Asumari twine

Almost shockingly MAKINAMI hesitates. “Whatever could the Princess be babbling about now?” If you LISTEN carefully the MINIATURE PALETTE RIFLE’s CHARGE comes out clear as a PANE of GLASS. “You know, they say that curiosity killed the cat.”\n\nYou inch a hint closer to her. “You know the brat that we pulled in from damn orbit today?”\n\n“I saw what the cat dragged in.”\n\nYou swallow. “Know how he fuckin’ wrecked the //Wunder// trying to that dead Ayanami shithead back?”\n\nMAKINAMI’s EYES widen ever so slightly and you could nearly swear your VISION had deceived you.\n\n“She’s gone. ‘Less you wanna be like the brat, don’t get in the fucking robot.”\n\nHer AMUSEMENT arises in HOARSE CHUCKLING. Or possibly that’s not AMUSEMENT at all. “Then what am I supposed to do?” Her BREATHS come out more rapidly now. “Death could at least have the decency to stop’n say hi before she pounces on me.”\n\n[[“C’mon. Go to bed. Nice’n easy.”|ED: Goodbye]]\n\n[[“There’s nothing you can do about Yui now.”|Snap]]\n\n[[You try to knock the MINIATURE PALETTE RIFLE from her GRIP while she’s distracted.|Fight]]\n\n[[“That’s easy, Kone Megane. Stay here.”|I care]]\n

She’s warm. You can’t help yourself; you bury your NOSE into the HOLLOW of her THROAT and breathe in a SCENT that reminds you somehow of HOME.\n\nAt least with your ARMS around her she won’t be able to LEAVE without ALERTING her new GUARDDOG.\n\nNo matter how much you fight to stay AWAKE, you can SENSE the tendrils of SLEEP lowering your EYELIDS. The MORNING AFTER you expect her gone, slipping through your FINGERS—no, no, as though she were NEVER THERE, nothing but a SHADOW you mistook for REALITY.\n\nYou’re hardly surprised. After all, she’s spent the last FOURTEEN YEARS putting up with your CONSTANT WOES without you ever doing a THING in RETURN.\n\n<<if $backstory eq "YES">>You hate [[yourself|ED: Love]].<<else>>You hate [[yourself|ED: Possibility]].<<endif>>\n\n

“Yui.” Drawing out each NOTE, MAKINAMI hovers over the SOUND. “She’s been dead for years, they say. But she’s about as dead as I am. Or as you are. Just in stasis.”\n\n[[“We’re not dead. What the fuck?”|ED: Goodbye]]\n\n[[“In stasis? Like the Curse of Eva?”|LCL]]\n\n[[“Why are you so obsessed with her? Have you been drinking?”|Obsession]]

About to enter the BURNING HEART of the CORE, MAKINAMI stops at the very EDGE. “You think it’s easy?”\n\nYou roll your SHOULDERS. Somehow the TENSION in the ENGINE ROOM has loosened something HARD and TAUT in your CHEST. Or purr-haps (there you go, KONE MEGANE) MAKINAMI herself has loosened over all these FOURTEEN YEARS and you hadn’t noticed until TODAY. “Oi, if I could see the fuckin’ brat again and punch some glass hard enough to shatter it and still sit here talkin’ to you at who-gives-a-damn-o’clock, then yeah. Guess I do.”\n\n“I . . .” MAKINAMI steps down. “Princess.”\n\n“What?” You snort. “Finally slowing down for me?”\n\n“Princess.”\n\n“That’s—”\n\n“Asuka.”\n\nOut of nowhere she is SO CLOSE that her CHEST presses against YOURS and in the CHILL the HEAT that radiates from her FORM gives you all the LIFE you could ever ask for. “Curiosity killed the cat,” she offers. “But satisfaction brought it back.”\n\nYou’ll never admit it. Yet you MEMORISE the exact SENSATION of her HAND in YOURS as the two of you ghost through the SILENCE of the airship. When you arrive at your BUNK you wordlessly forego the TOP BUNK for the BOTTOM. She squeezes in beside you.\n\nThere’s not enough SPACE for two but there’s never been and you’ve never let something that SIMPLE stop you. WARMTH and her SCENT—like tea with milk and blood and steel—fill you, calm down, bid you sleep.\n\nYour EYELIDS [[lower|ED: Gay]].\n

When CAPTAIN KATSURAGI questions you of the last time you saw the PILOT, you shrug and allow your GAZE to drift down towards the GROUND. She grabs your CHIN between thumb and forefinger to force you to meet her NARROWED EYES.\n\n“You really don’t know anything?”\n\nYou say nothing. After studying you for what feels like the LONGEST MOMENT, she releases you. Slinking back to the BUNK, you swaddle yourself under TWO BLANKETS.\n\nTwo.\n\nNot that you’re dcrying.. No. Of course not. SHIKINAMI does not cry.\n\nASUKA, however, might.\n\nAs always, you are [[alone|credits]].

You tackle her and the two of you sail downwards. Your NAILS dig into her FLESH as her TEETH sink into your SKIN. The FIGHT continues onwards. You tumble down the STEPS of the PLATFORM. Your HEAD aches. Your LUNGS burn. The SCENT of COPPER flows through your MOUTH although you’ve no idea if the BLOOD belongs to you, or to her, or to BOTH.\n\nYou smack her HEAD against the GROUND on the final STEP and she goes cold. Standing up, you reflect on your actions.\n\n[[You drag her back to the BUNK and leave her be.|ED: Bedtime]]\n\n[[You inform CAPTAIN KATSURAGI.|ED: Bye]]\n\n[[You drag her back to the BUNK and sleep next to her.|ED: Maybe]]\n

<<silently>><<set $end = "YES">><<endsilently>>”Oi. Princess. Princess. Oi Princess.”\n\nSOMETHING pokes at your CHEEKS. Your EYELASHES flutter.\n\n“Thanks.”\n\nYou sit down suddenly enough that your FOREHEAD smacks against the TOP BUNK. “Fuck.” A WARM WEIGHT lies behind you. Experimentally you LEAN BACKWARDS and ARMS enclose your WAIST.\n\nMAKINAMI’s BREATH is hot on the shell of your EAR. “For last night. Thanks. I needed that.”\n\n“You scared the piss out of me, Kone Megane. Don’t do that again.”\n\nShe lets out a BARKING LAUGH and nuzzles the BACK of your NECK. “Hey. Princess. I’ve got a question.”\n\n“Can’t be more annoying that what I’ve already heard.”\n\n“What are we?”\n\nYou sneak a GLANCE in her direction, BROW furrowed. She’s still acting so fucking STRANGE from last night. Like she’s been TAKEN OVER by someone you’ve never met.\n\n[[“Where’d the gay mega-neko go?”|ED: Nevermind]]\n\n[[“What do you mean?”|ED: Gay]]\n

As you step forward your SHOES squeak along the FLOOR. At the exact same instant you FEEL something COLD at your HEART, like a CUBE OF ICE had broken through the SKIN. A moment later the ICE CUBE is replaced with a BURNING BRAND.\n\nOnly then do you recognise that you’ve been SHOT.\n\nYou hear the VOICES overhead, or maybe a SINGLE VOICE. “Shit. Shit. Princess. I’m sorry. I didn’t realise I was—” “Makinami? What’s going on?” “I—”\n\nYou shut your EYES and sew up your EARS. As always, KONE MEGANE is being useless and EVERYONE ELSE is being far too NOISY for their own good.\n\nYou wish that they would just leave you [[alone|credits]].

She laughs again. You doubt you’ll ever get used to that LAUGH of hers, RUSTY and BEAUTIFUL all at once, like a CREAKING PIANO played again by a MASTER HAND. “Friends forever, then. As long as you’re with me now, Princess.” She licks your NECK and you SLAP her HAND away. “Still too slow. You’re a Princess, not a snail, huh. Better get to improving.”\n\n“Not everyone can have catlike reflexes,” you grumble. She WINKS.\n\n“Exactly. My reflexes are simply purrfect.”\n\nYou GROAN at the expanse of her SHITTY PUN WASTE DUMP, but there’s some comfort in it, too. She’s sharing them with you, after all. For once, you’re not [[alone|credits]].

The MORNING AFTER greets you with MAKINAMI’s continued EXISTENCE. Though she attempts to JOKE with and TEASE you like NOTHING had occurred, the ATMOSPHERE is heavy with LEAD.\n\n“Well, I’m off to get some breakfast. You can join me, Princess. Bet ya won’t, beclaws you’re too busy being boring in here.” With that she ESCAPES into the HALLWAY, but you doubt you’ll ever rid yourself of the IMAGE of her approaching the CORE.\n\nAnd as always, you remind yourself with a bitterness akin to the COFFEE you drain after a SINGLE SIP, you are [[alone|credits]].\n

Throwing her HEAD back she smacks the BACK against EVANGELION UNIT-01. The METALLIC CLANGING rings your EARDRUMS like they were BELLS.\n\nThe MINIATURE PALETTE RIFLE discharges into the GROUND. When you throw up your own in DEFENCE she lunges towards you. Her NAILS sink into the FLESH between the RIDGES of your KNUCKLES and you feel yourself dragged towards the CORE. It PULSATES like a LIVING BEAST. You can’t turn your GAZE away. Your EYE burns and your SKULL threatens to crack.\n\n“No—!”\n\n“You—” You? “—I—” She SHUDDERS. Suddenly you SENSE the full force of GRAVITY upon you as you tumble down the STEPS to slam into the COLD FLOOR. MAKINAMI stares you down. “I’m sorry,” she says, simply.\n\nBefore you can react, she has vanished into the CORE. Swallowed up into the ABYSS. The CORE remains steady. A giant EYE. Observing. Watching.\n\nIt has to be a dream.\n\n[[You enter the CORE.|Inside]]\n\n[[You go back to bed and try to wake up.|ED: Bedtime]]\n\n[[You alert the CAPTAIN.|ED: Bye]]\n

<<set $listen = "YES">>“I thought I’d never see you again,” MAKINAMI whispers. Tenderly, as though to a LOVER, or a MOTHER, or somewhere IN-BETWEEN. Not that a MOTHER should be a LOVER. You push the INTRUSIVE THOUGHT from your MIND. “You can hear me, can’t you. They say that you died, but I know the truth. You told me the code. I wonder if //the beast// functions on you. There must a backdoor.” Between her PHRASES she sings out half a MEASURE of one of those OLD SONGS for SENIOR CITIZENS that she’s OBSESSED with for whatever reason. “Or would the core function as . . . ?”\n\n[[“Oi. Kone Megane.”|Hello]]\n\n[[You attempt to retrieve your RIFLE as quietly as you can.|Fight]]\n\n[[You leave before she notices you.|ED: Bedtime]]

<<silently>><<set $worry = "YES">><<endsilently>>“Okay?” MAKINAMI wavers on her FEET. You’ve never seen that before: As far as you’re aware, the PILOT of EVANGELION UNIT-08 always has two things: a SMIRK on her FACE and a READINESS for BATTLE. All coiled muscle and bared teeth. “I think I might be.\n\n“Oi, Asuka. What was it like merging with Unit-03?”\n\n[[“Fuck, you didn’t come home. I mean, to the bunk.”|Worry]]\n\n[[“Why’re you in the engine room anyway?”|Understand]]\n\n[[“Have you been assigned here or somethin’?”|Job]]\n\n[[You explain what it was like to merge with Unit-03.|Merge]]

<<set $backstory2 = "YES">>Her GRIN widens to an almost MONSTROUS SLIT cutting her FACE in half. The corners of her EYES crinkle as she shakes her HEAD in your DIRECTION. \n\n“Know how LCL works? It regenerates and preserves, and when it can’t find what to regenerate, it’ll fuck up everything else about your body. S’not like it guarantees immortality or some shit, but if you stay in it for, oh, extended periods of time, you’ll more or less achieve the same effect.” She clenches her FINGERS together and steadily uncurls them again. “I could explain about telomeres, but fuck it.”\n\nThat doesn’t tell you shit about what BETHANY BASE is supposed to be. Not that you give a FLYING FUCK at this point. Or even a SITTING FUCK.\n\n“So maybe I’m a tad tired of existing,” MAKINAMI goes on. “S’been years and you kinda get exhausted of being in the same body if the person you want to be one with—” Abruptly she cuts off.\n\n[[“Oi, cat got your tongue?”|Snap]] <<if $yuitalk eq "NO">>\n\n[[“But why’re you so obsessive about Yui?”|Obsession]]<<endif>>\n\n[[“You think you’re the only one suffering?”|Suffer]]\n\n[[“You looking to act like the brat, Kone Megane?”|Me]]\n

“What do you think the cores are made of, Princess?”\n\nYou know the usual. Something something the SOULS of HUMANITY something something POWER RESERVE something something UMBILICAL CABLE something something you’ve learned this in CLASS and you can’t be bothered to remember at FUCK O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING.\n\n“Unit-01 has a soul in her. Unit-01 is the soul in her. If you removed the soul from the core, you wouldn’t have Unit-01 anymore. Just a dead, empty husk, kinda like Kaji without his morning coffee.” At least she’s retained her SHITTY sense of HUMOUR. “And you know whose soul she has?” <<if $yuiment eq "YES">>\n\n[[“Lemme guess. Yui.”|ED: Goodbye]]\n\n[[“Yui isn’t here anymore.”|Pause]]<<endif>>\n\n[[“No idea.”|Understand]]\n\n[[You take the opportunity to tackle her while she’s distracted.|ED: Grab]]

“Quasiplatonic partners?” she echoes. Her BROW smooths while she observes you and you observe her. After a seemingly TENSE MOMENT she laughs again. You doubt you’ll ever get used to that LAUGH of hers, RUSTY and BEAUTIFUL all at once, like a CREAKING PIANO played again by a MASTER HAND.\n\n“Yeah.” As you manoeuvre yourself around in the TIGHT SPACE of the BOTTOM BUNK, her SHOULDERS relax under your PALMS. “Girlfriends.”\n\nHer EXHALATION spreads FIRE over your CHEEKS. Your FINGERS seek out the SPACES between her KNUCKLES and map out the TERRAIN of her CALLUSED PALM. TIME passes and you wish you could cradle this MOMENT to your breast FOREVER.\n\n“Princess,” she mumbles into the QUIET, “I’ll never leave you, you know. Never ever.”\n\n“Good. The least you could do.”\n\n“Princess.”\n\n“What?”\n\nShe TIGHTENS her GRIP. Her IRISES shimmer, shiny-wet, and her FINGERS curl around yours. Your BREATH catches in your THROAT. “Thanks. For reminding me. That I’ve got more to live for.”\n\n“Stop being so gay.” You lower your HEAD to rest on her CHEST. Soon you FEEL her CHEST vibrating. “What?”\n\nShe breaks out into PEALS of LAUGHTER. “Looks like,” she chokes out through her ENDLESS MIRTH, “I really let the cat out of the bag last night.”\n\nYou could GROAN again, but when you part your LIPS, you’re shocked to hear the WORDS you thought you’d NEVER SAY: “I love you.”\n\nAt the very, finally, you are not [[alone|credits]].\n

“You say it was painful, huh. You’re not just saying for nothing, are you?” MAKINAMI turns on her HEELS, one PALM on the butt of her MINIATURE PALETTE RIFLE. Eyeing the hilt, you estimate the DISTANCE between her and the CORE. Perhaps half a metre if you’re lucky. “Oi, Princess. Know what I’m thinkin’ of?”\n\n[[You edge forward to try to wrestle the rifle from her.|Fight]]\n\n[[“No, and I don’t give a shit. Come down.”|Understand]]\n\n[[“What?”|Explanation]]<<if $yuiment eq "YES">>\n\n[[“This have anything to do with Yui?”|Pause]]<<endif>>\n

<<silently>><<set $yuiment = "YES">><<endsilently>>“You think the Cap’n told me to hang around here. Oi, I’m supposed to be down here. This is my place.” She strokes the MASSIVE NOSE of EVANGELION UNIT-01 again; the EVA’s HEAD looks larger than the whole of her body. You start to wonder if she hasn’t broken into the LIQUOR STORES. But VICE CAPTAIN AKAGI is the only one with the KEY to the STOREROOM.\n\nMaybe the VICE CAPTAIN is lolling around somewhere, SIMILARLY DRUNK off her ass.\n\n“Koji said I could be down here.” MAKINAMI lets out a NOISE not unlike a hiccup and the LIQUOR theory seems to solidify. “And Yui—Yui said—” She pauses. Her GAZE flicks towards you; her PUPILS have contracted to thin disks. “Sorry. Guess I’m not feeling like myself, much.”\n\n[[“Who the damn is Yui?”|Yui]]\n\n[[“What does Koji have to do with this?”|Understand]]<<if $merge eq "YES">>\n\n[[You explain what it was like to merge with Unit-03.|Merge]]<<endif>>

She shrugs. Her MINIATURE PALETTE RIFLE falls from her grip and clatters far too loudly on the FLOOR. As if she were a MILLION YEARS away from you MAKINAMI turns back towards EVANGELION UNIT-01.\n\nHer FINGERS quiver as she rests her PALM on the smooth surface of the EVA’s FACE. Even though the EVA dwarfs her in SHEER BULK, you SENSE that she is the one in FULL CONTROL.\n\n<<if $backstory eq "YES">>”You understand, don’t you. You won’t be upset at me.<<else>>“You would understand if I told you, wouldn’t you.<<endif>> <<if $yuitalk eq "YES">> What I’d do for . . . for Yui-sama.<<endif>>” She skirts down the METAL. Her LEGS are trembling.\n\nYou open your MOUTH to interrupt, but she has already moved to the PLATFORM before the CORE.\n\n[[You lunge for her.|ED: Grab]]\n\n[[You say nothing.|ED: Goodbye]]\n

<<if $merge eq "YES">>Without another WORD, as though the whole of your QUESTION paled in comparison to the WONDERS she would find BEYOND, <<endif>>MAKINAMI slips inside as you stare. You don’t think that you believe your VISION. Just a DREAM, a sick and twisted DREAM, brought on by the STRESS of getting the AIRSHIP back to functionality in a handful of HOURS. Yes, that’s it. That must be it.\n\nYou go to bed. The BUNK feels [[cold|ED: Bedtime]].\n

She laughs again. You doubt you’ll ever get used to that LAUGH of hers, RUSTY and BEAUTIFUL all at once, like a CREAKING PIANO played again by a MASTER HAND. “Never mind. As long as you’re with me now, Princess.” She licks your NECK and you SLAP her HAND away. “Still too slow. You’re a Princess, not a snail, huh. Better get to improving.”\n\n“Not everyone can have catlike reflexes,” you grumble. She WINKS.\n\n“Exactly. My reflexes are simply purrfect.”\n\nYou GROAN at the expanse of her SHITTY PUN WASTE DUMP, but there’s some comfort in it, too. She’s sharing them with you, after all. For once, you’re not [[alone|credits]].

letting go (if i can)

<<set $backstory = "YES">>”Once upon a fucking time,” MAKINAMI begins. Above her EVANGELION UNIT-01 almost appears to open its EYES a hint more, to light the FIRE WITHIN aglow, although you’re certain that you’re TRICKING yourself is all. “Princess, how old you think I am?”\n\nYou wrinkle your BROW. What’s with the sudden RIDDLING? Is she going to ask you what’s in your POCKETSES next? “Sixteen not counting the Curse. So, thirty. Two years older’n me.” You pause. “Even if mentally you’re probably around five.”\n\n“Don’t think I could argue with the latter if I tried.” When she grins she bares her TEETH, razor-sharp and twice as serrated. Or so they look from where you stand. “But I’m way older’n you than just two years, Princess. I went to college with the Queen.”\n\n“With Yui?” You blink at her. Eh?\n\n“I did some work on this thing you might know. A liquid with regenerative properties. We got samples of it. Kinda like some weird cross between amniotic fluid and the soup of life. ‘Hey assholes, figure out how to make this artificially.’ I offered to be a test subject.” Her VOICE trails off.<<if $yuitalk eq "NO">>\n\n[[“So what does this have to do with your obsession with Yui?”|Obsession]]<<endif>>\n\n[[“You’re . . . you’re talking about LCL.”|Backstory]]\n\n[[“Yeah, and what?”|Understand]]\n\n[[You say nothing.|ED: Goodbye]]\n

<<silently>> \n<<set $look = "YES">>\n<<endsilently>>The SOUND leads you to the ENGINE ROOM. Technically, you’re not allowed in here without the EXPRESS PERMISSION of CAPTAIN KATSURAGI, but you’ve never given TWO SHITS about literally anything that comes out of her MOUTH if it doesn’t have to do with you GETTING IN THE ROBOT and BLOWING SOME SHIT UP.\n\nYou’re an ADULT, damn it, even if you can only feel HALF of your TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS.\n\nThe inside of the ENGINE ROOM is always kept as CHILL as POSSIBLE, and even though your PLUGSUIT comes equipped with THERMAL-RETAINING TECHNOLOGIES—and your TRACKSUIT should keep you relatively snug—you consider looping back for something warmer.\n\n[[You open the DOOR quickly.|Quick]]\n\n[[You open the DOOR quietly.|Quiet]]\n\n[[You decide not to go into the ENGINE ROOM after all.|ED: Bedtime]]

<<silently>><<set $examine = "YES">><<endsilently>>The cacophony of HISSING and HUMMING greets your EARS as PISTONS churn and GEARS howl past one another.\n\nYou peer more closely at your BUNKMATE’s whereabouts. Chained into place and locked in as tightly as possible, EVANGELION UNIT-01 hangs from the CEILING. Some sort of MACHINERY cups the EXPOSED CORE as though sucking the ENERGY from its INTERIOR. The EYES glow a dim red. Not that UNIT-01 has EYES, of course, but their EQUIVALENT, or so you say. Your BUNKMATE wears nothing but WHITE BOXERS and a LOOSE TEE. How she hasn’t frozen in the ENGINE ROOM is beyond you.\n\n“Oi,” says your BUNKMATE, and you hear the HUM of a CHARGING RIFLE.\n\n[[You draw your own RIFLE.|Fight]]\n\n[[You raise your HANDS up in a signal of DEFEAT.|Defeat]]\n\n[[“Calm down. It’s Asuka.”|Hello]]

The BURNING EYE invites you within. You could swear EVANGELION UNIT-01 were ALIVE, or as ALIVE as a GIANT NOT-QUITE-ROBOT could be.\n\nShe’s right. It’s. It’ll be easier this way.\n\nEasier . . .\n\nAt least in the CORE, you think, you’ll never be [[alone|credits]].\n

You search through the REMAINS of the AAA WUNDER. It seems pretty BUSTED UP even now, and many of the FIXES look about as permanent as DUCT TAPE on a ridiculously expensive PLUGSUIT whose COST could bankrupt a SMALL NATION. Oh, wait. That’s simply how WILLE rolls. How silly of you to forget.\n\nYou almost GIVE UP your search. Until you hear something like a DEEP THRUMMING beneath your FEET.\n\n[[You return to your ROOM and go to bed.|ED: Bedtime]]\n\n[[You investigate the SOURCE of the SOUND.|Sound]]

<<silently>><<set $examine = "YES">><<endsilently>>Silently, you ease the DOOR to the ENGINE ROOM open. The cacophony of HISSING and HUMMING greets your EARS as PISTONS churn and GEARS howl past one another.\n\nChained into place and locked in as tightly as possible, EVANGELION UNIT-01 hangs from the CEILING. Some sort of MACHINERY cups the EXPOSED CORE as though sucking the ENERGY from its INTERIOR. The EYES glow a dim red. Not that UNIT-01 has EYES, of course, but their EQUIVALENT, or so you say.\n\nTo your SURPRISE you find your MISSING BUNKMATE perched on the shoulder of UNIT-01. If you sneak closer, you might be able to hear what she says.\n\n[[You move closer.|Listen]]\n\n[[You announce your presence.|Hello]]

“If you’re the Princess, Yui was the Queen.<<if $listen eq "YES">> I’ve been talking to her all night.<<endif>>” MAKINAMI doubles over in MIRTH, SHOULDERS shaking, ARMS around her belly. “Ikari Yui, y’know?”\n\n“Kone Megane,” you start, but she’s moved back on the PLATFORM, closer to the CORE.\n\n“The one who made the fuckin’ EVA program? You think Gendo-kun has any idea what the shit he’s doing?” Another centimetre towards the CORE. “Fuck. I’m tired.” You notice suddenly that the HUMMING of the ENGINE has been supplanted by ANOTHER NOISE. She’s humming herself. Faintly you recognise it: one of those SHOUWA ERA TUNES she loves so dearly.\n\n[[You grab her to keep her away from the CORE.|ED: Grab]]\n\n[[You draw your own rifle for protection of whatever is about to come.|Fight]]\n\n[[“Did Yui like that song?”|Pause]] <<if $mergetalk eq "YES">>\n\n[[“You’re not planning to merge with that thing, are you?|Explanation]]<<endif>>\n

<<if $end eq "YES">>[intense clapping] Congratulations on reaching the Good End.<<else>>You might not have been able to advance, but you can always [[redo|Start here]].<<endif>>\n\nThank you for playing //letting go (if i can)//, GC's second twine-test! If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, let GC know at ritsumaya.tumblr.com or @queereva on Twitter.\n\n<<if $end eq "YES">>A final note from the author: //I'm very unsatisifed with this and will likely completely rewrite it at a later point. Turns out that I'm not nearly as well versed in writing Makinami or Shikinami as I am at Soryu or Ayanami . . . if I can even call myself decent at those. Regardless, I hope that I've done them some measure of justice. Makinami might appear a bit out of character, but I'm considering her manga form. And it ties in pretty poignantly with her telling Shinji to grow up, doesn't it?//<<endif>>

You SINK to your KNEES. KONE MEGANE jumps down from the SHOULDER of UNIT-01. “Yo, Princess. Wha’cha doing here.”\n\nYou notice the DIFFERENCE in her VOICE almost immediately: The usual WARMTH and AFFECTIONATE SARCASM has given way to FROST and VOID. She radiates exhaustion.\n\n[[“Are you okay?”|Okay]]\n\n[[“I was worried about you, Kone Megane.”|Worry]]\n\n[[“What the hell are you doing here?”|Understand]]

You BURST into the ENGINE ROOM. The DOOR slams into the WALL and you can almost FEEL the FLOOR thunder beneath your FEET.\n\nYou hear MOVEMENT up again and swing back. To your SURPRISE you find your MISSING BUNKMATE perched in some MANNER of MACHINERY. The tell-tale glint of a MINIATURE PALETTE RIFLE greets you.\n\n[[“It’s just me! Asuka!”|Hello]]\n\n[[“What the hell are you doing here?”|Fight]]\n\n[[You draw your own rifle.|Fight]]\n\n[[You examine your surroundings more thoroughly.|Look]]

“Kone Megane?” you call, cupping your HANDS over your MOUTH. She turns her HEAD to look at you more directly.\n\n“Yo, Princess. Wha’cha doing here.”\n\nYou notice the DIFFERENCE in her VOICE almost immediately: The usual WARMTH and AFFECTIONATE SARCASM has given way to FROST and VOID. She radiates exhaustion.\n\n[[“Are you okay?”|Okay]]\n\n[[“I was worried about you, Kone Megane.”|Worry]]\n\n[[“What the hell are you doing here?”|Understand]]

<<silently>><<set $mergetalk = "YES">><<endsilently>>“It wasn’t anything special.” Your BONES seem to REMEMBER: the TENDRILS curling about your MARROW, the FUNGUS branching up and down your SPINE, the AGONY of the ANGEL puncturing through your eyeball, past the GRISTLE at the back of the EYE through your SKULL into your MIND. You raise your HAND instinctively to your EYE and the familiar black fabric, reinforced with stitched ANGEL RUNES to keep the INFECTION at bay.\n\nIt’s been fourteen years, after all.\n\n“A lotta pain, a lotta ‘what the fuck is going on’, and a lotta darkness. Mostly pain. Bright lights. That’s all.” You wipe your mouth on the BACK of your HAND.\n\n“Ah . . .” says MAKINAMI. Her FINGERS slowly curl into a FIST. You glance from her to the EVA behind her and back to her.<<if $yuiment eq "YES">>\n\n[[“So who the damn is Yui?”|Yui]]<<else>>\n\n[[“So what were you doing down here? Assigned?”|Job]]<<endif>>\n\n[[“Why’d you wanna know?”|Decision to merge]]\n\n[[“You’re not gonna do what I think you’re gonna do, are you?”|Understand]]

Despite the status of the AAA WUNDER as being on LOCKDOWN at night, you’re able to STEAL into the CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS.\n\nWhen you explain what occurred to CAPTAIN KATSURAGI, you observe how her FEATURES cloud, first with WORRY, then with ANGER, then with DISAPPOINTMENT, and finally with a GRIEF that claws into your HEART and dredges TEARS from your EYES.\n\nNot that you would ever cry. No. Of course not. SHIKINAMI does not cry.\n\nASUKA, however, might.\n\n<<if $core eq "YES">>The CAPTAIN orders MAKINAMI into the MEDICAL WARD immediately.<<else>>The CAPTAIN barks ORDERS into the INTERCOM. SCARLET LIGHTS flash overhead.<<endif>> You ask what’ll happen but the CAPTAIN shrugs and dismisses you, relieves you of the DUTY, no matter how you PROTEST that you NEED to do SOMETHING. Though you’re unsure what has possessed you, you spend the REMAINDER of the NIGHT in the PLUG of EVANGELION UNIT-02’.\n\nAs always, you are [[alone|credits]].\n

<<silently>>\n<<set $look = "NO">>\n<<set $examine = "NO">>\n<<set $merge = "NO">>\n<<set $mergetalk = "NO">>\n<<set $yuiment = "NO">>\n<<set $yuitalk = "NO">>\n<<set $backstory = "NO">>\n<<set $backstory2 = "NO">>\n<<set $core = "NO">>\n<<set $yes = "NO">>\n<<endsilently>>Your name is SHIKINAMI ASUKA LANGLEY. You have to admit that you’re slightly upset that the BRAT formally known as IKARI SHINJI has done his absolute best to ruin your day yet again. With the AAA WUNDER in shambles, PERFORMING REPAIRS has taken hours to return the AIRSHIP to a FUNCTIONAL STATE. Your MUSCLES continue to ache.\n\n“That’s enough,” CAPTAIN KATSURAGI barks over the intercom that crackles to life in your EAR. “Return to the launch pad for now, Asuka.” After a BRIEF PAUSE, she rewards you with a rare HINT OF PRAISE: “You did good given the circumstances. I appreciate your help.”\n\nBy the time you return to your BUNK, you’re certain that the BAGS under your eyes have BAGS of their own. Of course, your useless BUNKMATE is still missing.\n\n[[You go look for her.|Hunt]]\n\n[[You go to sleep.|ED: Bedtime]]

<<silently>><<set $end = "YES">><<endsilently>> “What are we?” she says again. Her TIMBRE sounds awfully SMALL. As if recognising this herself MAKINAMI fumbles for her SPECTACLES. Pushing them onto the BRIDGE of her NOSE she starts up again at a HIGHER VOLUME.\n\nSo the GLASSES are the SECRET.\n\n“The Princess and her noble steed. Could they be friends?” She arches one EYEBROW. “Could they be . . . girlfriends?” She arches the other EYEBROW. “Could they be . . . quasiplatonic?” She waggles her EYEBROWS. “Or something else entirely?”\n\n[[“Friends.”|ED: F]]\n\n[[“Girlfriends.”|ED: G]]\n\n[[“Quasiplatonic.”|ED: Q]]\n\n[[“What are you talking about?”|ED: Nevermind]]\n

“Girlfriends?” she echoes. Her BROW smooths while she observes you and you observe her. After a seemingly TENSE MOMENT she laughs again. You doubt you’ll ever get used to that LAUGH of hers, RUSTY and BEAUTIFUL all at once, like a CREAKING PIANO played again by a MASTER HAND.\n\n“Yeah.” As you manoeuvre yourself around in the TIGHT SPACE of the BOTTOM BUNK, her SHOULDERS relax under your PALMS. “Girlfriends.”\n\nHer EXHALATION spreads FIRE over your MOUTH. When your LIPS brush over HERS you can’t help the SHUDDER that courses through your BODY.\n\n“Princess,” she mumbles into the KISS, “I’ll never leave you, you know. Never ever.”\n\n“Good. The least you could do.”\n\n“Princess.”\n\n“What?”\n\nShe pulls back. Her IRISES shimmer, shiny-wet, and her FINGERS curl around yours. Your BREATH catches in your THROAT. “Thanks. For reminding me. That I’ve got more to live for.”\n\n“Stop being so gay.” You lean in for another KISS. MAKINAMI tries but breaks into LAUGHTER halfway through. “What?”\n\n“Looks like,” she chokes out through her ENDLESS MIRTH, “I really let the cat out of the bag.”\n\nYou could GROAN again, but when you part your LIPS, you’re shocked to hear the WORDS you thought you’d NEVER SAY: “I love you.”\n\nAt the very, finally, you are not [[alone|credits]].\n

The next morning the news travels fast through WILLE. One of the PILOTS has completely vanished as though she never were. Some cry of DESERTERS. Others worry of NERV RETRIBUTION. Still more fear that the PILOT in question was somehow DAMAGED in the earlier ASSAULT.\n\nYou punch the PILLOW with enough FORCE that it explodes into a thousand TINY FEATHERS.\n\n<<if $look eq "YES">>[[You tell the CAPTAIN the truth.|ED: Truth]]\n\n[[You say nothing,|ED: Nothing]]<<else>>As always, you are [[alone|credits]].<<endif>>

<<set $core = "YES">>Throwing her HEAD back she smacks the BACK against EVANGELION UNIT-01. The METALLIC CLANGING rings your EARDRUMS like they were BELLS.\n\n“I think we’ve suffered long enough.”\n\nShe lunges towards you. Her NAILS sink into the FLESH between the RIDGES of your KNUCKLES and you feel yourself dragged towards the CORE. It PULSATES like a LIVING BEAST. You can’t turn your GAZE away. Your EYE burns and your SKULL threatens to crack.\n\n“No—!”\n\n“You—” You? “—I—” She SHUDDERS. Suddenly you SENSE the full force of GRAVITY upon you as you tumble down the STEPS to slam into the COLD FLOOR. MAKINAMI stares you down. “I’m sorry,” she says, simply.\n\nBefore you can react, she has vanished into the CORE. Swallowed up into the ABYSS. The CORE remains steady. A giant EYE. Observing. Watching.\n\nIt has to be a dream.\n\n[[You enter the CORE.|Inside]]\n\n[[You go back to bed and try to wake up.|ED: Bedtime]]\n\n[[You alert the CAPTAIN.|ED: Bye]]\n

<<set $yuitalk = “YES”>>“I’m not obsessed.” MAKINAMI sounds nearly offended. “She was pretty damn important to me.”\n\n<<if $backstory eq “YES”>>”’Cause she was your college friend.” You’re not sure if she’s in the ‘robot’ or not but you //are// sure that there’s absolutely no REASON for MAKINAMI to keep pining after some AYANAMI-TYPE. “Kone Megane, you know as well as I do that there’s no point pining after people who are dead and fuckin’ gone. Don’t pull a Shi—” Fuck him. He doesn’t deserve his NAME to disgrace your LIPS. “Don’t do it like that brat.”\n\n<<endif>>Her STANCE firms. “Maybe I kinda had a crush on her. Not that it really matters anymore. But when they thawed me out at Bethany Base—”\n\nBETHANY BASE? You’ve heard it before. Something about an ESCAPED ANGEL that IPEA had been working on. That occurred to many YEARS PRIOR that you can’t seem to RECALL the exact details.\n\n“I’ve talked long enough.” Her TIMBRE comes out SOFT and STRANGELY MUFFLED. Turned away from you again, she reaches out for the EVA. “Imagine the cold circuitry suddenly transforming into warmth. Enveloping you. Seems nice. It’s pretty icy down here, neh?”\n\n“What are you—”\n\n“You don’t think it’d be nice to become one with someone, Princess?”\n\n[[You understand abruptly what she’s going to do.|Understand]]\n\n[[“Give her up.”|Me]]<<if $backstory2 eq “NO”>>\n\n[[“What do you mean, Bethany Base?”|Backstory]]<<else if $backstory eq “NO”>>\n\n[[“What do you mean, Bethany Base?|LCL]]<<endif>>\n

When you explain what occurred to CAPTAIN KATSURAGI, you observe how her FEATURES cloud, first with WORRY, then with ANGER, then with DISAPPOINTMENT, and finally with a GRIEF that claws into your HEART and dredges TEARS from your EYES.\n\nNot that you would ever cry. No. Of course not. SHIKINAMI does not cry.\n\nASUKA, however, might.\n\nThe CAPTAIN dismisses you. As always, you are [[alone|credits]].

<<silently>><<set $merge = "YES">><<endsilently>>\nShe seats herself on the PLATFORM that arches just under the CORE, casting a shadow of SCARLET onto her shoulders. It’d be cool if you weren’t fearing for her LIFE at the moment. \n\n“Oh. Huh. I guess I never came back last night.” MAKINAMI tilts herself back to rest against the BLACK PLUG that runs down from the CORE and links to the ENGINE itself. At the TOUCH of her BACK the THRUMMING seems to grow louder. But you’re not entirely certain.<<if $worry eq "NO">>\n\n“Oi, Asuka. What was it like merging with Unit-03?”<<endif>>\n\n[[“What the fuck are you talking about?”|Understand]]\n\n[[“Are you supposed to be down here, Kone Megane?”|Job]]<<if $listen eq "YES">>\n\n[[“Who were you talking to anyway?”|Yui]]<<endif>>\n\n[[You explain what it was like to merge with Unit-03.|Merge]]