Actions

Work Header

Root of All Evil

Chapter Text

“Multi-biogenesis,” the goggled beaver mused, mouth overflowing with partially-chewed crayfish sandwich.

“Right, right,” Marion replied, not really listening. She gazed through the thick glass of the breakroom window out into the hangar where Tails was gawking in awe up at the eva.

The beaver quickly wiped her hands on her work apron and pushed the goggles up to her forehead. Her eyes betrayed the telltale excitement of a scientist, despite Marion’s evident disinterest.

“Apparently Narnia is the site of at least five independent biogenesis events, and counting! At the staff meeting I caught a glimpse of the director’s notes– the amount of data he’s already compiled, it’s incredible.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. It is”

Marion watched as Tails ran his hand along the wooden chassis of the eva’s leg, pupils distended with wonder.

“What is it like,” the beaver asked, “working so closely with him?”

Marion didn’t answer. The mechanic paused for a moment awaiting a response, before waving her work-worn hands in front of Marion’s eyes.

“Sorry,” Marion said, her attention snapping back to the room, “Um, I guess it’s fine. He mostly just tells me what to do and I do it. Not a lot of discussion.”

The beaver mechanic contorted her face into an expression of disappointment.

“Well, you should ask him some questions. Couldn’t hurt to show a little curiosity.”

Marion pushed herself up from the table.

“In my line of work, Dana, curiosity can kill you.”

Dana rolled her eyes and took another greedy bite of her lunch.

***

“It’s not going to walk off on its own if you take your eyes off it, kid.”

Tails jumped a little at Marion’s joke. He had been so intently studying the collosus that he hadn’t heard her boots clanking down the catwalk. He exhaled nervously and ran a hand through the orange tuft of fur atop his head.

“Well actually, captain, Euroc says that’s theoretically possible.”

The calico scout laughed and held her paw out to the chiseled wood.

“Don’t let that little cellar dweller scare you, Tails,” she said, feeling the ventilation grooves in the thick cedar. “Dwarves are always overestimating their technology.”

“I think he’s right though, cap,” the fox replied, sincerity burning in his young eyes, “that’s what the sync process is for…”

Marion retracted her paw and instinctively reached for her snuff pouch.

“I mean, there’s another mind in there, right? Or something like it.”

She ground the snuff between her fingers plaintively. There was some uneasiness in his speech, beneath the awe.

“You nervous?” she inquired, “First sync test is tomorrow.”

Tails swallowed and looked back up at the colossus.

“I’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean,” he replied, “But there is that feeling of excitement– you know, the kind that verges on anxiety.”

The clack of boots on the catwalk announced a new presence. Speak of the devil.

“Try to keep your filthy habit off the merchandise, Marion,” said the dwarf, unnervingly glowering from the darkness beneath his dirt-brown hood.

The captain made an exaggerated show of wiping her hands on the eva’s wooden shell. Euroc emitted an exasperated grunt and then turned to Tails.

“Hold still for a second, Prower.”

The dwarf produced a protractor-like measuring device from his cloak and, standing on tip-toes, held it up to the fox’s head. Marion observed bemusedly.

“For the sensor array, I think,” Tails said, anticipating Marion’s questioning gaze.

“That’s right, kiddo. Now open your jaw as wide as possible.”

Tails obeyed, revealing his sharp, yellowing teeth. The canines were ferocious for such a young animal. Still a predator, after all, Marion thought.

“The sensors are for his brain, no?” she asked, “So what’s with the jaw exercises?”

Euroc slipped the measuring device back into his all concealing cloak and started scribbling in a notebook that slipped out of his sleeve. In the black beneath his hood it was hard to track his beady red eyes but they didn’t look up while he answered.

“Analyzing the documents of previous tests that Ikari was able to bring with him, we anticipate there may be some seizure-like rapid head movements during first sync.”

Tails grimaced.

“Don’t worry, kid,” the dwarf reassured, “You’ll be safe and warm inside the soup. No harm can come to ya.”

Tails’ eyes met Marion’s briefly. His expression was less than confident. She put a firm paw on his shoulder.

“Remember Tails, why you decided to take the risk.”

The furry adolescent swallowed and clenched his jaw, drawing strength up through his skinny legs from the steel floor. Marion squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. And then the alarm bell rang out, this time the unmistakable, deep clang of the call-to-arms.

Creatures scurried about the bunker with urgency, but little fear. There were rumors of a Hundreds Mob in the clearing nearby– no match for the defenses of the Marquise’ Keep. Soldiers spilled out into the staging area while laborers and engineers walked briskly to their designated safety centers. A glint caught her eye and drew it up to the landing near Ikari’s office. He was standing there, wiping his glasses, a worried look magnified by the dark circles around his eyes. Their glances met and he motioned with a nod to come up.

***

She entered the spartan office and saw Ikari standing by what looked like the viewpiece of a periscope extending down from the ceiling.

“Look,” he said, ominously.

She strode across the room and took hold of the viewpiece’s directional handles with confidence– she had manned the periscope on a whaling ship before the invasion. But what she saw through the glass was more imposing than any known leviathan of the deep. The under-furred skin around her whiskers turned pale.

“This is way ahead of schedule…”

Ikari nodded.

“There appear to have been some errors in the translation of the scrolls you acquired.”

Marion unstuck her eyes from the viewpiece and started pacing.

“No, that’s impossible. I had it independently verified– twice. There… There must be another factor.”

Ikari instinctively clenched his bandaged hand around the lip of the desk, head down, shoulders slumped. The newly-appointed captain stopped pacing and turned solemnly to her superior.

“He hasn’t even had the initial sync test yet-”

“My son was able to pilot an eva without an initial sync,” Ikari interrupted, thick glasses impenetrable.

“Yeah, and what happened to him?” Marion shot back.

Images of Tails’ frail body convulsing spun through her head. Images unspeakable whirled within Gendo’s. The director snapped up, human body towering above the little feline.

“What happened to my son, the entire operation,” he seethed, “Had nothing to do with his or my competence.”

Marion shrunk beneath his shadow. Despite her fear, she was fascinated to find that there was some nerve beneath the director’s icy facade– something raw, a point of manipulation. The Sons of Adam were animals too, at the core.

“We were sabotaged,” Ikari darkly intoned. “I won’t let that happen again, whether through deliberate malfeasance…”

His glasses flashed menacingly as he tilted his head down toward the cat.

“... or because you let your sentimentality get in the way.”

Marion averted her eyes, saluted, and briskly walked to the door. Ikari called after her.

“Have the pilot ready to engage in six minutes.”