2022-09-27: Glimpse of Infinity
- Cast: Kaworu Nagisa, Koji Kabuto
- Where: Fujinomiya City - Infinity Research Site
- Date: U.C. 0096 09 27
- Summary: Koji invites Kaworu to see the Big Secret the Photon Power Research Institute is protecting; they discover a little more about Infinity than they bargained for.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
The New Photon Power Laboratory is the heart of Fujinomiya City... But that's not where we are today.
Past the NERV checkpoint on the mountainside proper is a large facility, officially titled the Photon Power Generation and Distribution Facility; once it's up and running, this massive structure will be able to produce and manage the distribution of Photon Power all through Free Japan and even to the rest of the OCU without needing secondary reactors, all from a central location that also happens to be where Japanium, the ore essential to this miracle technology, is most commonly mined.
Construction, however, has been halted since January. Something happened here that attracted NERV's interest, hence their military presence here - and that may well be the 'something' that spurred Koji Kabuto to invite one of their Administrators to the Distribution Facility.
Once the guards show Kaworu past the checkpoint, Koji is there to meet him at the foyer. This is a much less public-facing facility than the New Lab, which is as much a tourist attraction as the primary experimental site for the Research Institute's interests, but Koji is bright as ever, even despite the serious nature of this meeting. "Administrator Nagisa. Thankyou for agreeing to come to the meeting; this makes the explanation much simpler."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
It's to NERV's immense advantage to assist with the Photon Power Generation and Distribution Facility, both in a general and a specific sense. Everyone would love to have basically free, infinite power, but the Evangelions in particular require a lot of energy to move. Having free energy will also free up a considerable amount of the budget, and supporting development in this direction might mean development of Evangelion batteries with longer than five minutes of activity time.
This isn't of especial concern to Kaworu, though this concern has been made known to him as a NERV administrator. As a NERV administrator, however, it's at least part of why he's here today. A halt in construction means a halt in the benefits NERV could potentially reap. The fact that Koji asked him some time ago to speak with him privately means an opportunity to ask after it further. It would have been good to have come sooner, but their respective schedules kept that from happening until now. It happens.
For the time being, Kaworu strolls through the checkpoint and into the foyer, escorted by the guards until they reach Koji. During his trip in, Kaworu had looked around with detached interest, but once Koji is in sight, he fixes him with his usual crooked, friendly smile.
"Hey. It's a pleasure to see you again, Dr. Kabuto," he replies. "You're quite welcome. I'm sorry that it had to wait this long, but now, my time and attention are yours."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji bows in greeting. "It's our pleasure to host you, Administrator." Obligatory pleasantries done, he gestures to the young man to follow him, leading him over to a large elevator. "We'll have to go into the research site." He takes down a hi-vis jacket and helmet, handing a set to Kaworu as well.
Wait, wouldn't this be the Japanium excavation site if this lift's going down into the mountain?
As the big metal box starts moving, Koji sighs. "The reason I invited you here is possibly related to Tsutsujidai's migration from the Cognitive Realm into the PLANT space. There are some... curious commonalities I noted with the incident that had us reach out to NERV for help safeguarding this facility in the first place; I figured touching base with someone else who has done research into the matter might help."
The elevator chimes, and the far doors... do not open. "Triple-S Clearance required to access Anomaly Research Site," a soft automated voice patiently demands. Koji presses his ID card against a reader next to the doors and announces "Guest: Kaworu Nagisa, NERV Administrator." There's a long pause, then:
"Clearance Granted." The doors slide open, revealing... the unmistakable stern grimace of a Mazinger, but one that dwarfs even the monstrous Evangelions, its head partially embedded into the bedrock of the mountain. So tremendous is its scale that the layers upon layers of armour that sculpt its visage are clearly visible, separated into bands resembling strata upon the colossal face.
Koji waves a hand to encompass the absolutely gigantic Mazin. "Behold: Mazinger Infinity."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu accepts the hi-vis jacket and helmet and obliges Koji and the local safety procedures by putting them on. Then he joins Koji in the elevator, slipping his hands back into his pants pockets. He doesn't ask any questions about the direction of the elevator or where exactly they're going or what they're heading down to see. He simply waits for Koji to explain things at his own pace.
Sure enough, Koji explains about the commonalities between Tsutsujidai and their destination. "I see. I'll do what I can," he replies.
At the chime, he falls silent. Koji gets them both through, and when they step forward, what awaits them is a massive Mazinger, so huge that even the underside of the mountain is too small a space for it. Koji bids him behold, and behold Kaworu does with a single hum of appreciation for the scale. After a moment of then-silent appreciation, he looks over at Koji.
"And you say it has some commonalities with Tsutsujidai?" he prompts. ...He seems to be taking it in stride.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"It wasn't down here before January," Koji says by way of explanation as Kaworu asks what commonalities Infinity might share with Tsutsujidai. "The geological imaging scans we took before starting our excavation of this part of the mountain only indicated the usual Japanium vein; nothing with the consistency or patterning of wrought metal under the surface. We've never found Mycenaean ruins in other excavations of Fuji, either. There wasn't even an earthquake before we discovered it; it's as though one day there was nothing to find, then the next day the excavation team chipped away the stone and found themselves face-to-face with it."
He looks up at the empty crown of Infinity - a gulf so wide that Z or Great could stand in the sockets of the cranial dock and act as the control vehicle, like the Hover Pilder does for Z itself. "I had a hypothesis about how this could possibly have happened, and after the 'Chaos Bringer' event that brought Tsutsujidai into realspace, I am a little more certain of it; that, somehow, this Mazin is able to use Photon Power to move between the layers of reality."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Before January... Kaworu absorbs this information with thoughtful eyes. "So that's why construction stopped," he muses, half-question, half-statement. It does seem highly unlikely that their scans could have simply missed something this enormous, and if Mycenaean ruins aren't known to this area, and there wasn't even an earthquake to shift the stone...
Koji shares his hypothesis. "I see," Kaworu says without a mote of confusion or skepticism. "Yes, that could well be." There are people who can do that; it's not a stretch to him that there are robots that could too. If this is, indeed, a mere robot. Though the Infinity is unknown to Kaworu--yet another surprise this mixing of timelines has brought him--its mother world is not. Really, it only makes the Infinity that much more intriguing. He knows the Mazingers fairly well, and yet: here it is.
"Has anyone been able to make contact with its systems?" he wonders, looking over at Koji. "The way you speak, it doesn't sound as though there were any signs of a pilot..."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"So far there has been a single sign of activity from it beyond its... manifestation here," Koji says.
"The first time I came down here to see Infinity, we picked up a life sign coming from that solid lump of amber crystal right at the centre of its forehead." He points up to the space in question - a smooth, glassy composite about five times the scientist's height. "There had been no such reading before I was in the facility. When I reached out to it, it responded to me, released a pulse of Photon Power that shattered our contaiment barrier from the inside, and then a girl emerged from it."
"She calls herself Lisa - says it's short for 'Large Intelligent Systems Agent'. The best we can figure out, she's some kind of... administrative interface for Infinity. She's almost completely human, biologically and genetically - '90% organic components', in her own words, but her nervous system and brain are more like a phenomenally dense Super AI structure than a human one, and she can directly interface with Infinity and help us learn about it."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu looks up towards the amber crystal in the Infinity's forehead, approximately five times larger than either of them. Koji's explanation of events--and especially of the young woman that emerged from within--is nothing short of fascinating. A biologically human entity with the brain and nervous system of a Super AI... And if Koji's hypothesis is correct, she likely came from another universe along with Infinity.
"I'd like to meet this Lisa, if I may," Kaworu says. "And all of this happened back in January? How much has she told you about Infinity so far?" He assumes not much--though there's also the possibility that Koji had simply been holding this information back until now.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"It's slow going," Koji admits. "As much as she's eager to help us learn about Infinity, it's basically having a teenage girl in the facility - but one who was born only a few months ago. She's smart, curious, and absolutely ravenous to learn as much as she can about the world she's found herself in. So far the only thing she's completely blank about is a word - maybe a name? That she uttered when she first emerged: 'Goragon'. She just gave me a blank look the first time I asked her about it, so we're taking our time."
"That said, what she's helped us with has been tremendous just from a practical perspective. We have new formulation theories for an even stronger version of Super Alloy Z, but actioning building the tech we need to actually make it is something we have to run past the budget heads of the OCU, and while all the data from the Research Institute's official work is publically available, we're keeping this locked up pretty tight. We don't want to start a panic, or give any wannabe Doctor Hell out there any ideas."
"I can arrange a meeting, but I think she's out in the city with Sayaka at the moment. That aforementioned bottomless curiosity." He smiles fondly.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"Hmmm... Not unlike Anti," Kaworu muses of LiSA. "He was born only shortly before he first appeared in battle against NERV and other anti-kaiju compatants. I don't know that there's any true commonality between her and him, but it does stand out to me."
'Goragon.' The word, or name, isn't familiar to Kaworu either. He nods once, filing it away. It has some linguistic similarities to 'Gorgon' and 'Dragon'; is that a coincidence, or is it a clue? Though it seems unlikely they'll figure that out without more information.
"Understandable," he adds when Koji admits they've been keeping this locked down. He had an understanding that there was something underneath Mt. Fuji, but his rank within NERV simply isn't high enough for him to be privy to the details. Is it because Koji asked for him specifically that he's here now, or is Gendo Ikari trying to test him again...?
"I'll be sure to keep it discreet, in that case," Kaworu continues. "Since you're telling me this now, is there anything in particular you'd like me to do or look into? I'm afraid Akane is not pleased with me at the moment, but I still have permission from her to come and go freely through Tsutsujidai. That may be of use to you, if you want to confirm a connection between this," he nods at Infinity, "and that."
He's been smiling this entire time, but it grows when he sees Koji's own fond smile. "You seem attached to her," he observes. "It's all right. I'm not in any hurry. Whenever she's available is fine."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"If there's anything you can find out on the Tsutsujidai side, I would deeply appreciate it. It's a little tricky for me to get out to PLANT space without raising a whole bunch of questions, after all." Koji is known as a energy emissions advisor to Londo Bell, after all - were the war with ZAFT not at issue, he would have a much easier time visiting any PLANT, even the anomalous one near Junius Seven.
Then again, if there wasn't a war with ZAFT, there might not even have been a Tsutsujidai to investigate.
He smiles a little more when Kaworu points out his fondness. "It's kinda weird, it's like she's familiar to me but also a totally new person." He shrugs. "Maybe that's a connection to why Infinity responded to me when it created her?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"I'll do what I can. I have someone in mind that I can talk to," Kaworu replies. Two someones, really, but one of them is someone he'd rather not talk to if he can help it. It would be best if Alexis weren't alerted to this giant under the mountain. If Anocillus II or her father know anything detailed about this phenomenon, that would be far better. "In the meantime, is it all right if I take a closer look at Infinity?"
It's true about the war, though. No doubt there's more causes to Tsutsujidai's creation than just that, but maybe if there'd been one less stressor... It's impossible to know for sure, though.
"Hmmm..." Kaworu gives Koji a thoughtful look. Familiar yet totally new, he says. "Maybe so," he says, nodding once. "It wouldn't surprise me if it turns out that you and LiSA have some sort of deep connection unknown to either of you at this time." Especially if LiSA was indeed born in response to Koji's presence. "But that's something we'll have to find out together, I expect."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"You're probably right. By all means, though, go ahead." Koji waves towards Infinity, which seems to remain implacable.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu accepts Koji's permission with his usual smile and strolls out towards and onto the scaffolding that surrounds Infinity. Though it's a massive structure, his footing is sure and even. He eventually makes it to the amber crystal on Infinity's forehead and rests a hand upon it.
With his particular abilities, it probably wasn't necessary to make physical contact, but this is unfamiliar territory; it seems only polite to take the extra measure. If this is related to its control system, then...
From here, he extends his own considerable senses to probe gently into and around Infinity, starting from its forehead jewel. Its internal structure, its control system, whether there is a consciousness, soul, or anything similar within it... Whether it will allow him to uncover anything or not, he'll simply have to see.
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
The first thing Kaworu understands is that Infinity is, in some way, a vehicle. It itself does not have any consciousness or mind, but it is the vector by which... something else touches reality. Cubes inscribed with kanji describing concepts fill his mental landscape, cascading down upon him.
It's all at once: A vision of potentials, cascading and overlapping atop each other, a veritable ocean of possibility as wide as it is deep. He sees himself falling off the scaffolding, plummeting the hundreds of metres, and he sees his own eyes bleeding as he is rooted to the spot. Yet other visions of this moment are removed from the depths of Fuji; so many visions of events that might have been today, happinesses and tragedies and mysteries overlapping and confounding themselves, blurring into a haphazard amalgamation of light and sound and incomprehensibility.
Somehow, the Angel in the form of a boy has brushed up against something that touches every possible reality. A human mind exposed to this much without a way to package it into things it could engage with carefully would shatter under this information.
And then it's over, broken by a touch on his shoulder - Koji has joined him, hand resting there.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Indeed, a human mind exposed to all this would have trouble functioning afterwards. But Kaworu is not human. Even for one like him, though, it's an unpleasant experience. All he can do is accept the visions and the torrential rush of potentials that flows towards him from Infinity through his mind. Fortunately, Kaworu is very good at accepting what comes his way. Some of the visions he's presented are familiar, even.
Truly, Infinity is a marvel. What Kaworu has been experiencing as a matter of course, Infinity seems to have... industrialized. The difference between a hand-woven tapestry and a machine-woven one. Angel or no, it's impressive.
A touch rests on his shoulder, and Kaworu's consciousness breaks from Infinity's systems. He glances over his shoulder to see Koji.
"Infinity... It's aptly named." He raises a hand to gingerly rub the side of his head where he was shot some months ago. Connecting with Infinity has given him an abrupt, throbbing headache. It, too, is deeply unpleasant... It feels almost like something is trickling out of the cracks that remain within him, grain by grain. A simple touch confirms there's nothing there, though. A phantom sensation, no doubt.
A moment's concentration is necessary to focus through the pain. Once he's managed it, Kaworu slips his hands back into his pockets. "You said you connected to this vehicle, too? May I ask what it was you saw before LiSA emerged?"
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
Koji shakes his head. "I couldn't see anything when I reached out to it, it was all I could do to shield my eyes from the light it was giving off. Just like just now, actually. It sort of seemed like you were stuck?"
He pauses. "You didn't mean physical sight, did you? Well. Still nothin', I'm afraid." Koji Kabuto is friend to many, several Newtypes included, but he himself has no psychic sensitivity to speak of.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Stuck. Kaworu considers this description. "Yes," he concludes. "Something like that."
He smiles slightly when Koji follows up with physical sight. "Either, really. Whatever you might have experienced. But if that's all..." He gazes up at the amber crystal thoughtfully. The throb in his head pulses like a second heartbeat. Or perhaps beats like a second corepulse.
"I believe you're right," he says abruptly. "About it having come in from another layer of reality, that is." He breathes a faint laugh and shrugs. "What its purpose in doing so is beyond me, however."
If Infinity is a vehicle for something else to touch reality, though... it might be possible to send a message back. Kaworu opts not to try for right now. Given the literally infinite amount of information coursing through it, it would only be a drop in the stream. Perhaps once he's met LiSA, he can enlist her assistance.
"Is there anything else I should know or see, Dr. Kabuto?" he asks for now. "If not, I'd like to rest for a bit, if that's all right. It was an... intense experience."
<Pose Tracker> Koji Kabuto has posed.
"That's about all we have so far. I can find you a spot to sit down. Can I get you anything to help?"
The hypothesis is correct? Somehow, that does not put Koji at ease, because he has the same question in mind:
What is Infinity's purpose in appearing here of all places and times?