Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Program ❯ Time is a Luxury ( Chapter 2 )

Welcome to chapter 2 of The Program.

Note to MediaMiner users, Feb. 20 2004: This chapter was actually released on December 2003 on Fanfiction.net. I apologize that I don't pay enough attention to my MediaMiner account, and I have to say it, but the Fanfiction.net users are more active when it comes to giving criticism and comments which we need to improve the story. So, if you're aching for a new chapter and you don't find one here after a month or so after a new chapter is released, head over to FFN, or remind me by sending a review/email.

http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1558899

That's all. Be on the lookout for Chapter 3 by the end of this month. I promise I'll update for the MediaMiner users this time.

--Kenshiro

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36 Participants Remaining…

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There was no sunrise to greet him, but his biological clock told him it must be morning. Kensuke nervously shook as he ate the rations provided for him in his survival pack. He didn't get any more than two hours of sleep last night. It was useless. Whenever he opened his eyes, he would see the eerie crimson glow of the tank surrounding him and his companion, Rei, and when he closed his eyes, visions of dark silhouettes floating in a sea of red danced in his head. Rei, on the other hand slept somewhat well (only getting a few more hours of sleep than Kensuke), something Kensuke never understood. It smelled in there. It smelled rotten.

This was completely not what he expected of NERV. The premise of piloting the Evangelion was a blinder to Kensuke; he did not know, and certainly did not want to know anymore about this facility, its true purpose. He was glad to have curbed his curiosity. He felt sick just thinking about asking where that horrid smell came from. At least it was safe, he supposed.

His mind turned to the situation he and his friends are in right now. What do they want with us? Kensuke thought. Why would the government include a class of junior high students in something that is strictly a NERV matter? Rei had no answer to this either, or perhaps, refused to answer. The search for the answer peaked Kensuke's curiosity, and he was determined to find it, even if it meant- - No, that's going too far, he thought. I want us to survive, and that's top priority now.

He put away the rest of his food, stood up, and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Rei, let's go. We have to keep movi- -"

Rei instantly darted her eyes to the left and held up a finger. Then she narrowed her eyes. The very movement struck fear into Kensuke… for she had just heard someone enter the hallway.

~~~~~

The Program
AnEvangelion fan fiction
based on the novel BattleRoyale
by Koushun Takami
And the movie by Kinji Fukasaku
Written by:
Bad Ronald
Kenshiro Mitsui -san
Chapter 2: Time is a Luxury

~~~~~

Maya Ibuki woke up, and picked herself up off the floor of the clinic, rubbing a sore spot on the back of her head. She must have fallen, she deduced, and began to wonder what just happened to her. She surveyed her surroundings.

It was one of the few medical clinics scattered around the facility. They were reasonably stocked for minor emergencies; for serious injuries, a patient would be taken to the hospital above ground. There were several medicine cabinets with the usual supply of painkillers, analgesics, and other such necessities, as well as a few cots for employees who just needed to lay down- -

And everything came back to her the second she laid eyes on the lone body resting on one of the cots. She saw the same girl last night, seemingly resting peacefully. Only when Maya touched the body was when she realized the girl was cold to the touch. She was now a corpse. Maya stumbled backwards in shock and slipped on something after that realization, and that was all she remembered.

It was like a bad traffic accident; Maya did not want to look, but it couldn't be helped. She looked at the body again. Rigor mortis had long since taken over the body, and she had a pale blue pallor in her skin as well. Maya sat down on the bed next to the corpse, not knowing what to think of this. Her stomach turned.

Was she sick already? It's always a possibility. Could she have been killed? No... No, that can't be. Why would anybody kill an innocent child in such a manner? Was she even killed? There were no signs of any struggle, nor were there cuts or bruises on the girl's body. Nobody would seriously think of playing this "game," would they?

Maya banished the thought from her head, and looked down at her feet. There was an empty vial in front of her toes. That must be what I slipped on, she thought. She bent over to pick it up, and read the label:

Pentobarbital Sodium

500mg vial

She wasn't familiar with the medical term, so Maya simply shook her head and walked towards the nearest trash can to dispose of it. As she looked into the waste bin, she saw more empty vials; all with the same label as the one she just threw away.

The thought quickly dawned on Maya... but she dismissed it. It wasn't possible. The girl would probably not know how to use a syringe, and who would help her do such a thing anyways?

I should go, she concluded. It was no use staying here. Besides, every minute she spent dawdling around meant that she was that much farther from where Doctor Ritsuko Akagi was. Sempai would know what to do.

~~~~~

"…"

"Quiet."

"Sorry." Kensuke shivered so terribly that the Ingram that he held in his hand made a loud rattling sound. Kensuke held the gun closer to his chest to dampen the noise.

Rei and Kensuke positioned themselves on opposite sides of the doorway that led into the Chamber of Guf. Kensuke was the only one carrying a piece. Rei's provided "weapon" was a moderately good length of a thin, strong wire, possibly to be used to strangle someone. Under these circumstances, it might well be useless, but Rei held the fiber wire in one hand nonetheless.

"Hey… Ayanami," Kensuke whispered. "Are you sure you heard someone coming?"

Rei simply nodded, and stayed silent, her eyes narrowed, her mouth a thin line of concentration. She seems awfully tense, Kensuke thought. If it's even possible, she might even be more scared than I am!

Footsteps from afar broke Kensuke's thoughts, and his hand involuntarily gripped harder on the sub-machine gun's handle. He looked over to Rei, and saw that she was looking at him as well with her piercing eyes. Kensuke realized that Rei was not really scared. The footsteps became louder. They had to do something.

Ok, at the count of three, Kensuke thought. Looking straight at Rei, he began to nod slowly, three times.

One.

Rei began to wind the wire around both her hands, and made it taut.

Two.

The footsteps were clearly audible. The intruder couldn't be any more than a few feet away.

Three.

"F-freeze!"

The end of the barrel stopped a few inches in front of a taller man's forehead. Slowly and deliberately, the man took a finger and placed it on top of the barrel, pushing it down and revealing his face.

"Don't worry, children, I won't hurt you."

It was Kozo Fuyutsuki, second-in-command of NERV.

Kensuke knew this, for he had seen the wizened old face before as he scanned through his dad's files on his computer, looking for interesting tidbits about NERV. However, this did nothing to alleviate his anxiety. He pulled his gun away from the man's finger and pointed it at his chest.

"What the hell do you want from us?" he cried, his voice trembling.

Fuyutsuki placed his hands up in the air.

"I don't want to fight. I have no weapons in front of you. I just need to talk to Ayanami."

"N-no! Get out of here before- -"

"We are in no danger, Aida; he may talk." Rei appeared from behind the doorway, the wire between her fingers hanging limp.

Kensuke looked at Rei, then to Fuyutsuki, and then back to Rei again. Slowly and deliberately, Kensuke lowered the gun, keeping his finger on the trigger.

Fuyutsuki let out a small sigh.

"Thank you, Ayanami. As I said, I needed to talk to you- -"

"If it requires keeping away from Commander Ikari, I understand."

The response had Fuyutsuki reeling back for a second. "Strange. I would think that- - well, I thought you still…"

"No, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki."

How unlike her. Strange. "I suppose that's all that needs to be said. You must protect yourself at all times. That is where you must help, Kensuke Aida."

"Wait; how do you know my name?"

Fuyutsuki chuckled a bit before answering Kensuke's question. "I know yours and most of the other student's names in this building, because we chose you and those other children deliberately. You were all to be potential pilots for the Evangelion program. It was out of convenience that we placed you in the same class of the same school."

It was now Kensuke's turn to be caught off guard.

"I should not be telling you that, but I suppose there's no need for secrecy anymore, is there? But it seems pointless that the other children are here; there's no point to it. There must be something more, something that Shirota is not telling us. In any case, I want both of you to be on guard, especially you, Ayanami."

"Yes, sir."

"It would be best if you left this place immediately. I could almost guarantee that he would come here soon."

With that, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki turned around, and walked away, eventually disappearing into the darkness. Kensuke merely stood where was, staring at the dark, until- -

"Aida. We must go." Rei handed Kensuke his backpack, and started walking out of the Chamber of Guf.

A pilot. I might have been a pilot. It could have been me in Eva-03…

Forget it. There is no more Eva.

"Ayanami, wait up!" Kensuke started running to catch up with Rei, who was already a good distance away from him.

~~~~~

Shigeru Aoba let out a small sigh as he took a sip of water to drown the taste of the rations they were given. A terrible breakfast, he thought, but there wasn't much else around. He tried to relax a bit, think of his situation, and try to keep clear. Well, he was certainly much calmer than he was a night ago.

Aoba remembered only bits of it; panic made everything else seem blurry in his head. He ran. He ran very hard, running until he could feel his chest caving in. Shigeru finally stopped in some isolated room in who knows what part of NERV, and just collapsed from exhaustion. He fell asleep, not even checking to see if the area was clear before resting.

Aoba's train of thought was clearer now; much clearer. He held his gun, a standard Beretta 92F, in his hands and breathed deeply. Shigeru sat down on a makeshift stool (a wooden box he found in the small room he was currently in), and began to examine his piece, checking the sights and the magazine to ensure that it is working properly. He aimed his handgun at some random hallway - -

- - only to find two men right at his line of sight. Aoba froze, and the two men did likewise. Shigeru quickly surveyed them and the weapons they carried. Both were former NERV workers, but he had never seen them before. They may have been Eva mechanics before. One had a gun, while the other had a sword. One of the men, sporting short black hair, clutched a long katana while the other person, with hair rivaling Shigeru's in length, but tied back in a ponytail, carried a Glock G17 in a provided side holster. Silence loomed in the room like fog.

Three things happened quickly, and in consecutive order. Shigeru shifted his weight uncomfortably in his chair, his grip on his gun tightening. The other long-haired employee subconsciously touched the handle of his pistol. Shigeru quickly stood up and fired off a sloppily aimed shot that hit the floor in front of their feet.

The long-haired man jumped and shrieked the moment the shot rang off, and retaliated by shooting flurry of bullets towards Aoba's direction, only to find that his target dove behind an upturned metal table on the far side of the room. The two men quickly found cover behind opposite sides of the doorway, and the one with the gun continued firing at the table.

Shigeru's heart raced. There were no nearby obstacles large enough for him to hide behind between his end of the room and their end of the room. His eyes widened with panic, and each metallic clang of a bullet hitting the table started sounding more and more like a death knell meant for him. His breathing grew heavy and rapid, and he dropped his gun momentarily. After a minute, he picked it up again, with a pinch of curiosity behind his furrowed brow.

They have me cornered, he thought. Why haven't they finished me off? The answer came to him as another barrage of lead pelted the metal table. Shigeru knew what to do...

He waited for the sound of gunshots to stop, ran towards the nearest cover, a concrete pillar nearly three-fourths across the room, and hid behind it. Shigeru could hear their frantic, whispered voices.

"I…Is he dead?"

"I don't know; I'm just glad we're still breathing!"

"Jeez, God, this is creeping me out. I don't know what the hell I'm doing…"

"Damn it, haven't you had basic weapons training?"

"Yeah, but that was with targets, not people! I feel too fucking guilty; I don't even want to see if he's dead!"

"Okay, all right, look... we have to see if the guy's dead or not. We don't want to waste any more ammo. Go inside the room and check it out."

"Me? Why the hell does it have to be me? You've got a sword!

"That's right, I have a fucking sword, and you can fire back with a gun while I got a damn sword."

"But damn it, I don't want to die."

"Calm the hell down and just go! I'll cover you, go."

"Cover me? With a sword?"

"Just go!"

"If I die, I'm going to kill you."

As the reluctant duo inched closer towards the bullet-riddled table, Shigeru moved to another side of the pillar to avoid detection. When the men's backs were facing Shigeru, he saw his chance, and - -

"Freeze! Drop your weapons."

The long-haired man taking the lead turned around, only to see his buddy placed in a chokehold from behind, gun held up to his temple. His friend's sword lay on the floor.

The man's impulses took over, and he shakily held his gun, aiming (or trying to) at Shigeru's face. A small, wet trickling sound could be heard, and Shigeru saw that it was coming from the opening of the long-haired man's pant leg; a yellow liquid was steadily dripping from it.

"L-l-let him go! I'll shoot you!" he cried out.

"Noguchi, don't be a fool... drop your gun," his companion warned.

"I'll kill you! Let him go!"

"Noguchi! Listen to me, damn it! He'll kill us both if you don't put your gun down- -"

"Shut up! I have to do this, Watanabe! I'll save us both."

Shigeru had to say something to calm him down. "It's cool, man, just drop your weapon, and nobody gets shot..."

"Shut up! You're the one who's gonna get shot, you bastard!"

"Noguchi, no!"

Noguchi pulled the trigger on his Glock.

The bullet perforated both flesh and bone alike, entering through the sternum, past the heart and part of the left lung- -

- -And out of the back of Watanabe, Noguchi's friend.

Shigeru acted through his training. He quickly dropped the body, dove to one side, and as he landed and got on one knee, he let out a quick double-tap from his Beretta, aimed at Noguchi. Noguchi barely got a few seconds to realize what he had done, before his chest exploded with pain, quickly followed by a similar feeling blowing out of his forehead, and everything went dark. In his last few seconds of existence, Noguchi never realized that he had been shot dead by Shigeru Aoba.

Shigeru panted heavily as he dropped his pistol, the adrenaline starting to wear off. Shit. I killed them, shit! They're dead, but… but I did what I had to do. Kill or be killed, right?

Aoba salvaged what he could from the dead men's packs, taking their weapons and water, before he made a hasty exit from that general area. Shigeru hoped to God that not everyone had turned that paranoid just yet as he entered a stairwell and made his way up.

~~~~~

"Damn it."

Misato Katsuragi sighed with exasperation as she stared at the blanket on the floor where Shinji Ikari once slept.

He ran away. That stupid little brat! And he even forgot his backpack, too! What the hell is he thinking- -

Misato stopped her thoughts right there. It was no use trying to understand how that boy works. She knew what she had to do; find him, and never let him out of his sight until this whole fiasco was over.

She stood and picked up their blankets from the floor of the janitor's closet they slept in last night. To be honest, how did I sleep last night, Misato asked herself. I must have been really tired... we were walking for more than three hours before stopping for rest, until I was satisfied that we were relatively safe. I even stayed up a couple more hours later after I thought Shinji had fallen asleep.

That selfish bastard...

Acting on her intuition, Misato set out into the florescent-lit hallways of an eerily quiet NERV headquarters, when a loud, sudden voice on the intercom startled her- -

~~~~~

"Hello everyone, and good morning! I trust that you slept well last night!"

Shirota's voice echoed through the hallways of NERV headquarters, eerily cheerful and upbeat. One of the remaining NERV employees who heard this was Makoto Hyuga. He was startled by the sudden announcement as he was eating one of his rations.

"It is now seven in the morning, and it is time for one of two announcements to be made every day for the three days you will be here. If I failed to say it before, I will say it now; you only have three days in the Program. Use this time wisely."

Three days, Hyuga thought to himself. How are we going to escape within three days?

"But, enough of that. I will now list out the names of your friends and acquaintances that have died last night and early this morning.

1. Male student Toji Suzuhara

2. Male NERV employee Kazuya Ochiai

3. Female student Miki Fukada

4. Male student Seto Araya

5. Female student Yuki Namai

6. Male NERV employee Tetsuo Noguchi

7. Male NERV employee Ikuto Watanabe

Only seven casualties? I am disappointed in all of you. If this lack of action continues, I might increase the number of forbidden zones in a day. Speaking of which, here are the zones for the next twelve hours, which will start at 800 hours."

Hyuga quickly pulled out the provided map, and wrote down the zone codes that Shirota said over the address system.

"I understand how it can be a little confusing to mark the forbidden zones on your map, since the map is in three pages, but I want you all to try your best. Please work harder to win today."

Shirota had a point, Hyuga thought. It was a little difficult marking the zones on his map, and he was grateful that the zones did not start until an hour from now. He saw that the current area he was in would turn into a forbidden zone at 8. Plenty of time, he thought. Keep a clear mind, and be calm, he said to himself. He wouldn't get out alive if he panicked early in this "game."

~~~~~

Shinobu Itsuki woke up from the most pleasant dream, and considering the situation, Shinobu was fortunate for it. It involved, as it always did, a certain person; an individual Shinobu has always admired. Shinobu had seldom seen him roaming about the hallways, but his presence was always felt as he sat far behind Shinobu in the NERV command center.

Time to come back to reality. Shinobu stood up at the same instant that Shirota began his announcement, and began to stretch. As Shirota began reading the short list of the deceased, it would seem that the dream Shinobu always had would be even more unattainable than before (not that it wasn't difficult to begin with anyways). Ah, well, a man can dream, couldn't he?

Or perhaps, it could be more than a dream. It was completely possible that Shinobu would run into his man in this hell he once called his workplace. They would forge an alliance, and work together to escape with their lives. Maybe, along the way, they would build a friendship, and if they were still alive, something more…

Shinobu smiled and blushed warmly at the thought of this, almost giggling in joy, and then quickly shook it off. No, it was all too soon. They would have to be friends for a considerable amount of time before his man realized his feelings. Then it would be perfect. Like a fairy tale.

Before he began walking, he unconsciously tapped his chest with his knuckles a few times. He considered himself to be lucky just to be alive. If his luck would carry on towards other certain things, Shinobu may just escape with more than just his life.

~~~~~

It had been forty-five minutes since Misato heard the announcement, and now, she was in an area of NERV she was never quite familiar with. It was easy to get lost in the beehive of sectors and hallways of the facility she once called her workplace.

This sector looked very... untidy, Misato thought. Either the janitors were never doing their job, or this place was forgotten about. The latter situation was not so hard to believe; several areas of NERV were simply abandoned, especially after the last Angel. Non-important personnel simply did not come to work, or in some situations, left the city completely. Lucky them.

Signs of dishevelment were abundant. Flickering lights that need changing. Dusty hallways. Even a stuck automatic door that Misato had to force open. She wanted to turn back, but there was no point. She was already here. Shinji may be hiding somewhere in this part of NERV.

Then, a sign: a red object lying on the floor, at the end of the hallway. Misato walked up to the object, picked it up, and narrowed her eyes.

It was Shinji's S-DAT. Apparently, it was low on batteries; the warning indicator on the LCD had a blinking battery icon in the corner of the screen.

"Shinji. You're here..."

"Major Katsuragi."

She turned quickly, her hand clutching her pack, pulling out her gun while concealing it behind the pack. She looked to the side, then relaxed. It was only a NERV tech worker, Bunrakuken Tamuramaro, who hobbled up to her. He was darkly tanned, very short and stocky, had a comb-over on his balding dark head, and wore small-rimmed glasses. She knew him to be a very friendly man who often tried to make people smile, even during times of distress. He looked a little frazzled around the edges, but looked none the worse for wear.

She stared in disbelief as he nervously put his bag down and bowed to her. Even in times like this, he had to be so formal?

"What a relief! I thought I would have to go through this alone!", he beamed up at her. She narrowed her eyes at his sudden sunny smile, feeling as if something was wrong. His eyes seemed slightly glazed, and she tilted her head.

"I'm looking for someone, so…" she murmured, looking over his shoulder.

"Oh? Well, I can help you find him… or her." was the strangely eager reply.

She did not know how to convey the message to the man that she did not want him tagging along. Indeed, it seemed that even though he seemed to be helpful, the alarm bells were going off at full alert in Misato's head. Something was absolutely wrong with this man; she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Well… I really have to get going, and I think I can find him myself." She said, pulling up her pack, ready to walk away.

Bunrakuken looked disheartened, but he walked alongside Misato and said optimistically, "Don't worry, you'll find him! Who are you looking for?"

Misato turned to him, realizing that subtle tactics wouldn't work in a situation like this, "Look, I don't really want you going with me."

The strange smile on Bunrakuken's face didn't falter, in fact, it seemed to stretch wider. He stepped towards Misato, his hands open, his eyes seemingly friendly. Misato backed away, peering at him, trying to figure out his motives.

"But I can help." He persisted, jiggling his own pack. Then he stopped, his smile gone. His mouth was a perfect little 'o' as he stared at the gun in Misato's hand.

"So… you have a gun." he confirmed, prompting Misato to look down at the pistol in her hand. Then he slowly took his gaze from the gun and stared up at her with those strange glazed eyes and grinned like a shark.

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34 Participants Remaining…

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END OF CHAPTER 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Ronald: Merry Christmas! I hope you had as much fun reading this chapter as I had as much fun making it… I will clear a few things up. Keep in mind that we have some characters acknowledging what you readers are wondering, such as why school kids are in a situation that should be NERV business and the like. We put this there to show you that these questions have not passed us by, and that we have covered (Or at least tried our best to) all the bases, which are belong to us.

*Cough, wince*

Anyway… I wanted to let you guys know that the weird character design for Bunrakuken Tamuramaro (Even his name kicks ass) is based on my Computer Class B Teacher in my sophomore year. Well, sure, the guy gave me a D for my final grade, but at least he was cool about it.

Well, enough from me, take it away, Kenshiro!

Kenshiro: Happy Holidays from Ronald, me, and 11-41 Studios. We hope you've enjoyed this chapter. We certainly had fun in creating and writing some of the characters in this story.

Pentobarbital sodium is a barbiturate used to treat insomnia in humans. In veterinary medicine, it is also used to euthanize cats and dogs. The max dosage for humans is 500mg, so if 5-6 vials were injected into a person… you get the idea. Thank you, Physician's Desk Reference.

Shinobu can be a name for a guy too. When I found out, I was just as surprised as Ron when I told him that particular character's name was going to be Shinobu. Both of us can't help but be reminded of Shinobu Maehara of Love Hina.

Comments and love/hate letters are greatly appreciated. See you next chapter.

Pre-reading thanks this time go out to Cryshalo, and an internet Christmas cookie for Cast, who has been kind enough to help us constantly with this stuff.