Though sometimes he looked at Asuka in ways he should not
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| Himeko flicked her wrist and the vacuum cleaner ran itself, cleaning the carpet as she smiled to herself. She’d been studying the arts presented in the Mary Cotter series and extrapolating with a great deal of success. She got better results than what she heard from Valinor but suspected it was because the human world was unraveling more or maybe because it was human dreams which somehow powered this.
She had to be careful no one would see, but she was used to that. Her main job here right now was to be ready to act if needed and to subtly gather information. It wasn’t hard; the children were brave and strong but they let things slip, things she could add up. Unfortunately, the deepest secrets were not known to them, and she wasn’t sure how to get close enough to those who knew them without crossing lines she would not cross. Invading minds of friends and adultery were not acceptable even for a good cause. She could invade by main force, but it might only alienate NERV without finding anything worth such a stroke and it would blow her cover. Any show of power sufficient to get past their security would also reveal her. Olga… she feared Olga’s courtship with Kaworu would end in tragedy, as she was not the type to take being lied to well. And it was worse because Himeko liked her and Kaworu… She wasn’t sure if it was love or human infatuation but he clearly cared for her. Though sometimes he looked at Asuka in ways he should not. When the truth came out, even if all was good between Valinor and NERV, it was going to be ugly. But there was no way around that; all she could do was her duty and try to be as good a friend as she could within that duty. Making the kitchen clean itself was the next spell; it had taken some work and several disasters, but now she had it hard at work scrubbing itself. Then the shower began cleansing itself with a sponge. She heard soft music began to play; this bothered her, because it always was followed by some kind of disaster. It had started earlier in the month of May after the battles in Mexico and France. Now she heard it whenever something was going to happen she’d regret. And of course, now Nancy walked in. “Get a bathing suit, the weather is great and it’s time to SWIM.” She rushed out, leaving the wand in the bathroom and grabbed Nancy. “Come help me pick something!” she said frantically, dragging her along. “Wait, did you get a robot vacuum cleaner or something?” Nancy asked, staring at it as Himeko dragged her along and the music got more frantic. “It’s experimental,” Himeko said. She wished the wands weren’t so blatant but they helped a lot. “Come on, I need your guidance.” She had to let Nancy dress her up, to keep her distracted and the music faded but didn’t stop until they left and she prayed the spell wouldn’t malfunction completely in her absence, but she couldn’t explain this. ***************** Olga, Kaworu, Asuka, and Berthold joined them, along with about forty other people; the pool was crowded with folk but Himeko had fun playing water polo and swimming around. Until suddenly a nine year old kid went arching upwards from one of the balcony-walkways overlooking the pool; time seemed to slow down impossibly as the child screamed and another child, armed with a wand like Himeko’s own (which was back in her apartment), screamed in terror. “BILLY!” he shouted. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Even as Himeko began gathering the strength to try and make a spell work without the wand, Olga somehow vaulted off Berthold, driving him down to the bottom of the pool and launching herself into the air, catching Billy in the air and landing lightly on the side of the pool. Everyone stared, then applauded wildly. Asuka was out of the water and running for the stairs. “Crazy kid, why did he push his friends off?” Nancy asked, frowning. “He couldn’t have pushed him; there’s no way a child that age could have made his friend go *up*, and it’s clear it was an accident… somehow…” Terrel said. He began drawing lines in the air as he did whenever examining a movement problem, she’d noticed. “Olga, is the kid okay?” he shouted. Berthold was already over to help Olga, while Kaworu ran after Asuka as she ran up the stairs to the other boy. There hadn’t been any incidents Himeko knew of but it was likely that the ‘magic’ was getting easier. Children shouldn’t have that kind of power, she thought. “How the hell could she jump like that?” Ralph asked, stunned. “I mean, even with a ring.” “If half the stuff Sandi says is true, there’s some crazy shit those kids can do,” Nancy said, stepping over and putting an arm around Ralph as they floated in the water together. “I’m going to help Olga,” Himeko said, swimming over to where Berthold was carefully checking over the shivering child, who looked Greek to her. “Is he okay?” “I’m fine now,” the boy mumbled. “I… what happened?” he looked very confused. “It’s going to be okay,” Olga said; many people were staring but she ignored them. “Where are your parents?” “I’m at George’s,” he said, pointing up to his friend up on the third floor balcony. “His sister is supposed to be watching us but she’s kissing her boyfriend.” It wasn’t safe for eight year olds to play on the balcony even without suddenly working magic to contend with, Himeko thought. Olga turned and stared up at Asuka, who now said, “Carmilla! GET YOUR IRRESPONSIBLE ASS OUT HERE!” She won’t make that mistake again, Himeko thought. But how can we protect the children from hurting themselves if their games and make-believe suddenly become real? *************** Neon Genesis Silmarillion (an EVA/Tolkien Legendarium fusion) Book IV: A Watched Pot Chapter 5: Mary Cotter And the Child Wizards ****************** More and more cases were appearing; this wasn’t the first, merely the first that NERV people had witnessed head on. There was a fortunate thing; most kids young enough to fully believe it would work didn’t have the power to pull it off; those who would have liked it to work but didn’t really believe usually couldn’t trigger it… but sometimes they could. Even if they weren’t all that powerful. Enough that incidents were building up. The world would know. And a lot more people could make it work, if convinced it would, than was safe. “We have to master it,” Ritsuko said. “Make it work for us. The story is too well known and too popular to suppress it. So like anything else, we regulate it.” “The Force,” Misato mumbled, staring at the report on her laptop. “That’s next if it isn’t already. And I guess Britain should keep an eye peeled for swords in stones.” They were meeting with Danielle Eida, Fuyutsuki, and Ikari in one of NERV’s many meeting rooms. Each had a laptop with Ritsuko’s report. “Many of my people have enhanced spiritual power. I think some of them could make it work and could help with adult testing,” Dr. Eida said. “They’re intelligent and disciplined.” “I agree,” Fuyutsuki said. “I will supervise it with Dr. Akagi.” His voice was grave. Ritsuko made a noise, then said, “Of course.” Of course Eida would stick her head in, she thought irritably. “Well, I can report that we don’t have to worry about the spells from any of the games Ritsuko and I played in high school or the ones from World of Cimmera,” Misato said, perking up a little. “They work great in World Two but they can’t cross over.” Commander Ikari adjusted his glasses. “It may still take a very high level of saturation; none of those have the cultural cachet globally that Mary Cotter or Star Wars does,” Commander Ikari said. “Or Metallica.” “Is some sort of… thing… happening with Metallica?” Dr. Eida asked hesitantly. “It was a joke,” Commander Ikari said but only he laughed. “I have begun developing a partial solution to our problems, but it may well not stop something powered by so much spiritual power as those stories. However, if the Grand Lantern works, it should hold natural law together here. And be copyable at some level to other facilities. I will be working with Suzuhara, Horaki, Scott, and Aida using the pieces of the great Lamp. This is likely to consume my time for a while, so bring any issues to Fuyutsuki, unless it specifically requires me.” “How will it work?” Ritsuko asked. A long explanation ensued; Misato listened, trying to keep up but had to conclude ‘science’ + ‘magic’ = ‘answer’. She read over her report on the tattoos. Discipline was up, which was good, but they were going to need to conduct a field test in the Deeps. Just a simple raid. “We need Wraith fear in a can so we can test defenses without having to risk soldier’s lives,” Misato said, suddenly bursting in. “While we can’t do Wraith fear in a can, one of the stronger Talents could simulate it enough to test the tattoos further, if that is your desire,” Commander Ikari said. “I believe we could probably use past data to help the Talent modulate the power level appropriately.” That would work. ****************** Ritsuko volunteered to do it herself to Misato’s pleasure; it felt good to work side by side for once. Watching soldiers try to charge her was amusing. One soldier rushed at Ritsuko and each step covered less ground than the one before, until he just stopped ten feet short of her and retreated. The soldiers retreated and conferred, then advanced singing one of the ancient battle songs they’d been studying; they staggered and Misato watched lines bounce on Maya’s equipment she was monitoring this with; it sat on a table by the door as Ritsuko blocked the exit from the room. Power levels soared and they broke through and touched her, then cheered loudly. “Hah! Now we can face anything,” one of the soldiers said. Ritsuko wasn’t so sure it would work under real stress, but this was a definite good sign. She could feel her own tattoo on her back, which showed Marie Curie at work. Misato had a picture of Eowyn on her back, confronting the Witch King, which suited her well, Ritsuko thought. She hoped Commander Ikari’s project would work. They were going to need something like that, she suspected. I wonder if you could use live performances and radio somehow. Worth asking him about. ****************** “Creo Ignem,” Edgar said, pointing the wand, and the fireplace lit. He stared, eyes wide, and his parents shivered. Pieter Langley was well aware of the degree people could abuse power. But they had to know. “The cat is out of the bag,” Asuka said, frowning. “It’s better at this point to teach responsible use and try to guide and control its use instead of trying to suppress it. Too many people know. If Edgar can do it, there must be a ton of kids who can do it.” “Without the wands…,” Barbara began. “There’s more than just wand magic in the books,” Asuka said, sighing. “We’re going to try to ensure no more trouble in the Geofront but soon, we’ll have to make an announcement before rumors spread. And ensure proper education and control. Which likely will mean some training for Edgar and Karin so they don’t hurt themselves.” And for all the new pilots who would be coming soon. “I’m ready!” Edgar said excitedly. “There’s going to be a lot of happy people.” And people who get hurt, Asuka thought. And looking at her father and Barbara, she could tell they knew. It felt strange to be of one accord with them. But they were all old enough to know about the problems of power. ******************* “You’ve *got* to be kidding me,” Ralph said to Dr. Eida; he and a half-dozen others were in a room with her, Maya, and Dr. Akagi, looking at *wands* and *robes* from that kid witch series. He was joking less when Maya lifted Dr. Akagi into the air with one of the wands. Instead, he was shivering. “So there’s an army of kids with magical powers now?” “Not everyone can do it yet but it’s going to become more common. We’re trying to figure out how common and what to do about it before anarchy ensues,” Dr. Akagi said. “If it works, then we can use it to good ends, but keeping kids from running riot is going to be very hard. The more of us who can stop such things, the better.” Ralph licked his lips, then donned the green and red Harlequin robes. He took a light blue crystalline wand; there was a thin silver thread up the center of it. Everyone else dressed up, all clearly feeling ridiculous. “Okay, try this,” Maya said to him and pointed her wand, made of some sort of odd material which reminded him of tortoiseshell. She’d hung up targets of monster heads, which she now aimed at. “GUSTULUM CREO,” she shouted and a strong breeze made the paper target flap about. “What crazy language is that?” one of his co-workers asked. “Made up by the author language,” Dr. Eida said, grimacing. “GUSTULUM CREO,” Ralph shouted, pointing the wand and feeling like he’d shoved his foot in a light socket. He stumbled and wind slammed into the target, shredding it to bits. Dr. Eida’s eyes widened and Dr. Akagi blinked. Maya pushed her hair back into shape. “Very good,” she said weakly. They ran through a series of ludicrous spells; they all worked for Ralph but some didn’t work well; he was really good at making air move and stealing things, though. “Holy shit,” he said at the end. “How can this work?” another of his co-workers demanded. “It’s pretty clear the world is changing. Natural law is changing,” Dr. Eida said. “Things impossible become possible, and some possible things may become impossible or just different.” “Should… is this a secret?” Ralph asked. “For now,” Dr. Eida said. “But it won’t be possible to keep secret for long. The best of you will be working with us to develop a curriculum and see if we can invent new spells and to determine what the cost of this is. Nothing comes for free. But for now, do not tell anyone.” Ralph now told them about the incident at the pool. “Exactly,” Dr. Eida said. “That’s why we have to ensure that we’re ready to keep this from wrecking havoc, especially when we don’t know what cost it may have.” I guess I’m going to be reading those books, Ralph thought. **************** “Can you do magic like my stupid sister?” Edgar asked Shinji when he arrived for his cello lesson. Shinji said gently, “Your sister isn’t stupid. But yes. Sit down with me and close your eyes.” Edgar did so and felt Shinji touch his shoulder. “Now open your eyes,” Shinji said. They were standing on a giant floating crystal disk over a swirling ocean of mist in a hundred colors, holding their cellos. And now Shinji began to play and the clouds swirled for him and Edgar began to play his as well and he could see the clouds respond. “Wow, this is like playing Rock Band,” Edgar said excitedly, trying various notes and seeing what happened. “Wow, this is better than *anything* Asuka could do.” Shinji laughed nervously. “Thank you. Now, let’s try this new piece.” He gestured and the sheet music formed out of light in the air. He also made a bird out of air, tied a message on it and it flew into the mists. After about fifteen minutes of practice, Edgar felt another hand and Shinobu appeared in a green ballerina outfit; she was so beautiful it made him shiver, especially since he normally thought she looked like a boy. But here, she was so beautiful he could hardly think. She kissed Shinji, then danced out onto the mists, shaping them with her movement, letting the two of them guide her as she laughed and danced. He felt weird looking at her, like he did with Gretchen, whose secret he’d still kept secret. He felt proud of himself for that. His sister would have told everyone on earth to make herself look good. Magic. Real magic. Maybe now he could do something. If he ever got drawn back into Wondaria, anyway. Sometimes he wondered if he’d imagined it. But if something like this was possible, was there really a difference between dreams and being awake? He needed the power so no more people would die because he wasn’t good enough. If they were real… They’d felt so real. “What’s wrong?” Shinobu asked; she’d danced over to him while Shinji played on, though the second Shinobu spoke, Shinji turned to her. He suspected that if she sweetly asked Shinji to throw himself off a cliff, he’d jump without hesitation. “I’m fine,” he told her. He’d convinced himself he dreamed it all until he saw Gretchen. Until now. Shinobu was not fooled. “You don’t have to talk about it, but I’m always ready to listen,” she said and kissed his forehead gently. Then she kissed Shinji again and danced onto the mists. I’ll train until I’m ready, Edgar thought. Then I’ll figure out how to get back. Somehow. The lesson was interrupted by Kyoko showing up with Gregor, who had a clarinet. Edgar had not known Gregor knew about the weird stuff. But Gregor was a good musician and Kyoko sang beautifully, so Edgar didn’t mind. Then he had to go home, leaving them to do homework. He felt better now. He had a plan… sort of… It was time to work on it. ************** Shinji was never quite sure what to do with Gregor; Kyoko and Shinobu clearly hoped the two of them would hit it off, and Gregor was friendly and Shinji didn’t *dislike* him. But beyond music, they had little in common. It wasn’t like him and Touji and Ken, who could hang out forever. After homework was done, Kyoko had dragged off Shinobu for… whatever… they did on these evenings and he and Gregor sat and played video games; they could do that. “You should read this,” Gregor told him. He pulled a book out of his pack and laid it down. “It’s one of the great books of our homeland.” ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. Shinji had heard of it vaguely. “Hold on,” Shinji said; having money was weird but useful. He soon sent Gregor an ebook he’d just bought on line. The Tale of Genji. Conveniently in Russian! It was the only Japanese book he could remember that was pretentious. A light novel about giant robots wouldn’t match this. And he didn’t read much unless it related to music. “Thank you,” Gregor said, smiling. “Maybe we’ll learn something about each other.” “My music says everything there is to know about me,” Shinji said. “Hmm, Battle Pigs or Andrew Carnegie vs. the World?” “Let’s try the second one; I enjoyed the comic book,” Gregor said. In this game, in order to date the Invisible Hand, Andrew Carnegie had to battle her seven Robber Baron exes. Shinji always got killed by Rockefeller, so he hoped maybe with Gregor’s aid he could win. “You and Shinobu have never dated anyone else, right?” Gregor asked him. “Yes, I guess… we were meant for each other,” Shinji said, smiling and feeling *very* embarrassed. “The moment I met her, my life changed forever.” Gregor let out a deep sigh and settled back on the couch. The game started with a little introductory spiel in which the Invisible Hand (who looked like the Statue of Liberty but wearing money made out of dollars) met Andrew at a booksigning of his book ‘The Gospel of Wealth’. As this played, Gregor studied it. “I’ve been with Kyoko longer than anyone else, but you’ve… two years?” “Nearly two,” Shinji said, feeling amazed. “We’re lucky.” Gregor studied him as now Cornelius Vanderbilt crashed through the wall in a steamboat and the store flooded; cue battle. Shinji controlled Carnegie and Gregor was Mark Twain, whoever that was, as Shinji had never heard of most of these people. But the game was fun. Tiny robot steamboats with tiny cannon sailed around, trying to kill them. Gregor’s fingers moved precisely to do the very tricky combo which called up Mark Twain’s steamboat. “I’ll crush them, you go after Vanderbilt.” Shinji dodged a thrown university, wondering if the designer of this game had taken drugs. But Misato had bought it from some weird indie company. She’d get drunk and play it with Harry, who loved video games, and then he’d have to go play loud music to not listen. Shinji dodged torpedoes and then leaped onto the deck of the ship and proceeded to throw railroad ties at Vanderbilt; he knew the pattern by now and Shinji was good with patterns. Video games tended to be predictable and that helped him play. He liked having everything predictable. Then Gregor sneezed and his hands jerked and a cannon shell went right through where Shinji was. “I’m sorry!” But Shinji had heard a burst of ‘danger music’, so Shinji leaped… his character leaped out of the way, just barely, and Gregor’s eyes widened. “Nice dodge.” Now Vanderbilt nailed him with a storm of razor sharp stock, however, and Shinji had to fall back to collect some healing (in the form of valuables floating around the room). “I can hear trouble coming, sometimes,” Shinji said, heading for a floating golden goblet and seizing it. PROFIT, so he got some of his health meter back. “The ring,” Gregor said softly. “Yeah,” Shinji said, wondering how much Gregor knew. Kyoko usually couldn’t shut her mouth, so probably everything. Then he felt Shinobu looking, but he didn’t look. Probably checking on us, Shinji thought. I should say something cheerful, but nothing came to mind. There was just something about Gregor that kept his shields up… admittedly, most people kept his shields up. “I know about the piloting,” Gregor said softly to Shinji. “Kyoko tells me a lot. She trusts me very much.” Shinji had a weird feeling like Gregor was hinting at something and he didn’t know what, so he decided to file it for later asking someone who would know of such things. Like Shinobu or Ken. Touji was a good friend, but Shinji knew Touji wouldn’t get the hint either. He felt a little proud of himself for *realizing* there was a hint he wasn’t getting. ****************** “Kyoko and I have decided that you two must create a song for us to sing and dance to,” Shinobu told him later, as they got ready for bed. “Gregor is a poet, so that should work.” Maybe that was it, Shinji thought. We could make it about piloting since he knows about it. “Who would we perform for?” he asked. “I don’t know. Everyone. I’d say to bring in Lars and Melinda but Lars isn’t really musical. But maybe we should.” Shinji imagined himself and Lars trying to collaborate on something, sitting quietly and looking at each other and he suddenly laughed loudly, while Shinobu looked confused. “I mean, she’s a good friend, but… well, she can sing but Lars is not so much into music,” Shinobu said, frowning. “I’ll ask Lars if he wants in,” Shinji said. Though it might not go well. Shinobu smiled brightly. “You’re such a dear.” She embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder. “We are the luckiest people in the world.” It must be fate, Shinji thought. ************** “Yes,” Conrad said, though he sounded kind of mad about it. Shinji wondered what he’d done to offend Conrad. They were at school, waiting for class to start, Shinji standing by Conrad’s desk. “Can you tell who people are fated for?” “I can see it when people are together,” Conrad said. “Most couples in our school are not fated at all. Lots of people won’t meet their person for a long time. Or the world may hide their fate because the world is broken,” he said, staring down at his hands. “It doesn’t hurt to see a good fate, right?” Shinji said hesitantly. “No, it reassures me,” Conrad said. Then he sighed. “But sometimes I can’t tell and that’s the worst thing. But you and Touji are both really lucky.” “But not Ken?” Shinji said hesitantly, feeling his stomach curdle. “They’re not bad for each other, but it’s not destiny. Just a human thing,” Conrad said. “It’s just… nothing. I could be wrong. Destiny can change and I don’t know how,” he said softly. Shinji glanced at Ken, who was talking to Evelyn and studying something on her tablet. Talking mind-to-mind. He could feel it but not hear it. ‘What is it?’ he asked Conrad. Download 215.22 Kb. Share with your friends:
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