Holodeck 3
Asuka held the bat’leth tightly in both her hands, its blade pointing down towards the ground. She leaned forward, peering further into the caverns. Ahead of her, she could just make out the echoes of various creatures scurrying around mixed in with the muffled voices of the bandits that called this place theirs.
The caverns were illuminated only by torches that had been set into ancient looking sconces. There was some other debris scattered around, remnants of the people that had originally inhabited these caves centuries before the bandit’s arrival. As she peered in further, she could pick up a horrible sulphurous smell given off by the river of lava that flowed through one of the deeper caverns. Ahead, she could make out an eerie red glow from said river; she felt as if hell itself lay further in the network of caves.
She carefully made her way through the cavern, hugging the walls for safety and keeping her eyes fixed in front of her. Asuka very quickly arrived within another cavern; it was large; with a number of smaller rock formations littering the area. Sensing danger was near, she quickly got herself behind one of the larger rocks and listened out for any signs of life. If there ever was a place for an ambush then this would surely be it.
At first, all was still and calm, save for the echoes from further into the caves but just as she was about to move out, she heard the footsteps.
She paused, tightening her grip on the weapon and listened out. The footsteps sounded again, a light and slow skittering signifying that the presence that had entered the cavern was not that of a humanoid. She slowly peeked out from around the rock and located the source of the footsteps. It was one of the creatures native to this planet, a dark screen insectoid being. It stood at around five and a half feet, and moved on six pointed legs. The carapace of the creature was split into a number of segments and its head a rounded fleshy bulk. The eyes were black discs, giving it the appearance of an Earth fly; it’s arms, if they could be called that, resembled that of a praying mantis.
These creatures weren’t unknown to her. They were fast beings and extremely dangerous and unfortunately loyal to the bandits. Somehow, they had control over the more dangerous wildlife this planet had to offer so Asuka knew she had to be careful. She waited patiently trying to figure out the best way to approach the creature. Her main problem would of course be those arms, razor sharp and more than capable of severing a limb.
She inhaled, attempting to quell any nervousness that had crept in. Asuka had run this program many times before and yet today was the day her body was deciding to rebel. She could feel sweat forming on her forehead; her heart beating faster in her chest and the sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach.
It didn’t make sense to her. This was just a simulation! It was just a program she had ran through so many times in the past. She didn’t have the safety protocols off therefore she was perfectly safe.
‘Safe… I’m safe… Just like Shinji was…’
She tried to ignore the question. What had happened five days ago was nothing more than an accident, a glitch tied to that program. Asuka had run this simulation many times before. Nothing was going to go wrong and nothing could go wrong.
Yet, there was still some doubt and she felt her hands start to tremble. For days she had been fighting against those images of what had happened in holodeck 2. Trying her best to ignore them and push them back down into the recesses of her mind where she rarely went. It didn’t work, even now all she could remember was the prickly feeling creeping across her skin as that Borg sphere had approached the view screen. It had felt so real and no amount of telling herself it wasn’t had helped.
For the first time in so long Asuka had felt completely helpless and it had happened in front of Shinji and the captain of all people. She hadn’t just messed up, but she had been completely embarrassed in front of them.
It made her sick.
She swallowed, taking a deep breath again to try and settle her nerves and perhaps ignore some of the nausea brought on by the recollection. This was a different holodeck and a different program. She had triple checked everything before running it. She wouldn’t let herself be beaten by that goddamn glitch.
She peered out again, watching the creature scuttling over to the other side of the cave. Now was her chance, she could dash over, catch the creature off guard and finish it without issue. She readied herself, and let all the frustration rush through her. This was why she was here.
With her bat’leth clutched tightly, she rose up and started dashing towards the creature. The crossed the gap between them as quickly as she could and passed the bat’leth to her right hand. She drew it backwards readying it to swing at the beast. She saw the creature begin to turn around, it had heard her but that didn’t matter. Asuka had the upper hand.
Asuka channelled all her frustration into her swing, letting out an almighty scream as she swung the weapon at the creature’s mid-section hoping to slice it clean in half. Unfortunately, the quick kill wasn’t to come, she had been just a touch too slow and the beast was able to raise one arm to defend itself. The steel of the bat’leth smashed against the sharpened limb. Sparks flew from where contact was made and the sound of the strike echoed throughout the cave.
In a way Asuka was hoping for this, a proper fight to really get out all of her frustration. She hopped backwards, raise the bat’leth up again, this time to defend herself as the creature took a swing at her. She dug in her heels and twisted the blade to the side to defend against another incoming swipe. She let out a feral growl as she pushed forwards with the bat’leth before taking a step back to create some distance between her and the beast.
Passing the bat’leth to her left hand she aimed another swing at the creature, aiming for one of its legs. It blocked her again and she immediately passed the weapon into her right hand and went for another swing. This too was blocked and followed up by another attack from the creature, this one aiming for her right side, the spun out of its way and made an attempt for a counter only to be blocked again.
It was the creatures time to dart forward, bringing both of its limbs down towards her. She grabbed the bat’leth in both hands, roaring in anger as the put everything into blocking the blow. Limbs of the creature smashed against the steel blade; she dug her heels in again as she pushed back against the beast.
The creature was stronger than she had first thought but she just had to maintain this. Eventually she’d break through and kill the damn thing.
Suddenly the left limb of the create stopped forcing its way through. Asuka was knocked off balance by the sudden weight being lifted and she barely had time to react as the limb was brought down again with ferocious force and frightening speed. She stood firm as painful vibrations were sent through her arm and body. The creature repeated the motion again and again, each blow was blocked but each one causing more and more pain.
The limb came down again and Asuka took her chance, spinning to the left and watching as the creature’s attack struck the ground. She let out a yelp of pain as she felt a burning in her shoulder. Glancing quickly at it, she saw there was a rip in her uniform and a cut from where the creature had managed to strike her.
There was no time for her to dwell on the pain. She passed the bat’leth into her right hand and swung towards the creature as it was recovering from its own attack. This was the exact opening she had been hoping for, now she had it on the back foot, or in this monster’s case, feet.
Readying one final swing she channelled all the frustration and anger of the last few days. Those moments flashed before her again. The moment of weakness, the embarrassment, the fear and the anger at letting herself down. For a brief moment she saw the creature as one of them. As one of the hideous monsters that plagued her, as one of the drones that haunted her nightmares.
She swung, aiming for the creature’s midsection, aiming for the drone’s midsection. The bat’leth made contact and the creature let out a scream of pain. The monsters green blood sprayed from where the bat’leth had made contact. Asuka let out another roar of anger as she pulled the bat’leth away and went in for a second and third strike, doing her best to sever the creature in two.
“GOD… DAMN… YOU… DIE… ALREADY!”
She let out one final roar of anger as a fourth strike finished the job. The bat’leth slice through what was left of the creature’s body, its lower half went limp immediately and sunk to the floor, soon joined by its top half. It’s green blood pooling around where its corpse lay, a pungent smell adding to the already sulphurous smell.
Panting heavily, Asuka set her bat’leth down and leaned against the cave wall, trying to regain some energy. She knew that there was little time to relax, complacency meant only danger in a place like this. Still, she had put everything into that fight. Every little bit of anger and frustration she had felt was put into those swings and yet, as the sweat poured off of her, she found she felt little better than she had before fighting the creature.
She took another few moments before picking up the bat’leth once again and getting ready to move into the next cavern when she was suddenly cut off by an alert. She let out a sigh, “Damnit, I booked this thing for an hour, why is someone trying to get in now?”
“Enter!” She called out with more than a little annoyance in her voice. The holodecks entrance appeared and Asuka faced it, glaring angrily at whoever was about to enter. Her glare soon faded when she saw that it was not another officer, but instead captain Katsuragi who was stepping into the holodeck.”
Asuka swallowed, her nervousness from before coming back. She had been doing her best to avoid the captain since the incident the other day. Facing her captain after everything that had happened was not something she wanted to do.
“Captain.” Asuka snapped to attention.
“At ease ensign.” Misato smiled at her, “I’m sorry to interrupt your holodeck time like this but, I wanted to see if could talk?”
888
USS Tokyo Sickbay - Four Days ago
Shinji stood in the sickbay, looking along the rows of beds at the sleeping figure occupying one of them. It had been one whole day since the incident. He had awoken several hours ago, all patched up and after a quick round of tests told that he was free to go but to expect some general aches and pains over the next few days.
The aches and pains didn’t quite compare to the awkwardness of seeing the doctor that had treated him. Ensign Sakura Suzahara, Touji’s twin sister. He kept on trying to remind himself that it wasn’t his fault she had gotten hurt during the first battle. He kept on trying to remind himself that Touji had also reiterated that it wasn’t his fault and even Sakura herself on treating him had reminded him that it wasn’t his fault.
That all did very little however to stop the voice in his head telling him that it was his fault. He couldn’t help but feel guilty and mutter a small sorry to her. She told him to stop being silly, and if anything, she should be the one apologizing for Touji’s actions.
It had been a few hours since then, Shinji had returned to his quarters but found himself unable to rest. He had considered contacting Touji and Kensuke but didn’t want to bother them and the idea of going back on the holodeck after what had happened yesterday made him feel sick. So, he had put on his uniform and wandered the ship instead, and now found himself back in sickbay, looking at and worried about the only occupant of the room, Asuka.
He wondered what exactly had happened yesterday. They had been running the simulation in front of Misato and Asuka had asked him to go to and scan for ships in that region. Next thing he knew he was facing a Borg cube and it seemed like everything had gone wrong. At first, he thought it might just be another overly difficult test conjured up by Asuka but her reaction, was not what he had expected.
There was also the nagging feeling of guilt he felt. Could he have done more to prevent her being hurt? Could he have been a bit faster? Acted a bit smarter?
He let out a sigh and turned to leave when the doors to the sickbay suddenly opened up and Misato stepped through. She shot him a smile and stopped next to him.
“Crewman, I thought you would be resting in your quarters.”
“S-Sorry I… didn’t really… I just thought I’d go for a walk.”
“No need to apologize, a walk can be good for clearing the mind.” She reassured him, “I was just coming in to check on Ensign Soryu but it looks like she could do with a bit more rest.”
“Will she be okay?” Shinji asked.
Misato gave a nod, “CMO has given her a clean bill of health, she was roughed up a bit but looks like she just needs to sleep it all off.”
“I… I’m glad.”
“Look Shinji… Now might not be the best time for it so if you’d rather do it some other time, then say so but… I did want to talk to you about what happened yesterday.”
“It’s okay, I’ll be okay.” Shinji answered.
“Are you sure?”
Shinji nodded, “Y-Yeah…”
“Well first of all, I just want you to know that what happened yesterday was not your fault. There was nothing you could have done better that you hadn’t already done.” Misato spoke, almost as if she had been reading his mind only moments before.
“I… I know that but I…” He trailed off knowing that he was about to say sounded stupid. Instead, he just let Misato speak.
“I know that probably doesn’t make things easier, you and Asuka got hurt and we lost a ship. It was all a simulation but simulation or not, the Borg aren’t exactly my first choice of enemies to go up against.”
“Have you… fought them?” He asked.
Misato shook her head, “In holodecks, yes. Ship to ship combat and infiltration exercises… some of the most terrifying simulations I’ve been a part of but in real life… thankfully no, and I want to keep it that way.”
“I see…” Shinji looked back towards Asuka, he thought for a moment he could hear her muttering something in her sleep, but she rolled over facing away from the two of them before he could make out any words.
“I should let you know that as of now we’re investigating what happened yesterday. I’ve already asked Aoba to look through the logs for the holodeck and he’ll probably want to ask you a few questions too.”
Shinji nodded, “That’s fine.”
“How are you feeling, after yesterday?”
“I’m scared.” Shinji admitted.
Misato nodded, “I understand but we will find out what happened, I promise you that. You are safe here.”
888
NERV – Commanders Office
“It is done.” Ritsuko announced, with no trace of emotion in her voice as she placed the PADD down on Gendo’s desk, “Full medical profile on Ensign Asuka Langley Soryu, as well as that of the rest of the crew of the Tokyo.”
“I trust there were no issues obtaining the data, Captain Katsuragi doesn’t suspect anything does she?” Gendo inquired as he picked up the PADD.
“No problems, the accident with the two pilots provided adequate cover for me to step in and aid their medical staff.” Ritsuko answered, “From there it was fairly easy to copy the data I needed.”
“Good work doctor Akagi. I want you to take the data you have and create a pilot profile for Soryu to use when Evangelion 02 arrives.” Gendo instructed, “Using the rest of the data, I’d like you to create dummy pilot profiles, should we need to replace a pilot.”
Ritsuko nodded, “Will that be all?”
“That is all for now.” Gendo said as Ritsuko quickly turned to leave. When she had left the office, Gendo turned in his chair and looked up at the standing figure of Kozo Fuyutsuki. The former professor looked to be deep in thought. Gendo knew exactly what about, similar thoughts plagued him each and every day.
‘Yui’
He wasn’t ignorant of the professors’ feelings towards his late wife, after all it was those feelings that made Fuyutsuki such a loyal companion in his plan. If they were successful, then both could get what they wanted. Gendo could get the reality, and Fuyutsuki the fantasy. Sure, he knew the professor didn’t entirely agree with the plan or the methods that Gendo employed but that didn’t matter, the old man was weakened by his grief and his guilt, he was a tool, just as everyone else was.
“Dummy pilot data? Another thing the committee isn’t to know, I assume?” Fuyutsuki finally asked.
“Call it an insurance policy.” Gendo answered, “I’ve had word from our agent that the committee have started production on 03 and 04. If this is the case, being able to propose our own pilots would be beneficial.”
“More Evangelion class ships.” Fuyutsuki paused, “I am to assume they are to be completed whilst the pilgrimage is ongoing.”
“You would be correct.” Gendo confirmed, “Evangelion 02 will arrive here intact, the committee will arrive in their ark shortly afterwards and we will finally leave this place. I believe they will finish Unit 03 and 04 shortly into the journey.”
“Depending on how many people the other members are willing to commit to the pilgrimage, they will have a limited pool of pilot candidates to choose from. I can see why you’re preparing candidates in advance.” Fuyutsuki replied.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“Indeed.” Gendo nodded, “On another subject, have you heard anything from our agent on board the Tokyo regarding their recent incident.”
“They’ve reported in, Katsuragi is treating it as deliberate sabotage and attempting to find the culprit. So far, they have no idea who it is or how they managed to do it. Do you still think the committee was involved?”
“I see no other possibility, this is probably Kiels little way of ensuring we stay in line. Bloodying our noses to show they can still take action if we don’t comply.” Gendo answered, “It is a toothless attempt, they would not risk seriously injuring or killing the pilots to get at us. I see little cause for concern. Have our agent return to NERV as soon as possible. Anything else we need can go through Akagi for now.”
888
Holodeck 3
The first thing that hit Misato as she stepped onto the holodeck was the sulphurous smell that dominated whatever program it was that Soryu was running. The second thing to hit her was the sight of the mangled creature’s corpse lying in the centre of the cavern, its disembodied torso lying a couple of feet away from the lower half of the body. There was a pool of green blood around where the creature lay.
Trying to hide her shock, she turned her gaze from the creature to an exhausted ensign Soryu. The woman certainly didn’t look anything like she did the other day on the holodeck, this wasn’t a frightened ensign, this was a warrior. Her clothing was torn and tattered, she could see blood trickling down Asuka’s shoulder and in one hand she held a stained Klingon bat’leth.
“I have to say ensign, one of the academies best pilots and skilled with a bat’leth, you’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” Misato smirked, “Where did you learn to use one?”
Asuka grinned, “Holodeck training programs at the academy, I found the regular self-defence classes a little bit dull so I decided to try something different.”
Misato raised an eyebrow as she stepped further into the room, trying her best to ignore the putrid stench coming off of the creature. Misato had, in her time fought alongside Klingons and in one misunderstanding, fought with Klingons, it was certainly an experience.
“Well… the Klingon course is certainly… different.” Misato finally said, “What do you say we speak somewhere… a little bit more appropriate?”
“Sure thing.” Asuka gave a nod, “Computer load program Soryu-Germany 003.”
Immediately after Asuka gave her command the dark cavern and thankfully for Misato, the creature, vanished from view. Within a few seconds they found themselves stood in a small café situated on a quiet German street. Where once there had been stalagmites there were now booths and tables, where once there had been stalactites, there were lights and ceiling fans. The pungent smell that had hung in the air was replaced by that of baked goods and freshly brewed coffee.
The two of them found a booth and sat themselves down. Asuka was quickly treating her wound with a dermal regenerator. Curiously her bat’leth remained with her, Misato tilted her head, “That… wasn’t a prop?”
Asuka laughed, “No, it’s mine. I won it from a Klingon back on Earth.”
“I… don’t think I want to know any further details.” Misato shook her head, “Look, I’ll try to not take up too much of your time. It’s just… you’ve been a hard woman to track down over the last couple of days.”
The smile quickly faded from Asuka’s face as she looked away and out of the window. She remained silent, leaving only the noise of the ambient chatter and clinking of cups. A few more moments passed before Asuka finally spoke, “If you’re here to ask how I am, then I’m fine and I appreciate the offer of help but I don’t need it. I’ll return to duty on the day I was asked to.”
“Ensign I…”
“The doctor checked me out and said I had no lasting injuries.” Asuka cut in, “Honestly, I’m fine.”
“Asuka… It’s not about your injuries, it’s about what happened… what you saw on the holodeck.”
Misato trailed off, not entirely sure how far she should press the subject. She knew it was likely to be something they’d have to deal with eventually. Choosing Asuka to be a part of her crew meant picking up the baggage that came with it. Asuka was an amazing pilot, and had unlimited potential as an officer but there was also a history there.
“So…you know then? All about my past I mean.” Asuka muttered, “Heh, of course you know… They always know…”
There was venom in her voice when she spoke. Misato wasn’t surprised nor did she blame Asuka for being angry. Misato would, hell she had felt exactly the same way at points during her journey in Starfleet. The main difference was that Misato couldn’t remember her trauma, but Asuka could remember everything.
“Yes… I know.” Misato admitted.
“So, what now? Are you going to force me to talk about it with the ship’s councillor?” Asuka asked, “Or are you going to do what all the others have tried to do? Tell me I’m not cut out for this because of how I reacted? That’s what they all tried to do at the academy.”
“Asuka…”
“’With your history, you might want to pursue something other than being on a starship, the Borg are out there.’” Asuka said in a mimicking tone, “As if I didn’t already know that! As if I’m not aware that those bastards are out there!”
Misato decided the best thing to do would be to say nothing for the moment and just listen.
“I proved them all wrong through, didn’t I? Not only was I cut out for their stupid academy but I excelled in everything they threw at me. I got through their stupid Borg simulations! I aced their tests and I got a position on this starship!”
“Asuka, I don’t for one second doubt your ability.” Misato finally spoke, “If I had any doubts then I wouldn’t have selected you for this crew. Yes, I knew all about your history but that didn’t factor into my decision at all. I selected you because of your potential and what you had achieved.”
Misato paused for a moment to allow for a waitress to bring over a pot of coffee and two cups for the pair of them. Once the waitress had left, she poured herself and Asuka a cup and continued speaking, “What happened to you… no one should have had to go through that or see it.”
“So, I’ve been told but I did go through it and I did see it but as you can see, I’m fine now.” Asuka fired back, “It’s in the past, what happened in the holodeck was just a blip. I was distracted by everything else that had gone wrong and let my guard down. It won’t happen again.”
“Fine, we can drop it for now.” Misato nodded.
“Good, thank you.” Asuka sipped from her cup, before adding a touch of milk and then some sugar to her coffee, “I’m more interested in what’s going to happen to the asshole that screwed things up.”
Misato shook her head, “We’re investigating it now. It’s early stages but that was another thing I wanted to ask you, is there anything you can remember that might help us?”
Asuka shook her head, “Nothing, I went to the holodeck on the night before at around 1800 hours, worked on the program and tested it until about 2200 hours, when I arrived there was no one around and when I left there was no one.”
“We didn’t run that program until sometime into the next day.” Misato sighed, “That means whoever sabotaged it had almost a full day to do so. That may as well be an eternity on a starship.”
“I don’t understand it thought.” Asuka spoke up, “I encrypted that program, it should only have been accessible by me and my voice command.”
“Or a superior officer if they truly wanted to get access to it…” Misato replied, “But then that would have left something in the holodecks logs.”
Asuka’s answers had only really served to confirm what Misato and her team already knew. Asuka had gone to the holodeck at the time mentioned and left at the time mentioned, between that time and the time of the training exercise that holodeck had not been used or accessed by anyone.
“Is he… okay?” Asuka suddenly spoke, “The civilian… Shinji, I mean? He wasn’t… hurt badly, was he?”
“He is fine, he actually woke up before you did and he’s been resting in his quarters since then.” Misato fibbed slightly, not wanting to mention the visit Shinji made to sickbay to check on Asuka, “Physically he’s fine but mentally… he’s a little bit shaken.”
“Good.” Asuka nodded as she looked out of the window, “His training… You’re going to give it to someone else, aren’t you?”
For a moment Misato was surprised at just how weak Asuka suddenly sounded. All the confidence and bravado had suddenly faded, “Why would you say that?”
“Because I screwed up.” Asuka still didn’t make eye contact, “I failed to keep him safe and got him hurt, and…”
“And… because the training hasn’t been going very well up until this point?” Misato frowned.
Asuka nodded, again surprising Misato. She hadn’t expected the young woman to admit to this quite as easily. Misato already knew that the training wasn’t going well, she had seen through the holodeck logs the sort of simulations Asuka had been making Shinji do and she knew just what Asuka was trying to achieve with the program the other day, had it not been sabotaged.
To say Misato was displeased would be an understatement. She had given Asuka very specific instructions to help train Shinji and prepare him for piloting. She wanted him to be taken from the very basics to a competent level with an aim to maybe even put him on the bridge.
“I wasn’t going to bring it up now but I had considered it, yes.” Misato admitted, “Being honest I am disappointed in what has been happening. I knew putting his training in the hands of an ensign is a big risk but I thought I could trust you to do things properly and what I’ve seen so far is…”
Misato paused to compose her words carefully. Asuka had already been through enough the last few days, and she didn’t want to add more misery to the young woman’s plate.
“Look, Soryu… Let’s use this as a lesson and start over. I know how damn good you are and how good you can be but I’ve also read the reports from the academy, I know what other people have said about you.”
“They’re just words…” Asuka snarled, “They know nothing…”
“Then prove that to me.” Misato replied, “Prove those people wrong and prove to me you can do this. Prove to me that my trust in you hasn’t been misplaced. You know exactly what it is you have to do.”
“I… I do…” Asuka muttered.
888
Captains Quarters
Misato’s back ached as she stepped through the door and into her quarters. After a gruelling shift she could finally relax. She could get back into her quarters, take off this damn uniform, have a long bath and get some sleep. Until tomorrow of course, when she’d likely have to do it all over again.
There had been so much to do, and Misato wanted to make sure she was as involved and as on top of things as she could be. That meant liaising with NERV, it meant seeing to the needs of her crew and it meant being involved in the investigation into the holodeck sabotage. That was the thing she especially wanted to be involved with, if there was someone on her ship putting members of her crew in danger, then she wanted to deal with it. She was going to be there to explore the ship, review any footage and interview any suspects.
Roles that, her first officer keenly reminded her, were not really her place anymore. Not that such a thing would stop her.
Distracted by her thoughts, it took Misato a moment to realize that things in her quarters weren’t quite how she expected them to be. Not only were things just a touch, maybe a lot, tidier than she had left them but there was another woman in the room waiting for her. Misato allowed herself a smile as she glanced across as Ritsuko.
Next to Ritsuko on the dining table were two plates, each one containing a traditional Japanese Katsu curry if Misato’s nose was not mistaken. In the centre of the table was an ice bucket containing a single bottle of wine, two empty glasses beside it. Either side of the bucket were two lit candles.
It was Ritsuko herself that got most of Misato’s attention. Ritsuko was wearing a dark full-length dress. She looked a stark contrast to how she normally did. Misato couldn’t help but smile. The entire scene was a little bit cheesy, a touch cliché but that was how the two of them liked things. There was no point in trying to reinvent the wheel when it came to romance, sometimes the old methods are the best.
Still, as much as she loved the surprise Misato did feel a little bit embarrassed by it all. There was Ritsuko, looking beautiful and having gone to such an effort for her and here she was, stood in a shabby and sweaty Starfleet uniform after her gruelling shift. Ritsuko looked like gold-pressed latinum, Misato was like unrefined ore.
“R-Ritsuko?”
“Welcome home.” Ritsuko smirked.
“Is this… for me?”
Ritsuko nodded, “For us. I thought that after everything that has happened since you arrived here, we maybe deserved a little night to ourselves. A date… like we used to have back at the academy.”
“A date…” Misato blushed, “I… I’m still in my uniform though! You should have told me! I’d have….”
“Wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if I’d have told you.” Ritsuko continued to grin, “Besides… I don’t intend on you being in that uniform all night.”
“Rits…” Misato stepped forward, feeling the burn in her cheeks intensifying. She found herself in a rare situation, completely and utterly lost for words. It was an effect the woman tended to have on her. She said nothing as she moved forward embracing her lover and kissing her firmly on the lips.
For a brief moment, everything faded away. She was no longer captain Misato Katsuragi of the starship Tokyo and this was not Doctor Ritsuko Akagi of Starfleet, Section 31 or NERV. They were just two people who loved and needed one another.
Finally, they broke the kiss, and Misato looked down at the table, her stomach growling as if responding to the sight of hot food, “Did you make all of this?”
“If by make you mean, did I use your replicator, then yes, I did make it.” Ritsuko admitted, “I like to think it’s the thought that counts.”
“Heh, thank you either way.” Misato sat herself down, “This food… the curry, it reminds me of…”
“Our first date?” Ritsuko finished Misato’s sentence for her.
“Yes. You remember, it was so long ago now…”
“Of course I remember! You wanted to make a big impression.” Ritsuko answered, “We had been roommates for a while and you had just asked me out.”
“You turned me down at first, said you didn’t want anything like romance interfering with your studies.” Misato flashed her a grin, “Why did you change your mind?”
“Honestly… It was my mother. I told her another student had asked me out and I turned them down. She told me it was the right thing to do, focusing on my studies was what was important. Romance was pointless, she said.” Ritsuko answered, “She always said that but… she didn’t have a problem when she needed someone. So, I thought, I’m not going to be like her, it was my own quiet act of rebellion.”
“Ah, so you did it out of spite.”
“In a way but… I also liked you.” Ritsuko admitted, “You were a breath of fresh air in my life. So, unlike anyone else I had known up until that point. You were… wild and adventurous, the very opposite of me. All I knew was academics, nothing about real life but you were the very opposite of all that.”
“Rits…”
“You’ve heard this all before but I was never very good with others.” Ritsuko continued, “I didn’t have many friends growing up. I can blame my mother for steering me onto that path but I was to blame too. I bought into what she told me about not needing others and others only being out to use me and I maintained that attitude. Truth is, I was shy and scared of people but you… helped change that. At first, I thought I’d hate you. You were loud and obnoxious, you didn’t seem to care much about studying and yet somehow, you were a great cadet.”
Misato smiled and reached for Ritsuko’s hand, “I had a lot of help.”
“Yes, you did and over time I realized I didn’t and couldn’t hate you… I learned to love you and… I’ve never stopped.”
“Ritsu…” Misto felt the blush returning to her cheeks, “You know I… never stopped loving you either. When I ended things with you after we graduated, I was just… scared. We were getting our first assignments and things were going to be…”
“Tough? Frustrating? Borderline impossible?” Ritsuko finished the sentence for her, “I know and I understood it at the time.”
“Those were all excuses though!” Misato sighed angrily, “I wasn’t even willing to try, I gave up before it even had a chance to be tough or frustrating! I just ran away. I’m no better than my father was.”
“I don’t blame you.” Ritsuko spoke in an effort to calm Misato down, “In some strange way I was relieved when you did end it. I was frightened too. You were going to be selected for a deep space assignment and I was going to be left posted to one of the stations at the other end of the quadrant.”
“I’m so lucky I found you again.” Misato replied, “I’m so lucky and… so damn happy.”
“So am I.” Ritsuko nodded back.
‘Except luck had nothing to do with this.’ She thought to herself, Misato being here wasn’t by random chance. It was all the machinations of the commander of NERV as a weapon against SEELE. Their relationship was just a minor and ultimately meaningless part of it all.
“Our first date.” Misato chuckled, “Can you remember it?”
“How could I forget. You being you, wanted to make a big statement, so instead of just taking me to somewhere nice within San Francisco you secured us a shuttle and took me all the way to Hakone! Wanted me to see your favourite places growing up, except… you being you, forgot about one small detail.”
Misato laugh, “I don’t know what you mean, it was a lovely time!”
“That one small thing being the time difference between San Francisco and Japan!”
“Eh, we all make mistakes!” She shrugged, “Besides we had a lovely day in Hakone, didn’t we?”
“Yes… I suppose we did, even if we did get chewed out by our instructors for skipping an entire days’ worth of classes!”
“Totally worth it.”
“Yes, it was.” Ritsuko admitted before picking up the wine from the ice bucket, “Wine?”
“Is it replicated?” Misato asked.
“No, this is fresh from the NERV stockroom.”
“Well, isn’t that romantic.”
“I wanted something that’d fit a dinner by candlelight, I know beer is your usual choice but I didn’t think it’d go.”
“Beer goes with everything!” Misato retorted.
“If you say so.” Ritsuko opened the bottle and started pouring it into the two glasses before turning the bottle over in her hand, “Chateau Picard… 2087 apparently.”
“Picard eh… So that’s what he’s doing now, making wine.” Misato frowned, “Starfleet legend turned winemaker, what a career change. Damn shame about what happened to him, the situation with the Romulans and the synths, real shame.”
“Well, I’m not sure his story is totally over yet.” Ritsuko sipped from her glass, “People like him, they never truly go away.”
“So, is this wine supposed to be any good?”
“Good enough that NERV stocks it.” Ritsuko shrugged, “Can’t really imagine Commander Ikari being the sort who’d care, probably Fuyutsuki’s choice.”
“He does seem like the sort.”
“Not that I want to discuss work but how are things with Shinji, any improvement?” Ritsuko asked.
“I think he’s doing okay, the incident the other day has shaken him and I’m worried that mentally this’ll all take its toll.” Misato admitted, “I’m worried about rushing him back to any training or tests. Physically he’s fine but…”
“He’ll have to start again at some point.”
“I know but it’s hard to shake the feeling that he just isn’t meant for this.” Misato said before prodding at her curry, “It’d be one thing if I was ordering someone who had graduated or enrolled willingly but he…”
“I thought you said he had agreed to remain here.”
“He has but…”
“In which case you have to treat him the same as any officer or enlisted crewman.”
“I know you’re right but it’s tough.” Misato replied, her mouth half full.
“No one ever said command was easy.” Ritsuko answered, “What about Soryu, how is she?”
“I spoke to her earlier, she insists she’s fine and ready to return to training Shinji when possible. I’m giving her a second chance at training, Ibuki has already told me what a bad idea it is, and I’m sure you’re about to tell me too but…”
“And why would I say it was a bad idea.”
“I don’t know, because of what we’ve seen so far from her. That she’s been unpleasant to be around, her ego has been getting in the way of her actually being helpful and if anything, she’s been borderline bullying him.”
“If sounds like you’re the one who thinks it’s a bad idea. Soryu is stubborn… headstrong… has an ego… kind of reminds me of someone.”
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“Am I wrong?” Ritsuko grinned.
“As always… no.” Misato sighed, “She could be an amazing officer one day, a brilliant captain. She’s got what it takes to rise through the ranks but everything else. I was hoping that putting her in charge of his training might soften her up a bit.”
“I see.”
“Unfortunately, I think she sees this only as an opportunity to gain promotion and look good in front of others. She doesn’t care about him or what he needs and requires out of it. To her it may as well be training a puppy.”
Misato was about to say something else when an alert suddenly went off in her room. She let out a sigh before tapping her combadge, “Katsuragi here.”
“Captain, we’ve had a communication directly from NERV. Doctor Akagi’s present is being requested immediately.”
Misato glanced over at an annoyed looking Ritsuko who simply retorted, “I’m off duty, can it not wait?”
“I’m afraid not doctor, they said it was pretty urgent.”
“Fine, I’m on my way." It was Ritsuko’s turn to sigh, “So much for the romantic meal. I’m really sorry about this.”
“Don’t be.” Misato shook her head, “Comes with the uniform, or in your case… the dress.”
“I’ll try to be as quick as I can.”
“Good.” Misato got up and watched as Ritsuko made her way towards the door, “Oh, and doctor Akagi.”
“Yes.”
“When you return… I expect you to still be wearing that dress.”
“Of course… captain.” Ritsuko grinned as she left the room leaving Misato on her own with two empty plates and some half full glasses of wine.
“Well… as least I still have this wine.” She muttered to herself as she picked her glass up.
“Care for a little company?”
It took a brief moment for Misato to register the other voice in the room, but her eyes quickly widened and within a second, she had set the glass back down and pulled out her phaser. She turned aiming it towards the door and the source of the voice.
At first there was no one there, but then there was a brilliant flash of white light and stood where previously there was nothing, was a man with a devilish smirk on his face. Misato held the phaser firmly as she kept her eyes focused on him. He looked human, maybe around forty or so years old, he had short black hair and was wearing a Starfleet uniform much like hers, his pips matching that of an admiral.
Her finger hovered over the trigger of the phase as she prepared to speak but she didn’t need him to answer to know just who and what he was. This was a moment many captains had been warned about in Starfleet, the bane of a number of captains including the one responsible for producing the wine she was drinking that night.
“Q.”