It could be said that Nerv was quite the appropriate name for the organisation. After all, they were the sole group of people truly capable of ensuring that the human race did not come to a premature close due to a rampaging Angel. They alone held the Evangelions. They alone held the means to protect the entire planet from another event like Second Impact. Which had, shall we say for the sake of understatement, a bit of an effect on civilisation.
For further understatement, let's also say that this is a hell of a responsibility. Even the janitors are on their toes. The lunch ladies fear daily that they might give someone food poisoning, or some other disaster. Even the guys that load up the vending machines walk around on tiptoes, in case they distract someone at a crucial moment in their thought process and they were responsible for dooming the world!
So, one can but imagine what the people with actual positions that meant something within Nerv might feel most of the time. To conclude our exploration and examples of understatement let's say that they were for the most part a tiny little bit, ever so slightly stressed out of their minds.
Which was not conducive to that whole saving the world thing. Which made everybody even more on edge. Which was even less conducive to saving the world. Which made everybody else - you get the idea.
Gendo Ikari was nothing if not pragmatic. And bordering on sociopathy. But mostly he was pragmatic. Normally he would give entirely two "who cares?"an hour if one of his employees were a bit twitchy. If anything that nervousness might well make them easier to manipulate. Dance puppets, dance. But if everyone was a whole heaping lot of twitchy... Not helpful. It meant they were that much more likely to make mistakes, become emotionally compromised and worst of all, virtually impossible to manipulate.
This could not stand.
"I have a possible solution," Dr Ritsuko Akagi said, standing in his dark and gloomy and deliberately imposing office. Gendo quirked an eyebrow, sitting at his desk in his trademark pose; hands clasped together to form the creepiest bridge ever, elbows on desk, head resting on hands ominously.. Curious. He hadn't called for her nor explained the problem yet. "In my spare time, I have been researching various methods and cures for insomnia. I believe that the method this research has developed should help everyone relax to more tolerable levels."
She dropped the folder in front of him, and Gendo casually flicked through the pages. And did so without moving one inch from his usual pose.
"Impressive," Gendo remarked upon finishing his brief skim over what was a most detailed and brilliant work, probably. "How did you have enough time to conduct this insomnia research>"
Ritsuko shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."
Ah. That did make quite a bit of sense, actually.
"At least until I developed the dream capsule," she continued. "The subject lies inside and they're out cold for ten minutes. They wake up, and it's like they've been asleep ten hours."
Gendo's eyes glimmered slightly behind his glasses. This had possibilities. Yes. All sorts of potential lay here. Not only would it reduce stress, it would mean he'd be able to keep people on for hours longer than usually required... Unless of course there was a catch he wasn't seeing yet.
"How does it work?" he asked, in a tone that implied "be succinct".
"It stimulates the nerve centres on the brain responsible for REM sleep and dreaming, through carefully controlled electronic impulses. For the entirety of the ten minutes, the brain is stimulated in an extremely specific series of ways, reacting to the user's own reactions to ensure a thorough simulation of a good night's rest. The subject is drawn into a pleasant, calming dream that the mind is tricked into thinking lasts much longer than the individual user is in the pod. I've even made it possible for a user to have lucid dreams, with the simple flip of a switch."
"How difficult will it be to mass produce them? We do have limited resources," Fuyutsuki interjected. Gendo had almost forgotten he was there. He had been rather quiet today. "After all, for it to have any meaningful effect we could hardly have everyone using the same capsule."
"I have worked that out as well," Ritsuko smiled, tapping the side of her nose. "We have enough spare resources at our disposal to build thirty, and we could even justify building more."
"In what way?"
"I have good reason to believe using this device will improve our pilot's synch ratios."
<hr>
And so, the project was approved, but none of them could have guessed at the side effects this particular device might have... But only because none of them fully understood the power they were tapping into. Why is that?
Dreams are believed to be figments of the imagination, fleeting thoughts that pass by in an instant while in a state of sleep. Memories of events or thoughts that occured throughout the day as the brain rests and sorts through the worthless data, discarding the unneeded and storing the needed.
But they are more than that. So very much more. In our minds, as we slumber we create, visit and destroy whole other worlds. Entire universes exist on a thread of our imagination, operating on new rules and new ideas.
To understand the consequences of using this machine we must analyse what transpired when Dr Ritsuko Akagi carelessly tested her own device upon herself, and follow from there to the potential consequences of this inadvertantly horrifying, wonderful device.
<hr>
By this point her eyes were bleary and unfocused, opening and closing at seemingly random intervals. Ritsuko staggered across the laboratory with a piece of circuitry balanced in the palm of her hand, the final piece to a jigsaw puzzle she'd been working on for the last two weeks. The notes were on the table. The calculations checked and rechecked. The MAGI even confirmed the feasability and suggested experiments to be absolutely sure.
All she had to do was carefully, carefully insert this one last circuit. Right there. Then connect this wire there, this wire here, and this wir... just... about... Done! She laughed and stared at the ugly looking capsule. It looked naked. Circuitry exposed like that. It was silly and unfinished, but it would work! No more sleepless nights! She crawled into the capsule and closed her eyes, waiting for the sweet release of sleep to take her.
... Nothing happened. Then she realised she'd not plugged it in yet. A minute later she tried again. This time it had better -
"Wake up Doctor Akagi," the commander said. "It is time to go to work."
Ritsuko's eyes gradually opened and even more gradually adjusted to the light. She was in the commander's room, more specifically his bed. Naked. He was getting dressed into his uniform. The man cast an aura of such power that she could already feel her engine revving up again. Akagi women always had that weakness, you see. Power and intelligence, but especially power. With tremendous reluctance she rolled out of the comfortable bed. With considerably less reluctance she smiled seductively at Gendo and said "Last night was amazing. When can we -"
"Soon enough," Gendo replied. "We shall discuss this later. Shower, dress, and meet me at the press conference."
Of course. The press conference was today. The unveiling of their Evangelion. Saving grace of humanity. A collaborative effort to end all collaborative efforts. A tool through which impossible feats would be acheived, and peace could be maintained.
Their names would go down in the history books for this amazing development. She could see it all so clearly as she stood in the shower, hot water cascading down her naked form. Finally! They would show the world what could be done when they simply worked together! Finally! They would be able to promote the peace and harmony the planet had not known for the last ten years. Finally!They had the means to defend themselves against Angels!
Angels?
Ritsuko rested her hands against the side of the bathroom, and blinked in confusion. Angels? What were those?
It didn't matter. Nothing mattered except for the project and her fiance, the brilliant visionary commander Gendo Ikari. Some viewed him as cold, clinical, emotionless but she had long since scratched that surface and found the real person beneath it all. Never before had she encountered such a misunderstood soul. He felt, he really did. How could he not? At first she had been drawn to him because of his shrewd intelligence and limitless power.
Now she loved him because he had the brightest soul she'd ever encountered.
The press conference was rather boring, at least from her perspective. The crowd gasped in awe, asked the predicted, expected questions. Responded to those questions in other predictable ways. They ooed and they aahed over the Evangelion's performance, and none of them had even guessed at the identity of the pilot. A young girl produced by genetic experimentation, bred specifically for this purpose. A girl given the identity of Rei Ayanami. A girl that Ritsuko now saw as her own daughter, and would fight to the death to protect her. Just as any mother would for their own.
The entire operation went exactly as planned. Down to the last detail. Which left the commander giving his closing speech, and Ritsuko no further reason to hang around. He could handle the technical questions every bit as well as her, and as they had agreed beforehand she left him to it. He enjoyed it more than his stern face betrayed, really he did.
Little else for it but to wait for him in their apartment, which was located five minutes away. A small mercy and a perk she rather enjoyed.
The door was already open when she arrived, which worried her for a moment. Only three people had a key to this door, and process of elimination made it obvious which it was waiting inside. She was therefore not remotely surprised to see her standing by the window, staring out over Tokyo 3. Still wearing her white plug suit, which still contrasted with her short, light blue hair but blended perfectly with her pale flesh.
"Hello Rei," Ritsuko said. "You did well today."
Rei shook her head, not bothering to turn around. "I did as instructed. You were far more instrumental in today's success."
She couldn't help but ruffle the kid's hair at hearing that. She hated that particular sign of affection, and Ritsuko couldn't help but take some perverse amusement in seeing her reaction. Too cute for words!
"I quite agree, Doctor Akagi," an unfamiliar voice said behind her. She turned around, and came face to face with a sinister man wielding a gun, and her eyes froze upon it instantly. "Your contribution to the project was quite essential. Which is why I have to ask you to come with me. My employers are very interested in seeing what other innovations you may yet develop."
Before she could even begin to think of a response Rei had already moved. She was but a blur, diving and rolling behind the couch. Moments later that same couch flew towards the startled mook, who fired a bullet right into it moments before it sent him crashing into the floor. By the time he'd extracted himself from it, Rei was standing over him. He made the mistake of trying to point his gun at her again, but this time she was close enough to seize his wrist. Casually break it. Then twist the barrel off the gun in her bare hands.
Could anyone blame the man for fainting? Or for leaving the faint smell of urine in the room?
Actually Ritsuko could blame him quite well for that second point, and deliberately stepped on in his leg - in her heels, mind - on her way to embrace Rei. "That was very dangerous! You could have been shot!"
"I was," Rei replied, and only now could Ritsuko see that her shoulder was bleeding. "The bullet went through the couch. I am otherwise undamaged." She gave the man a good kick in the gut, and immmediately contacted the medical and security staff.
"It will be alright Rei," Ritsuko said, though it hurt her to see Rei in such a condition. Protecting her like that! "Promise me you'll be more careful in future. Please -"
"-Dont scare me like that again..." Ritsuko mumbled as her eyes opened. It took her a moment to realise where she was as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Oh! Of course, the capsule! She stretched out her limbs, and - Wow! "I've not felt this rested in years!" a quick glance at the wall clock and she gasped. "Ten minutes? That's - incredible! Feels like I've been asleep for hours!"
All appearances indicated it was a resounding success. Wonderful news! She would have to test it out again sometime.
"I should at least put the finishing touches on this thing... Get the circuitry all covered up. Then I can clock in, and later on..." she smiled faintly. "I should take Rei out for ice cream. She's such a brave little girl..."
Had she been less engrossed in her experiment, Ritsuko may well have noticed the odd line of thought she'd just taken... But she was. Which meant that the consequences would escape her until it was already far, far too late...
- Ritsuko then tried out the "lucid" setting to make sure it worked properly.
- Another cast member gives the capsule a try, and has a very erotic dream.
- Actually, Ritsuko hasn't woken up yet. She's still in the capsule, stuck in a dream within a dream.
- Meanwhile, dream world Ritsuko (or Rei) has noticed something odd and decides to investigate.
- Something else.
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