=0==0==0==0==0==0==0==0==0==0==0==0= Because I have nothing better to do Productions An Eldrick Tobin project From "It makes sense in my head" Theater A story of The Arc Joyful Noise Unit 06: NERV-2 is a daunting expanse... for an above ground kinda place. It has elevators vanishing into depths one can only guess at. A while back the place had disappeared without much of a trace... and Doctor Rena Kasumo thought her chance to spy for her own sake dead. The place makes Area 51 and hanger 18 seem like fairy tales... at least to her... she's actually treated some weird injuries in the past from people working on for NERV. Suddenly -against Rena's wildest dreams- NERV-2 reappeared the other day ... and so she took some days off to look at it. Rena's assistant Marna Dare was dragged along. Marna said, "Doctor I don't think we should be here... this place is restricted... we could get in trouble or something. Let's go back to the clinic... there's that snake bite case.... "This place is big and creepy and I think the electricity is out... we should turn back... yep we should do that right now *cowering behind Rena* Rena nodded, said,"That's nice." and kept moving foward. Soon she added,"Don't cower so much or the grass leeches will stick..." Marna exclaimed in fear, "GRASS LEECHES!!!" and looked left right and center for said vermin. She then had to run to keep up with the Doctor. Marna said, "Maybe we could explore a little... until the leeches go away. I'll... um... take notes... and make sketches and stuff." The Doctor nodded,"Ah good call..." and advanced further towards the gates. "Just watch you head on the rash-inducing slime molds on the low ceilings..." Marna grumbled, "Me and my big fat... slime molds?! *looks* Maybe they're invisible... looks so clean and immaculate..." The doors to NERV were devoid of even sand from the wind. It was all to clean too eerie. "like the whole place was dippied in fermaldehyde..." She tugged on a door at the Doctor's order. "Well we can't get in... unless we climb..." Rena absently said, "Yeah. Prolly means whatever thing lives in here likes clean places..." Marna notes with trepidation that she's the lighter of the two... something the doctor had already noted. Marna said, "Maybe we should turn back... but the leeches... I'll climb over..." A look of defeat spread over her face. "Oh don't worry you'll be fine." Rena picks her up and half chucks her up a few feet against the wall. "Climb." Miss Dare finds the emergency override on the otherside... after obviously landing on her butt. Marna said, "I think we'll both have to lift... Between the 2 women one of the main in gates is soon open... only obstacle now is the next set of doors... which are all open... rather ominous neh? Dr. Kasumo goes in ahead with a flashlight and Marna rushes after since it's the only light. Soon they find themselves smack dab in the Control Center... there are big places where computers might have been but are now dead consumed by electrical fires that seemed to flare then die... many other items seem to be perfectly fine. Perhaps someone actively destroyed the computers? "This place is vast. I don't know if we should be here ma'am. I mean what if we're caught?" The lady she was talking at stopped and sighed,"By who? NERV? The secrets here probably pale in comparison to the secrets at Tokyo-3. Also any secrets here are probably a bit too old to matter anymore. Think of how long this place has been gone," she paused and looked around,"Now follow me or that melchanus fridgiea will get you. You do know it's stalking us Marna. Watching our every move. Waiting for the chance to have a 'Dare Burger' or some 'Doctor Style Long Pork.'" Marna panicked as usual and clung to the air surrounding the Doctor. She seemed as if she was trying to stand in the other's aura. The Doctor ignored her and pressed on her exploration. This was far more exciting than her day job. She wanted to stretch this out as long as possible. Even if it did mean getting caught. Soon they paused in a big corridor that seemed to just stretch on to nowhere. "Since it's just a corridor can I stop sketching?" Marna asked. "The map takes enough work as it is." "No whining. Keep sketching." MANY PASSAGES LATER "Doctor look at this..." Marna pointed. There was upon a side wall entirely in Japanese a warning that they were in a restricted area where to be caught in here without proper authorization meant hideous death. The interesting part was that it was obviously drawn over... that the warning originally stated something about not having your hard hat being a potential problem. "Is there someone still alive in this deserted place?" Marna asked pensively. The Doctor hadn't heard her question,"Written in a substance smelling vaguely of blood. Sketch Marna. Now. Hold onto this sample bag for a sec." Marna stopped sketching for a second to hold the bag as The Doctor scrapped a little off the wall. When she did so it started just pouring out filling the sample bag completely. "Oh ick," was Marna's response to the 2 quart bag filling so quickly... and tapering off as well. It was as if it was a wound and they'd plucked at the scab. "Why did you ever get into this business if things make you go ick all the time?" "Well at least I only say ick... I don't flinch or anything." "You might if you knew the melchanus was right behind you." Marna was trembling,"Really?" "Nope. Actually there's no such thing. But I had to get you motivated. Now seal that up and get back to sketching." Marna, feeling put upon, did so. "Let's find a way to the other side of this wall. I wanna know where that is flowing from." "I knew you'd say that." "Where's your sense of adventure?" "I told you already. It's waiting for us outside. Probably getting a tan and eating a snow cone." IN THE SKY "What's our ETA?" "Another 30 minutes Ma'am." "Some days I wish this was like that old Star Trek TV show... we could just scan ahead. All our data is from what feels like years ago." Hope blinked,"Shall I look ahead?" Misato's jaw dropped,"How? Hocus Pocus?" "Correct. Am I ordered to use my... hocus pocus? "Yes, Relena you are." Hope nodded, and her staff decended out of nothing,"I'm detecting multiple life form patterns." "That's great!" "No it's not." "Nice impression you have there." "Sorry Major Katsuragi... all my concentration is ahead. I'll seem a little distant. Not much left for pleasantries." "Gotcha. Explain what you meant by 'No it's not.'" "There are multiple classifications of life in and around the facility," sweat poured from her face as FanSpace fought her probing. Fought to keep her powers in check. Something she noted never seemed to happen to the Fanboys! "There is a dog tied to a jeep outside the facility. Probably a civilian or 2 went inside to investigate according to wrappers and other provisionary items." "Typical. There are no guards so people just rubberneck all over the place. That's a NERV facility. They'll be up to their necks just for so much as coming in for a drink of water. I pity them." "The Pitied are near an Eva's cage... to judge by the map I commited to memory. They are currently safe." "Well that's good. What about these other forms of life. Or did you mean the dog by other?" "There are some 19 scorpians that moved in. 40 lizards of various species. And the important number... some unknown number of beings in LCL state." "Oh God. Are you sure?" "Yes. There is enough LCL to account for the missing persons who both worked there... and the missing persons who have tried to find the place since. And all of an incomplete Eva. It has been... rendered into LCL as well." "That's alot of LCL. What about the Rogue... is it still outside?" "I'm not detecting anything that looks like the Rogue, Major," Hope nearly fell over. Misato caught her. "What happened, Relena?" "Something is taking an active interest in the tourists as you called them. Something very very large. It noticed me. Very little can notice an Incarnation while they are working. Author Avatars and other similarly powerful beings are pretty much it." "An... Angel? Or the Rogue?" "I'm not sure. If it is I've not been near a similar one. And I assure you via my duties I've been near all of them... at one point or another." Misato half smiled,"I read your reports." "Sorry Major. I ramble when I'm tired." "Yeah you should probably try to rest in the seat over there. I gotta tell the strike team that's on it's way to not hurt our tourists. They've got bigger troubles. IN NERV 2 "Incredible. The Eva survived intact! Get every detail! Sure they'll confiscate the whole mess but maybe you're pencil will capture some detail a person casually glancing at the Eva will miss. Hate to think an Angel was getting a piggyback ride... and some techie doesn't notice until he pays with his life." "Doctor... this Eva doesn't quite look right." "Well it is Chrome." "That's what makes it not look right. Rumormill indicates that only the," Marna shuddered,"05's were ever identical. But here we are staring at a 04. And Look... under the armor... it's all wan and sallow. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was malnurished. But Eva's don't eat." "Actually I know of a story from one occurance..." "Do NOT tell me." "Oh alright," The doctor looked below the Eva,"There's something. The pool of... yellow blood... ends below the feet. Maybe it's been bleeding to death?" "Oh ick." "There you go again." "No... I just thought... maybe it was absorbing it." "Har har. Just sketch. I'm going to check out the other side of the cage. There looks to be damage on the far wall." "The sketchy sketcher sketches," Marna was finally calming... the lights in this room were on at least, and that made her feel good. She didn't like the dark. "Hey why are the lights on in here anyway?" "The Eva's would have backup power in case of the need of an emergency launch don't you think. Probably some solar powered system that can't be drained. So the room has light. Would you prefer it dark? Didn't think so." Marna sketched. "Fine piece of machinery isn't it. Machines aren't my forte but what a marvel no? Or do you think it's something else under all that armor?" "A Machine surely ma'am. And that's one intimidating head. If I were an Angel I'd have run away from even one turned off." She noticed something,"Doctor... I just sketched the head a second time." "Someone's asleep at the pen." "No I never do such things... unless something moved. I compare the live image with my photographic memory... and only sketch the changes... and I think the head... is... following you." "Maybe I look tasty?" "That is NOT funny." "No I suppose not. But think about it. If it's bleeding to death... it would sag." "No ma'am... it's not sagging." The Doctor looked at it. She then shivered enough for Marna to see... some 20 yards away. The Doctor had noticed it... notice her! "Marna... RUN!" with that being said the senior tourist bolted for Marna's position... and the right hand came up and around to block her. She scrambled clean over it, but tumbled in a heap on the other side. Marna grabbed her arm and dragged her out. "I thought I told you to run," Rena gasped for breath. "I panicked... deer in headlights and all that," they panted on the other side of the wall of the cage. A Roar pierced the air. "I think we pissed it off talking about Angels." "My my... you were convinced it was an inert machine a minute ago... why the change?" "It sounds like that possum we had to treat for that little boy. Stone cold dead... seeming until it got in range of my hand." "True. But this is not a possum. Not sure it's an Eva either. No umbilical cord." "Huh?" "The thing that looks like a gas pump rammed into the spine." "Oh yeah," the ground shook,"Ma'am... I think it's trying to come through the wall at us..." The Doctor put her ear to the wall,"No... I think... it over used it's disguise... and is stuck... it's trying to get to the liquid. That was the bridge being torn away." "Oh ick. It's going to drink from that giant spitoon?" "Anyway... let's get out of here." The doctor began running from the area. Marna soon followed. "The map fell into the fluid... sorry." "And the sketches?" "Their all fine ma'am." "What are we in some anime or something here?" "Maybe an RPG?" She got glared at,"What?" "The dragon is on the rampage and is probably going to destroy the town then. I don't need that image." "But if it's already been out before maybe it's guarding something? Dragons guard treasure too." "I, for one, don't wanna be part of the horde." They picked up the pace, and soon ended up in the Nerve Center again,"Well this is familiar... but we're miles away from outside if we're here again. Did you have to drop the map?" "I was improving some of my lines on one knee and sketching the Eva on the other. When it whooshed after you my pencil was only pressing down on the Eva sketch." Power came on in the room. The Doctor began reading over the readouts,"Help me study these. One terminal might control the launch mechanism." "You WANT to launch it?" "No... I wanna lock it in." "With us?" "I think it's trapped in the cage. We should be okay if we can lock it in." "But if it has a way out..." "Positive thinking please Miss Dare." Lights went off. "NERV craft on approach ma'am." "Great! They'll get us out of here." "In handcuffs." "What's your point?" "Maybe they'll kill us?!" "Maybe not if we call ahead... and warn them. Remember what I said... Positive thinking." "Right." The PA kicked in,"We know there are two people in the facility. Find the yellow wall box and inform us of your position. You are far from safe. Whatever secrets you have or haven't seen are moot as there is a rampaging Angel in one of the Eva cages right now. We have to get you out of there at once. Please move to a yellow wall box," the man's voice died. "Yes Positive thinking works!" Marna was next to a box in seconds,"Hello! We're in a big room with terminals and terraces. Looks like a control room." The doctor was tapping her chin with a finger, "Marna... I know that voice... he's dead." And with that the right wall buckled and gave way as the Rogue... burst through. The doctor and Marna froze for a second before running out the other side door as HQ went up in light. The whole facility shook. "I didn't know Angels could speak!" "It's okay Marna... just keep running. I didn't recognize his voice right off either. But how could it use his voice... the man ..." suddenly some things disturbingly clicked together in her mind," vanished when this place went up! That must be how. That wasn't yellow blood... that was LCL! Everyone's been being absorbed by that thing!!" Marna overcome with the thought empied her stomach on the floor. "Keep moving I think this was the way out!" The ground shook again. They stopped and looked around. The Angel wasn't anywhere to be seen. The ground shook once more. They continued running and The Doctor ran smack into a man in combat fatigues. He was far from alone. "Our tourists have been found," he announced into a radio,"Come with us ladies." "We aren't under arrest or anything correct?" "First priority is to get everyone OUT. Our orders say nothing of arrests." "Marna get over here now! They're getting us out of here." Marna had slid into a wall trying to stop. The Civvies quickly accompanied the strike force out into the fresh air. Evas with weaponry looked down on them. The doctor asked,"Who can we give a report to? We've been in there for a few days. We've seen or sketched all irregularities that don't mesh with a private or even military facility." "Not me. Major Katsuragi should be landing in 5 minutes." ON THE MAJOR'S PLANE Hope stirred from monitoring an umbilical device,"Major the civilians are out safely. Sorry for the unsanctioned Hocus Pocus." Misato waved it off, "That's great news. Now if only that thing was out here so we don't damage the facility that would be super. All the Evas are down right?" She asked of the radio man in the cockpit. "Affirmative, Major. All armed." Misato picked up a headset, "Nagisa... aerial status!" "Mine and 05's eyes have found the launch tunnel it has been using to go in and out. All the doors are torn open. It can come and go as it pleases. I shall keep you abreast should the Rogue decide now is to be the time for an appearance." "Suzahara, status." "Touji here. All's quiet by the human exit," He sounded kinda bored. "Human Exit?" "Err Main gate," He corrected. "That's better. Aida make sure the landing area is secure." "Affirmative Major! Kensuke Aida will make sure the area is secure!" "Horaki... gotta ask you to do something. You up for something unpleasant?" "Always," she replied back. Voice only steeled by the want to not look bad in front of the Major or Suzuhara. "Riight. What I need you to do is drop one or 2 of Aida's Grenades down the shaft. We need to draw it out. But not blow up all of NERV-2." The Plane landed in the area Kensuke was guarding. The Olive Drab Eva mock guiding it in with it's twin guns. Of course it wasn't all cute. Kensuke was worried it'd pop up through another of the exits - one of which was right below the "air strip". Eva's quickly positioned umbilicals to themselves as most were seconds from shutdown. Splice in place from a multipart generation system to the various cables... they now had another 20 minutes of power each. Not much if they couldn't tap NERV-2's currently recharging supply... or beat the Rogue in time. Properly plugged in Hikari grabbed a handful of Kensuke's "grenades" and approached the launch shaft. "I shall watch over you, Horaki. Any harm befalling you shall befall me soon after." Touji fumed,"Hey Qtip back off!" "Chivalry. Commendible." Aida and Touji switched places since Touji was supposed to function only as backup with the Eva-less Hope. "Aida in position... although a flame-thrower would be nicer that Twin Rifles." Hope patched in,"Heero Yui makes due with just a rifle." "Yeah but he's got a BIG rifle." "Be glad Pilot Horaki has a Positron Rifle in her bomber she might let you borrow." Hikari spoke,"Yeah if it will shut you up take it." "Cool!" was all Aida said. Misato's smirk interrupted his revelry,"Can't use something like that until a more permanent tether is available. One shot and you'd have 30 seconds to move out of the way." "Oh yeah." "Don't worry Aida," Touji broke in,"If it comes to fighting and you run out of Ammo I'll use these swords Shinji let me borrow and carve a path for you to walk out in." Misato looked at him,"I wish he'd kept those instead. They are designed for use with 01. They'll be very drawining on your Eva to use." "All the fun stuff is locked away until we tap into the powergrid basically?" "Yeah... unless you wanna play a bad RPG were you can only "cast" once or twice before falling over powerless and dead." Nagisa piped in,"Pilot Horaki is almost in position." She blared out,"I'm being cautious!" "Good thinking." "Thank you Major. Deploying Grenade one!" Aida smirked,"You're supposed to say 'Fire in the Hole.'" "Military Geek." The detonation went off. There was silence. AT MISATO'S TEMP HQ "Doctor Rena Kasumo. This is my assitant Miss Marna Dare. What would you like to know about the inside?" "I heard there were some sketches?" Marna handed them over. "Nice work," Misato said in passing as she shot through the pile rapidly. She stopped at the sign... and the Rogue. "Suzuki... is this a different look it's sporting since the filming?" "Tanaka... run that footage! We need to compare," Said the techie named Suzuki. The footage was run and the artistry compared. Marna spoke up,"Doctor... you were right it's been bleeding to death." Suzuki nodded,"Yes clearly some mass loss is being experienced. I wonder if it's just bleeding or what, Yamada what do you think?" "Well I'm no Ritsuko Akagi but..." Tanaka elbowed him,"Out with it." "But maybe it's consuming itself? Via movement or expenditure of power?" "That means hurting it could make it consume more... but what is it losing?" Rena looked numb,"LCL. It was absorbing it from the EVA Cage... but at one point it got to low to stand in it's disguise -a locked up tight eva- that after we disturbed it it tore away the bridge and probably gulped some down." Misato punched the seat,"Potentially that measn we can't attack it! Hikari stop!" Hikari looked at the screen as she was about to drop number 3,"Huh?" And then things got... interesting. Suddenly the Angel was right there in her face... and the grendae previously primed dropped from Hikari's hand as Kaoru picked her Eva up and out of the way. The Grenade went off... and the Armored plates Flew off of the Angel in Eva's clothes. And the LCL which here and there formed faces and arms and legs as it was exposed to the light, seemed to snap the armor back in place. Hikari was nauseated,"Like something right out of Nightmare on Elm Street! How do we fight it without harming the people!" Hope broke in,"It seems that even though it's draining them it's not consuming them. True Energy from the people is being drained... but not enough to kill. Unfortunately any attack by an Eva will damage people who have too little power to remain LCL... their contact with the group mind will break and alone now they will reform." "Couldn't we just pull the plates off?" Hope shook her head at Touji," Even then the Angel would still live... weak as a kitten but it would be alive. It may be it has absorbed the S2 organ research and is only doing this for a power boost... maybe just to help it guard the Area until Zhamiel showed up for the LCL." "And if we kill it we kill them right Relena?" asked Pilot Horaki. "Most likely." Aida leveled his guns at it which gave it pause to reflect,"So what the hell do we do?" Hope was mid hocus pocus at this point. Her eyes snapped open and she fumbled through the sketches. Marna protested,"Some of my best work." "Where is the sample you took?" Rena produced it,"Is this somebody important?" "Not someone," Hope verified what she was going to say before saying it," This is the remains of the Eva Proto. The "body" was chewed away and the "soul" spit out. I will sync with it to bolster it and then we will merge with the Angel." "You expect us to have faith in a crazy plan like that?" "No. I expect you to hope it works. Faith isn't my department per se," She began pouring the LCL into her plugsuit. Misato was shaking her head,"This is nuts Relena!" "These are my orders," she pulled them out and handed them over,"'Subdue the Rogue. All means are available to you save the destruction of pilots.'" Misato looked dubious. "It's quite alright. I've had harder missions. Well one... and it was alot harder than this. I almost died," she paused," I have synced." Her suit suddenly went taut again. "Pilot Horaki, Turn down the charge on a grenade and fling it in 5 seconds. give it a 6 second fuse. It only needs to move a plate a tad. we need an Egress." Misato looked away. She figured this was a foul's mission given to her by Ikari. It would fit his profile. Probably only a 4% chance for sucess if the Eva can sync with it's body that the Angel is using. And probably only half of that percent that Hope and the Proto Eva can take over the body from the angel. Maybe only 1% total that everyone currently in that body can be saved. Wing and a prayer. But enough to Hope for. Better than feeling like a murderer... moreso. Misato turned back around,"Hikari set that timer and throw like everything depends on it!" "What? I mean... Yes Ma'am." "Kaoru... hold her very still. On Relena... no Hope's Signal... toss that grenade." Hope concentrated her power... and well her fuku appeared over her plugsuit and then she called,"Now!" The grenade flew as if it had a mind of it's own. Perfectly and effortlessly. It barely even tumbled. And then it blew up in the air right next to a torso plate after a light bounce on it. The midriff LCL was exposed. Hope got sucked forward and in like she went in through a straw. The Angel bellowed a challenge and curled to spring forward... and as it squated all the LCL flowed out... people tumbling onto the ground as their minds freed them from oneness. The Angel saw this and waved a hand over a few of them and they turned back into LCL... and then back again to human form. The Angel bellowed again and moved to stomp on the humans but seemed knocked back away and up into the air. Suzuhara chuckled,"Hope's doing her weird AT Field tricks again. Guess she's winning." The Angel twitched trying to get up... and then went silent. There was an eerie calm. No one could tell who'd won. Suddenly the Angel sprung up on it's AT Field and leapt forward. It landed face first into the ground knocking a crack into the helmet. There was Eva flesh beneath. The mouth opened and random "undigestible" angel bits flowed out along with Hope. Her plugsuit was in tatters where her Fuku had not been. She held up a thumb,"When all is turned towards darkness... And hearts turn cold and black... Hope lights the way to victory... Bringing peace and kindness back." She then passed out. LATER Commander Ikari arrived 30 minutes after Hope woke up,"I trust I'll receive a full report of what happened and how you defeated the Angel from the inside." "Sir yes sir." "Good. There may be valuable data. You might be pleased to know a copy of the S2 organ was extracted. Seems NERV-2 was doing alot better than anyone expected. They were the ones who gave the Old Men the tools to make the 05 series." "And the data disk?" "You know of that?" "I was one with everyone trapped in the Angel." "Jacobson's sacrifice to secure evidense of NERV-2's involvement with SEELE even as the Magi there were ordered to the torch, and the subsequent release of Leliel from it's egg by SEELE against them are in good hands. Rest. I understand your powers are taxed in this realm." "Sir yes sir." "One more thing." "Yes commander?" "We'll need to store your Eva somewhere. Should I have it sent to... Pilot Shirow's friend?" "Not hardly... sir." "I trust you can make arrangements then?" "Yes sir." "Very well I will leave you to your rest then." Hope sat up. She was still in plugsuit tatters. Kinda sexy actually. She vowed to turn Eld's head with it when she got home. She pulled her staff into reality again. She "phoned home". "Yello." "Washuu-san?" "Ah Hope. You look beat." "I'm okay. What's Eld up to?" "Oh he's been dragged to one of those Variable Geometery competitions." "Variable Geo." "That too. He's probably closer to you than I am." "I need to store an Eva." "I'll dust off some grass for you. Unless you wanna put it in my lab." "I don't want him hurt... or dissected... or samples taken from him." "Who me?" Hope smirked. "Alright no funny business. It he paper trained... does he have all his shots. You know you'll have to walk him 2 times a day." "That'll be a sight." "Hehehe Strawberry! Go outside and set a portal to coordinates 24.27.76.224.555.713 Got it?" "Yare yare!" "Good girl. Warn NERV okay?" Hope nodded,"Oh the Commander has had weirder happen. Pestilence works here and Carnage is tweaking Eva 04 Hell Custom all the time." "Forgot about those two. Anyway you sleep." "Good idea. Night Washuu-san." "That's Chan... Hopesicle." And with that Hope willed her staff away... took off the plugsuit... curled up in a materialized fuku... put a "Mine!" tag on her 'custom' plugsuit... and drifted off to sleep. ELSEWHERE IN FANSPACE! "And next up my ecchi comrades... a real VG treat. Tag Team! Both Contestants have to win on a side and they will get a raise in rank! On the Blue side we have Kasumi Kai, and Sunahama Kai... from our very own Planet Hentai... and in the Red Corner we have the No Da Twins! Just in from parts ecchi. And now the girls will... insert... their ID for the scanners before they face off and fight! Remember girls... both of you have to win to get that rank increase. If one loses both lose." Both sides nodded and inserted their cards. "BEGIN!" =o==o==o==o==o= So what you think? One more chapter to JN, which if you thought this was odd contrived etc... wait till you see Hope's report... and the Kas and Suna fight... and... Why is Eld downloading Arshes Nei Hentai? http://the-arc.net http://marina.fortunecity.com/eastindia/40 http://GreyPages.Org Comments can be sent to eldrick@the-arc.i-p.com or eldrick@mindless.com