Evangelion: Broken Mirror
Ritsuki Akagi intently studied the figure that was floating in the clear plastic tube, the blonde haired scientist frowning to herself slightly as she reviewed the data on display. Underneath her white lab coat she wore the form fitting uniform of a NERV officer, stone grey cloth trimmed in red, her stance and posture intent.
Within the clear plastic tube a young man floated fast asleep, light blue hair flowing around an average face. He was physically unremarkable, face unmarked by strain and almost unearthly in it's innocence. Designated Shinji Ayanami he was the greatest hope for NERV, and the weapon who would be pointed at the coming Angel threat.. at least hopefully.
The door to the chamber swished open and the leader of NERV walked up behind her, "How is the experiment going?"
Ritsuko turned around to look at Yui Ikari, meeting the gaze of the beautiful brown haired woman who was standing there. Like Ritsuko she too wore a labcoat but her uniform was colored dark blue, the insignia on her collar marking her as the commander of the underground facility of Tokyo-2. More importantly this project she commanded could very well be the final line of defence for humanity against a alien invasion.
"Not as well as we'd hoped," Ritsuko admitted. Gesturing towards Shinji she said, "We created him using genetic samples from your dead husband Gendo and the Adam entity, but our experiments show that he is limited in his ability to control Evanelion."
"We'll have to manage," Yui said quietly, "I have no wish to see ordinary children endangered in piloting Evangelion."
Ritsuko hesitated then she reached out a hand to rest on Yui's arm as she said seriously, "We may have no choice but to use the pilot trainees, Yui. I seriously doubt that a Shinji will be able to survive long fighting against the Angels."
Tensely Yui shrugged off the hand as she growled, "He'll have to." Without another word she strode out of the room, back stiff and steps fast.
Taken from the private journals of Yui Ikari:
Sometimes I hate my husband Gendo, even though he is long dead. Our expedition to investigate the Adam entity in Antarctica was peaceful, our plans perfect.. or at least that's what my arrogant spirit likes to believe. Somehow Gendo interfered with the Adam entity... and something catastrophic happened: Second Impact.
The research station was destroyed with nearly with all hands, the polar ice caps melted, and around the world humans died in mind boggling numbers. I still don't know who tossed Misato Katsuragi and myself into an escape capsule, both of us coming to rest on a island not far from the base. Frantically I fought to keep the badly injured Misato alive, staunching her blood flow and bandanging her chest wound even as tears flowed down my face...
"Commander," Misato called, the black haired young woman jogging up to her side. Unlike Yui she didn't wear a uniform, instead she was dressed in casual clothes with the rank insignia of a captain clipped onto her jacket.
"Misato," Yui smiled slightly as they fell into step together, looking at the young lady that she had nearly adopted. In the aftermath of Second Impact they had been thrown together by their mutual losses, developing a unlikely but strong bond.
"Are you looking forward to seeing your daughter?" Misato asked curiously, smiling up at the slightly taller Yui.
"Sort of," Yui admitted, smiling a bit grimly, "it's been months since I was able to visit Rei, but the idea of her coming here scares me."
Misato smiled at her, reaching out to gently squeeze her arm. "Rei wants to see her mom," she said to her softly, "understandably so. I know that your relatives have been taking care of her, but she must miss you."
They reached one of the elevators and went inside, each pressing a key for a different floor. "I wish I could get away from here to go see her," Yui closted her eyes a moment, rubbing at them tiredly, "but there's just no way."
"Well, would you feel a bit better if I went out to get her when she hits town?" Misato offered her help gently.
"I couldn't ask you...." Yui trailed off.
Misato chuckled softly, "You didn't ask, I offered." She smiled, "Rei is a good kid and we're friends. I'd be glad to help."
Yui gave her a lopsided grin, "Thanks." She gave her a mildly impish look, "Are you still seeing that ne'er do well, Kaji?"
"Yui!" Misato blushed faintly.
Yui looked amused, "I assume he must be good in the sack, considering he's lasted longer than most of your other boyfriends."
"Gah," Misato stepped out of the elevator fast once they reached her floor, her cheeks red. "I can't believe we're having this conversation," she shook her head grinning.
"See you later," Yui said as the door closed.
From the private journals of Yui Ikari:
In the aftermath of Second Impact I could barely look at little Rei, now barely a few weeks old. Her black hair reminded me so much of her father Gendo, but her eyes were purely innocent in a way that his had never been. She helped pull me through all the pain and grief I felt due to my role in Second Impact, spending my time with her and Misato even as I opened up negotiations with the United Nations.
It was clear to everyone that if there was a Third Impact humanity wouldn't survive, and so NERV was founded to research the earlier Impacts and attempt to prepare a possible defence. In studying Adam and other sources I created the biomechanical being Evangelion... in some ways a complete perversion of my earlier work. I dreamed of healing the body with synthetic parts, but instead I have created a engine of destruction.
Making things more complicated has been the discovery of encrypted files belongig to Gendo detailing his involvement with something called SEELE. At the very least they were aware of both Adam and our expedition to contact it, and possibly they may have even financed our trip. If it's true they may have played a hand in Gendo triggering Second Impact, and hints in the documents indicate they might be pulling strings in governments around the world....
In her office later that day Yui closed the data file, silently musing on all the twists that had come to her life. The sound of a chime got her attention away from her journal and she closed the file as Yui called out, "Come in."
Maya Ibuki nodded respectfully as the young officer set her report on the table. Her black hair fell into her eyes as she reported formally, "The command center is fully online, ma'am, and the city defences report fully operational."
'She's so formal,' Yui noted. "Thank you, Maya," she said as she took the documents, "you've done excelent work."
"Ritsuko-sempai did the difficult work," Maya's eyes nearly shone, "completing the computer integration with the Magi."
Yui fought back her amusement at the young lady's hero worship as she agreed, "Yes, Ritsuko really is something." She studied Maya a moment, "As you know, we're going to need reliable officers in the comand center when the Angels attack... would you be interested in such a position?"
Maya saluted, "Ma'am, I'd be honored."
'Especially since it means you'll be working closely with Ritsuko,' Yui thought impishly. "The with your permission we'll switch you over from technical services," she stood to shake the girl's hand, "welcome aboard."
"Ma'am," Maya nodded happily, clearly fighting back a skip in her step as she left.
A few moments later the door swished open once again and Yui smiled faintly as her guest came inside. "I'm sorry for being so short with you this morning," she apologized, getting up from behind her desk.
"It's all right," Ritsuko smiled as she took Yui's hand and squeezed it gently, "I understand. You wouldn't be the person you are if you didn't want to keep anyone else from being hurt."
"Thank you," Yui delicately took Ritsuko's hand in both of hers. She smiled slightly as she met Ritsuko's eyes, " I think Maya has a crush on you."
Ritsuko stepped closer, her eyes gently amused. "I noticed," she admitted as shestood bare inches from Yui, "I'm trying to let her down gently."
Yui swallowed, her breath coming a little faster. "Ritsuko...," she started.
"Hush," Ritsuko leaned forward, closing the distance to press her lips to Yui's, slinding her free hand behind the other woman's head.
Yui moaned as they drew apart a bit, her own hands having slipped free from Ritsuko's to slide around the other woman's body. "I'm your commanding officer," Yui sighed, "we shouldn't be doing this."
"I'm a grown woman," Ritsuko said, keeping a firm grip on Yui, "and I was the one who approached you, remember?"
"That doesn't excuse me," Yui sighed.
Ritsuko smirked, "I wasn't looking for excuses." And with that she gently pulled her into a kiss once again.
End.
Notes: This was inspired by a comment that there weren't enough Yui Ikari fics, so I decided to try to write one. The premise is an alternate EVA where Gendo died instead of Yui, and it looks at the way things might have gone afterward. I've left this deliberately open ended so that I or other authors could continue it later....