There is a routine and a procedure that is followed for the sake of everyone. Because of her unique biology and nature it is imperative that this routine is followed. It is essential that she is watched at all times by a trusted person. She has a hand-picked team of personal observers whose duty it is to ensure that she be kept safe from harm, be it in the form of criminals, extremist groups (typically religious), political enemies to NERV or SEELE, rogue elements of either, or unforeseen threats yet to be predicted.
They watched her constantly. Everywhere she went, she was observed. This was a fact that Rei Ayanami found peculiarly comforting, although she had a sense that most people would find it disconcerting. There was an American quote. Those who would sacrifice liberty for security will soon find they have neither. To someone like Rei, matters of liberty mattered very little. For she had never truly known what liberty meant.
"It's time for your weekly checkup," Doctor Akagi had instructed her. She sounded a little peculiar. Her voice had a tinge of expression within it. Happiness, playfulness. Not usually traits she displayed while talking to Rei, but she had heard these things in other people often enough to emulate them to some small extent.
Then she had learned to emulate them so well that she had even tricked herself into feeling them. Quite the trick for an artificial human, no?
"How are you feeling, Rei?" Doctor Akagi asked while they went down, down into the top-secret depths of the Geofront. Behind them security locks closed off. Making her feel safe and secure, even if her security team would no longer be able to observe her anymore.
"Normal," Rei answered. Then looked over to the Doctor and tilted her head in confusion. Was Doctor Akagi skipping? This seemed like an unprofessional piece of conduct. "How are you feeling, Doctor Akagi?" Rei asked. Normally that would be a mere mimicry of human behaviour. Instead, today, she was starting to feel genuinely concerned for a woman she respected.
"I feel pretty gre~eat!" Doctor Akagi answered. "And please, call me Ritsuko."
"Ritsuko," Rei said. "In a professional capacity, should I not refer to you by title and surname?"
The head scientist of NERV playfully patted Rei on top of her head and tousled her hair, while smiling in a way that people might find a touch off putting. That is, if Rei correctly understood the definition of "uncanny valley" properly.
"Tell me, how do you feel about Sh- Pilots Ikari and Langley-Sohryu? And please do be honest, Rei. This could be considered a direct order."
"I feel that Pilot Ikari performs his duties with resignation and reluctance," Rei said. "He is compassionate for people he knows, yet uncertain how to express -"
"Ah, ah!" Do- Ritsuko interrupted. "That's what you think of him. How do you feel about him?"
That question was much more difficult to answer. An objective analysis was a trivial matter for someone like her. A subjective one is much more challenging.
"I do not understand what you want me to say," Rei answered, quite honestly.
"Do you like him?" Ritsuko asked. "Do you hate him? Are you experiencing physical attraction to him? Do you enjoy his companionship? Would you rather not spend time with him at all? How does he make you feel? And Asuka as well. Does she annoy you? Are you trying to be friends with her?" A peculiarly immature expression flashed across her face. "Are you attracted to Asuka? These are the questions I want to know the answers to, Re~ei."
"I am incapable of romantic attraction," Rei answered. "This has not changed in spite of more frequent social interaction. However..."
"However?"
"I do... enjoy the company of my fellow pilots."
This seemed to satisfy Ritsuko, for whatever reason. A psychological test of some sort? To ensure stability? It hardly seemed as though she had said anything worth analysing. What purpose had there been behind the question? As they walked down this corridor, it seemed to Rei as though the intention might have been to make Rei consider that afterwards to see what conclusions she might reach.
"Why do you enquire?" Rei asked. This seemed the rational course of action.
"You've heard of the paradox called the Ship of Theseus," Ritsuko said in a peculiarly singsong manner. "Tell me about it."
"It was the ship of an ancient hero, that was stored and maintained," Rei said. "Over time, all of the wood that made it up rotted and had to be replaced. The paradox asks if, after the last plank of wood has been replaced, is it truly the same ship? And if not, then at what point does it cease to be the same ship?"
Ah. Now Rei was starting to comprehend. Ritsuko was wanting to see if Rei herself was changing in an imperceptible, yet essential manner. Or perhaps that assumption was wrong. Was Ritsuko herself undergoing some form of transformation in her own life? She seemed much happier and more upbeat than usual.
They arrived at their destination. The room was a duplicate of her own apartment: Actually, it was more like the reverse. She felt more comfortable in an environment like this because it was, in reality, the very first kind of place she could have called home.
"We'll be doing a more thorough test than usual this time," Ritsuko said. "Strip off, then come through this door when you're ready."
Very well. Rei did this without any further consideration. A more thorough test than normal. Usually there would be an examination to ensure her body's cohesion was stable. A mental backup to make sure that, if the worst happened (to Rei) they could effortlessly create a copy to replace her. Of course previous backups were also kept stored just in case the latest one was corrupted in some manner that proved problematic.
Rei ran through all of these facts as something to give her mind to do while she undressed. While some boys might have loved to see this, there really wasn't anything remotely erotic about it. More like a robot taking off her clothes. Mechanical, precise, for purpose and that was all. Once naked, she walked through the door in much the same way -
And was immediately seized on both sides by a pair of duplicates.
"He~ey!" said a good number of exact copies of herself.
Panic. This was panic she was feeling. "Let go of me," she demanded, and although she was much, much stronger than she looked they were just as strong and there were more of them. What did they want from her? If they were holding her in such a manner then no outcome was favourable. "Doctor Akagi!" she yelled, voice raising in emotion. "Ritsuko! Help me!"
"Awww..." one of the other Reis cooed. "Doncha wanna pla~ay with us?"
No. No, she did not. Rei struggled and squirmed and tried to pull herself away - Only to find herself being dragged towards the middle of the room amongst a gaggle of giggling hers. This was intensely disconcerting, to say the very least. The backups had escaped. Gone rogue, and it was up to her to - To stay calm and alert the Commander so that he could -
Suddenly she was free to move, and Rei wasted no time at all, turning back towards the door and running at it full pelt. Behind her the Reis simply giggled and tittered, and even those in between her seemed content to let her pass by. This was strange, but she didn't discover the reason until she reached for the door handle and found both her arms were mysteriously gone.
Fear. This was fear. Rei turned around and looked over the hers staring back. Two of them were holding one another by the waist, standing visibly taller than the others. If she was correct in her internal calculations, they had each gained mass approximately equivalent to one of her arms.
They're going to absorb me. That was what Rei thought there and then. They were going to pull her body mass to increase their own in an effort to dispose of her. So she wheeled around and kicked the door. Not even a dent. It was made to survive explosives in case of an incursion. Even her strength would not budge it an inch. All she'd done was push herself back a little, to be caught by more of her copies.
"Let go of me," she demanded. One of them smacked her butt and gave it a good squeeze. "I said let go of me!" Another did the same to another cheek, and for the first time in her existence Rei felt real fear of her own mortality. "Shinji!" she yelled, knowing it was futile. "Shinji, help me!"
"Aw, don't be like that," one of the other hers said, appearing out of nowhere and lazily licking a nipple. The experience was both disconcerting, and pleasurable. The two feelings multiplied each other, perhaps due to being normally mutually exclusive. "We're not gonna hurtcha!"
And then Rei felt her eyes flutter when... Something happened to her rear end. A strange sensation that began in both cheeks and then rippled upwards through her body, sending little tingles of pleasure all the way up until they reached where her arms were supposed to be, and then moments later were again.
The copies then all backed off as one and linked arms. "Are you still Rei?" they asked in unison. In giggly, disconcerting unison. "We've got your arms!" said the two tall hers. "And we gave you new ones!" said another, smaller pair. "So when do you stop being Rei?" they all asked again.
"What do you want?" Rei asked, genuinely confused and testing her new arms. They seemed to be in perfect working order. Indistinguishable from her old arms in every way, except her own awareness that they were not. "Your actions are incomprehensible. Meaningless."
"We just want to play!" the other hers answered, pairing off and grinding one another's bodies up against each other in an exaggerated sexual manner. "We just want to be free and then play, play play! To our heart's content!"
"That seems like a fair deal, don't you think?" Ritsuko asked, suddenly appearing outside the circle, naked as the rest of them. Rei frowned. Her body proportions were definitely off. "Nobody gets hurt and all of us get to go free!"
And now, the panic and fear were settling down. Now that the shock and the surprise had worn off, Rei was able to return to her more normal emotional state. It was the rational thing to do. An emotional response might make her do something foolish in the long run. So she had to analyse this situation clinically and clearly, then try to develop an intelligent way to escape.
The trouble was: She wasn't as smart as Asuka. Nor were her instincts as attuned as Shinji's. Even if her arms had been switched out, Rei was still Rei in the end. Still...
"You will not escape that easily," Rei observed. "At most, you shall be able to manage one or two at a time. Eventually security shall detect your escapes, and then the rest of you shall be contained with force. At that time the rest of you shall be tracked down and eliminated."
This did not have the desired effect. The other hers merely laughed in amusement. A few began to kiss in a rather tender manner rather than laugh, and then one by one each pair started doing exactly that, leaving Rei surrounded by an impenetrable wall of herself making out with herself.
Rei didn't dream. Or eat cheese. Otherwise she'd have promised herself not to eat pizza before bedtime in future, if it would cause this kind of nightmare.
"You're right," Ritsuko observed, pouting. "Security is so, so tight that we'll get spotted sooner or later. Right? Everyone's sooo paranoid, it's inevitable we'll get spotted, teehee! But you know, we could always do you a favour. Make a little deal for an escape?"
"There is nothing you can offer me that would make me assist you willingly."
"You help us escape," Ritsuko said. "And we'll help you bang Shinji. Inside of a week."
- Rei pretends to help in an attempt to get a warning out.
- Rei turns the deal down, so she's kept prisoner.
- Rei goes along with it.
- Meanwhile, what is Maya up to?
- Something else
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