic implant package at age ten, one that would grow with him, and the programming devices had long since been perfected by the Fifth Imperium to give the equivalent of the education that one could get.

This isn't to say he hadn't had peers. Even if they weren't necessarily... normal, there were generations of human-seeming robots of all ages going through the motions aboard Hyperion. Instead of being autonomous, though, their control had been handed off to the computer and actually managed to simulate whole family structures in a pretty convincing manner. (The MAGI clones had by now been programmed with three instances of FATHER that were left to evolve separately - I refused to entertain its suggestion of calling them Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They were instead dubbed Ox, House, and Camel, and they warmed to them pretty quickly. (Language nerds, represent.))

By the time he'd hit his teens, he'd been going through the Imperium's equivalent of college classes, and though it was still a very general education, it was geared toward the medical fields. Although there are few who could say that they were rated to fly spacecraft, of course, and a lot of what might have been considered "common knowledge" was light years ahead of anything people had locally. After discussion, and telling him what was likely to come... we discussed the uplifting of humanity, to give them an alternative that they could build with their own two hands.

And then one day, the Shinji-bot got a letter that said, simply, "Come". And so, after the remote-controlled clone was put on ice, we did - the both of us. I stood by at the train station with my motorcycle, while he waited for Misato. Which is where we realized problem number one: that wasn't Sachiel, it was the merged form of Israfel. It took its time marching into the city from the sea, happily chewing up everything that was thrown at it. After my being yelled at to get to safety, she took Shinji and ran.

A notice-me-not charm kept Misato from noticing as I followed them on the motorcycle, at least until the armed forces dropped an N2 mine on them - this actually succeeded in getting Israfel angry, and though it did some damage, it also split them into two. The fact that I used my AT field to shield Misato's car from the backlash of the N2 mine... well, it definitely got her attention, and though she was grateful that I helped them, I was under immediate suspicion.

(I told her I'd be more than happy to come anywhere she wanted and as often as requested. No, being at gunpoint doesn't mean I shouldn't hit on her so blatantly, it seems the perfect time, what have I got to lose?)

(Fine, Shinji, I'll stop because you asked nicely.)

A notice-me-not charm later and NERV security completely missed me joining the other two as they entered... and until I dropped it at the appropriate moment, during Gendo's big reveal. He noticed when I gave him a cheesy smile and wave. After which he admittedly he really didn't have time to get things sorted, and instead told Shinji to get in the damn robot. Shinji didn't give an answer, instead calling Gendo Ikari out on his behavior - when Gendo brought out Rei, it was pointed out that they might BOTH be needed thanks to the Angel being .. unexpected.

After a few moments of drama, Shinji accused his father of hiding his sister from him, because the resemblance was obvious and she seemed to be the right age - wondering if he'd been thrown away so that Gendo could raise her alone. And then, seeing her injuries, asked me whether I would help her because she's clearly been hurt. I acquiesced, apparated to her side, and used a few quick spells. If NERV's internal security wasn't in a panic yet, they certainly were when I displayed paranormal abilities.

Units 00 and 01 launched and the battle between them and the wounded Angel was less a proper battle and more a matter of a drunken brawl, at best. Still, it worked - the two of them were fielded successfully, defeated Israfel together after a couple of false starts, and managed to stagger back to base. After which point Shinji and Rei both collapsed of exhaustion and slept for two full days.

In the meantime, I was debriefed (at gunpoint) by both Commander Ikai and Commander Fuyutsuki, where I was more than happy to lay my cards on the table. They were welcome to try to put a bullet in my brain if they so chose, but I pointed out that it would probably not work well. It probably didn't help, however, when they pointed out that they'd seen me disappear and reappear in a puff of black smoke, that the magic I used illuminated my hands with crimson, and that despite my white suit I was wearing a pair of red-lensed glasses. At which point I just decided to completely give in to the symbolism; I took off the glasses, leaned forward, and gave them the most shark-like grin that I could.

"Tell me, when Angels are sent from on high to end you, do you expect them to stick to the script, or would you expect intelligent opponents to misdirect you as to their intentions and purposes? When Angels are against you... when biology is twisted to such insane heights, what better to counter it than pure technology? Indeed, who better to help against Angels than the devil himself?"

Oh, the negotiations took hours, but this is where they began in truth. A number of witnesses who later would otherwise have reported to SEELE had... not particularly great memories of the day. Thanks to the stress, surely. Gendo had doubts initially, but I proved my worth in the end - when one Asuka Langley Sohryu was on her way to Tokyo-3 by ocean convey and an Angel began bombarding them from orbit, a projectile travelling very near the speed of light streaked to its location and vaporized it, a short-lived black hole making certain. (God bless gravitic warheads.)

That was the point that SEELE began to grow concerned, leaving aside the fact that the Dead Sea Scrolls had the order wrong. Of course, they grew paranoid when Angels who weren't even IN the Scrolls started appearing - Barakijal and Ramiel attacking simultaneously... Arael, Turiel, Iblis, and Leliel attacking in rapid succession. Leliel in particular was the point that Misato went "fuck this, drop every N2 mine we have on that thing", and though the mines actually passed through the 'sphere' that was its shadow, they fell into its artificial space and obliterated it handily.

At that point, SEELE decided that the scenario had progressed beyond its control, and when Gendo was not as receptive as they felt he should be, they began launching the MP Evangelions at Tokyo-3. And then after I managed to bring SEELE on board ("No, you won't  be as gods, but you CAN live forever"), the MP Evangelions kept attacking ANYWAY, though fortunately the six Evangelion pilots held them off each time they attacked. Apparently something went horribly wrong and SEELE's equipment kept spitting out dummy plugs until the base was assaulted by the pilots, and thoroughly destroyed.

On the plus side, I fixed Rei/Lilith's soul to be fully intact in her human body, like Tabris' already was. I mean, Kaworu. Who pretty much agreed that since there wouldn't be any Third Impact, the whole thing was a farce and there was little point to it. This may have been due in part to Lilith's body disappearing, Adam's embryo ALSO disappearing, and an impact event mysteriously occurring on Venus (that the public never actually found out about, and which was largely unproductive as neither Adam nor Lilith's bodies had a soul - they'd been anchored in Kaworu and Rei). Meanwhile, Project E was planning on terraforming Mars first and moving forward from there, with Yui Ikari giving Gendo a tongue lashing and receiving one of her own. I guess they had a lot of issues to sort after being gone for so long.

Asuka got her mom back, even if she wasn't quite fully herself, too.