Two Souls - chapter 1: Tea Time

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On a warm, summer afternoon, a woman is walking the corridors of a house. The sun shines through large windows; the sunrays dance on the dust that rises as she passes. This is a mansion, an opulent house, a relic of the past – or a result of someone's grandeur and fascination with the old. It is filled with a lot of art: paintings, sculptures, old furniture… and yet it is eerily empty.

Corridors are endless. The woman is roaming them, looking for something, something very important, something critical, but she does not know what it is. 'It must be here. There is no other place it can be.' She has no idea how she came here. She does not know where she is. She does not know–

'Who am I?'

She walks the corridors, looks through the windows, enters the rooms. A living room, with large fireplace, but there is no fire in it. A study, filled with shelves and shelves of books; she stifles the urge to browse them; the answer is not in the books, that she knows. A large bedroom, with huge double bed, empty and neatly made. Smaller bedroom, with colourful furnishing and small bed, most likely a child's room. A nursery, with a baby bed and some toys. A dressing-room.

She feels drawn inside this one. There are several closets, a clothing rack or two, a mannequin, and a large standing mirror in heavy frames.

The woman in the mirror is dressed in proper XIX century dress, her face bright; she is younger than she remembers herself from the day she–

The day she–

Died?

Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu beholds her reflection with a mix of confusion and fear.

'This is who I am. But this is wrong. This is like lifted from a damned Jane Austen novel, this is not Berlin, this is not my home, this is not the laboratory, this is not… Where am I?'

...

The mansion is enormous. Kyoko enters another floor; finds a kitchen, dining room, some kind of workshop for stuffing animals. All rooms are full of things, all rooms are devoid of people. 'Am I a prisoner? Is this some nightmare?', a seed of panic starts to bloom. Her steps hasten, leading her to a corridor, seeking an exit. She heads outside, swinging the garden door with force.

"Oh."

An Asian woman sits in the garden behind a table set for an afternoon tea. She wears a dress from the same time as Kyoko's and a simple, if appropriate to the time period, straw hat.

"Hello, Soryu", the woman says. "Please, join me", she gestures at a wicker garden chair across the table. Kyoko stares at her, unmoving. Woman's slender hands reach for a porcelain teapot. "Please, sit down. I will explain. Tea?"

"Hello", Kyoko manages to say. The woman does look familiar… her name is on the tip of Kyoko's tongue, her importance on the verge of Kyoko's understanding… but still eluding her. She sits down on the edge of the seat. Somehow, she is able to handle this unwieldy dress without tripping. In different circumstances, she would wonder about that little detail; now, she is too busy figuring out what the Hell is going on.

The woman pours the tea into an elaborate teacup and hands it to Kyoko with steady hands; Kyoko notices her own hands shaking. She sets the teacup it on the table with a sudden move and is glad when it does not break. "What– what is happening? What is– what is this?"

The woman looks at her with surprise, her dark eyes expressing worry. "This… may be more problematic than I thought. Let's start from the beginning, then. Do you know who you are?"

"I… I am Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu", Kyoko replies hesitantly. 'Tip of my tongue…'

"Good. What is the last thing you remember?", the woman inquires while slicing the cake.

"The corridors… and not much before."

The woman sighs. "Not good. Something must've gone wrong. The beginning is further than I thought; good that we have time", she smiles. "Next question: do you know who I am?"

Kyoko shakes her head. Her mind is racing. The woman sighs again: "I was hoping to avoid that; it ruins the immersion, but it seems your memory needs something familiar to latch on."

She stands up, Kyoko's eyes track her movements: she is small, graceful, and confident in her movements… and annoyingly familiar. "Look at me, and remember", the woman says softly. In an eyeblink, her appearance shifts: Kyoko now stares at a short-haired woman in modern clothing and a lab coat. She smiles a familiar smile: "How is it now?"

Kyoko's mind is suddenly flooded: images, voices, scenes. This was a woman she heard of and finally met, a brilliant scientist whose work she admired and continued, the person that sacrificed–

"Ikari. Yui Ikari."

The woman smiles.

...

Kyoko sits on the edge of her seat, her head spinning. She tries to collect her thoughts, but for now, she focuses on her tea; the peach pie tastes great, so does the infusion. Yui sits across the table, back in her period dress; she changed back as quickly as she assumed modern attire the moment before. She is still smiling; Kyoko takes a deep breath.

"All right. I know who I am, I realised that when I saw my face. Now you stirred my memory on who you are", she trails off. "Are we dead? Is this Heaven? Hell? Purgatory?"

"It is… complicated. I feel pretty alive, thank you, but it is no surprise you thought me dead; after all, all the methods of measuring soul presence had no baseline", Kyoko nods, not really following. "And no, this is neither: this is no afterlife at all. I didn't exactly name this place, there was no need for it; I just call it my garden. I created it when I was… well, bored", Yui explains, a bit sheepishly. Kyoko raises one eyebrow. "It is lonely and empty inside the Evangelion."

Kyoko freezes for a moment, teacup in hand starting to shake. 'I died. I am… Eva?'

The Memory of horrible pain and feeling of burned skin floods her mind. Images follow, chaotically: preparations for Contact Experiment; more pain, pain that felt like something was clawing on her soul, leaving scorched marks; the moment when she saw herself inside the Core, as if she was looking from the outside; then silence. Long silence, interrupted by hazy dreams of her… daughter? inside the Evangelion.

She shakes her head repeatedly. "I am Evangelion. I am inside", she manages to say.

"Yes", Yui replies; Kyoko feels a warm hand touching her own. Kyoko reflexively pulls back.

Silence surrounds them for a time, interrupted only by a bird screeching in the bushes. Kyoko's breath slows down, and she raises her eyes back to meet Yui's.

"I'm… sorry. This is… I knew it could end like this, but…", she shakes her head again and takes a sip of tea. "I… I don't have memories after the… accident. Experiment. No clear ones… what… how?"

Yui sighs. "It is not exactly easy to explain. My transformation must have caused changes in protocol. Unit-01 is… specific. Unfettered. Less fettered. Contrary to you, I am aware almost all the time, and it the beginning, it was maddening. But then I realised I control the soul of this… thing, or at least some components of it. So, I started to shape it. Carved out a corner for myself. I had years to do this", Yui elaborates, smiling.

"You made yourself a garden. Inside a most powerful war machine known to humanity. Like a poet forced to become a warrior", Kyoko realises, with a hint of awe.

"I am not a poet, Soryu", Yui objects. "I am a scientist. I wanted a place. Somewhere to go. So, I made it with my own mind."

"All right", Kyoko shakes her head and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I am tempted to interrogate you on how did you manage to create all this and how I can replicate it in my own machine, but there is a more pressing matter, besides me going mad from all this revelation. Tell me: why does this look like a film set for Pride and Prejudice adaptation?"

"I like the dresses" is the only reply; Yui hides her face behind a suddenly enormous teacup. Kyoko rolls her eyes at the blatancy of the guise. 'Well, what can I say, they do look nice. Of course, it requires ignoring many, many unpleasant aspects of the era to enjoy; well, maybe this is why this place is so empty?', she muses. She takes another piece of cake; 'for an illusion, they really taste great.'

There is a moment of silence with only cutlery clattering.

"Ikari…", she speaks up after eating another slice; 'This is actually neat, I guess I can eat all I want here and not even worry once about my health', she spares a thought before returning to a more serious tone of thinking. "Why did you bring me here? You could create any company you wished here, I suppose, why bring me here? And how?"

Yui puts down her suddenly normal teacup, her face serious. "This is the grimmer part. 'How' is relatively simple – Evangelions have numerous systems, and while most of them are disabled when they're locked down, some are not considered dangerous enough to warrant separate locks – and they use very little power. I subverted the comm system; please, don't ask me how I did that exactly, most people don't know how their bones realign when they turn their palm or how to move their vocal chords in order to speak; they just do it and it works. I used my instinct and Eva's feedback. I flexed the mind's muscles, so to say, and just did it."

"There was one soul in another unit, but it was… hostile, messy, wrong, almost alien. I suppose I confused it further, made it angry. Or maybe I misread its expressions. I just don't know. I stopped reaching when she screamed at me", Yui picks up her teacup again. "I didn't try again, lest I cause damage or singe myself. Then there were some battles and healing that took my attention, and then I sensed some other presence. I reached out… and found you."

Kyoko nods, her head still spinning. "And you somehow transferred me here? Is the other Eva empty? Why couldn't I do it?"

"One thing at a time, dear", Yui smiles and briefly touches Kyoko's hand; this time, Kyoko does not pull her hand back. "No, I did not transfer you here… I think I did not. You're not exactly here, I believe. Please, keep in mind it's the first time I do this, so there is a lot of ifs and maybes", she pauses and pours tea into Kyoko's nearly empty cup. "As far as I know, you're still in Core of your Evangelion. I… pulled your presence, established a link… again, don't ask me what exactly I did. There were some problems: locating you was difficult, you were… slippery, for the lack of better word. I kept hearing your voice, but sometimes it was… mangled, for lack of better word again. It took me a few days. Not that I had much to do between battles and healing", she smiles wistfully. "But I managed, and then busied myself with setting up the table until you found me", she finishes happily.

Kyoko takes her time digesting the explanation. "All right", she speaks up. "This kind of explains the how. Somewhat. It is fascinating, to be frank, and I would love to understand the process. But why? Aside from the company, of course, but I don't think of myself as a very good company. Unless you want to discuss science, of course."

Yui's face turns serious, and she takes Kyoko hand in both of hers. "We have a role to play, Soryu. We have a world to save… or to transform. And I need your help to do that."

Kyoko looks into Yui's eyes and sees a steely determination. Suddenly, this summer day feels very chilly…

...

Kyoko was laying on the bed in the guest bedroom of the mansion. Yui has insisted that she remains for a while to think – or at least remain conscious – before she sends her back to what, according to their compared notes, amounted to suspended animation.

'Animation… well, after all, I am just a soul now. Animation is just the term…', she thought, smiling bitterly. She has still not decided whether her condition meant she was dead, alive, or somewhere in between. 'I wonder how safe it is for my sanity to think about this so much. Supposedly not very safe', she sighed.

They spent the afternoon walking around the meticulously kept garden and talking about the situation. Kyoko has been continuously impressed by the amount of work it must have taken to sculpt it all. When asked, Yui just shrugged and wistfully repeated: "I had time", not elaborating any further. Kyoko decided not to press the issue; in contrast to all Yui was telling her, this issue seemed inconsequential.

And she just told Kyoko a remarkable story.

Of course, Kyoko was aware of some of it. She was educated – and one of the pioneers – in the field of metaphysical biology, and she was well-versed in secrets of the Evangelions. But even scientists working in GEHIRN and making ground-breaking advances in the field were not privy to all secrets. Yui clearly knew more – even if she was somehow evasive on sources of her knowledge. Kyoko listened, and slowly integrated the knowledge with what she learned in between Yui's Contact Experiment and her own demise.

'My demise. My death. Or not-death', her thoughts returned to her main point of confusion. She shook it off, returning her train of thoughts to the afternoon walk.

...

"This is where my knowledge ends. We conducted the Contact Experiment, and you know how it ended", Yui smiled sadly. Kyoko nodded. She had a hard time finding a reply to all the information Yui dumped on her; an uncomfortable silence enveloped them when they stopped to admire a field of blooming flowers.

"Thank you", Kyoko finally spoke up. Yui turned her head away from the flower she was looking at, surprise on her face.

"For what?", she asked, rising.

"Your… trust? Your… rescue?"

Yui smiled sadly: "I might have very well just doomed you, dear. While we might be safe from SEELE here, I took away the peace of oblivion you could simply enjoy until the very end."

Kyoko clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tight; her breathing quickened. 'Is that… anger? Fear? Do I even have those responses without a body?', her mind raced. 'Oblivion. I was lost in oblivion. I was unaware. She pulled me out. She…'

"Dead. I was dead. Is this what you mean, correct?", Kyoko replied with a shaky voice. Yui nodded reluctantly. "Then you gave me my life back, Ikari. Even if this means we are doomed anyway… thank you." Kyoko did not open her eyes; she felt tears burning behind the eyelids. A sob escaped her lips; she tried to force it down: 'Now? Right now? In front of Ikari? Great show I am putting on when she is counting on me to help her…'

She startled when warm, small hands enveloped her own right hand; she wanted to pull her hand away… she chose not to. Her teeth remained clenched, her face tight.

"Soryu. What I did is not a blessing. I am burdening you with great responsibility, without any promise of great power to go with it. And if you go with my plan, I want you to go with both your eyes wide open." Yui's voice was soft but firm.

Her lips still tight, Kyoko opened her eyes, ignoring those few tears that have flown down her cheeks; her vision was blurred, but it did not matter. "I will. Ikari… it's my kid that is in it too, isn't she?"

Yui nodded. "Yes, there is. And it will be up to you to protect her."

Kyoko smiled through the tears. "I will. And…", she shook her head. "Thank you", she wiped her tears with her free hand.

Yui smiled softly, her hands withdrawing. She blinked in silent surprise when Kyoko's hand gripped hers for a bit longer; she did not comment on that. Silence reigned once more, but this time, it felt far more comfortable than before.

After a long pause, Kyoko spoke up once more: "Ikari… you mentioned a plan? I am not sure what we can do, being so trapped, our… machines… restrained?"

"In fact, I do, at least a beginning of one. It might not be perfect, or even complete, but there is one. I will explain it, once it is complete enough to discuss. One of the first steps was actually 'find allies'… and I believe this one has started well", Yui winked.

Kyoko felt a small blush creep up her face. She shook it off; there was no real reason for it to appear, after all.

"Ikari… Should we not perhaps leave planning, and possibly fighting, to soldiers, to this… NERV? Should we not focus on understanding how we can protect our children better?", she probed. 'I hope this doesn't sound too pessimistic…'

Yui resumed her walk, gesturing Kyoko to follow. "Well, we could", Yui agreed. "But there are two strong arguments against that. First, my son and your daughter, and possibly other children their age are currently forced to fight life-and-death battles", Kyoko shivered on that. 'I should've thought on that, of course', she chided herself. She still felt strangely… disconnected, her thoughts not clear.

"… and just protecting them when such battle occurs… I believe everyone able, let alone their mothers, should do far more", Yui continued. "Don't you agree?", she shot Kyoko a look. Kyoko responded with a hasty nod.

"Second, current commander of NERV is my dear husband, Gendo. And trust me: while he might be intelligent and strong-willed, he is not able to handle this whole thing alone. If I left things in his hands, I would not even have Shinji", Yui laughed softly.

Kyoko tilted her head. "What? Is he not…"

Yui seemed aghast for a moment, then shook her head with another laugh: "No, no, no, he is his son, of course. It's just… Gendo was always so busy, so driven; I had to reason with him for a long time that we should have children at all. Actually, I had to reason with him to even make love to me more often than on celebratory occasions", she smiled to herself sheepishly. A small blush crept up her face, her eyes turning dreamy.

Kyoko blush was, in contrast, far from small. 'This is a really… intimate detail, especially for someone so Japanese as Ikari was. Is, as Ikari is. Are we friends enough?', Kyoko mused in surprise. 'On the other hand, I feel like I could tell her my secrets here and now… This is weird.' She shelved the thought for later. Many things were… different here.

Yui broke out of her reverie after a moment. "I'm sorry, I got… distracted", she turned to Kyoko and stopped upon seeing her blush; suddenly, their colours matched, and Yui waved her hands. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I made you uncomfortable, I apologise", she blurted out rapidly.

Kyoko shook her head dismissively. "No, no, stop, please stop, I was just… surprised. Don't worry, it's nothing", she forced a smile and took a deeper breath. "You were saying you don't trust your husband? Ex-husband? Errr… widower?"

Yui rolled her eyes subtly. "Pondering fine details of mine and his legal status is well out of the scope of current discussion and would require knowledge of Japanese law I do not have. As far as I understand from what you told me, I am legally dead, thus he is a widower. This takes care of this 'until death do us part' thing, I suppose. Not that it matters now, really, so let's settle with 'husband' for now; it's shorter, even if 'ex-husband' is more appropriate. And to answer your question, this is correct: I do not believe he is capable of handling the situation himself. He was never good with people", she sighed.

Kyoko raised her eyebrow. "Not good with people? He was rather… impressive, imposing, certainly seemed… capable."

Yui shook her head. "It's a mask. Actually… both Shinji and Gendo are the same: boys lost among the crowd, afraid of commitment, afraid of being hurt. It's just my son handles this by trying to please people whenever he can and running away when things get difficult… he inherited my soft hand, I think; I just hope determination came with it. On the other hand, Gendo was always the one to throw a punch, to act brash, to put on the 'tough guy' façade…", she trailed off, setting sun between the trees catching her eye. She sighed.

"No", she resumed, shaking her head. "Gendo will not succeed, not alone, and he is alone. As Professor Fuyutsuki put it: 'he would be a good mid-level yakuza, not a scientist or leader'; as much as I love the man, the professor was right. He would, if I remained at his side, yes. But…", Yui hesitated. Kyoko waited patiently. Fact that Yui said 'love', not 'loved' did not elude her.

"But I couldn't", Yui sighed. Kyoko heard a lot in this one sigh: the feeling of loss, a lot of pain, lost opportunities, a measure of regret. Feelings she quite well understood… no, more than understood – feelings she shared. Maybe not in regard to her husband – they did grow distant over time, their daughter being the main reason they remained together – but certainly towards Asuka. She would love to see her grow up… most likely just as Ikari would love to see her son grow up.

They leaned on opposite rails of a small bridge over a shimmering stream. Silence descended once more.

"I… I will have to think about it all", Kyoko broke the silence. "I mean… I'm with you, I'll do what I can to protect my Asuka, protect your Shinji, to resolve this… conspiracy", she added hastily. "But this is a lot to think about."

Yui nodded. "Of course. Stay the night… evening… I'm not sure if I even sleep here. I believe that when I send you back, you will be unconscious once more until I pull you back. So… stay, if you wish to think. I'll make a guest room for you", she smiled warmly.

Kyoko responded with a nod and a cautious smile. "Thank you. That'll help."

...

Kyoko was staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. It was in the same style as everything else in this place, and she was slowly getting used to this particular weirdness. This was actually one of those things her host did not provide an explanation for; questions were evaded or dismissed with 'I like the style' – this was, of course, a valid answer, but Kyoko had a feeling there is more to it. Again, she knew that pressing for answers would be rude, not to mention petty in the face of far more important questions.

Sleep did not come, but the morning did – far sooner than she would expect. And with it, clattering of porcelain and cutlery. Apparently, breakfasts were also part of the plan.

She rose and stretched, only to notice a change in her attire. She was now wearing a much simpler dress, something she would describe as 'homely grey'. 'I don't remember changing… it will take some time to get used to', she sighed.

A knock on the door broke her reverie. "Please enter", she collected herself; the door opened, and a familiar face framed by short brown hair peeked in. Yui wore a warm, playful smile.

"Can I interest you with a breakfast, my esteemed guest?"

Kyoko scratched her head. "I'm not even sure…", she started, only to be interrupted by her stomach grumbling. She blinked in surprise.

"Ikari. Are you doing this?", she asked indignantly, a hint of panic seeping in. "If so, please stop. This is weird."

Yui's lips tightened into a thin line as she stepped in the doorframe. "I'm… not sure", she stated seriously. "Definitely not consciously, no. But please, remember that you are the first and only person that came here since I created this place. So… if I do, this is not intentional, and I do apologise", she paused. "Rest assured, I am not trying to manipulate you… nor am I toying with you. That would be wrong… rude even, not to mention childish and irresponsible."

Kyoko nodded. 'Truth or not, there's not much I can do about it now… maybe except learning how to do it myself. And there's no need to be rude on my part', she calmed herself. "No need to apologise, I believe you", she replied with reassurance in her voice. "From what we know about how all this works, I could be doing this to myself: I think 'this is morning, so I should be hungry', and I am hungry", she shrugged and headed towards the door. "Let's go, I wonder what a breakfast here is like", she smiled at the younger woman.

...

"Do you mind telling me what this is, exactly?", Kyoko inquired at the strange, rectangular pieces of… cake? that were on the platter in front of her.

"It is called 'pound cake', and it is quite tasty – and filling", Yui answered and handled her guest a cup she just filled with fragrant tea. "I believe there is a German equivalent, but I don't know how it is called. But it would be better to start with toast, first", she added.

"Toast? I don't see- ah", Kyoko realised the newest addition to the table – perfect, golden toasts on her plate and jam next to it. "I am not going to get used to it anytime soon, I'm afraid", she said, slight exasperation in her voice.

Yui's face suddenly showed mild dejection. "I'm sorry; there is no other way. Believe me", she shuddered subtly, her voice subdued. Kyoko rose her eyebrows. Yui just shook her head in response. "You'll get used to it, I hope", she smiled a clearly forced smile. "Have you thought about what I said yesterday?", her voice rose. "Do you have any questions?"

Kyoko just made a mental note to inquire later. "Yes, I did, and no, I don't. Nothing coherent, at least", she admitted. "This… all… is big, and I suppose I'll just wait until you decide to tell me your plan."

Yui nodded. "Of course; we can discuss the plan together. Once you process what I told you, of course."

Kyoko nodded and took a bite of the toast. They ate in silence, sipping on the tea from time to time. 'I could live like this…', Kyoko though, surprised by her own train of thought. 'It might not be real, but it's… nice. Peaceful. I guess I missed that in the past', she mused. 'Peaceful, big conspiracy we need to defeat aside', her mind helpfully added the drawbacks. 'Conspiracy or not, I am eating a breakfast with someone I can consider… friend, and I am at peace. I guess I will enjoy it while it lasts', she smiled internally.

"Do you like it?" were words that reached her. She returned to… reality – for lack of better word – and focused her eyes on Yui, a question in her eyes. "You're smiling", she explained. 'Oh. Well, I am happy, I guess…'

"Just… thinking", she answered cautiously. "And yes, it tastes good. Familiar, far better than most breakfasts I had at… well, work. Institute's cafeteria", Kyoko admitted. "Workaholism comes with drawbacks", she sighed. Yui nodded with an understanding smile; once more, there was silence.

"Ikari, can I ask you–", Kyoko started before noticing that her host is sitting still with the teacup in hand, and certainly not listening. "Ikari?", she reached to touch her hand.

Yui shook her head forcefully, her eyes shot open.

"My Evangelion is powered up. Something is coming, battle or a test. I must send you back. I will call you later", Yui blurted the sentences with speed of a machine gun, each heavy with both focus and worry. Kyoko just nodded.

"I will bring you here again, I promise. Remember: for now, just protect your daughter" With those last words, Yui closed her eyes, her expression becoming one of intense focus.

And then there was only darkness.