Neon Genesis: EVANGELION

Eva Wasn't Built in A Day.
v1.0 (final 'net release)

By Jared Waddell 

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this work except for Goku
Takagi and James Rahn.

This story takes place post-episode 18.

******* WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING *******

    This fanfic contains  S P O I L E R S ! ! !

    This fanfic contains material that may be offensive to some
    readers, including material of a type never covered in the Eva
    series. This is not a nice story; it's Eva material, so if you
    didn't like some of the issues present in the series, don't
    even think about reading this!

******* WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING *******

Chapter 1: Picking up the Pieces.

---

Gendo Ikari sat behind his short, monolithic, bare desk reading a
holo-form(1) floating in the air in front of him. Next to him stood his
second-in-command Kozou Fuyutsuki. Beside the holo-form, the two men,
and the desk, the room held nothing else of interest. Barren, like his
desk, Ikari's office held no superficial adornments. The space's owner
had no need for them.

However, in this empty place used only for work, there was a simple
beauty that was pleasing to the eye and enchanting to the
imagination. First was the desk itself; except for a few lights and
buttons on the top, and the drawers behind, Ikari's desk was absolutely
black. Also, no reflections of any kind could be seen in its flawless
surface.

The office itself stretched to dimensions bordering on excessive even
for a large meeting room. The rectangular space was a good ten by six
meters in size, and was topped by a four meter high ceiling. The walls
were more or less bare, the indentations for the outer steel cross
bracing forming a continuous pattern of X's across all four walls. Most
amazing of all was the floor, made by hundreds of diamond-shaped
openings made of steel and each covered by a single pane of glass. Light
reflected off of objects in the Geo-front provided most of the
lighting. The whole area was uniquely individual in a... creepy kind of
way(2).

Ikari stared at the document in front of him. The image seemed to float
in midair, bringing a sense of surrealism to the information contained
therein. However, the information was very real; certainly not a joke or
trick of the imagination (or so one would hope).

   Request Notify: Gendo Ikari, High Commander, NERV.

   Official Request by: Goku Takagi, Chief Design Engineer. 3rd
   Technical Division: Construction & Maintenance Group, Cage 4

   Nature of Request:  Construction Project Authority Transfer.

   Subject:  Evangelion Unit-03 Damage and Reconstruction.

   Body of message: I, Goku Takagi, hereby request official con-
     trol of Evangelion Unit-03 be transferred to 3rd Technical
     group for reconstruction to return Unit-03 to operational
     status. Noted damage sustained to the systems of Unit-03
     indicate this is possible using new materials synthesis and
     construction techniques.  Approximate repair time is esti-
     mated at six weeks, with minor variations due to material
     availability.

Ikari peered at the unusual message and commanded the computer to
display Takagi's file.

It was not what he expected.

"Fourteen?" Ikari growled. "He's only fourteen?!"

Fuyutsuki could only gasp and stutter out, "Maybe it's only a computer
error."

"Unlikely," seethed a still fuming Ikari. After further investigation,
Ikari reached for his rapidly dwindling aspirin supply.

It was not an error.

Goku Takagi was indeed a fourteen year old engineer working for one of
NERV's technical groups (a bunch of people who do the grunt work of
making sure the Eva's were up and running by the next Angel attack). An
only child, son of a genius AI engineer who died of some unusual medical
condition in 2008. Coincidentally, the boy was also a potential
candidate for being classified as the fifth child, though for some
strange reason, the Marduk report had overlooked him in making
recommendations. With an IQ just brushing 170, Takagi already held a
masters and a Ph.D. in AI engineering and Artificial Neurology,
respectively. He also held two black belts in the martial arts; one in
Aikido, the other in Wing Chun Gung Fu.

The picture that was laid out with Goku's personal information was of an
easygoing boy's face with short black hair and equally black eyes.

A child? Thought Ikari. Strange, but this may be helpful.

Ever thoughtful, Fuyutsuki made a comment. "This boy would've made one
heck of an Eva pilot. And repairing Unit-03..."

"Yes.... If he can actually do it, we could have four working Evas...and
we may need Unit-03." The Commander mused.

"Over-qualified, underemployed." Remarked the Sub-Commander.

Ikari did not respond, but immediately ordered Takagi to his
office. Ikari and Fuyutsuki gleaned his file for more information while
they waited.

---

As a knock could be heard from outside, Ikari pressed a button on his
desk and the main doors opened. In walked a short boy with close-cropped
black hair and dark brown eyes. His build was muscular, and he was
wearing loose black cotton pants and a brown sleeveless shirt. Both
garments had a rough texture and looked like tough enough to stop
bullets. Any squeaky-clean image associated with engineers was totally
shattered by this short prodigy, however, as his clothing was spattered
in several places with some dried material that might have been a purple
goo some time ago.

The figure came to a stop two meters from the front of the Commander's
desk and spoke. "Good afternoon, Commander. Goku Takagi reporting as
ordered."

At the mention of 'afternoon' the Commander winced slightly, but showed
no other outward reaction. "So you think it possible to return Unit 03
to operational status,"

"I do indeed, Commander,"

"Oh really. Is it actually possible to put an Eva back together so
quickly?" The Commander demanded more than asked the question.

"The exact details are just construction scheduling, and will have to be
worked out once the project is approved and a complete damage estimate
can be made. However, even with the extensive damage Unit-03 has
sustained it is not only possible, but very probable, to return the unit
to operational status in about six weeks."

Takagi's words were not exactly comforting to the Commander, but he kept
his doubts to himself, always preserving the calm exterior that the
Commander was famous for. "You promise?"

"Yes. On my honor,"

"Hmm, all right. Your request is approved. You have six weeks to
complete work on the Eva. You may begin work as soon as Unit-03 can be
transferred to Cage 4. I will see that the appropriate personnel are
informed. You are dismissed."

The meeting was over.

---

Back at the newly appropriated construction area for Unit 03, Takagi was
heading for his office. The meeting had gone better than he had
expected, all things considered. Goku was anything but stupid. He
actually knew very well that he was an Eva pilot candidate, though he
really didn't care to jump in one and go off killing Angels. He saw what
kind of damage the Evangelions sustained in battle. It was a sobering
sight, to say the least.

Walking an access route following the south wall of Cage 4, Takagi
looked up into the now-empty chamber. It was a roughly square room, high
enough to easily hold the monstrous Evangelion androids it was built to
contain. The restraints hung loose against the walls and the monitors
remained asleep, but he knew that would change soon.

The work crews were already out and about, preparing for the arrival of
Unit-03. Excellent, thought Takagi. Despite his recent good fortune,
an upset look was on Takagi's face. As he passed the work crews, each
individual flinched slightly. This produced an unusual wave-like pattern
of convulsions throughout the chamber. Takagi took little note of this
and said nothing until he was in his office.

"MOTHER F&*#$@&!!!" The walls nearby shook with Takagi's voice.

After a few minutes, Takagi was again becoming irritated. Some papers he
had set _right_ on top of his desk had _mysteriously_ disappeared. He
fumed, he ranted in his head. Must be Kalme and Ronga snatching papers
out of here again, he thought as his anger built. In only five seconds,
Takagi's legendary temper reached its breaking point.

If there had been any windows in Cage 4, many would have shattered in
concert with the sound of Takagi's 110kg desk hitting the nearest wall
at approximately 90MPH. Instantaneously, all work in Cage 4 stopped. A
voice rang out.

"KALME, RONGA, GET YOUR WORTHLESS &#@$ #@$!!# IN THIS #@$& OFFICE WITH
MY #$#@!@ PAPERWORK BEFORE I HAVE TO COME OVER THERE AND PUT THIS @#@&S
DESK UP YOUR @#$#&@S!!!!!!!!" Everyone in Cage 4 winced in unison.

---

"He's doing _what?!_" Ritsuko Akagi exclaimed from the cramped remote
office.

Really nothing more than a tiny living space--in a trailer--for
commanding the cleanup operation, the tiny room was filled with one
desk, one couch and enough paperwork to sink the... well, you get the
idea.

"Taking Unit-03 and rebuilding it," Misato Katsuragi said while sitting
down heavily. "Orders from the Commander himself. I wonder what scheme
he's brewing now..." Misato said the last part mostly to herself.

Ritsuko stood up in shock, and looked a little huffy. "Let me clarify
this one last time. He's fourteen."

Misato nodded.

"He's one of our best engineers."

Misato nodded again.

"He's going to _rebuild_ a complete Eva,"

Misato, nodding again, was feeling bored.

"And he's supposed to _pilot_ the thing?"

Misato finished the last nod with a sleepy comment, "Yeah, well, he
doesn't know about that yet. Supposedly he's some martial arts expert,
and escaped the Marduk institute's notice. He's got an IQ of, like, a
hundred and eighty or something..."

"A hundred and eighty? That's insane! No one has an IQ _that_ high!"
Ritsuko yelled, waving her arms wildly in the cramped space to emphasis
her point.

"Maybe it was a little lower, I just skimmed that part." Misato said
with a yawn.

Ritsuko had to sit back down, holding her head in her hands, "and one of
our own stupid engineers. How did we fail to notice this before?"

Hearing no response, Ritsuko turned to see Misato out cold on her couch,
snoring loudly. She turned and looked out of the vehicle's single
window, seeing the destruction and gore wrought by the 13th Angel. Eva
Unit-03's remains... well most of them, anyway. This guy is either very
arrogant, and a good brown-noser, or a _real_ genius, she thought.

Ritsuko sighed. Like it mattered now.

---

Later that day, the final paperwork was cut, and equipment was sent out
to transport Unit 03's remains back to Cage 4 under Takagi's control.
Upon the arrival of the massive being (or what was left of it, as the
case was), Takagi merely nodded and said, "Figured as much."

They set to work right away.

Work was not easy or fast, but after 19 days of slave driving, progress
was finally being made. Unit-00 was fully repaired after only two weeks,
but by that time, Unit-03 was only 84% operational. 'Operational' was a
relative word in this sense, since the Angel's subversion of the nerve
paths had caused considerable damage to the Eva's nervous system. In
short, it could not work without the nerves being completely
regenerated. A difficult task at best.

The reconstruction completed after three weeks of non-stop work was
encouraging, but it was a busy three weeks for Takagi. Late one night,
Takagi and Akagi found themselves without anything to do, after
reviewing status reports in Takagi's office. Ritsuko thought it strange,
and more than a little funny, to see a fourteen year old boy pace around
his own office in NERV. She had seen stranger, of course, but it was
funny to her nonetheless.

Hearing Ritsuko giggling behind him, Takagi turned and asked her what
was so funny.

"You seem out of place here." She responded, sobering quickly.

"A girl like you saying _I_ seem out of place here? Preposterous." He
laughed disarmingly.

"Girl? Well, you have to admit, a fourteen year old engineer running the
entire Fourth Cage almost single-handedly...." She lectured.

"And other fourteen year olds piloting giant robots, possibly to their
deaths." He retorted bluntly.

"I see your point... Takagi. That name sounds vaguely familiar." Ritsuko
looked deep in thought when Takagi glanced in her direction.

"Perhaps you've heard of my father."

Ritsuko looked at him bleary-eyed. "Wait a minute, my mother _did_ say
something about a Takagi she knew... an AI researcher, if I
recall...(3)"

"Yes," Said Takagi wistfully. "He was a pioneer in his field, and I just
happened to fall in his footsteps. However, I got into a more...
physical aspect of AI bio-engineering, and here I am."

"What ever happened to him?" Ritsuko asked softly.

"Died when I was seven. He got cancer in his stomach, a very rare form,
then caught pneumonia in the hospital. He just couldn't hang on." Takagi
trailed off, his eyes misting. It seemed he wanted to say more but the
words wouldn't come.

After a suitable period of time Ritsuko spoke again. The office seemed
much quieter. "Your obviously learned a great deal from him. He would be
very proud to see you now."

"I do try to impress." Takagi said slyly.

From her observation, Ritsuko felt that the boy's spirit was remarkably
strong, all things considered. "What about your mother?" Suddenly, she
wished she could call back the words, for she was certain that the
mother of such an exceptional child would not abandoned him by choice.

Takagi wasn't offended. "Mom was something else." He replied slowly.
"She took sixteen slugs in a bank robbery, protecting four hostages.
After the shooting stopped, she picked herself up off the ground and
ripped the robbers to shreds before she blacked out from blood loss."
Takagi sighed heavily. "She died in the ambulance." He finished quietly.

Ritsuko was about to change the subject, as Takagi's words reminded her
of her own mother's death, but Takagi continued.

"She made me and dad promise to hold our... our honor above all else.
Honor was worth more than our very lives in our house. As much as dad
and I both constantly tried to disagree, we couldn't help but see her
logic. Honor was the only true bond in our family. It was a bond that
kept us together, that kept us alive. Her alive. Then it took her life
in exchange for four hostages in a bank robbery. I do miss her." Takagi
had stopped pacing, and was looking at the blank green wall to Ritsuko's
left. "I'm really sorry about keeping you here with my stories. You
probably can't stand listening to me babble about my problems."

"Not at all, actually. I assume you know what happened to my mother,"

"Actually I only heard rumors." Takagi remained attentive.

"She--" Ritsuko wondered briefly why she was talking about this to...
a... a child? Perhaps it was because his diminutive size was disarming.
His anger was anything but, she had seen that in action and wasn't keen
to experience it directed at her. However, he was a caring and sensitive
person when he wasn't chewing somebody out. He was all most too
intelligent for his own good as well. Perhaps he understands...

Ritsuko sighed before continuing. "She killed herself. She jumped...
fell ten meters." Ritsuko heard her own voice devoid of all but the
tiniest hint of emotion. She swallowed hard and continued, "She was
killed instantly. I was never told why... but," Ritsuko almost
continued. Almost. He was a little _too_ disarming. Despite her
increasingly morose mood, she smiled slightly. This kid would make a
good therapist. She didn't need to see a therapist. "I really should be
going,"

"Of course," He said smoothly. "It's getting late. It was nice talking
to you, Doc."

Ritsuko smiled again. This time, it lifted her mood as well as her
face. "Anytime, Doc."

---

In a large dark room--a room which was not real, as this was in VR--six
hologrammatic men sat around a nearly invisible table. They were
discussing many things. Many dangerous things. Coincidentally, Takagi's
name was among them.

SEELE-4: So, Unit 03 is being rebuilt by this...child?

KEEL: A strange decision, Ikari. Are you sure he can be trusted? He can
barely be monitored.

IKARI: There is no danger, I assure you. He is concentrating solely on
the task before him. Even with his intelligence, it is quite a
time-consuming burden.

KEEL: Takagi is highly skilled for an engineer. It seems to me he could
even be a spy.

SEELE-3: And he throws himself deeply into his work. Remember,
Ikari. You do not know more than we do. Besides, what if he finds out
something he isn't supposed to?

IKARI: In that case, he shall be removed from the equation.

SEELE-2: This person was not in our schedule, Ikari. He could be
dangerous... to us. We would not be happy if he became a threat to our
goals because of your carelessness.

KEEL: If you can't remove him, Ikari, we will have to remove you. Is
that understood?

IKARI: Indeed.

The other five members of SEELE disappeared from the artificial
room. Ikari sat alone in the darkness for a moment.

IKARI: If I am careless, none of you will be in much of a condition to
do anything. And neither will I.

---

In the well-lit, open area of Cage 4, Goku Takagi looked up on the work
proceeding about the heavily damaged Unit 03. From his position (about
the Eva's waist) Takagi had to look almost vertically up at Unit 03 to
ascertain the work on the damaged chest. When the chest plate had been
ripped off by the berserk Unit 01, the damage to internals was not so
severe. However, with the subsequent blows landed upon the torso area,
most of Unit 03's insides had to be vacuumed out of the cavity.

The arms were locked securely in place while they were re-grown, almost
completely hidden by the massive restraint system built into the Cage.
Examination of the arms had shown that their molecular structure had
been changed while the Angel was in control of the Eva. As a result, the
arms had apparently retained the ability to stretch to at least twice
their normal length at the command of the pilot. However, no pilot had
attempted such a feat.

Looking up at the head, the one part that would have to be totally
replaced, Takagi felt weary. The biggest damn headache in this project
was the head. Way down the list, problem number two was the other was
the damaged nerves. And without an operable nervous system, the EVA
wasn't going anywhere. Grow an entire Evangelion synaptic nerve inpulse
system in a fully-grown sample? Well, Takagi had always liked the
challenge his job offered him, but unfortunately for Takagi, a third
problem was about to make itself known.

"Dr. Takagi to deck 13 please, Dr. Takagi to deck 13." The female voice
rang out through the vast open space of Cage 4 seductively.

Takagi groaned, anticipating another snag. On his way up, he considered
his options with the nerves. Just re-growing the system wasn't likely to
work; they needed something else, some seeding that could take to the
Eva...

It was a long shot, but it was the only option they really had left.
Takagi wondered if the pilot would submit, and if he/she could be found
in time. So many problems, so little time, thought Takagi. However,
silver lining to his rainstorm was about make itself known.

Arriving at deck 13, Takagi was directed to a catwalk extension that led
into the chest cavity. "What have we here?" He asked disdainfully.

One of the technicians pointed. Takagi didn't see anything.

"What? Where?" He persisted.

The technician edged closer to a small red sphere almost invisible in
the gory mess about the chest cavity. A network of small tentacle-like
structures spread out from the crystal orb, branching out and into the
Eva's body.

Takagi cocked an eyebrow. "What is that?"

"From our scans, it's almost an S2 unit." Said the man, his hard-hat
nodding in the direction of the unexpected attachment.

"That is _way_ to small to be an S2 unit." Stated Takagi flatly.

"That's what our scans showed. But that's not all. It's been growing."

"Growing?" Takagi seemed a little off balance.

"An hour ago, it was only half this size."

"Hmm, double size in one hour." The small sphere was about 5cm in
diameter right now. Doing a few calculations, Takagi showed his
displeasure. "If that's a volume increase, it could take months to fill
out!" Evan as the technician cringed, the fire suddenly died out of
Takagi's eyes. "Whoops, I forgot the energy/mass growth factor makes
those calcs useless. Hmm, it should be finished in a few days." Takagi
smiled, a rare occasion lately. "Excellent."

"There's one other thing, Sir," the tech said, catching Takagi's
attention as the engineer was leaving. "It's showing foreign matter
inside. Biological matter."

Takagi stopped, then cursed loudly and profusely in three separate
languages before snapping out a question. "What from?!"

"It appears to be human."

Takagi's face went pale.

---

Ikari was back in his office, minus Fuyutsuki. A progress report was in
the holo-field in front of him at the moment. The report was short and
plain and right to the point, as was every piece of writing from Takagi.
Ikari read quickly right up to the end of the report where he screamed.

   ...Human biological matter was found in the seeding S2
   unit. The matter was composed mostly of Deoxyribonucleic Acid
   and...

Ikari quickly composed himself and looked for the explanation.

   ...Acid and appeared to be modified slightly by the S2 engine.
   Although the organ is not generating any useful power, its
   presence has somewhat increased the regeneration rate. The new
   interior components make up approx. 92% of the remaining work.

   Nerve regeneration is stopped for the moment, pending approval
   of the new pilot...

So that was it, thought Gendo, he's done well so far, but... Ikari's
thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a blaring klaxon somewhere in
the compound. Ikari reached for the comm button and aspirin at the same
time...

---

Hyuuga had been out for a soda when it happened. This is not to say that
every time he left the room something went wrong, but that's sure what
it felt like. Dashing back into Central Dogma, he heard Maya shouting.
"We've got confirmed blue pattern!"

Hyuuga cursed to himself. It was going to be one of those days. He
quickly made his way to his own console as other reports started flowing
in.

"We've got it located to block 27 east. The target is not
moving. Repeat, target is not moving."

"Not moving, then what the heck is it waiting for?" Hyuuga questioned no
one in particular.

The Commander spoke, "Designate the target as the fourteenth Angel, get
the pilots here on the double. Hyuuga, put that drink in the trash,
we're on alert here."

Hyuuga gulped and did as he was told. Things were not looking good.

"And someone find Major Katsuragi." The Commander suggested.

---

In combat situations, things tend to happen quickly. However, this was
not the ordinary combat situation. The Angel showed no direct signs of
hostility, taking a defensive posture against the military's probes.
Nonetheless, NERV was still on alert--as it had been for the past two
days--trying to figure out the Angel's weakness.

This is what they had learned so far.

First, the AT field they had detected earlier was remarkably weak,
nothing more than a proximity sensor for the Angel, which was apparently
blind. Conventional weapons could easily get past the field, but that's
were things started to get complicated.

The Angel's second trick was some sort of electromagnetic energy field
that could warp space, and easily time, so that projectiles fired at the
Angel passed through the space it was supposed to occupy without casing
any damage to the Angel itself. Close-up combat was all but impossible,
as the Angel had the virtue of hundreds of tentacle-like limbs that
could attack dozens, if not hundreds of times per second.

Lastly came the Angel's offenses. They were effective, if hard to
observe. The Angel had the ability to convert matter into energy to fuel
its growth, and was using this technique to bore slowly through the
armor plating right into headquarters. Fortunately, it wasn't making
much progress--it was substantially slower than the fifth Angel.

After two days of preparation and testing the Angel's boundaries, it was
decided that only an Eva attacking hand-to-hand would have any effect,
since the Angel was completely invulnerable to any long-range attacks.
In that time, however, the Angel had more than quadrupled its size, and
was now running an AT field about 35m in diameter.

---

The day of the attack came, the sun huddled over the horizon, the mid-
morning air clear and refreshing. Of course, no-one was outside to
enjoy it, save for a few large biomechanical fighting machines.

"Asuka, Rei, are you both in position?" Inquired Misato over the radio.
The two Eva pilots set their sights the 14th Angel.

"Ready. Just watch my back, Wonder girl." Asuka ordered over her
shoulder.

"I am ready." Were Rei's only words.

"Okay, you two. Long-range weapons have no effect, as you already know.
You're going to have to close in for melee fighting with your weapons.
Good luck." It was the last part that made the pilots worry.

Asuka clutched her Sonic Galive tightly with the Eva, steeling her mind
for the coming battle. Shinji wasn't here, so there was no one to argue
with. Besides, what good would Shinji do in his current (stupid) state
of mind? Wonder girl seemed un-fazed, even after her Eva had to loose an
arm when Unit 03 turned into an Angel. Now it was all up to her. She
wasn't going to fail.

In Unit 00 Rei watched the clock tick down to launch, then felt the
G-forces press her down as the Eva shot upward, joining Unit 02 up on
the surface. Rei quickly appropriated a pair of bladed sticks and took
up her backup position just behind and to the right of Asuka.

Asuka neutralized the Angel's minimal AT field and charged in to slice
it limb from limb with her spear. The Angel, however, had other ideas.

Unit 02 quickly severed three limbs in a single slash and took another
step forward, as Ayanami held off (okay, chopped off) four limbs. Things
went downhill from there.

Asuka's Eva was hit simultaneously hit by the six tentacles she didn't
even see coming, slamming Unit 02 to the ground, and knocking loose her
spear before Asuka could even cry out. Unit 00 came out of nowhere, its
arms more or less a blur as it hacked and slashed its way toward the
injured Eva. At here, to say that things went from bad to worse would be
an understatement of a lethal degree.

In the next two seconds, the battle was over, and a stunned Rei Ayanami
and Asuka Sohryu lay in their respected Eva's some distance away from
their original target, with much of their armor missing or badly
damaged.

"What was that?!" Misato yelled.

"I-it looks like the Angel used that field to place the Eva's almost two
kilometers from the battle, and they're in sad shape too..." Ritsuko
finished the last sentence with more than a hint of disgust.

"Well, shut them down, for now. Is the Angel moving?"

"No ma'am. It's just burning through the armor as normal." Maya
answered, still a little in awe of the Angel's latest trick.

_Damn!_ Thought Misato. _That thing just took them both out like it does
it everyday before breakfast!_

"This does not look good." Commented Fuyutsuki unnecessarily.

"Get Takagi in here, now!" Ordered the Commander harshly.

- TbC.

---

Notes:

(1) A holo-form is my term for the 2-dimensional screens that appear in
    midair throughout the series. A neat invention, used far more
    frequently in 'Martian Successor Nadesco'.

(2) There is a reason for Ikari's office looking like this: it is not
    the office from the anime series. Why it isn't the same office is
    explained in the sequel to this story 'It's Not the End of the
    World'.

(3) Explanation? Goku's father was a well-known and respected AI
    researcher, that's all I'm saying right now.

This story is archived at Insanity Productions Home Page:
http://www.geocities.com/rick_spiff/

Thank you for reading!

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/subway/1888/txt

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