Neon Genesis Evangelion: Little Angel

Chapter 23: Changing Hearts, Immutable Hearts

Well hi there! It's been a little while, a little thing called University got in the way of me being able to really write this chapter at all, but the past month or so I've been able to really crack down and finish it so there you go! The start of our next Angel is here, adapting the events of a Video Game this time! So, enjoy Chapter 23, I'm quite proud of it! Enter the Nineteenth Angel!

-.-

September 12th, 2015

The dust and grime swept across the desert in a usual sweeping pattern. The building ahead-looking dark and dusty. Long abandoned against the backdrop of the landscape. Kaji glanced around him, as he trudged carefully towards the building. He pushed past the nearby fence, the rickety and rusty thing falling to the ground by a simple touch. He stood near the front door, hand in his jacket, where his gun always sat. He placed a hand on the door, and slowly opened it into the dark space beyond.

What he saw was what he had seen every other time he had done this. A normal office-like room, with chairs and objects strewn about the floor. Desks either upturned or obviously had everything hastily removed and gone. It was the same. Every single time. Nothing was different.

'Why is this the case?' Kaji thought as he stood in the middle of the darkroom. Hoping to find something, anything that could link him to the Marduk Institute. '108 firms. The first 105 turned out to be some dummy corporations. All of them are supposedly linked to the Marduk Institute. And here I am... at Number 106... No surprise here.' Kaji pulled the chair out, sitting himself down on the chair and lighting a cigarette, letting the smoke blow through his nostrils. 'Just what is the Marduk Institute? Supposedly an advisory body that operates under the direct authority of the United Nations Human Instrumentality Committee.' He glanced up at the ceiling, wonder and thoughts running through his head. 'The supposed purpose is to select the Evangelion pilots. Yet, there's nothing here, and I've yet to figure out exactly what's going on here...' He stood up, heading back towards the dusty world beyond, an idea already forming in his head. 'If there's nothing here, then what are all these 108 strings really trying to pull. Or...' He thought, stepping outside and letting the hot dusty air hit his face all over again. 'There's someone else pulling all the strings. This just doesn't feel right. Could it be... that someone I know... Someone I work for is pulling all the strings.' As Kaji stepped along the dusty and grimy ground, a man watched him from the distance, pushing his glasses upon his face, ignoring the dying world around him.

Gendo Ikari smirked at the man far in the distance, as he watched. "Soon..." He muttered to himself, as he headed back towards his helicopter, sitting running quietly in the background. Getting inside as the doors shut tightly. Quietly leaving the space, and the building to its abandoned state once again.

-.-

"Jesus Christ!" Kensuke muttered as he wandered the streets of Tokyo-3 with Toji and Shinji. "I can do without School thanks. All these dumb tests and work that we need to do... I'd much rather be in an Eva! Piloting to protect the world!"

"We know, Kensuke," Shinji muttered, as Toji also grumbled about school. "You would rather do anything to protect yourself and others. But School is not enough."

"I'd like to go a few hours without you reminding me about School, Kensuke." Toji idly commented, growling to himself. "Might as well go check out the local cemetery, Kensuke believes we'll end up in there for some reason."

"I guess we can always be ready for the worst..." Shinji said, causing Sachiel to pop out of the shirt pocket, a smile on his second (but not first) face.