Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Neon Genesis Evangelion: The New Beginning ❯ EPISODE 29: SECOND INTRUSION, A CONFUSED NEPHILIM ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or the First Ancestral Race; however, I own Alpha Omega, Alpha Omicron and Delta Theta.

 

EPISODE 29: THE SECOND INTRUSION, A CONFUSED NEPHILIM

 

Again, the world took on the form of a nebulous cloud, swirling and spiraling. This was strange. It was not the normal state of being for the sleeping world. Rei Ayanami did not dream, she knew, although how she knew this, she could not say. It was irrelevant, in any case. More pressing was the question of why she was here. Was there a purpose to this swirl of nothingness? But that too soon became irrelevant; the swirling ethereal world was replaced by the interior of Apartment 402. The apartment marked “Ayanami”. This was familiar. Not as familiar as it should be, but familiar nevertheless.

 

Certainly the window which she now looked out of was familiar. It was here that the glasses she had previously kept in her possession had been cast down as useless and unneeded. As such, it was most illogical to see them arise from the bottom of the building and fly upward almost purposefully, as if with some malicious intent. Perhaps this state was what the pilot of Unit-02 had referred to as “a dream”. Most unusual, indeed.

 

But, dream or no, the cracked orange lenses and accompanying frame made no move to stop, at least until they were parallel to the face of the apathetic dreamer, at which point they opted to place themselves on her face, somewhere she would never have placed them. Thus, as they fitted themselves over the unresisting countenance of the girl, her vision became somewhat tinted, although this was irrelevant. What was not irrelevant was the man who appeared in her vision along with this tint. A man who seemed to be floating in mid-air, outside her window and regarding her without emotion. Strangely, he wore no glasses, revealing the blue eyes that mirrored those of his offspring.

 

Looking back at the girl through the glasses, which seemed to be sitting on the wrong nose, the intruder smiled, a rather disquieting action, considering its form. Lilith's mask had already cracked; she was uncertain of the appropriate action. An ideal time to exploit the fact that her memories of a previous existence still lingered in her mind; repressed just below the surface.

Considering that the glasses were an excellent touchstone, it merely had to apply a bit of pressure, and then - ah, there it was. A small gasp and slight stagger in the girl indicated the returning rush of memory. Excellent, most excellent. So, far, this was going decently, although it wouldn't do a great deal of good without Adam and Eve's cooperation, as well…

 

Regardless, that could be dealt with separately. Adam couldn't hold out forever, and Eve seemed to be in a weak state - hopefully, that would make her pliable. But still, it needed to tread carefully: what it had seen in Adam's mind had illustrated very well how great of a danger Lilith was, and this was why it was chosen to poison her against Adam before dealing with Eve. And, from the glimpse of her memory that had been required to attain this form, it seemed that it was ideal: her Commander, with a capital C.

 

Now, to see if it could affect the proper persona, slips like those it had made last time wouldn't be so easily forgiven here, it was very certain. Lilith was more observant, more aware. Even in her lapse of control, she continued to watch it carefully. It supposed that it was about showtime, as the Lilim would say, “Hello, Rei.”

 

The voice was right, it seemed, as was the manner, for the girl immediately straightened, her previous respect for the entity's form seeming to win out over her more recent animosity. Nodding in a respectful fashion, she stepped back, obviously allowing room for it to enter the room, despite the fact that it was impossibly standing in midair. Such things were irrelevant to her, it seemed, especially where the Commander was concerned. Superb, indeed. Stepping through midair and into the room, it considered what should be said next. It was obvious that the girl wasn't going to be vocally replying to its greeting, so again it would have to speak. What was it with these children and not talking? It had thought Lilim were supposed to talk too much, not too little! Ah, well. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to appear as someone Lilith herself had effectively killed. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Best choice, it decided, would be to avoid the discussion of that incident.

 

Blast it, this was a very awkward situation it had put itself into, but it couldn't back out now. “It has been quite some time, Rei. I trust that you have been well?”

 

This was greeted with a blank look, but then, this was Lilith, it reminded itself. She didn't understand emotions. She wouldn't be easy to read, even in the confines of her own mind. Still, the monotone reply did nothing to boost its confidence in what it was attempting, “Yes.” No details, of course, but “yes”. Yes, she had been well, never mind that she had turned the Lilim race into a puddle of LCL, right? This was going to be more difficult than expected…

 

“What is the status of the other children?” Well, it thought it had the man's mannerisms down, at least. It was much easier to act as Commander Ikari than as Yui Ikari, a much more understandable persona, to be sure.

 

“The second has sustained injuries and her mental state is questionable. Pilot Ikari has sustained no injuries.” Short and to the point, as it was beginning to expect from her. Interesting how you could almost hear the lack of a capital “s” in second even in the monotone voice, and despite the fact that Adam didn't seem in the best mental state, considering he'd killed off his race and tried to strangle Eve, that she only commented on the fact that Eve's mental state was `questionable'. It wondered what exactly `questionable' entailed briefly, but then decided that could wait - it'd deal with Eve when the time came. Right now, it needed to remain focused on Lilith.

 

Considering that Lilith must have learned her mannerisms from her Commander, it decided that emulating her to a degree would be wise, and as such, it nodded. However, it seemed to also mean being direct, “Very well. So long as the Third Child remains unharmed, you are not to interfere with interactions between the other Children. Is that understood, Rei?” Well, at least it had grasped using their Lilim names now. Well, Lilith and Adam's, at least. It wasn't quite certain of Eve's…

 

But that train of thought was cut off as it realized that the girl had not responded to its order. Her eyes were not completely visible though the glasses, and revealed very little. Her face, impassive as ever, revealed even less. But the silence and stillness revealed indecision, and that was not something it wanted to see. “That was an order, Rei. Is that understood?” It was hard not to shout, really; couldn't these Lilim be cooperative - “It is understood, Commander…” - ah, good. Maybe this was going to go well after all - “…but it is not an order I will carry out. I am not your doll, and I shall not return to that role.” - or not. Damnit all, what was it worth resisting?

 

At this point, the quasi-albino girl reached up to her face and removed the glasses, letting them fall to the ground, her expression still being mostly stony. There were slight traces of resolve, if one knew what to look for, though. As it happened, it did not know what to look for. And now that the glasses were removed, it'd have to touch her in order to prepare a more brutal attack. She would bend!

 

As such, it approached, trying to remain in character, although the simmering anger at the damned stubborn streak in these Lilim was making it hard. As it drew closer, it extended the gloved hand of its avatar up, unconsciously making the same move that Gendo Ikari had done once before, while trying to remove the S2 Organ from the same quasi-Angel. This time, however, the hand did not contain an Angel and merely stopped at skin level. However, the attack was much more forceful than the simple physical thrust used on the first occasion.

 

The problem with this was, however, that there was not an especially large number of preexisting feelings of animosity, negative memories centering on Adam to use. And her face never changed as what images there were began to pummel her mind. This did not mean that the world around them was still, however; now, suddenly, it was another familiar scene; the observation/command center for the room where Evangelion Unit-00 had twice berserked.

 

The entity was quite unaware of this, however, so it came as quite a surprise when a resounding blow shook the room, leaving a great crack in the orange-yellow pane just in front of the girl. It was so surprise, in fact, that it literally forgot its assault, attempting to steady itself…only to be sent sprawling by the next blow, which rained glass inward. Rei was, unsurprisingly, unchanged, even as a blue mono-eyed head shattered the glass entirely. And then, with one final blow, it had destroyed the entity's sprawled avatar, before falling back as it had in reality.

 

With an internal moan of dismay, said entity decided that it was once more prudent to beat a hasty retreat, and, as such, it vanished, releasing Rei's mind back into the agreeable dreamless oblivion.