A Simple Girl's Silence (part 4 of 7)

a Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction by Ancient Rime

Back to Part 3
It was a glorious morning. Asuka awoke in her own bed in Misato's 
apartment. She stretched and yawned, her hand reaching behind her head 
to scratch her back. With a lively and energetic step, she hopped out 
of bed, to find that Misato was also just getting out of bed. She 
looked like she had been sleep walking, and was hit by a truck in her 
sleep. Asuka blinked looking at Misato at the intersection between the 
hallways. She reared back just a little bit, and in her normal loud 
and awake voice, spoke her mind. 

"What the hell happened to you Misato?" Misato yawned and scratched 
her head as she walked towards the fridge for an ice cold beer. She 
groaned and answered Asuka. 

"Uuugh... Good morning Asuka." She sat down at the dining room table 
and stared a little blankly, just trying to wake up. 

The prolonged silence remained until Misato's beer finally kicked in 
and her motor began to run. She was in the middle of a yawn when she 
stopped about half way through to speak. It seemed as thought 
something had just come to her. 

"You know that Shinji found out in that flower field last night 
right?" Asuka turned a flagrantly red as her own hair. She immediately 
took the defensive position in order not to make herself seem 
vulnerable. 

"He did WHAT?! That pervert! He better have not taken advantage of 
me!" Misato quirked a brow at Asuka and tried not to laugh. 

"Yea, he found you alone in that field sound asleep." Inwardly, Asuka 
sighed with relief. At least Shinji had not seen her with Rei like 
that. There was another drawn out pause while Misato took a sip of her 
beer. 

"Oh, hey... Did you get the papers to Rei?" Ha, Asuka knew she was 
forgetting something. 

"I..." Just as Asuka began her statement, there was a knock at the 
door. 

"They're here already? Huh, now that's odd. I guess the commander was 
in a bit of a hurry to get this all over and done with." Despite the 
fact that she was rather scantily clad, she made haste to answer the 
door. Asuka's eyes got a little winder as her confusion mounted. 

"What are you talking about Misato?" Her questions only grew greater 
as she watched moving men pile into the apartment. 

"What the hell is this about Misato?" Misato sighed a heavy regretful 
sigh. 

"I'm afraid that you'll no longer be living with Shinji and I, Asuka. 
This is your new residence." Misato smiled brightly, making light of a 
heavy situation as always, and handed Asuka a paper. The address read 
'Block 85: Apartment 100.' Asuka's voice rose into an indignant 
shriek. 

"What the heck is this?! This is Wonder Girl's address!" Misato nodded 
solemnly. 

"You right.. that's because that's where you're staying from now on. 
You better start getting your personal items together. The moving crew 
will take your furniture." Asuka stormed off into her room to begin 
the task, and along the way couldn't help screaming with frustration. 

"What IDIOT arranged this?!" 

The move went fairly smoothly, and two days passed by. Day in and day 
out, Asuka attempted to hide her feelings towards Rei. She had 
remained distant and cold, until one day Rei herself had to wonder 
what the feeling inside of her own heart was. That day happens to 
stand in the present. The blue-haired girl stood at the corner of a 
busy intersection, waiting for the "pedestrian crossing" sign to turn 
green. She stood there in thought, clutching her school bag with both 
hands. As though she were phasing out of this world and skipping to 
the next, like tracks on a CD, Rei kept her eyes closed. The strange 
feeling only continue to irk her. 

Her eyes reopened, and she observed the unmindful masses passing about 
her, as her skirt was swept up in a breeze by a passing vehicle. Rei 
shook her head and kept walking. The feeling was bound to go away 
eventually. But what ... was it exactly? Along the way, Rei passed a 
colorfully painted pet shop window. At first, the only thing that had 
captured her attention was the pale blue, almost gray picture of a 
kitten that was painted on the glass playing in a box of yawn. On the 
box the words "KITTENS FOR SALE" stood out in bright yellow. Rei 
turned to her right, placing a pale hand upon the cold glass. Her 
placid eyes focused in on the Plexiglas cage inhabited by five young 
kittens. 

Watching them play, Rei's eyes traveled to one kitten in particular. 
It had the deepest, brightest red fur; so pure in fact, that it 
resembled Asuka's hair in every way. The kitten stood up on its hind 
legs and playfully batted its paws at another white one. All of a 
sudden, Rei's eyes went a little wider, and her mind skipped to the 
next track. Her eyes shut gently. Visions of Asuka, Unit 02, Combat, 
the Angels... Why was her mind reflecting such horrible things back 
from her memory. She wanted to forget these things! In her mind, she 
questioned mournfully ... Why do I pilot it? Why? 

Her eyes reopened, and looking down at her hands she soon discovered 
why. Droplets of salty tears tell on her hands, although Rei's face 
showed little emotion at all. She stared down at her hands for some 
time, and whispered softly. "Why ... am I... crying? What is ... this 
feeling?" 

Wiping her hands clean on her skirt, her attention went back to the 
small kitten that had brought about the flash back. It sat in the 
corner, very much alone, licking its tiny paw. Rei could sense that it 
was in distress. Although she concealed the ideals of her empathy 
often, she had more understanding than she ever let on to others. She 
looked a little bit closer, upon hearing the kitten's whimpers. 
Staring at the details of its tiny paw, Rei could see a trickle of 
blood saturating the gray bedding of the pen. It was but a drop, but 
the kitten had injured its paw. Rei's eyes turned glassy and the tears 
returned. It hit her all at once, the epiphany was so startling that 
it forced her to cry. It was Asuka, Rei didn't want to see Asuka get 
hurt. 

Her voice rose to barely a whisper. "This is why I pilot my Eva..." 

Rei balled her hands into fists at her sides softly, picked up her 
bag, and entered the shop with utter sincerity. Her red gaze searched 
relentlessly for a sales person, until she had located one. 

"Excuse me," she said in a voice so soft that the man could hardly 
hear her. "I want that orange kitten in the window." 

The salesman offered Rei a jovial nod and a smile. He told her to stay 
where she was so that he could go in the back and get the key to the 
display pen. He returned, opening the cage, and holding the kitten 
above his head. It meowed irritably, and seemed almost frightened. Rei 
wanted to yell at the man. The man suddenly frowned. 

"What in the heck is wrong with this one?" He examined the kittens 
body, lifting up its injured paw. He sighed softly setting it back 
down and looked towards Rei. 

"I'm sorry dear, this one seems to be hurt. Would you like to pick 
another." Rei's eyes were stern and unfaltering. 

"No. I want that one." The salesman stared at Rei, somewhat vexed. 

"Are you certain." Rei did not nod, or show expression, she just spoke 
her mind. 

"Yes." The salesman offered her the same bright smile as before and 
handed her the kitten. 

"Well, all right." Rei followed the man to the counter and paid for 
the kitten. 

"Wouldn't you like a carrying case to take her home in?" Rei shook her 
head lightly and was on her merry way. 

Rei had tucked the little kitten into her bag, leaving the top open. 
She ripped off a part of the inside of her skirt to bandage the minor 
cut on its paw. Upon her arrival at her appartment, she went directly 
to look for Asuka. It didn't take Rei long to find her. Asuka was 
sitting in her room on the phone with Hikari. Rei couldn't miss her 
loud voice. She stood there silently in the doorway with her bag in 
hand. Asuka barely even noticed her, and if she did, she was ignoring 
her. She soon hung up with Hikari, only to notice Rei standing in her 
doorway. 

"Why the hell are you standing there Wonder Girl?" she questioned in 
short, choleric tone. Rei completely froze. How was she to tell her 
what she felt inside if she herself didn't understand it? The only 
noise that was made was the sound of her choking on her own confused 
words. "I..." No sooner than she had spoken that one single word did 
the kitten's head pop out of her school bag. It meowed sweetly, and 
looked up at Asuka. 

Asuka's false world, her fake "self" crumbled before Rei as her 
expression became kind. Her voice was aloft and compassionate for the 
first time in two days. Rei walked towards Asuka, and reached inside 
of her bag, She scooped the kitten up in her arms and handed it to 
Asuka. She accepted it, holding it close to her body, and looked up at 
Rei. Setting the kitten down, Asuka pulled Rei's arm hard enough for 
her to be forced to sit on the bed. Her arms softly wrapped around Rei 
as she pulled her cheek against her own. Asuka closed her eyes, gently 
stroking Rei's hair and applying a soft kiss to her cheek. She 
whispered softly, "Thank you... Wonder Girl..." The two remained that 
way deep into the evening and throughout the night. 

The night was later sent into hiding by the morning sun peeking over 
the horizon. Asuka woke up alone, Rei's spot was totally empty and the 
kitten was sleeping in the shallow area where her body once was. 
Asuka's blue gaze searched the room. Her attention was soon drawn to 
the sound of clothing being moved in the room across from her. 
Slipping to her feet, Asuka went to go and see what was going on. She 
stood in the door frame, and saw Rei packing up a small duffel bag. 
She spoke in a groggy voice, as she was not totally awake yet. "What 
are you doing Rei?" Rei remained silent until she was finished packing 
her things. 

"Today is this month's synchronization test." Asuka jumped to 
attention and ran into her room. 

"CRAP!" The sound of drawers opening could be heard as she searched 
for her plug suit. She shoved it into a bright red bag and zipped it 
up quickly, attempting to dress herself in the process. When she had 
completed this said task, she stumbled into Rei's room, only to find 
that she had left without her some time ago. Asuka didn't have the 
luxury of time to let it upset her though. She dashed down the hall at 
full sprint, and headed towards Central Dogma, NERV Head Quarters. 

Upon her arrival, Dr. Akagi blocked Asuka's path. The doctor seemed 
fairly annoyed, but no less professional than usual. 

"Hmph... You're late, Asuka Langley Soryu." Asuka came to her own 
defense. 

"Hey, it's not my fault they make head quarters so confusing!" Ritsuko 
chuckled. 

"Get to the changing room, there is much to be accomplished today." 
Asuka sighed, mumbled some German term of discontentment beneath her 
breath, and stalked off to the locker room. She saw Ayanami there, but 
virtually ignored her. She instead proceeded to get undressed, and 
pull out her plug suit. She slipped it on, staring at how distasteful 
it looked before she clicked the wrists. She smiled with satisfaction 
when it conformed to her body. Both girls silently exited the locker 
room and met Shinji in the test area waiting room. As the high pitched 
buzz went off, the both made their way out on to the support docks, 
and met Dr. Akagi. 

Ritsuko's arms folded securely about the clip board in her arms. She 
took one step forward and stared at the three children. 

"Today's test will be crucial. I ask that you all treat it that way. 
For the first phase of the test, operations will follow the norm. Upon 
my orders, relayed to you from Commander Ikari, you will disengage and 
begin phase two." 

Shinji shifted to uncomfortably look at his father standing in the 
window above the test area behind bullet proof glass. His gaze and 
thought process was only interrupted by Ritsuko's voice. "Are there 
any further questions?" She stood there a moment to see if there were 
any. With the lack of a reply, she ordered them to enter the entry 
plugs as she entered the observatory area. 

The test began, and all went well. The sync rations were the usual. In 
no time at all Ritsuko's voice came in loud and clear over the 
intercom. 

"That'll do. Begin for test two. Asuka, you will switch with Rei and 
standby in Unit 00. Do not attempt to sync with it. " Asuka's voice 
came over the speaker, outraged completely. 

"That's got to be a joke! There's no way I'm letting her near my Eva. 
Over my dead body!! I'd rather DIE than let that wind-up doll near my 
Eva!" Ritsuko's voice came over the speaker again, this time with more 
force. 

"You will do it. And you will do it now. That is an order!" Asuka 
resumed to brutally struggle, until a shock was sent from the back of 
the entry plug seat to her heart. She fell into a limp state of chock 
and was silenced. Shinji gasped in horror. He knew they wouldn't have 
killed Asuka, but it was measure of his father's resolve that 
disturbed him. The entry plugs were manually switched. Rei found 
herself inside of Unit 02. 

"Rei, what's your status?" questioned the doctor's voice over the 
speaker. 

"All systems are cleared. Condition green." No sooner than she had 
finished her comment did the entry plug refill with oxygenating LCL. 
Rei swallowed whole gulps until her lungs were filled. The test seemed 
to go by smoothly. Unit 02... It felt so safe and warm. Was this what 
Asuka was like on the inside? In this gentle cradle, the womb of all 
of Asuka's thoughts, Rei felt so at home. Was it because she had come 
to know so much more about Asuka's heart in having lived with her? 
Ritsuko stared at the monitor in front of Maya. She gawked at it in 
awe. 

"Incredible... " Misato walked to her from the other side of the room. 

"What is it Ritsuko?" Ritsuko pointed to the screen, and ran her 
finger along the circuits until her finger landed on the last one to 
be turned green. The doctor spoke in a perplexed voice. 

"Her ratio with Unit 02 is two times higher than Asuka’s." The screen 
reflected in Misato's eyes as she stared at it. 

"What is your explanation, doctor?" Commander Ikari shifted in his 
chair, taking prime interest in this new turn of events. Before 
Ritsuko could answer, he interjected. 

"This is excellent. This data will be suffice to configure the Dummy 
Plug for Unit 02 through Rei." Commander Ikari stood before the 
window, observing the progress. A firm smile formed over his face as 
he observed the progress with Rei. This wonderful progress, this was 
what the Commander had created Rei for. 

He was just about to turn to speak to Dr. Akagi, when the emergency 
phone rang. The Commander of Operations, Major Misato Katsuragi picked 
up the phone, Makato's panic stricken voice was coming over the other 
end. 

"Major! We've spotted a large energy mass moving wet due north west. 
It's heading right for head quarters! According to the read out it's 
gotta be an Angel!!" Misato, as always was adamant and in control as 
always. She turned to Ritsuko and Maya. 

"There's an Angel on attack. Put out a code red warning." She turned 
briefly to the Commander for her approval. He stood there like a 
statue as usual, which normally meant that he approved of her course 
of actions. Dr. Akagi was the next to speak. 

"Prepare Evangelion Unit 01 for launch and alert the pilot!" Commander 
Ikari stood up. 

"Cancel that order. Units 01,02 and the Prototype will engage." 
Ritsuko stood back, her eyes were wide. 

"But Commander! Asuka is in a state of cardiac arrest and Rei has no 
experience piloting Unit 02. That's insane! We don't even know if 
Asuka can even pilot the Prototype!" Commander Ikari was unmoved, and 
did not waver. 

"That is irrelevant. Resuscitate the original pilot of Unit 02, and 
send her into combat with Rei and Shinji. Rei's sync ratio with Unit 
02 is more than high enough. We have no time to switch." Misato only 
gave a pleading glance at Commander Ikari. She knew he wouldn't budge 
and he didn't. The orders went about as the Commander willed them. 

Shinji and Rei were both silent inside of the Eva's. Rei's eyes were 
shut, though it felt as though they were open. She could see the image 
of a woman there who looked a lot like Asuka, but had shorter hair. 
Who was this woman? She looked closer, and observed a small child. She 
looked exactly like a smaller version of Asuka. Was this Asuka as a 
child? Rei watched the image closely. What was it trying to tell her? 
What was happening. The small child remained at the bedside of the 
woman who Rei presumed to be what people called a "mother." The scene 
was brutally interrupted by the child running away. 

"Asuka... is this your existence? Is this Soryu's soul?" Rei spoke 
quietly in the corner of her mind. What was this strange warm feeling 
that she was feeling so profoundly, so strongly now? Could it be 
sympathy? Rei closed her eyes, and reopened them to see a doll with 
its head ripped off on the floor. She gasped. The image of the doll 
flashed rapidly with the images of Asuka as a small, crying child. 
What in the hell was going on? 

Despite the fact that Asuka was less than conscience, her mind was 
perfectly active. Her heart was the only thing that had stopped. The 
chemical reaction in her brain had never ceased. This is believed to 
be what allows people to have near death experiences. This is the 
light that we see at the other end of the tunnel, and that was what 
Asuka was seeing as we speak. Ayanami was there, Rei. She stood in 
what seemed to be hospital clothes. It was as if all things were in 
third person. She could see herself on the floor before Rei. There was 
nothing for miles except them, and an endless sea in which it seemed 
that neither one could sink. Rei spoke in a very placid tone to Asuka. 

"What do you fear?" Asuka, who normally would have been repulsed by 
the question answered her with sincere honesty. 

"You. I am afraid of you. I don't want you to know me. I hate you! 
Stop trying to see what a disgusting soul I have! Can't you let me be 
happy with my fake world?! You took my Eva... Do you need to take my 
world from me too?!!" Asuka began to cry, as she held herself softly. 
Rei's voice spoke again regardless. 

"What if I choose to defend you with it?" Rei's image became confused 
with images of Asuka's mother. Those deep blue eyes went wide. The 
devastation and confusion could seep deep with them as the pupils 
restricted. Asuka stood up on her own two feet. 

"You don't NEED to defend me! I'll FIGHT even if it's not with my Eva! 
I'll fight until I'm killed! I won't dishonor my mother!!" 

Rei's concentration along with Shinji's was broken by the soft sound 
that was reaching her ears now. It grew louder, and louder, as though 
it were coming closer, and then it finally reached a point of arrival. 
"Rei! Shinji! Were under attack." It was Dr. Akagi's voice. "An angel 
is on the move. Prepare to intercept. You will be launched into combat 
in 30 seconds.." Shinji violently broke from his meditation. "What? 
Now?!" Dr. Akagi affirmed his fears. "Yes. Now! Get ready to be 
launched." 

A mild shock of electricity was sent through Asuka's back, and her 
heart began to beat again, she awoke screaming, and distressed. She 
didn't remember much of what had happened in the visions at all, but 
she was left with a feeling that she could not describe so she called 
it determination. The Eva's made it above ground, only to see the 
angel looming about as if nothing at all were wrong. It was walking 
carefully around buildings, as if it were looking for something. 
Ritsuko's voice came over. "You are to take out this angels arms 
first, and then go for the core." There were no further orders from 
the command center. 

Asuka took charge as usual. Her Eva stepped in front of the other two 
Units. "Now listen both of you. Rei, you take out the left arm. I'll 
take out the right arm as soon as you take the initiative to attack. 
Shinji, you'll stand by and take out the core when I tell you to. Got 
that?" There was a dismal agreement. No one liked listening to Asuka 
bark out orders, but one had to admit that this was what she was best 
at; she had proven it time and time again. As they broke into 
formation, Asuka sat up in the cockpit of Unit 00. Nothing was going 
to bring her down. Not even the fact that Rei was piloting her Unit 
02. Shinji himself was simply shocked that Asuka didn't literally kill 
Rei and blow up head quarters because Rei was in her Eva. There was 
something different in Asuka right now. Those blue eyes were no longer 
playful, but they had grown forbidding. She watched the other two from 
afar, and spoke in a disturbingly strong voice. "Let's go , Asuka." 

Rei in Unit 02 stalked as quietly as possible behind buildings. They 
couldn't let the Angel know that they were there just yet. She was 
hidden behind a large building. where she observed the Angel closely 
before she even considered going in for an attack. Finally, she felt 
that the position was clear. Rei ran into the scene, and headed at the 
Angel at full speed with her cutter knife, which had been charging the 
while and glowed with radiant energy. The angle turned its head and 
faced the oncoming Unit 02. It growled with surprise, but stood 
exactly where it was, as if it didn't care whether or not it died. Rei 
met head on with the left arm, and as she got closer, she notice the 
large growth on it. As she made close enough contact, Rei was 
repelled, Unit 02 sent flying through buildings. 

The control center was in total disarray. No one had ever seen 
anything like this before. This wasn't an AT field. It was simply an 
extremely strong field of positive energy. Ritsuko watched the combat 
monitor in disbelief. Makoto swung over to another keyboard to look 
over the read out on the data from what seemed to be the Angel's 
"defense" tactics. 

"Dr, Akagi! All of these read outs insist that the force wasn't the 
Angel's AT field at all. It looks like it's no more than a very strong 
positive field, certainly not something that our science has never 
seen before." 

"This is impossible. That cutter knife was designed to stand a one 
time use against an Angel's AT field. How can something as simple as a 
positive field of energy possibly cause something like this?!" 

Asuka, seeing Rei's failure, went for the opposite arm. She charged 
headlong at the right arm with a fast and furious conviction that she 
was correct in her actions. All so suddenly, she lost all control over 
Unit 00. She pulled frantically on the controls but nothing would 
work. Her scared and staggering voice came over the speaker as she was 
pulled towards the Angel and could not stop. The Angel connected arms, 
enclosing Unit 00. The growth on its right arm seemed to open up. As 
the Angel gripped the Eva tightly, the growth began to glow a deep 
violet color, until it eventually shot positively charged energy at 
Unit 00. 

"HELP ME! Misato!!! It’s killing me!" Ritsuko looked to Makato. 

"Switch to the recorder inside of Unit 00!" Asuka could be seen, in 
incredible pain and screaming. Misato went pale, and her eyes became 
wide. 

"Ritsuko you have to do something! get them out of there!!" Ritsuko 
stood back in horror. "I can't. Shinji is our last hope. We've lost 
all initial contact with Unit 02, and Asuka is actually stuck to that 
thing!" 

Asuka's screaming continued as she was shot time after time. "Please! 
Misat-" She was cut off, the tape grew fuzzy and there was nothing on 
the screen but static. Ritsuko stepped closer to the screen and 
observed it, thinking as quickly as possible. Misato pressed against 
the glass of the observation window. Ritsuko's eyes strained as she 
grunted in confusion. She looked between the static, Misato, and the 
Angel's arms. It seemed more like a shaft had been shoved through the 
Angel. It didn't look like it had arms. That pole was made of a 
pliable substance. The Eva’s had been drawn and repelled from both 
arms, complete opposites, like a... MAGNET! 

Ritsuko turned to Maya. "Can we make contact with Unit 02?" Maya was 
probably just as panicked as Misato, but she tried to stay calm 
anyway. 

"Yea... if we use up 90% of the Eva's internal energy to restore all 
contacts in the system. Ritsuko hardly gave it a second thought as she 
replied in a strong tone, "Do it." 

Maya turned to Ritsuko, doubt showed in her eyes. "But Ma'am! If we do 
that, Unit 02 will only have 60 seconds of operating time, even if 
it's hooked up to the cable." 

Ritsuko's eyes became dark and demanding. "Follow my orders." Maya did 
as she was told, and was ready for Ritsuko's next command. "Put me in 
contact with Unit 02 then 01." In no time, she was connected to Unit 
02. "Rei. Listen to me. Attack the left arm. Once you do that, Unit 00 
should fall. Shinji is going to give you a second knife. I want you to 
cut off the right arm with it." Rei quietly agreed. Ritsuko was then 
patched quickly into Shinji. "Shinji!" Before Shinji could really 
react, the knife was delivered to the surface. "You are to deliver 
that to Rei after she severs the left arm. After she eliminates the 
right, go straight for the core by taking Asuka's knife." Shinji 
nodded with enthusiasm. "I've got it!" 

While Ritsuko was speaking to him, Rei had already begun to carry out 
the orders. Unit 01 charged in right behind Rei. Unit 02 rose its 
cutter knife above its head and lunged at the Angel's right arm. The 
arm went falling to the ground with a loud thud as the angel's purple 
body fluid covered whole buildings. Shinji threw Rei the other knife. 
He had to agree that it had a completely different feel from the 
regular cutter knife that all the Eva's had. He slid to the right to 
catch Unit 00, and take its cutter knife. Shinji stepped out of the 
scene so that Rei could go for the left arm. The new knife went 
through the angel's left arm like a knife through butter. Shinji 
stared in complete shock. He had never seen anything like this in his 
life. He soon heard Rei's voce over the speaker. "Now Ikari!" Unit 01 
moved into position as she spoke "Right!" Shinji placed Unit 00 down 
and charged with the knife he had taken from it. He penetrated the 
core, and the angel was soon destroyed. 

Papers flew up in the air, and there was much rejoicing at 
headquarters. Ritsuko slumped against a counter top, holding her head 
with relief. Everyone was so sure that there was no way that the Eva's 
could possibly fight this battle and win, but they had. The main 
concern now was for the original pilot of Unit 02, Asuka Langley 
Soryu. The other two had been sent back home to get some rest the 
trauma of having to fight an angel like that had undoubtedly taken a 
toll on both Shinji and Rei. Asuka was found in little time at all. 
Misato and Dr. Akagi oversaw the rescue operation. 

Misato stood beside Ritsuko staring at the wreckage. As always, 
Ritsuko let out a disappointed sigh. She was never satisfied with her 
work, there was no such thing as "minimal damage" in her eyes. 

"It's going to take a while to clean this disaster up. Thank God the 
injury to the pilot wasn't too severe." Misato couldn't help but feel 
as though she herself was lying in the stretcher next to Asuka who was 
now being wheeled out of the scene; she felt so incredibly responsible 
for it all. Misato almost didn't have the strength to face Ritsuko who 
had saved the day yet again. 

"How'd you know how to defeat it?" she asked, not even looking at her. 
Ritsuko chuckled and pushed her glasses up. 

"The explanation is actually very basic. The Angel's arms acted a 
magnet; one end was positive, the other was negative. The cutter 
knives all have positive charges, as only positive charges can give 
off destructive radiant energy. That's why Rei was repelled when she 
went to attack the left arm. It was positive and so was the knife. 
They act as shields to any type of destructive action. When the Angel 
had Unit 00, the arms connected, completing a circuit. The Angel's 
internal energy went through this circuit through the growth in its 
arm and shot Asuka was the positively charged energy." 

It's a universal concept that all hospitals look and feel exactly the 
same no matter where in the world your journeys happen to take you. 
Had Asuka been awake to feel the insipid constant droning of the 
lights pulse through her brain, or hear that faucet drop every five 
seconds, she would have certainly gone mad and torn past the various 
bandages and IV tubing blocking her path. Those deep blue eyes were 
shut, and she was silent. Most of the world thought they would be glad 
and relieved to see Asuka so silent, but there was an intense remorse 
felt all over head quarters. The environment was stagnant with out the 
flame of Asuka's passion, and those around her were beginning to long 
for that. 

Rei sat in the window seat beside Asuka's hospital bed. She had sat 
there for several days, refusing to partake in any training. When 
questioned as to why she would not leave her place, she simply would 
not answer any questions. She sat there silently, listening to the 
birds chirp, and watching a single drop of fluid drip into the IV and 
travel through the tubes at a time. In staring at Asuka's lifeless 
body, thoughts ran through Rei's mind. 

The passage of time, so slow. She is here, and so am I. "I" ... it's 
such a strange and fickle name for that which is me. Who am I? Who is 
she? What is this which I feel? Compassion... Is this what a heart 
feels like? The heart, red like the blood that flows through it. I 
cannot hate that color any longer, because it is a part of me, as I am 
a part of it, as it is a part of mankind. Humans... What are humans? 
Are they creations of God? Do humans exist because they were created 
by their own minds? Who am I...? 

The question to end it all seemed to linger eternally in the corner of 
her mind, echoing across time and space. For the first time in an 
entire day and a half, Rei stood up on her feet. That was just it. 
This is why she felt such compassion towards Asuka that she could not 
explain. She was trying to find out exactly who she was. She had a 
quest now, one that she would not abandon, and the only purpose that 
she could find in her life. She wanted to know who she was, and that 
she would accomplish. Rei stepped forward towards Asuka. Those deep 
amber eyes stared down at her, and she smiled, so lovingly soft that 
it could have been felt in Asuka's dearest dreams. She leaned over and 
kissed the cheek that had not the red blush of vitality of its former 
self. Rei turned her back quietly, to Asuka and began her quest for 
the truth along a narrow and frightening path. Careless curiosity, 
such is the only path to truth. 

Onwards to Part 5


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