Chapter Text
Chapter 1 – An Echo on the Horizon
Heavy clouds hovered over Tokyo-3. The sky, like a smeared gray canvas, seemed to foretell more than just the approaching rain. Misato Katsuragi gripped the steering wheel of her car tightly, her gaze distracted as she glanced at the rearview mirror. Beside her, Shinji Ikari remained silent, as always, lost in his own thoughts.
Tension in the city had eased since the last battle against the Angel Gaghiel, but at NERV headquarters, preparations for the next step were far from over. Within one of the most restricted sectors of the geofront, an Evangelion stood, hidden behind thick artificial mist and maximum security: Eva-Alpha, a different machine, born outside NERV's official command chain.
Five Years Earlier
At the age of 10, Rai Kuronami lost his father. Akira Kuronami was a genius in neural biomechanics, a former NERV scientist who clashed with Gendo Ikari over his unorthodox views on what an Evangelion should be.
"They're building unbalanced gods. I want to build a guardian."
Those were his last recorded words in the development journal of Project Alpha. When Akira died in a mysterious fire at a secluded lab, many believed it was sabotage. Seele never investigated.
Even as a child, Rai showed remarkable intelligence. He inherited not only his father's notebooks, encrypted data, and conceptual models, but also his quiet idealism. For five years, Rai hid in a leftover underground facility beneath Hakone, isolated from the world, funded by remnants of his father's supporters.
At 15, he had achieved the impossible: built a fully functional Eva, genetically synced to him. A unique machine, designed not with brute force in mind, but with balance between mind and machine.
Eva-Alpha was ready.
Present Day – NERV Headquarters
Misato entered the command center and found Ritsuko examining complex data on a large screen.
"Are you sure it's safe?" Misato asked.
Ritsuko didn't take her eyes off the screen. "The machine is perfect. And the pilot... seems more mature than some of ours."
"And Gendo, what did he say?"
"He authorized it. In fact, he requested the activation. Thinks it might be useful as a... backup card."
Misato bit her lower lip. Something about that boy unsettled her. His story was filled with gaps and mystery, and the indifferent gleam in his eyes gave her chills.
The elevator creaked as it descended slowly to level 30. Shinji kept his eyes on the ground until he noticed someone beside him. It was him. Rai Kuronami.
"You're the Third Child?" Rai asked, glancing sideways.
Shinji nodded, surprised by the blunt, neutral tone.
"And you...?"
"Alpha."
Shinji frowned. "Alpha?"
"That's what Dr. Fuyutsuki calls me. Pilot of Eva-Alpha."
Silence stretched between them. Rai observed Shinji with a detached look, as if analyzing a piece of machinery. No judgment, only assessment.
"Do you hate piloting?" Rai asked, emotionless.
Shinji hesitated. "I... don't know."
Rai looked away. "Thought you'd say that."
Dormitory Common Room
Asuka sat with her feet on the table, shouting at the television. When Rai entered, her eyes immediately landed on him.
"Oh, you must be the prodigy! The genius kid who built an Eva all by himself! How adorable."
Rai said nothing, briefly looked at her, then sat on the couch.
"You don't talk much, huh? Think you're better than everyone else?"
"I don't think anything about you."
"Huh?!"
"I don't know you well enough to have an opinion."
Asuka turned red. She wasn’t sure if she was being insulted or ignored.
"Listen here, brat—"
"You're impulsive, stubborn, and constantly seeking validation. That makes you predictable."
Asuka screamed and threw a pillow at him. He dodged it effortlessly.
From the doorway, Misato shook her head. "Putting the three of you on a mission together is going to be hell."
Acknowledged Silence – Rai and Rei
In the cafeteria, Rei Ayanami sat alone, as usual. Rai, instead of looking for an empty table, sat across from her. He said nothing. Just ate.
Rei looked up at him after a few moments.
"You're not afraid?"
"I am. I just don't have time to feel it."
She gave a slight nod. "I understand."
It was the longest conversation Rei had ever had with anyone not named Gendo.
First Synchronization Test – Eva Alpha
Alpha was submerged in LCL fluid, suspended in the test chamber. Rai sat calmly inside the Entry Plug, eyes closed.
"Synchronization initiated," Maya announced.
Data lines began to spike.
"Sync rate... 87%. And rising!"
Ritsuko's eyes widened. "That's higher than any of the others on their first activation."
Alpha responded fluidly. No resistance. Total control.
Inside the Entry Plug, Rai whispered:
"Father... what else did you hide in this monster?"
End of the Chapter – A New Threat
In Seele's chamber, shadowy figures observed a new pattern emerging.
"The next Angel will come from within."
"Within what?"
"Him. The Alpha."
The screen displayed an abnormal reading in Eva-Alpha's core.
In the NERV cafeteria that morning, silence reigned. Rai Kuronami's presence was sparking quiet whispers among the staff, but no one dared confront him. His unprecedented sync score had spread like wildfire. Even high-ranking officers whispered about "the boy who built his own Evangelion."
In the high command meeting room, Gendo Ikari sat with his fingers interlocked before his face, watching projected reports. Fuyutsuki stood silently beside him.
"Well?" Gendo asked, eyes unmoving.
Fuyutsuki crossed his arms. "He's more dangerous than useful, if I may say. He's different from the others. Not just in skill, but in coldness."
Gendo remained composed. "Which is exactly why he’s necessary."
Simulation Chamber
Shinji, Asuka, and Rai stood in their plugsuits. The plan was simple: train tactical coordination in a simulated battle against multiple Angels.
Asuka swung her leg impatiently. "Seriously, I have to train next to this corpse-faced robot?"
Rai remained still, eyes fixed on the tactical map.
Misato entered the control room with a sigh. "Ready?"
Shinji hesitated. Asuka scoffed. Rai simply nodded.
Inside their Entry Plugs, Eva-01, Eva-02, and Eva-Alpha advanced through a virtual urban environment. It was Rai's first joint operation.
Ritsuko monitored the data closely. "Rai's sync rate is steady. He's adapting to their patterns with uncanny precision."
Inside Alpha, Rai analyzed Shinji and Asuka’s moves.
"Asuka is too aggressive. Shinji hesitates. I can’t rely on them."
With one swift motion, Rai used Alpha's progressive knife to eliminate the remaining targets.
"Simulation complete. Results: Eva-Alpha 95%, Eva-02 57%, Eva-01 61%"
Asuka screamed through the intercom. "He stole my targets!"
Rai calmly replied. "You hesitated. They would've hit you."
Shinji just sighed. Misato quietly took notes.
Later
Rai wandered through NERV's quiet halls. He found Rei sitting in an observation room, watching the artificial sky.
He approached slowly. "You don’t like it here, do you?"
Rei didn't answer immediately.
"It’s not about liking it. It's where I'm supposed to be."
Rai sat beside her. "Duty. Do you really believe in that?"
"And you? Why are you here?"
He paused. "Because my father died believing the world needed something more than what NERV was offering."
Rei looked into his eyes. "And do you believe that?"
Silence.
"I’m still trying to find out."
Gendo's Office
For the first time, Gendo summoned Rai for a private talk. The air was heavy. Gendo's eyes were like blades behind glass. Rai stood firm.
"Do you know why you're here, Kuronami?"
"Not fully. But I assume it's because I'm a variable you can't control."
Gendo gave something between a smile and a twitch. "And yet, here you are."
"Because even someone like you needs alternative solutions."
They stared at each other for a long moment. In the back, Fuyutsuki looked away. Something about the boy was unnerving. He didn’t seem afraid. Not even of Gendo.
That Night
An alarm blared.
"Blue Pattern detected! An Angel!"
Misato rushed into the command room. The screen displayed a spherical creature floating above the city.
"Send all three!"
Ritsuko hesitated. "Alpha hasn't been cleared for external missions."
Misato looked at the monitor. Rai was already on the launch platform.
"He suited up without orders?!"
"Yes... and his sync rate is at 90%."
Alpha's Entry Plug sealed with a click.
Inside, Rai whispered:
"You wanted a guardian, father. I’ll be that guardian."
Eva-Alpha launched. The battle was about to begin.
To be continued
Chapter 2: Invisible scars
Chapter Text
The impact of Eva-Alpha’s fall reverberated like a muffled thunder through the GeoFront’s structures. Rai panted inside the Entry Plug, his body tense, eyes half-closed. The battle had begun, but before Rai even realized it, Alpha had already defeated the Angel — a metallic sphere with gravitational properties that nearly crushed him alive — but the cost had not been small. The Eva’s armor was destroyed on its right side, and the plug almost collapsed in the end.
Red lights flashed inside Alpha as robotic arms began to retrieve it. Rai said nothing.
---
NERV Infirmary
Hours later, Rai lay on a white bed, wires connected to his chest and temples. Misato entered with hurried steps, stopping beside him.
"Are you okay?"
Rai opened his eyes but remained silent.
"Rai, you almost died. You know that, right?"
He finally spoke, his voice low. "I knew the risk. But I needed to see how far Alpha could go."
Misato crossed her arms, breathing deeply. "That kind of thinking… is dangerous. You’re not alone here."
"I’ve been alone for a long time."
Before Misato could answer, the door opened again.
Shinji entered with hesitant steps, holding something in his hands — a juice box.
"I… brought this. I thought… maybe you’d want it."
Rai looked at him, surprised by the kindness. He took the juice without saying a word. Shinji stood there for a few seconds, then turned to leave.
"Thanks," Rai murmured.
Shinji paused for a moment, then kept walking. A nearly invisible smile appeared at the corner of Misato’s mouth.
The calm didn’t last. The door burst open and Asuka stormed in, eyes blazing.
"YOU! What do you think you’re doing taking on all the missions by yourself?! You’re not the only pilot here!"
Rai didn’t rise to the provocation. He simply replied:
"You weren’t ready."
Asuka flushed with anger. "How dare you?! You just got here!"
"But I won."
She stared at him, then laughed sarcastically. "You think you’re so special, huh? Just because you’ve got a custom-built Eva. I bet without it, you’d be completely useless."
Rai clenched his fists but stayed calm. "Maybe. But I fought anyway."
Silence fell like a blade. Asuka hesitated, as if she hadn’t expected that response. At last, she scoffed and stormed out, slamming the door.
That night, Rai had a strange dream.
His father appeared before him, bathed in white light. Rai was just a child, tools in his hands. They stood in a dark hangar.
"You are my legacy," said the distorted voice of his father. "But even a legacy must find its own meaning."
The words echoed until they became static. Rai awoke suddenly, drenched in sweat.
---
Night Reflections
Later, Rai wandered through the silent halls of NERV. He stopped in front of a window that looked out over the GeoFront’s artificial lake. The city above simulated a serene night, with soft lights and the silhouettes of the Evangelions in the distance.
He pulled from his pocket a small recording device. It was old, its buttons worn down.
He pressed play. His father’s voice came through, weak and full of interference:
"Alpha is not just a weapon. It is a mirror. And mirrors... show more than just a face."
Rai closed his eyes.
"Father… I still don’t know who I am. But I want to find out."
Behind him, without his noticing, Rei watched from the shadow of the hallway. For the first time, she saw Rai as something more than a project or a tool. She saw a boy.
And it reminded her how much she too was just a reflection searching for identity.
The midnight silence in NERV was nearly absolute. Rai, as usual, woke up before the first siren, before any official announcement. His father's recorder was still beside his bed. He hadn’t listened to it again since the night before, but the words lingered like an echo in his mind.
"He is a mirror... and mirrors show more than just a face."
Rai stared at the white ceiling, but his thoughts were elsewhere — plagued by the unsettling question: what else had his father hidden from him?
---
In NERV’s command room, Misato, Ritsuko, Gendo, and Fuyutsuki observed a holographic projection of the last battle. The Angel defeated by Alpha had displayed an abnormal movement pattern — as if it were testing something.
"This wasn’t just an attack," Ritsuko said, frowning. "It was an analysis."
"Analysis of what?" Misato asked.
Gendo clasped his hands in front of his face, as always. "Of Evangelion Alpha. They know it doesn’t belong to our original projects."
"They who?" Misato’s fists tightened.
Gendo didn’t answer. But Fuyutsuki exchanged a tense glance with him.
---
Rai walked among the cables and platforms of Sector 03. Eva-Alpha lay motionless, but its eyes glowed faintly red.
"You saved my life," Rai said, as if talking to someone real. "But you almost took it too."
He touched the robot’s metal leg, feeling a faint vibration from within.
"What else is inside you that I don’t know?"
---
Shinji and Asuka were in the simulation room, both wearing plug suits. Rai arrived late but didn’t seem to care. Asuka, of course, didn’t let it slide.
"You’re not the center of the universe, you know?"
"Of course not," he replied. "But I’m not someone else’s satellite either."
She scoffed and activated her simulation capsule. Shinji looked at Rai discreetly.
"You did well in the last fight… Even though you took a big risk."
Rai nodded. "Thanks. I’m… trying to understand what it means to pilot one of these."
Asuka muttered, "It means risking your life. And others’ too, if you screw up."
The base lights flashed in alert.
"General alert. Blue Pattern detected. A new Angel is approaching via sub-oceanic route. Estimated contact in 40 minutes."
Misato immediately took command. "Prepare all three pilots. Rai, Shinji, Asuka."
---
In the locker room, Rai looked at the mirror while putting on his plug suit. For the first time, his own reflection disturbed him.
"Mirrors show more than just a face..."
---
This time, the Angel was different — a slender form, almost like a serpent made of liquid metal. It moved through the underground water beneath Tokyo-3 and emerged like a living column of shifting energy.
Asuka struck first with Eva-02 but was violently repelled. Shinji tried to cover her, but the enemy’s AT Field was unstable and unpredictable.
Rai, still cautious, observed before acting. When he joined the battle with Alpha, he activated a secondary mode he had developed himself: "Reflection Mode" — a neural reading system that allowed the Eva to replicate the enemy’s movement patterns.
Alpha began to mirror the Angel’s moves, confusing it.
Misato watched, stunned. "That’s… a smart countermeasure. Alpha is learning."
"Or remembering," Ritsuko murmured.
With a synchronized strike, Rai and Alpha pierced the Angel’s core. The enemy exploded in white and black light, leaving only vapor behind.
---
After the Battle
Alpha returned, but Rai’s neural sync was unstable. He fainted inside the Entry Plug.
Later, now recovered, he awoke in the medical lab.
This time, Rei was the one sitting beside him.
"You… dreamed?" she asked.
Rai stared at her, surprised by the question.
"I dreamed of a machine… that felt fear."
For a moment, Rei almost smiled.
"That’s rare."
"I think so too."
---
Outside, in the halls of NERV, Gendo walked toward a secret room. In his hands, he carried an old data disk.
On the terminal screen, the name of Rai’s father appeared.
"Project Omega: Activated."
To be continued.
Evelyn_Cove (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sun 17 Aug 2025 11:56AM UTC
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