Yes. Here was the scenario set before her as had been five days prior. Nearly a week. She felt as though she should question the reasoning. Would each of them, each who had piloted an Eva, find themselves in this scenario before their time here was through? A military testing facility, she had been told. And here were the tests, still unknown to her as to why. They changed people, she had been told. The supposed Fifth had been affected, and changed. And now Ikari. How would he find himself in the morning? He who was affected by so much. And how now, would he change?
The other two rushed in, Nagisa's companion moved to his own path, and Ayanami followed red and white into the room too clearly shown. Her steps carried her near; the situation made her still. Here, again, was a sense of aversion. A delicate wrongness gracing sensation. She looked around the room for something, anything that would explain....
But that was in vain, wasn't it. She was learning now. Things would not be so easily shown. That was not how they would learn, survive, leave. There was another path, its clarity left to the mind's defenses, its passability given to the fortitude of the soul. She was learning this. It was not about what would seem the most obvious. It was only about what was within them. Kaworu hovered over Ikari as he woke, and Soryu shouted orders. Rei moved quietly to the other side, eyes shifting to see if he had truly been released. "We should leave," she agreed with Asuka as she had passed the girl, then directed the next words at the boy slowly waking. "Ikari." It came as hesitance, as the knowledge of a faulty interaction. She didn't know what was correct to say, and for reasons unknown she was reminded of the last night all four had been together. The night they were in the Eva hanger.
Her hand grasped the edge of plug lightly, she leaned slightly towards him. "Are you able to move?" Are you alright seemed much too close to rhetorical.
There was a mish-mash of voices threatening to overwhelm his senses, all demanding his attention. Who was it? Who was here? Who-
He felt a hand on his face, holding him almost gently, and then-
He was going to do it. Addison was really going to do it. Sean could barely hold himself together, tears streaming down his face as he fumbled with the phone and tried to push the numbers in the correct order. How stupid was he that he couldn't even get Nine-One-One right? He needed to do this. He had to or his friend (sometimes, he thought, his only friend) would be gone, all because he wanted to "save" Sean. He had to stop him, had to tell someone-
The phone rang once, twice, then there was click and a cool female voice answered, "Nine-One-One, what is your emergency?"
Sean tried to get the story out in between heaving sobs and sniffles - but he managed to make himself understood. He managed to get them to listen. They were going to send someone, they were going to make sure Addison was-
He came back to himself (was he really himself) with a rush and a slight feeling of vertigo. His mind was still fuzzy from the drugs that had been pumped into him and he swayed in his seat before slumping against the boy next to him, eyes struggling to focus, to see. His vision swam - there was someone else forcing their way into the doorway as well, a familiar face-
"A-ayan-?" He blinked, words slurred slightly. No, that wasn't right. He trid to focus on the boy. "...Addison...? No, no... this isn't..."
Shinji's weight against him was reassuring, but not the way that his arms hung limply. He was alive, but distant. Kaworu felt happy again, and yet the emotion was tinged with residual discomfort that denied him the joy he might have otherwise found. And when he heard that name, it fed the uneasiness. Addison didn't exist. Or rather, he existed only in the minds of others. But similarly, Sean did not exist, and yet Kaworu could recall believing in him without reservation. He had believed in Addison as well.
Kaworu wrapped his arms around Shinji, and offered himself as more active support. The last time he had been so close was... when? When he was here, and Shinji had held him, or when he was Addison, and these gestures came to him without effort? Is that why Shinji said his name now, and not Kaworu's? If they were different, then Shinji might have desired human company.
And yet, Kaworu didn't remember that Addison had responded much differently to Shinji. Sean. There were details, impressions, that were not the same. But there was dedication, and love. It was as he felt now. It was what would never change.
Ayanami and Soryu were urging them to leave now. The threat of those that had taken Shinji was heavy on their minds, and they made Kaworu aware of it. "I understand," he said to them. He didn't share Soryu's urgency (not anymore), but she was correct.
"Shinji," he directed his attention back to Shinji, voice steady despite the rapid shifting of his thoughts. "Hold onto me, alright?" Kaworu looked over the situation for a second, the body laid out there in the pilot seat, and then slid one arm under the crook of Shinji's knees. The other remained around his back. It didn't feel natural, or easy, but he lifted Shinji from the seat.
Perhaps she should have been more concerned for Shinji's well-being and theirs, but Kaworu's familiarity with him was too bothersome to let it sit on the back burners. Instead of giving the fifth child room, Asuka simply leaned in closer, supervising this event with displeased blue eyes. Asuka wasn't so sure she could carry him so easily, but that didn't mean the second child wasn't going to complain anyway.
"Are you sure you can even lift him? I think wonder boy weighs more than you..." It wasn't spoken very loudly, but she had said it. Her opinion had been voiced and that was what mattered. Stepping around behind Kaworu, Asuka did what she could to help, or at least not let Kaworu hog all the glory. Her small hands found Shinji's bare back, still wet from the LCL that had poured out of the entry plug, giving what support she could so they could leave as soon as possible.
Names that didn't belong. She had not been around long enough to have experienced a certain event, but she had been warned enough, and the nurses had demonstrated enough--they used names that were not their own in this place. Addison. Was that a name for a person that did not truly exist?
It was not the time to question. She backed from the plug as the Fifth reached in to scoop out Ikari, watching as the Second took some offense to that and moved to assist. Soryu was right in her feelings. Kaworu Nagisa was the being known as Angel, but Rei had not yet determined what that meant. And she would not move on that knowledge until she had done so. Her mission should be clear-cut--his destruction--but there were too many variables. Too many questions. Too many similarities that she was allowing herself to see.
Ayanami moved cautiously to the door, holding it open for the trio.
Shinji felt weak; helpless. He was being moved, he could tell that much, more voices in the background, his head full of confusion and dreams and nightmares, unable to tell reality from dream. he tried to lift his head - he couldn't see, he couldn't tell-
He felt so weak.
Another hand touched him - this time bare, feminine. A girl.
"Shinji! Do I have to wake you up every morning?"
Aforementioned Shinji sat up in bed, groaning and rubbing sleepily at his face. "...good morning, Asuka."
"Every morning it's the exact same thing! I have to wake you up and practically get you dressed! What's wrong with you?"
Shinji flopped back onto his mattress and rolled over, mumbling, "Nothing. Just let me sleep a few minutes longer. We're not going to be late or anything..." He punctuated this with a large yawn.
Asuka; his best friend since kindergarten. Close. Rought around the edges, but still someone he trusted- Well, at least until she tore his sheets and blanket off. "Get up already, you idiot-!"
Another feeling of vertigo and his whole body spasmed, wracked by a dry heave. "A-Asuka!"
His eyes were suddenly wide, staring up at the ceiling. He'd just been in bed - why was he here, naked, cradled in someone's arms? Why-?
Memories came back to him. This was all a dream. A horrible dream.
The other two rushed in, Nagisa's companion moved to his own path, and Ayanami followed red and white into the room too clearly shown. Her steps carried her near; the situation made her still. Here, again, was a sense of aversion. A delicate wrongness gracing sensation. She looked around the room for something, anything that would explain....
But that was in vain, wasn't it. She was learning now. Things would not be so easily shown. That was not how they would learn, survive, leave. There was another path, its clarity left to the mind's defenses, its passability given to the fortitude of the soul. She was learning this. It was not about what would seem the most obvious. It was only about what was within them. Kaworu hovered over Ikari as he woke, and Soryu shouted orders. Rei moved quietly to the other side, eyes shifting to see if he had truly been released. "We should leave," she agreed with Asuka as she had passed the girl, then directed the next words at the boy slowly waking. "Ikari." It came as hesitance, as the knowledge of a faulty interaction. She didn't know what was correct to say, and for reasons unknown she was reminded of the last night all four had been together. The night they were in the Eva hanger.
Her hand grasped the edge of plug lightly, she leaned slightly towards him. "Are you able to move?" Are you alright seemed much too close to rhetorical.
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He felt a hand on his face, holding him almost gently, and then-
He was going to do it. Addison was really going to do it. Sean could barely hold himself together, tears streaming down his face as he fumbled with the phone and tried to push the numbers in the correct order. How stupid was he that he couldn't even get Nine-One-One right? He needed to do this. He had to or his friend (sometimes, he thought, his only friend) would be gone, all because he wanted to "save" Sean. He had to stop him, had to tell someone-
The phone rang once, twice, then there was click and a cool female voice answered, "Nine-One-One, what is your emergency?"
Sean tried to get the story out in between heaving sobs and sniffles - but he managed to make himself understood. He managed to get them to listen. They were going to send someone, they were going to make sure Addison was-
He came back to himself (was he really himself) with a rush and a slight feeling of vertigo. His mind was still fuzzy from the drugs that had been pumped into him and he swayed in his seat before slumping against the boy next to him, eyes struggling to focus, to see. His vision swam - there was someone else forcing their way into the doorway as well, a familiar face-
"A-ayan-?" He blinked, words slurred slightly. No, that wasn't right. He trid to focus on the boy. "...Addison...? No, no... this isn't..."
None of this was right.
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Kaworu wrapped his arms around Shinji, and offered himself as more active support. The last time he had been so close was... when? When he was here, and Shinji had held him, or when he was Addison, and these gestures came to him without effort? Is that why Shinji said his name now, and not Kaworu's? If they were different, then Shinji might have desired human company.
And yet, Kaworu didn't remember that Addison had responded much differently to Shinji. Sean. There were details, impressions, that were not the same. But there was dedication, and love. It was as he felt now. It was what would never change.
Ayanami and Soryu were urging them to leave now. The threat of those that had taken Shinji was heavy on their minds, and they made Kaworu aware of it. "I understand," he said to them. He didn't share Soryu's urgency (not anymore), but she was correct.
"Shinji," he directed his attention back to Shinji, voice steady despite the rapid shifting of his thoughts. "Hold onto me, alright?" Kaworu looked over the situation for a second, the body laid out there in the pilot seat, and then slid one arm under the crook of Shinji's knees. The other remained around his back. It didn't feel natural, or easy, but he lifted Shinji from the seat.
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Perhaps she should have been more concerned for Shinji's well-being and theirs, but Kaworu's familiarity with him was too bothersome to let it sit on the back burners. Instead of giving the fifth child room, Asuka simply leaned in closer, supervising this event with displeased blue eyes. Asuka wasn't so sure she could carry him so easily, but that didn't mean the second child wasn't going to complain anyway.
"Are you sure you can even lift him? I think wonder boy weighs more than you..." It wasn't spoken very loudly, but she had said it. Her opinion had been voiced and that was what mattered. Stepping around behind Kaworu, Asuka did what she could to help, or at least not let Kaworu hog all the glory. Her small hands found Shinji's bare back, still wet from the LCL that had poured out of the entry plug, giving what support she could so they could leave as soon as possible.
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It was not the time to question. She backed from the plug as the Fifth reached in to scoop out Ikari, watching as the Second took some offense to that and moved to assist. Soryu was right in her feelings. Kaworu Nagisa was the being known as Angel, but Rei had not yet determined what that meant. And she would not move on that knowledge until she had done so. Her mission should be clear-cut--his destruction--but there were too many variables. Too many questions. Too many similarities that she was allowing herself to see.
Ayanami moved cautiously to the door, holding it open for the trio.
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He felt so weak.
Another hand touched him - this time bare, feminine. A girl.
"Shinji! Do I have to wake you up every morning?"
Aforementioned Shinji sat up in bed, groaning and rubbing sleepily at his face. "...good morning, Asuka."
"Every morning it's the exact same thing! I have to wake you up and practically get you dressed! What's wrong with you?"
Shinji flopped back onto his mattress and rolled over, mumbling, "Nothing. Just let me sleep a few minutes longer. We're not going to be late or anything..." He punctuated this with a large yawn.
Asuka; his best friend since kindergarten. Close. Rought around the edges, but still someone he trusted- Well, at least until she tore his sheets and blanket off. "Get up already, you idiot-!"
Another feeling of vertigo and his whole body spasmed, wracked by a dry heave. "A-Asuka!"
His eyes were suddenly wide, staring up at the ceiling. He'd just been in bed - why was he here, naked, cradled in someone's arms? Why-?
Memories came back to him. This was all a dream. A horrible dream.
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