Actually that part had been shocking to everyone in the control room. Rei had been BLUSHING and SMILING. Not much of either to be sure - but to get THAT much reaction had led to some rather ribald speculation.
Which brought a slight smirk to Doctor Akagi's face. Well, if it was enjoyable for her victim spy on this assignment, so much the better, eh?
"MFFFFFF!" said Doctor Akagi as a hand slapped into place around her mouth.
"MFFFFFF!" repeated Doctor Akagi as she felt something pointy jab into her left butt cheek.
SCREEECH! went a car as it pulled up and a trunk opened.
"you can't..." mumbled Ritsuko as she was loaded into the trunk.
Then all was black.
"ungh," managed Doctor Akagi as consciousness returned. She felt as if she were floating in something slightly anesthetizing. Something was wrapped around her head and she had uncomfortable sensations indicating she'd gotten catheterized and tubes shoved up...
Everything clicked into place. "MFFFFFFFFFF!"burble
Okay, that meant that she was in one of the AT Resonation Chambers. People who had been deep hypnoed so that they worked their shifts and never really recognized or remembered what they did during those shifts were at the controls. If she DID get free, they'd be of no help. Basically zombified workers during working hours.
Doctor Akagi considered her options. Unfortunately, every scenario on escape from within a tube had been anticipated by HERSELF and every potential route plugged. Save one, the trapdoor she'd left herself for just such an emergency. She'd just reach down with her foot, slide it under the protrusion, and yank up. Then... nothing was down there?!
She tried again and again, feeling around with her foot. The protrusion should be right there!
If she were here, then they'd either begin... the Janus Technique?
Ritsuko tried to calm herself and focus again. The Janus Technique was so named for the two-faced Roman god. It utilized the quantum rewrite techniques developed through explorations of both psychology and sub-quanta effects. Eventually you could probably rewrite a living being's existence to anything you wanted, but right now it was a lot more limited. That was what the big secret here at NERV was. The Janus Technique was an extension of that, utilizing drugs and hypnotherapy combined with signals pumped directly into the brain to write a surface identity. Below that would be the "sleeper" - the original personality suppressed during normal circumstances.
The problem was that the rewrite influenced the "sleeper" eventually. The longer the sleeper slept, the more chance that the surface personality would leak into the sleeper. The reverse was also true, if the sleeper woke regularly the surface persona would tend to be...
Ritsuko fought panic again as she felt a pins-and-needles sensation all over body. They'd begun. Math. She'd focus on math and put up a wall to defend her identity. She wouldn't think of the things they could use to sequence her memories.
"What is your name?" echoed through her being.
She focussed carefully. She would NOT think Doctor Ritsuko Akagi.
"Birthplace?" "Height?" "Weight?" "Hobbies?" "Mother's name?" "Father's name?"
Ritsuko used math. She would not think of the answers to the questions, therefore they would not be able to use their code-mapping to locate the appropriate brain centers. She could beat this!
"Sequencing obtained. Beginning Phase II."
Waitaminute. She'd stonewalled them. Phase II meant the computers were asking the questions directly and mapping each portion of the brain at increased speeds. They must be mistaken.
Unable to see or hear anything at this point (other than flashes of images that were gone before they could consiously register- similar to the auditory component), the woman in the tank realized it must be a mistake. It wasn't working. She was still:
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(Posted Fri, 16 Feb 2007 20:38)
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