[Episode 131913] [Episode 131913]Still Asuka could not help but be embarrassed. The so-called plugsuits that they wore were nothing so much as a glorified layer of bodypaint on their skin. Considering the way her suit completely failed to hide her private parts from view Asuka might as well have gone naked. She would have gone the lovely red color of her plugsuit all by herself and nobody would have noticed the difference.
Rei seemed unconcerned about her quasi-nakedness and Asuka felt silly about trying to shield her sex and breasts from view with her hands every time somebody walked by. The fact that they mostly ignored Rei but seemed to be amused at Asuka's attempts at conserving her modesty finally made Asuka drop her arms.
Let them stare at her body! Asuka had nothing to hide from those perverts.
By the time they had reached where the place the Evangelion were stored Asuka had managed to channel most of her embarrassment into anger.
"This is the holding-bay for EVA 02" Rei announced upon their arrival. "Here is where your Evangelion is stored when not in use."
It was very helpful of her to point this out as Asuka just might have missed the giant humanoid form in the room. But that was rather unlikely. Asuka had only met her Evangelion once before but she felt that they had become intimately familiar and had gotten to know each other inside and out during her short piloting experience.
Asuka looked at the monster malevolently. The EVA seemed to be doing well staring back.
Rei ignored the byplay between pilot and mecha and proceeded on the catwalk they were on to a small aquarium in the corner. It was filled with clear liquid but otherwise empty.
"If you like I will now demonstrate the dissolving/reforming effect of the plugsuit material made from unstable molecule of LCL-serum." Rei offered.
Momentarily distracted and confused Asuka just nodded. By the time she had recovered enough from the technobabble overload to parse her meaning Rei had already climbed a small ladder besides the aquarium.
Fascinated Asuka watched as Rei submerged one gloved in the clear liquid. At first She thought that nothing had happened, but then Asuka noticed that Rei's hand was no longer encased in her plugsuit.
"Your glove just dissolved," Asuka observed.
"Yes, when immersed in LCL the plugsuit will dissolve and no longer be a barrier in the synchronization process," Rei recapped her earlier lecture.
"But this stuff can't be LCL. I got dunked in LCL in my first ride and it was thick goop not clear liquid like in that aquarium," Asuka pointed out to show that she had been paying attention. "And LCL is dangerous date-rape snot that they wouldn't let just standing around like this."
"This tank contains a very thinned-out LCL-solution," Rei explained. "It is used by mechanics to temporary hold replacement parts that need to be stored under LCL when they are doing repairs. The biochemical effects of the diluted LCL are so weak that they can be easily overcome by anyone with enough willpower and experience."
Asuka calmed down after hearing this. Apparently Rei was not going to loose control of herself and try to ravish Asuka from such little LCL exposure.
Having finished her demonstration of this practical plugsuit feature, Rei fished her hand back out of the LCL-tank. The glove miraculously reformed back around her arm. However when Rei tried and failed to grab the railing it became clear that something had not gone totally as planned.
Frowning cutely she held the hand up for her inspection. It looked like she tried to wriggle her fingers, but only succeeded in wriggling her entire hand including her thumb. It appeared that the fingers had become stuck to each other.
Annoyed she plunged her hand back into the tank and dissolved the glove. keeping her fingers and thumb spread apart she raised her hand again. This time the glove reformed correctly and Rei was able to wriggle her fingers and give Asuka a V-sign.
Asuka returned it with a Vulcan greeting.
"Didn't you say that all the bugs have been worked out?" she enquired.
"There are only minor issues that sometimes occur with the reformation process," Rei dismissed her concerns. "You will be all right as long as you remember to keep all limbs spread apart and from touching your body when you exit the LCL. There is little danger involved as you can always reimmerse yourself to correct any flaws or deactivate the suit entirely."
Asuka did not feel especially reassure by this, but that seemed to be almost par for the course at this point.
"Let's move on to the Evangelion-unit itself," Rei suggested starting to climb the stairs leading to the Eva's back.
Asuka followed her blue haired guide.
"You are already familiar with the entry-plug and its functions," Rei said pointing out the mecha's cockpit. "But before we move on to it let me first show you another important feature you likely are not aware of."
Rei opened a panel in the Evangelion's back. The recess behind it contained a telephone like communications console, a first aid kit, a dangerous looking handgun and a big red lever.
"This is your emergency equipment. In case your EVA runs out of power where the recovery teams can't immediately reach you. Another panel on the other side of the EVA contains food rations and drinking water," Rei revealed.
"What's the lever for? Asuka wondered she thought that she had a fairly good idea what the rest was for.
"I am glad that you ask," Rei continued her presentation. "The lever allows you to access the Evangelion's emergency battery recharger. It can be used to recharge the depleted onboard battery if the Eva runs out of power where it can not be easily re-connected to the feed from power-one."
"Recharging it how? Does this lever unfold solar-panel or something?" Asuka asked.
"Not quite. Help me with this, will you. It requires some force," Rei told her.
Together they managed to push the lever until suddenly above them something unfolded out of the Evangelion's back. At fist Asuka thought that the robot had grown wings from its shoulder blades, but closer inspection revealed that it were two metal harnesses of the type she had seen earlier in Central Dogma.
"NERV scientist so far have been unable to miniaturize a power-tap so that the Evangelion could run from internal power, however with this two-seated model the Eva can at least be recharged in the field. A pair of trained power-technicians will be able to recharge the internal batteries within two hours," Rei explained calmly. "Since you might end up on your own cut off from outside help it would be advantageous for you to know how to operate it by yourself."
When she saw Asuka's disbelieving face Rei added, "Don't worry this power-tap only generates a very small dimensional shunt so that there is very little chance for anything dangerous to come across through it."
Asuka hadn't worried about outer-dimensional horrors infiltrating this world until Rei had mentioned them. She had been far to preoccupied with picturing herself humping this metal contraption to restart the stupid mecha.
"I better demonstrate the process to you in detail," Rei announced.
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(Posted Sun, 13 Mar 2005 00:13)
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