Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Second Coming ❯ A New Life Resumed ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: A New Life Resumed

 

The sunlight coming into the room again woke me the next day. The opened manual lay in my lap where it'd fallen when I drifted off to sleep late at night, during my third reading of the stupid thing. It was a ridiculous waste of trees. I knew more from the Red Cross Book than I got from the NERV manual.

My bladder announced its status shortly after my brain woke up. "Shit," I murmured, hopping out of bed and hurrying to the bathroom. As I sat down and emptied myself (I'd only forgotten and kept standing once), I thought of what today might bring.

Flight time from Toronto to Vegas, about 3 or 4 hours. Janet flight to Area 51 or whatever, let's say maximum of 45 minutes. Entry and indoctrination, 2 hours?

Depending on when my new employers arrived, I could be staring down Eva 03 by dinner time.

The look on your face when you realize you're in charge of a 200-foot-tall, 4000-ton biomech: Priceless, my mind completed the cliché. I smirked.

As I was cleaning up from using the bathroom, I looked up from the mirror into the eyes of the young woman looking back at me.

"Well, Jill," I murmured, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

Live every day like it's a gift, a line from a movie came to me. As I thought back to what had transpired to bring me to this place, I realized it rang true for me as well, even doubly so - first as Jack, whose soul survived to then become Jill, whose constitution was strong enough to pull her through a grave injury and give her the opportunity of a lifetime.

"I'm ready," I told my reflection.

 

The two agents arrived again just after eight, with a duffel bag which was handed to me. The nurse had been in not long before and removed the EKG/EEG pads, BP cuff, O2 sensor, and other devices, so I was finally untethered. As she'd been detaching everything, I smirked and mentally likened it to running around Tokyo-3 with a giant extension cord latched to my Eva's butt.

I wasn't smirking when I saw the contents of the duffel bag. "A little stereotypical, don't you think?" I murmured.

"Problems, miss?" came the voice of Shirobu, outside the bathroom door.

"Couldn't you guys have given me some more choices?" I complained.

"Standard issue, miss. Please, get dressed so we can go."

I pulled out the black turtleneck shirt, which wasn't the problem. The bra and panties were fine, too - at least I had something to put on in that regard, which I hadn't since waking up. The problem was the outerwear for my lower half, consisting of a khaki-colored, knee-length skirt. In the bag also was a blazer-type jacket, and once I extracted it and held it up, I realized it was a NERV uniform, similar to what Maya Ibuki and the like would wear.

"My first ever set of clothes ends up being something like this. Great," I mumbled, hopefully low enough my chaperones wouldn't hear. I stepped into the skirt, realizing finally that the buttons went to the back, not the front. There were at least socks, and flat-soled slip-on shoes. As I shrugged the blazer on, I decided it wasn't a bad fit after all, and looked okay if the mirror above the sink was any indication. I still felt like I wasn't wearing anything below my waist, and my legs were chilly, but I had to tell myself I'd get used to it. And, truth be told, I had a feeling that I'd undoubtedly give in to the temptation and try 'girl clothes' sometime soon, just for the sake of curiosity on how it felt - I just didn't expect to have to deal with it quite so immediately.

The reason I didn't walk out wearing some of Jill's own clothes, by the way, was that apparently everything she owned had been obliterated in the crash. I'd read up on the crash in the meantime, and found that 'our' car had been towing a U-Haul trailer; evidently we'd been moving house or something. Nothing was left in a recoverable form or fashion.

I opened the door and smiled brightly, as if I was perfectly content with my situation. "Ready," I told Shirobu.

"This way, please," he said, ushering me ahead of him, so I'd be between him and Gregory. The three of us left the hospital room and marched down the corridors towards the main entrance. I tell you, if standing in a skirt was a distraction, walking in one was purely brain-breaking. I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing things right, and if the glances from staff and patients alike were because I wasn't walking like a girl, or simply because I was a uniformed person being led out by men in black.

I hoped Shirobu wasn't behind me aiming to break dozens of laws by ogling underage ass.

 

I was pretty close on the timeline; we left for Vegas on a commercial jet around nine-thirty, getting into the jewel of the desert at 10:03. Confused? Don't forget the three-hour time difference. Instead of the American government's officially non-existent Janet Air, we took a chartered business jet the rest of the way to where ever the Nevada site was. Once on the ground, I was ushered to a briefing room, where, after a few dozen minutes' waiting, in came Dr. Andrews and another person I didn't recognize.

"Pilot Candidate Thomson," Dr. Andrews spoke up as she came in, and I felt compelled to stand at attention. She chuckled and gestured me back down. "This is not the military; you're not required to salute or anything like that."

"Sorry, ma'am," I said, sitting back down, remembering to smooth out the skirt properly and keep my legs together.

"Dr. Andrews will be fine," she corrected me. "This is Dr. Leo Sarrazin, interim director of the First Branch."

"Good afternoon, Doctors," I said with a nod. French involvement, I mused. Interesting. I commented, "First Branch? As in Massachusetts?"

"No," he said with a curious expression. "As in Nevada."

"Massachusetts?" Dr. Andrews echoed, eyeing me with concern, as if she was concerned for my mental health.

I blinked. Apparently things weren't set up in this world as they were in the Evangelion timeline I was familiar with. Oops. "My mistake. I thought I'd heard that there was another branch here in the States."

"Not at this time," Sarrazin said evenly, eyeing me. "Although one is in the planning stages."

Dr. Andrews cleared her throat. "Did you read your introduction manual?"

"Yes, cover to cover several times," I confirmed. I bet I could have cited paragraph and page from it at that point.

"Good. Now, forget most of what you read."

I was half-prepared for that. "It did seem a little.. 'meatless', if you get my point," I commented.

Dr. Sarrazin nodded. "What you need to know isn't covered in any book. It won't be printed out or written down. Your training will inscribe it upon your memory to the extent that you will be able to perform your tasks instinctively. This is absolutely vital for you to succeed."

"I understand," I said.

"Before we do any of this," he went on, "we must familiarize you with the base and its procedures."

Right on time, I thought, ticking another item off my timeline, nodding in reply to the doctor.

"In your manual you should have found your ID card. You will go to Security and have your photograph etched onto it. Security will provide you with a map of the facility which you will use until you have memorized the entire layout. Having done that, you will locate your quarters and drop off any unnecessary items there before proceeding to the Learning Center, where you will sign up for appropriate classes to equate to secondary schooling of your grade level. And lastly, you will proceed to the Cage."

"The Cage?" I asked, my heart jumping, since I was pretty sure I knew what it meant.

Sarrazin only gave an enigmatic smile. "You will see," he responded.

 

And they say this isn't a military outfit? I wondered to myself as I headed towards Security with my strictly ordered list in mind. Of course, I knew that to be bullshit; NERV was the epitome of military in most respects, and I didn't want to test how far that went. To be frank, I was living every fanboy's dream; I was going to pilot a 'giant robot' and I was involved with a secret agency.

The fact you're doing it wearing a skirt is immaterial, I quipped, still feeling a draft.

Finding Security was easy; I had been given explicit directions, the only time I would be assisted in locating something on-base. Much like any other company or organization, they had a photo ID printer and camera set up in a little side room where I sat, forcing a smile onto my face, hoping it didn't look too goofy; then blinked the acid-blue spots from the flashbulb out of my eyes, while the printer worked on committing the photo, good, bad, or otherwise, to the plastic magstriped card.

 

I screwed up my face in a half-frown, walking down the corridor with my ID card in one hand and the newly procured map in the other. I was looking at the photo on the card, which looked all right, but wasn't perfect, as everyone feels their photos are. I clipped the ID to the flap of my left breast pocket and consulted the map fully, looking for my new home - room 5216.

I learned soon enough that that meant it was in the second floor of building 5, so I flipped the map over to figure out which one was building 5, and found that the apartment-block-style building was completely on the other side of the base. Lovely, I frowned. I didn't like walking, although Jill had a much easier time of it than Jack did fitness-wise. Furthermore, it looked like all the buildings were separated by no less than a 100 meter space on all sides, so it would be a rotten place to get caught if it rained or a dust storm kicked up or whatever.

Jogging along as fast as my skirt would let me, I hurried out across the pavement, the heat of the day burning down on me and the winds from the desert blowing across the base, sending my hair whipping in front of my face and my skirt hem flapping about. I luckily held on to all my paperwork and such, and cursed when I got to building 5 and figured out that all the buildings were connected with covered walkways on the second floor level, and I could have been inside all the time.

Stomping up the stairs to the second floor, trying to sweep my hair back into place and brush out any sand that had been blown into places I could reach, I found myself directly across from the last room on this end of the floor - room 5216. At least that's going in my favor, I thought.

The door had no keyway, and it dawned on me I hadn't been issued a key anyway. It did have a thin slot on a silver pad where the doorknob should have been, so I put two and two together and got four. I pulled my ID card off my blazer pocket, and shoved it in the slot until I found the right way around. A ker-chunking noise preceded the door popping open an inch or two.

"Voilà," I said with a flourish, nudging the door open with my elbow while I clipped my ID card back to my jacket with the other hand. The room looked like an unused hotel suite - fresh, brand new sheets and pillows on a large, clearly comfortable bed; a closet up front near the exit door; a bathroom with a full shower and bathtub, separately; a small kitchenette with microwave, mini-stove, half fridge, and freezer; a large LCD TV/computer console atop a work desk at the foot of the bed; and windows on both exterior walls, clearly (pun unintended) a perk of having a corner suite.

I resisted the urge to flop on the bed as I usually did in hotels. Instead, I dumped everything in my arms onto the desktop and went into the bathroom. I still had some.. issues, resulting from the little sandstorm I'd been caught in outside. I got sand in places I didn't even know I had places, I groused, giving me another reason to dislike skirts.

While I was shaking out my clothes and having a quick shower, I realized that being a girl was likely another gift from the being that had given me a second chance. Not a cruel joke or a mixup, but a true, genuine reward. Well, maybe reward isn't the word I'm looking for. The point is, I had learned a ton in a few short days; I was already appreciative of a lot more about how girls have to live in our society than I had been at any time as Jack. That sounds like a 'duh', but it's the truth. Furthermore, talking about it allows me to conveniently skip talking about what I did while lathering up my body in the shower.

 

On my way again, sandless and feeling fresh and rejuvenated, I found my way to Building 17 and the education center. I suspected I was one of the very few, or the only, person under age 18 on the base. Therefore, it simply wasn't cost-effective to run an entire school program as it was in Japan for the other Children. (Never mind that I'd forgotten the true reason for the Children's class of students in any case.) Learning here was to be carried out by self-taught modules loaded onto the desktop computer in my suite, learned at my own pace.

I had no grand ideas that they'd let me skip any of it simply because I'd graduated not only high school but college in a past life. So I picked a handful of courses that were easy enough to complete without much effort, but comprehensive enough to meet their idea of a total schooling. There were some courses they required I take that I didn't have, and they went on the list; in addition, I took the advantage to get a couple things electively.

"Mathematics Advanced, Physics Advanced, Fitness 2, Japanese, Marksmanship.." the woman at the learning center said, going through my selection of discs to make sure I'd picked up all the mandatory things. After checking them off, she moved to my electives.

"History 2, World Politics 1, Fitness 3, and German," she said, looking over her glasses at me.

I shrugged and smiled. "Might come in handy," I replied.

 

My heart was in my throat as I went to my next stop - after, of course, dropping off the DVDs at my suite; why didn't the course selection come before my stop there? - which was the so-called Cage. Seeing as how there were no 20 to 40 story buildings visible when I made the trek outside, I supposed that Building 49 was largely underground, to handle the bulk of an Eva.

I was right; 49 was two stories tall aboveground and at least 30 stories under the surface, if the elevator panels were any indication. As I walked through the third (belowground) floor, heading to where the Cage was on my map, I realized there was a hushed silence preceding me and closing up behind me, as if everyone was awed by my presence and began to briskly chatter about it just as soon as I'd left their earshot. I tried not to blush; still, being the star of the show was a little humbling.

Dr. Andrews was waiting when I finally got to the secured Cage entry. "Where have you been?" she asked, not casually, but not angrily either.

"I couldn't resist taking a shower; sorry, it's the first chance I had in forever," I apologized.

She tch'ed. "You're going to need one once we're done here anyway. You should have waited," she said. That confirmed my suspicions - Eva 03 was just beyond the next door.

I was directed towards a change room and instructed to put on the suit I found there, and given instructions on how to do it up. I knew what I was getting into, figuratively and literally, but I wasn't supposed to, so when the doctor carried on about how I needed to follow instructions no matter how embarrassed I got, I just nodded and let it roll off me.

As I expected, inside the next room was a plugsuit in a plastic-wrap baggie. Ripping open the baggie, I found that the suit wasn't Lycra, Spandex, or anything similar as I'd always thought, but was some kind of plastic, both rigid and malleable at the same time. It was dark gray with black trim in places, and "03" stenciled over the area that would cover my breastbone.

Climbing into it after undressing and voiding myself (could one even 'go' in the entry plug?), I took a deep breath and made sure everything was in place before I tapped the control on the left wrist.

With a ssshnk noise the entire suit shrank to fit my form quite snugly - in fact, a little too snugly. It would expand and 'wear in' after time, much as a new pair of shoes would, but for the time being, it was a little uncomfortable.

Looking in the mirror, I couldn't help but blush. How can a 14 year old's body look this way? I wondered, staring at the curvy form in the mirror. Even my breasts looked larger and more defined.

"Miss Thomson," Dr. Andrews called. "Are you done yet?"

"C-coming," I stammered, having been caught off guard. I turned and hurried to the Cage entry, not noticing how the plugsuit allowed great ease of movement yet kept things from bouncing, if you get what I mean.

 

I was handed a band with two dark gray plastic/ceramic triangles on it when I got to the Cage door.

"Oh, shit, I almost forgot about these," I blurted out. "Er, I mean, thank you."

As I was trying to figure out how to put the hairband/neuroclips on, Dr. Andrews raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Forgot about them?" she asked.

I kicked myself mentally again. "Uh, yeah.. they're in the book somewhere. I know I've read about them. They help with my control, right?"

"They amplify your neural signals to assist with synchronization, yes," she said evenly. "By the way, please avoid use of profanity here."

"Sorry," I said, blushing.

"We are going to be putting you in something called a simulation plug," she said. "It is like the cockpit of the Evangelion, only connected specifically to supercomputers instead."

"A simulation plug?" I echoed, my heart sinking. Did that mean I wouldn't get to see 03 today?

"The cockpit you will be using is loaded and unloaded from the Evangelion with you inside," she explained the design of the entry plug to me. "Its design allows it to be adjusted to allow for better harmonics or signal penetration, or removed entirely in case of the imminent destruction of the Eva."

"Great," I said, trying to sound unconcerned, even though I knew all this by heart already.

"There's one more thing. It's filled with liquid while you're inside it."

I blinked for effect and decided to have fun with the doctor. "Y-you mean, like what.. I'm piloting an aquarium?"

She smiled. "No, not precisely. The liquid is called LCL. It has special properties that allow for enhanced nerve response and increased reception, plus, it has the added benefit of being able to oxygenate your blood directly."

"What? Wait! How can it oxygenate my blood directly?"

She smiled, thinking she was about to surprise me. "Because you'll be breathing it instead of air. Don't worry, your body can handle it. It did so for nine months in your mother's womb."

"Oh," I said, acting confused yet relieved. "I think I saw that in a movie once."

"Perhaps," she smiled, "but not like this."

She led me to a test room that was off to the side of the Cage itself; we never even approached the door. In the test room was a single simulation plug, sitting at an angle as I'd expected, laid out much like I'd seen in the anime. I walked over to it after she'd introduced me to the technicians in the control room.

"So I get in here?" I asked, before stepping in.

"Yes," she said. "It'll fill after you are sealed inside.

"No seat belts?" I quipped, sitting down and leaning back to connect the suit to the seat.

"You'll be hydraulically restrained," she smiled. I nodded, never having thought of the LCL's benefits in that particular regard. She went on: "The controls are largely self-explanatory, especially once you start getting feedback from the Evangelion, or, in this case, the simulation body. Make sense?"

"Yes ma'a.. I mean, Dr. Andrews," I nodded.

"Good," she smiled, and leaned away from the plug. "Close the simulation plug," she called out.

I tossed a friendly wave as the coffin-like lid motored into place and slid home. In moments, a faint red glow from an unseen source lit up the working area of the plug.

"Are you ready?" came what I thought was Dr. Andrews' voice through a horribly distorted speaker.

"I.. yeah," I said, truly unsure of how to answer, and eventually just speaking into thin air.

"Commence LCL flow," the speaker said in garbled tones, and the sticky, soupy orange stuff started flooding into the plug. I fought the intense desire to keep my head above it, and instead sat as still as I could, hands on the grips, butt in the seat, and blinked my eyes back open after I'd reflexively closed them when the level reached my head.

"Take it in," the speaker said, a little easier to understand. I opened my mouth and exhaled, bubbles racing upwards past my face; the next sensation was the oddest thing I have experienced before or since. Feeling LCL enter my body and flow into my lungs was bizarre, and yet at the same time, I suddenly felt quite awake and alert.

"Oxygen saturation 100%," came the still-slightly-distorted voice. "Congratulations. That's the fastest I've ever seen anyone adapt."

"I feel like I'm going to puke," I complained.

"It'll pass," came the reply. To someone else, she said, "Program the language logic interface for English. Good. Provide current for LCL phase shift."

Wha.. current? I thought. Current means voltage means electricity. I opened my mouth to protest when suddenly a rainbow effect appeared in the plug, and the sensation of floating in a liquid was gone. I was clearly still breathing fluid, but everything seemed to be clear and unobstructed all of a sudden.

"Is that better?" Now the voice was definitely Dr. Andrews, and clear as a crystal bell.

"Um.. much," I acknowledged. "It's like night and day."

"Good," she said. "Get ready; we're going to begin. Okay, people, let's go to the A10 level to start with." The speaker went silent as the technicians began their work.

Suddenly I felt an itching in my arms. The itching was swiftly replaced by the sensation that they were asleep. I was about to pull them off the throttles/grips to rub them or shake them out, when Dr. Andrews warned me, "Don't move for a moment. You should start to feel the sensations of the simulation body any time now."

"I think I already do," I told her, describing my condition.

She agreed. "That's good. It means things are working."

"A10 nerve connection normal," a male tech was heard in the background. Andrews answered him with, "Proceed to absolute borderline at a rate of 0.025," then said to me, "We're bringing it up a notch now. Remain calm."

"Roger," I acknowledged, marveling at the odd reception I was getting. Suddenly I felt my legs go through similar sensations that my arms did.

"Check list up to 2580.. Absolute borderline in 0.775 .. 0.625.. 0.475.. 0.325.. 0.225.. 0.125.. 0.075.. 0.05.. 0.025... and absolute borderline has been reached," the male tech called out.

"How do you feel now?" Andrews asked me.

"I've picked up the simulation arms and legs, I think," I told her.

"Good," she repeated. "This is the fun part." To her colleagues: "Proceed."

I blinked and shivered a little as everything started to feel strange. The breasts I'd still been getting used to felt like they had been taken back, even though I could look down and see them still rising and falling with every fluidic breath. My neck felt a little stiff as I looked around a little.

Finally someone said, "Thirteen point five."

Andrews hmm'ed. "Jillian? Can you concentrate on flexing your fingers please? In your mind, not physically."

I did as requested, and felt a little spike in my sensations. "Thirteen eight," came the male voice again. "She has control. It's not pretty, but.."

"It'll do," Andrews told him. "Bring it back down." To me: "That was excellent, Jillian. Well done."

"That's it?" I asked.

"For now," Andrews confirmed. "All we were doing is ensuring you could synchronize. That's been confirmed. Baby steps, Pilot."

"But thirteen point eight.. was that my sync ratio?" I asked. "I know I can do bett--"

"Baby steps," Andrews interrupted. "Walk before you can run."

"All right," I said dejectedly.

"It's going to feel strange for a moment while we de-energize the LCL and drain the plug. You'll have to cough up the fluid as the plug drains - don't fret about where it goes or what comes up with it. It'll be dealt with."

"If you say so," I responded, already hearing the speaker click off and the pumps' motors spool down. In a moment, I knew what she meant by 'whatever else comes up with it'; when I evacuated my breathing passages of LCL, all the mucus and stuff .. well, snot .. from my nasal passages came with it. On the positive side, I'd never had a clearer airway. On the other hand, all the stories were right - everything reeked of blood.

I climbed out of the plug, after getting the bright idea to squeeze and wring my hair into the rapidly draining pool of LCL and crud at the bottom of the plug. At least it wouldn't be dripping everywhere.

Dr. Andrews greeted me. "That was excellent," she repeated. "How did it feel?"

"Weird," I said, telling the truth for one of the first times since I'd become a NERV employee. "And yet at the same time, exhilarating."

"I know," she smiled. "The rest of the day is yours. Go wash up and settle in to your new digs."

"Um," I began, not knowing if breaching the subject was taboo. "I thought the Cage was where the Evangelion was stored."

"It is," she said, turning back to look at me with a curious expression.

"Is there.. any reason why I haven't been taken to see it yet?" I queried.

 

The scene was largely like what Shinji had experienced in the first episode, though without the dramatic snapping-on of lights, nor the despised father figure sneering down from above. (Nor the barely ambulatory fellow pilot being wheeled in, but I digress.) Eva 03 looked strikingly similar to 01 (less the horn) to me, but all black and dark blue instead of purple, and with silver trim. All I could see of it - of her - was the head, at this point, the two eyes unblinkingly staring back at me.

I do hope you're not infused with Bardiel already, I silently prayed. After a moment, I thought, I wonder who you are. Who's within you?

No answer came back, of course.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Andrews asked, causing me to jump slightly. I had forgotten she was beside me.

"Quite a feat," I agreed, looking back at what I knew was a helmet, not an armored head unit.

"Oh, it's far from complete at this point," Andrews shrugged. "Work is still progressing far below the surface." She gestured to the purple sea surrounding the creature.

"Still.. it's a rather awesome sight," I replied, using the word in its true meaning, not the slang term.

"Indeed," she nodded. "There are two in Japan now, one in Germany, and this one here. And one yet to be built here at a later date, likely here."

"Wow," I said, now lapsing back into the charade of disbelief. "All like this?"

"Of sorts," she said noncommittally. "One is the prototype, one is the test type - you saw that one in the video - and the other is the full production model. The third one I just described is the one most like yours."

"And the rest, I presume they'll be evolutions based on this?" I asked, gesturing to 03.

"Correct," Andrews said. "For now, though, let's just focus on your piloting training.

"Okay," I nodded. "Thank you for showing me."

"Quite all right," the doctor replied. "We'll see you in the morning."

I nodded and started to walk back to the doors that would take me to the showers. Before I left, I turned to face 03's visage one more time.

I hope we get along, I thought, partly to myself, and partly to the Eva.

 

After my shower, and getting changed back into the uniform, I sought out Dr. Andrews again as I remembered something.

"Doctor," I said, trying to get her attention.

"Oh - yes, Jillian?" she said, smiling brightly.

I smiled back. "First of all, I prefer Jill, if you please. Second.. what can I do about getting some clothes? All I have is the plugsuit and what I'm wearing right now."

"You won't need anything else for tomorrow; just keep your uniform clean tonight," she said. "But if we do well tomorrow, I'll see what I can do about getting you into town to do some shopping."

"I'll need an advance, too," I said, fingering the NERV badge clipped to my chest. "Unless I can pay with this."

"Actually, you can," she smiled. "That's what we use as currency; it works just like a credit or debit card almost anywhere. It'll be charged against your paycheck at the end of the pay cycle."

"That settles it, then," I smiled, nodding. "Thanks very much, and I'll see you in the morning."

"All right. Have a good evening, Jill."

I nodded and thanked her, then headed off towards Building 5.

 

This time I did flop down on the bed, and I wasn't at all disappointed with the results. It was one of the most comfortable beds I had ever put my back against.

I lay there for a long while, hands interlocked behind my head, still fully dressed (except for my shoes), staring at the ceiling.

Spending most of the day in a skirt had been a quick indoctrination into how to wear the silly things. I felt almost as comfortable now with it on as any other piece of clothing.

What kind of girl should I be? I wondered. I could get used to skirts and stuff. I mean, I already am, sort of. If a half a day counts..

Or, I figured, I could always wear trousers, and eschew the idea I was a woman in any way.

I looked down at myself. "Nope," I said in my feminine voice. "There's no denying it."

No reason to, either. My time as a guy had ended. It was time to embrace Jill's identity.