Chapter Text“Rei Ayanami,” thinks the bearer of the name, “why did you die?” She has no emotion in her thoughts. No, the girl has no emotion at all. Her face is impassive, her body lies motionless, and her head is a flood of questions rather than a swirling of emotion.“I am not Rei,” she reasons. She takes her NERV ID card out of her pocket.
A girl with two red eyes and a mop of blue hair stares blankly from the card’s picture. She walks to the mirror in her apartment’s bathroom, if it could even be called a bathroom at this point. She steps through a puddle of water and looks in the cracked mirror. Two red eyes and a mop of blue hair stare blankly back at her. It’s the exact same as the ID.“I am a bearer of Rei Ayanami’s name,” Rei muses.
“She is dead. I am alive, so I am not that other Rei. Am I still Rei?” She knows the answer. The girl that stares from the other side of the mirror is not a human but a vessel.
When a glass of water breaks, take another glass and fill it up. “Yet, I am different. I have only a few hazy memories of hers.”Rei glances at the bathroom. “What a mess,” she notes, but it does not bother her. The toilet no longer shines white. The sink has black mold growing from the drain and dark red dots cover the front edge. Her blood.” The shower looks more like a coffin.The girl exits the bathroom.
She treads over the layers of bandages on the floor. She cannot help but smell the sweat and grime, but she welcomes the stench. The discomfort lets the First Child know that she is not dead.
She lies down on her bed. The sheets are bunched in one corner, while the pillow is on the floor with the other Rei’s bandages.The girl shivers.
She is trapped in her apartment and ensnared by Gendo, but her body is free from the shackles of clothes. All others were born that way, nude, though they all wear clothes.Rei was never born. She slid out of a tube. Like a new tire when one goes out, Gendo took another Rei when she died.“Why did the other Rei die?” she wonders. Again, she knows the answer. The other Rei died to save Shinji, but why did she choose to die?
Rei knows that she has no self-preservation, but no order was given to detonate both the Evangelion and her. That much she recognizes. Rei does not act without orders from Gendo. If not Gendo, then she’d listen to the next in authority; however, the other Rei died to save Shinji.“Did the other First Child die out of emotion?” hopes Rei.
“If she had emotion, then I may as well.” She sits up. She met this Shinji before, and he clearly recognized her. He saw the other Rei.Gendo told her to be safe, so Rei stayed in her apartment. Now, she wants an answer.
“Did Rei have emotion?” Only one person can answer her question.Rei stands and puts on her schoolgirl clothes like a machine. Other than her pilot suit, she wore only this loose fitting outfit. She opens the door to her small, dark apartment and walks through. Outside, the world is an endless summer. There used to be other seasons, but after the Second Impact summer is the only period left. “Peculiar,” thinks Rei, “Endless summer should have caused the people to rejoice. Now, it is a reminder of their peril.
Summer is hot, so is Hell.”Rei doesn't remember where Shinji lives, but she knows where he'll be. Asuka Langley, another pilot of the three Evangelions, is in the hospital. Consumed by her fire, anger and self hatred, she has been held there by NERV ever since her suicide attempt.Shinji Ikari convulses over a trashcan. His stomach is empty, so the boy only makes the sounds of a dying animal.
He needs to empty out the trash in his body, but he can’t. He’s the trash.He stands as his body shakes. The Third Child wipes his chin with his sleeve. He hates this place.The whitewashed walls and artificial lighting shows the skin deep nature of this hellhole. The putrid smell of chemicals and disinfectant smothers his nose.
Doctors and nurses rush through the maze of halls with emotionless faces. Only their tired eyes show that he is not among an army of medical robots.Shinji rushes foreword. The boy no longer notices what is around his body.
He only cares about what’s ahead. The sound of two light footsteps intensifies in tempo. He breathes heavier, but he has to see her.Asuka is the only one left. Only three others could understand his pain. Rei is dead and turned into a false image of who she used to be. He won’t forgive Misato, for NERV is to blame for this living nightmare. Kaworu is was.
He's dead.Shinji stops, gasping for breath as he stares into the doorway. The room is rectangular with the same pasty walls, synthetic lighting, and disinfectant as he sees outside. The space should house dozens of beds, but there is only one at the back alone. Asuka is lying on her side surrounded by machines. Her almost corpse-like pale skin contrasts with the strands of bright red hair falling around her head. Her arm is pierced by an IV tube.The Third Child cries as he inches his way to his friend and enemy.
Slowly, he sees her true condition. She's harsh and arrogant, but this girl is a fighter. Now, her mind is crippled, and her body crumbles. He stands over the teen looking at the back of her head.
He’s unable to face the girl.“Hey. Hey.” he whimpers. He shakes her shoulder making the redhead rock, but she does not stir. Her scowl is now peaceful like a baby fast asleep, yet Shinji knows better. Her mind suffers, but so does he. Her skin has lost its vibrant color, and her body is wrapped by a thin blanket.
Why can’t she wake up?“Asuka. Asuka!” he calls out to her, but she does not respond.
The steady beep of her heart monitor and his whimpering are the only sounds in the room. He stops shaking her and collapses onto her shoulder. He cries, and his tears fall down onto her pale face. “Please help me,” he sobs. “Help me.” They never got along, but she never ceased telling him to stop being a doormat. He needs those words.“Help me.
Help me!” His voice cracks. “Call me an idiot like you always do!” Still, she does not answer. Rage swells inside Shinji. Asuka refuses to wake, but he needs her. God damn it, wake up! He shakes her violently.The sheet slides onto the ground.
Buttons are ripped off. Shinji gasps, for her breasts are exposed, naked. Only her panties and opened shirt remain. The object of countless fantasies is before him. The girl lies on her back almost inviting him. Shinji lusts. A horrible thought enters his mind, an overpowering desire.“Shinji Ikari?” asks an emotionless voice.
Shinji steps back. The thought clears from his head, leaving self-revulsion in its place. Rei stands in the doorway. The blue haired doppelganger has the same pale skin as Asuka, the same emotionless face as the doctor’s, and the same body as his dear friend. Her very existence scares him.“I killed Kaworu!” he screams. Asuka can’t hear and Rei can’t understand, so Shinji runs.
It’s what he has always done. It is what he’ll always do. The coward flees and knocks over Rei as he scampers past her.Rei stands.
“Shinji does not wish to talk with me,” she mutters. What did the other Rei see in him? It had to be an emotion of some sort. Shinji is not somebody she would die for if she had the choice.
Emotion is the only possible answer, for logic dictates self-preservation and following orders. Shinji is a broken animal.Kaworu is a peculiar case. Brought in as Asuka’s replacement after she was broken, he had apparently befriended Shinji.
He later tried to cause the Third Impact, but the disguised Angel changed his mind before he started apocalyptic Instrumentality. Instead, he asked Shinji to kill him, so he did. Why does Shinji feel disturbed after killing another Angel? He has killed so many already. Is it because none of the others looked human?Rei walks to Asuka.
The Second Child hated the other Rei for no sound reason. Oddly, the girl’s breasts are exposed. Asuka is not well, so Rei covers the girl with the fallen covers. A broken pilot is not a good pilot.“It is not fair,” thinks the blue haired girl. “Shinji and Asuka deserve a better life.
Me, I’m created for this. They were forced to become child soldiers, Evangelion pilots.
I don’t care because I cannot. But Gendo does not care, even though he can.”She walks out of the room but stops in the hall. She looks back at the shattered human and mutters, “Feel better.”“Rei Ayanami,” says a doctor, “Gendo Ikari has demanded your presence.”Gendo is a puppet master.
No, the leader of NERV is more like its god. He pulls all of the strings for the organization to run, and everything is to his bidding.
She is his puppet. The other Rei was until she chose Shinji’s life over following orders.“No,” she says. The doctor’s tired eyes open wide. He doesn’t believe in miracles, but what he heard is impossible.“Didn’t you hear me? Gendo ordered you to come to him.”“I heard you.”She walks down the hall back to her apartment. The doctor stands dumbfounded.Kozo Fuyutsuki is standing behind the most powerful man in the world, surrounded by twelve inhuman monoliths. Of course, Fuyutsuki knows there are humans behind the voices and holographic images, but humanity is as gone from them as it is gone from Gendo Ikari.SEELE is an organization cloaked in more shadows than even NERV.
They desire to complete the Human Instrumentality Project at all costs, and it is all but complete. Now, only Lilith is needed. Though they have three forms of Lilith, none can work.Gendo is sitting in a chair behind a desk. That is all SEELE can see, but behind him, Fuyutsuki is watching. His commander says in his calculated tone, “You cannot use Lilith.” Most kidnappers seem to hide their victim’s in the basement. At NERV’s deepest and most restricted level, they have the original Lilith nailed to a red cross. She’s as large as an Eva Unit, but older than life itself.
Hell, she made humans.“We can take her by force,” booms one of the monoliths. “You have no functioning pilots and no hope to stand against us.”“There also is no Spear of Longinus. You cannot use the original Lilith.”“We wish to use Evangelion Unit 01.”“Her pilot is out of commission. We need time for him to heal in his mind. A berserk Unit 01 will give us nothing during Instrumentality.”“The other pilot can also use Unit 01.”“The other pilot Rei has become unpredictable. Something may be wrong with her newest incarnation, and all others have been unfortunately eliminated.
Growing a new one is not an option.”Fuyutsuki notes the crack in Gendo’s voice. The other’s won’t because they don’t know the man well enough, but he does. Gendo is worried.“So, you wish for time to fix either pilot?”“Haven’t you waited decades?
How much longer is a week, month, or even a year?”“Long enough for you to betray us.”“Then come and get me. All of Lilith, including Unit 01 and Rei, will be destroyed before you ever arrive.”Gendo still has not raised his voice.
Fuyutsuki waits for a monolith to respond, and his old face doesn’t move a muscle.“Keep us updated.”All of the monoliths disappear. The holographic discussion has ended. Fuyutsuki breaths a sigh, for he was holding his breath. Now, only he and Gendo stand in this massive room.“Why did they back down?” asks the second in command at NERV.“I don’t know,” says Gendo as he stands. “But, I suspect SEELE is rushing because of me instead of their own desires.
They now know I need time as much as they do.”“But, they could start Instrumentality if they wanted.”“I think it is clear that they want their own version. So do we.”“If only Rei didn’t show problems.”“Thanks to Ritsuko, this is our only Rei left. She disobeyed my orders. That cannot happen during Instrumentality.”“If she no longer follows your orders consistently, what will you do?”Gendo does something that Fuyutsuki never thought he’d see again.
The man normally never lets his emotions out for others to see, but now he smirks.“Pathetic,” Asuka Langley thinks, “I’m pathetic.” The drugs wore off. Her mind is now her own, though she wants the drugs back. The girl doesn’t want to know that she is a useless bitch who nobody loves.
People only looked at her because she forced them. They pretended to like her because of her status as an Evangelion pilot. Now, she’ll never be one again.
What does she have now?Pain.Pain is the only thing left. It’s pain from abandonment, pain from Ariel’s mind rape, and pain from her body. She drags her aching arm out of the covers. Already, a scar is forming over her wrist. “Too useless to kill myself.”She tries to scream in rage, but it comes out like a baby’s moan. It infuriates her more. The steady beeping of the heart monitor quickens.
All of her life has amounted to nothing. All of her training and all of her pain has amounted to nothing.This is her mother’s fault. She stopped caring about her. Just a little girl, Asuka watched her mother descend into madness after an incident working with an Eva Unit. She thought her daughter was a doll.
Asuka hates dolls, but now she might as well be a lifeless piece of shit. Why didn’t her mother kill her daughter too? Why couldn’t her father have been the one to come home first instead of little Asuka? On the day Asuka found out she’d become an Eva pilot, why did her mother have to hang herself?This is Shinji’s fault. He didn’t come and rescue her when that damn angel Ariel was raping her mind. All the images and fears that she’d repressed came forth.
They can’t go back, but Shinji could’ve come out and helped her. His Eva Unit could’ve done something. No, she was instead abandoned until it was too late. Shinji could’ve disobeyed orders. He had before, but he didn’t. She wasn’t worth it.This is NERV’s fault. They put her in her Eva Unit.
They are the ones who use children inside giant combinations between monster and machine. They were the ones who sent her out, and they were the ones who kept Shinji back. They were the ones who caused her mother to go insane!“No, this is my fault,” she thinks. “I locked my demons inside.
They would escape. I push everyone away from me.
I failed to defeat Ariel. I had to be rescued by that blue haired bitch, that doll. I hate everyone!
I hate me!”“H-Hate,” she croaks. “I h-hate all.” If only somebody would come, but noone will. She has pushed away all. Now, Asuka is alone.She whispers, “Mama.”One week later.Rei Ayanami is sitting on a bench.
She is reading a book; an uninteresting one, but it is required for her mental development. The girl goes to school even though there is no point. Shinji hasn’t come. Asuka is still broken.She knows the others are staring at her like some zoo animal behind glass, but there is no glass. She could kill all of them.
Like Kaworu, she inherited an A.T. Field from an angel, though hers and Unit 01’s are from Lilith. In fact, her soul is Lilith’s.
All other Evangelion receive their A.T. Fields from the first angel Adam, for they were grown from him. Unit 01 was grown from Lilith, but Rei doesn’t know why Ritsuko told her these things. The field is almost indestructible and even used for attack if wielded properly, thus she could kill all of the children.But she won’t.
They look at her and see Rei Ayanami, and no one outside of NERV knows that she is a new Rei. The other girl is dead. The schoolboys and schoolgirls see only a weird girl. She is, in fact, the same race that caused billions of deaths. Isn’t that right? No, not entirely.
She also has part of a human in her somehow, though she doesn’t know the name of the person. “I suppose that makes me neither human nor angel,” Rei thinks.“Maybe they do see me as a monster,” she wonders. Tokyo-3 was flooded because of the other Rei’s sacrifice. The glares that she receives may be hatred, but Rei cannot tell.“R-Rei?” asks a boy. Like all the other students in her class, he is fourteen.
“Is Shinji okay?” Rei doesn’t bother looking up. Her eyes remain fixed on the pages. She says impassively, “He is alive.” “Where is he though? He is my friend, but I can’t get to him.
Is he away on a mission?”Rei looks up. The boy in front of her is Kensuke Aida, a friend of Shinji. From the other Rei’s memories, she thinks that this boy might not be fourteen. He has a camcorder in his hand like always.“He is alive.” He shakes his head. “Ug,” he moans. “You just don’t understand.”Rei looks back at her book. “No,” she muses, “He doesn’t understand.” Shinji and Asuka have suffered more than most adults can take.
Their horrible results are the logical result. Shinji has been hiding somewhere for the past week, most likely his room. Asuka is in the hospital. They need to be fixed.Has anyone tried to fix Asuka or Shinji’s mind? Their heads are shattered.Rei sets down the book and walks away. Shinji and Asuka knew the other Rei better than anyone else except the puppet master Gendo and Ritsuka, the woman who killed all of the other Rei vessels.The blue haired girl boards a train to GeoFont. The other students are waiting for their classes to end when Rei reaches GeoFont, the underground head quarters of NERV.
Using her I.D, it takes little trouble to reach Asuka. “Why Asuka?” she wonders. The redhead hates her, or at least the other Rei, more than anyone else alive. “I do not know where Shinji hides. I know where Asuka is.”Rei steps through the halls. The chemicals are a welcome smell, for the other Rei lived her entire life within the sanitized world.
It is familiar.“Don’t go in there,” grumbles a female doctor. Her left eye is swollen. “Major Misato forbade us from restraining her unless she was to harm herself. Instead, she harmed us and will do the same to you if you enter.”Rei’s previous incarnation would have left, but this Rei is different.
Animals make two responses when in pain. One type tries to hide like Shinji. The other becomes violent, but the suffering persists either way.Rei walks past the doctor and into the room. The Second Child is lying on the hospital bed breathing great gasps of air. Her face is twisted. Rei does not understand emotion, but she understands the face shows pain. Her eyes are closed.
Other than the girl, the room has not changed from Rei’s last visit.Like a mouse, Rei tiptoes to the side of Asuka, to the same side where Shinji stood. Asuka’s eyes aren’t just closed. They are squeezed as tightly together as one could manage.“Asuka Langley,” she says. Her voice has the volume of a whisper and the emotion of a computer.Asuka glares at Rei. “If I had the strength, I would strangle you. Leave,” she demands, yet it does not sound powerful.
Her voice is more like a child wanting to be left alone after skinning her knee. “Has your mental state improved?”Asuka tries to punch Rei, but it only becomes a tap on the arm. Asuka rolls on her side to face away from Rei. She mutters, “I’m too weak to hurt Gendo’s doll.” “I am not a doll,” Rei murmurs. “Really?” Her tone makes it clear that she doesn’t believe it. “Who sent you?” “I did.”Asuka doesn’t say a word.
She did not die, for the monitor beeps and her breathing moves the covers slightly.Rei notes, “You do not want my presence. I will leave. As I said before, feel better.” Rei walks away. The visit did not improve Asuka’s mental state, though it did show that she made some progress from last week. “You were here before?” Rei does not turn around but answers, “Yes, so was Shinji.” Then, she leaves the redhead to herself.Asuka stares blankly at the roof.Shinji Ikari does nothing.
His body is breathing and his heart is beating, but he doesn’t want either to happen. His body forces those things on him like his father forced eva Unit 01 on him.He is lying in bed and wearing his headphones, but the SDAT player’s on the twenty fifth track. Nothing plays.The Third Child stares at the ceiling though his eyes see something else. Memories won’t let him rest. Kaworu was grasped between Unit 01’s fingers and asked Shinji to kill him.
Then, he squeezed. He saw Toji being taken from the mangled remains of Unit 03, knowing that he was at fault for mangling his friend.
Rei exploded with her Unit to save him only to become a shadow, a zombie. Asuka is suicidal needing help and support, yet Shinji just shook her. He wanted to help himself. Then, when he saw her breastsThe girl always flaunted her assets.
Even in Misato’s apartment she would provoke him. The time they kissed, Shinji didn’t know what to do. He has since learnt she doesn’t wear a bra at home, but now she no longer resides in her room. She is a corpse like Rei. The girls they used to be are dead, replaced by these strange and sad people.“Why am I alive?” Shinji wonders. Far too much has happened for him to even hope to be alive, yet here he is. Everything is his fault.
He forced Rei to kill herself. He didn’t run out and save Asuka. He demolished Toji. He killed Kaworu.Shinji does nothing.“Shinji?” says a voice. It is soft, feminine.
Misato was the one who took in Kenji and later Asuka, so he thought she loved him. He really did. Now, he sees her for what she truly is. Major Misato is just another minion of his father. She is the one who directs all of their fights against the angels.Shinji does not reply to the woman.“Shinji.” She steps into his room. “You can’t lie here forever.
Go to school. Talk to a friend. Asuka can take visitors now.”Each word jabs his heart. Even when the arm of his Eva Unit was torn off, he felt less pain. The boy felt it as if it was his body, but physical pain is easier than mental and emotional. He will lie forever. He won’t go to school.
He has no friends left “Asuka,” he thinks, “You were always lively and animated. If you were here, you’d yell at me to get up, to stop being a doormat. Now, I made you a doormat. You would’ve been better off if you never knew me.”Shinji says nothing.“Shinji, everything is better now,” says the major, “The final angel has been defeated.” No, he killed Kaworu. “You’ll never have to pilot Unit 01 again. Your final mission is to heal. The same is with Asuka and Rei.”No, Rei is dead.
The new blue haired girl isn’t even human. All of them were clones.
Rei has no need of healing, for she has never done anything. Hell, the new girl never piloted an Eva Unit.Shinji does not move.“I’ll always be here for you,” says Misato, “but I have to go.
There is so much I need to do at NERV. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”Then, Misato leaves, for she is unable to get any closer to Shinji. This is what he wanted. For far too long, he has desired to have a home, a friend, a father, a mother.
Now, he knows all those things are like roses. They look beautiful, but the thorns pierce his skin making him bleed.Home is an illusion. This is not his home. It has four walls, but the house only accepted him because of his status as an Eva pilot and now out of pity. Friends are just people waiting to be hurt. Asuka, Rei, Kaworu, and Toji were all injured or killed.
It is only a matter of time before he’d kill Kensuke. His father Gendo doesn’t care for Shenji at all. The boy used to do anything for a response from the man. Now, Gendo has no reason to even think of Shinji, for NERV completed its mission. His mother is dead, and Misato is definitely not his mother.Asuka he was going to do the unthinkable when he saw her breasts exposed to him. Were Angels ever the monsters? Was he always the monster?Shinji does nothing.Misato Katsuragi sighs.
She shouldn’t. The mountain of paperwork is a tedious monster, but no one will die. Asuka and Shinji will not be harmed by the white paper covered in black ink, yet it’s so damn boring.Through the mind numbing experience, she cannot help but think of her children.
Yes, they are her children. Neither accepts her as their mother, and she doesn't act like one; however, she's their mother now.
When everything is over, Misato will devote the rest of her life to a single goal. Those kids need to be happy.It pains her to see Shinji and Asuka in their shattered states. Asuka is the energetic one who never gives up, yet she almost succeeded in killing herself. Shinji is thoughtful and always willing to help others, but he can’t even get out of bed. Something must be done, but the major doesn’t know what to do. It’s driving her crazy. Neither child will allow her to come near, yet both desperately need the embrace of one who loves them.
Misato loves them both. In her heart, she knows Shinji and even Asuka must feel something towards her.Misato stretches her legs. She has been sitting at her desk too long. Her office is small with the only notable features being piles of papers, the desk, and the woman. If it wasn’t for her uniform, one might mistake her for a simple secretary.The major sits and reads through the next paper.“Misato Katsuragi?” asks a cold voice. Misato drops the paper.
Rei stands in front of her. “Did I startle you?” she asks.Still sitting at her desk, Misato states, “Um, yes. I didn’t see you come in. What can I do for you?” There has to be a reason.
Rei keeps to herself more than anyone else Misato ever knew. “Her eyes are the same color as Kaworu’s,” she thinks.“Where is Shinji Ikari?” the girl asks.
Her voice has no emotion. Misato does not know why, but she suspects Gendo has something to do with that.“Shinji is at home,” Misato says. She keeps her composure.
“He is not well.” He is not well at all. Shinji is in a horrible state.
A creeping voice in the back of her mind reminds her that Asuka attempted suicide. Shinji might as well.“May I see him?” At first, the woman thinks the blue haired girl is joking, but Rei can’t joke. Misato stares at the First Child. Neither moves or blinks. Then, she nods. Shinji was close to the other Rei. Maybe this one could cheer him up.
It won’t hurt. “Thank you, major,” replies Rei. “Where does he live?”Misato tells Rei the address. The girl walks out the door.“Is she even a girl?” Misato wonders. She saw the bodies floating in tubes. When a new Rei was needed, they simply brought one out and dropped Rei’s old soul inside.
This Rei was a jar of spare parts in the basement. “Could that even be human?”She shakes her head. How could she even entertain those thoughts?
Rei was human, and Rei is human. She cannot allow herself to see the girl, that young girl, as a mere tool like Gendo and Ritsuko. She is better than that.“How good am I?” the officer muses.
“I allow children to fight. They are soldiers while the men and women stand back and direct them. Oh, only if others could pilot, yet fourteen is the youngest possible age. The Second Impact occurred fourteen years ago.
I can’t forget being the only survivor knowing my father died to save me.” She clutches the cross necklace he gave her. “I will die for them.”The children have been forced to fight a friend, kill another, experience their arms ripping off, feel an eye be punctured, and know that every day could be their painful demise.Misato stands. NERV is planning something else. Kaji knew that much before he died, but this organization has one last surprise. She has to find NERV’s final secret. Her children will never be safe while the organization and Gendo live.“Alone,” Asuka Langley reflects.
“I am alone.” The staff avoids her at all cost, for she scratches, punches, pinches, or spits on them. They rush to her, make the necessary adjustments, and leave. They fear her anger.That’s all she is, a bag of emotions wrapped into a pretty package called flesh.
She hates the doctors for keeping her alive, she hates everyone else for abandoning her, and she hates herself for being Asuka Langley. That is why she won’t kill herself. Dying would be a gift.
Asuka needs to suffer.She sighs. Her life has been on a downward spiral for years. Why did it take Ariel’s mind rape to let her know?
Her mother committed suicide, so Kaji became her guardian. “Oh Kaji,” the girl fantasizes, “Why couldn’t you have stayed with me? You were the perfect man.” Now, Kaji is dead. Asuka is not stupid.
She knows the man is dead and not missing. He loved Misato anyway.“I was convinced that I could pilot the Evas,” the girl muses, “I received status and adoration, yet I couldn’t keep it up. It doesn’t matter that I have a college education already at fourteen. It doesn’t matter that I killed other Angels before. I am too weak.
Rei never cracked, and Shinji completed the mission. I was so close, but I fell apart with one angel to go. Why can’t I push away this pain?”Asuka wants to cry, but she closes her eyes tight. She will never cry. She made that promise at her mother’s funeral, and she’ll do everything to keep that promise.
Asuka Langley is broke and hopeless, but she will not lower herself to the state of crying.“Hey, the staff said you’re getting better,” says Misato. She stands in the doorway. “You look better.”The normal Asuka would mock the major and call her fat, knowing it’s a lie.
Misato is a woman, fully developed. Asuka may look old for her age, but she does not have the assets of her newest guardian.Instead, Asuka says nothing. She notices the disappointment in the woman’s eyes.“Can I come in?” she asks. Unlike the hatred she feels towards Rei, that dumb doll, Asuka feels fear. This woman is closer to her than any other female. She is also the one who could let her back into her Unit. She needs one more time.
The Great Asuka Langley needs to show herself and the world that she is not broke.“I’ll take your silence as a yes.” The woman comes over and stands next to the girl. Her uniform looks rumpled as if she hasn’t changed for days. Asuka finally wears a hospital gown, so she treasures the layer.“Do you want anything?” Death would be nice. No, Asuka wants death only if she remains a failure. “The staff told me you can come home when they think you’ll take care of yourself.
No more suicide.” “No shit,” mutters Asuka. The woman ignores the comment, “And do not let your body go to waste.”They stare at one another until Asuka rolls on her side. Facing away, she says, “I want to pilot Unit 02.” “Asuka, we won. You don’t need to pilot anymore.
You won.” “No, not until I can pilot 02 again.”Asuka knows this is a wish that cannot be granted. NERV will shut down. Eva Unit 02 will be scrapped, prodded by other scientists, or placed in a museum for others to gawk at. Unit 02 is a part of Asuka.
It’s gone.“I’ll see what I can do,” replies Misato. For the first time since slitting her wrists, Asuka sits up. Her body hurts from the movement, but in this moment of surprise, it doesn’t matter. “Really?” she asks.
Her voice does not express her feelings. “Yes, NERV brought out Ritsuko from confinement, and we’re rebuilding 02 and 00. They’re keeping 01 running. I don’t know why, but we have those orders.” “So I can pilot again?” “I’ll try.” Misato’s voice becomes a whisper.
“I don’t know what NERV is doing. It scares me. Asuka, I still cannot promise you’ll be safe.” “I don’t want protection. I want Unit 02.”Asuka lays down again.
She leans over and kisses the girl on her forehead. The redhead manages to let out a grumble, but she doesn’t strike her guardian. Then, Misato walks out the door.“Misato,” Asuka calls out doing all she can to keep her voice from cracking. “Yes?” Misato stands in the doorway. “Get me out of here.” Misato nods.
“I’ll get you home.”The woman leaves.Asuka closes her eyes. She has given her life purpose again.
A fish has to swim. A bird has to fly. Asuka has to pilot. It is her purpose in life, and she cannot allow herself to fail.
The Second Child must have a swan song to her career.“Stupid Rei,” thinks Asuka, “Dumb Wondergirl blew herself up before reaping the rewards. Shinji killed the final angel. Why isn’t he happily in here for me to berate?”“Ug, I don’t need Shinji. He left me here.
Who cares if he was in here once? I was a drugged up vegetable. He must be off celebrating. No, knowing Shinji, he isn’t acting any differently. He can’t be bothered to see me.”Asuka refuses to admit it; she refuses to think it. Not seeing Shinji bothers her.Rei Ayanami walks through NERV. She will visit Shinji, for he is broken.
Perhaps, she can fix a part of the problem. The First Child doesn’t remember if the other Rei entered Shinji’s apartment before, but this Rei is not that Rei.Her clothes are too big. “Why did she not buy the right size?” the girl wonders. “Did she not want her form seen by others? To be fair, this body is attractive, but she shouldn’t have cared about that.
Maybe she never bothered to buy a better size. Yes, that’s the answer.”The blue haired girl marches past NERV employees. They seem to all be busy as if more angels are coming. No one notices her.“Rei Ayanami,” Ritsuko says.Rei stops moving. The chief scientist is among the smartest people alive, but Rei holds no respect for the woman. She killed all of the other Rei bodies and not out of compassion.
She destroyed them out of jealousy. She coveted Gendo’s relationship with her. Ritsuko knows the special attention the leader of NERV shows this dainty girl. “Have his attention,” thinks Rei.“We’re going to run some tests on you. I’d say a week or less from now.” The woman scribbles away on a clipboard.“Why?” Ritsuko rarely shows emotion, but Rei can see the surprise in her face. The blonde drops her pencil, and she scrunches her eyebrows while her eyes unintentionally widen.“We will test your compatibility with Unit 01 again.”Rei nods.
She continues on to Shinji leaving the blonde to her own machinations. Unit 01 is Shinji’s eva. With her Eva being repaired, they must’ve decided to do something risky. Why would they want a pilot so quickly? What are they preparing for?The girl shakes her head. Her questions cannot be answered, but she will know in time.
Rei has to focus on what can be done. Shinji needs to be fixed, and she wishes to know more about him. If the other Rei developed emotions towards him, then she could.By train then by foot, she reaches the apartment complex at nightfall. She has to walk upstairs to reach Shinji’s apartment, though she finds that fitting. Shinji is above her, he is human, and he killed the most angels.
It also shows his isolation. He’s at a different level than most people, so no one can reach him. They catch glimpses of the boy, but Shinji doesn’t feel the embrace of others. Only Asuka would know, for Rei is not human. She cannot feel.The First Child knocks on the door, but the door creaks open.
She pushes it, steps through and closes it behind her. “Shinji?” she asks, though she does not project. The girl hears no reply.Rei walks through the kitchen. Empty beer cans are strewn about the table. “I was not aware that the major drank so frequently,” she thinks. She enters the living room where a penguin sleeps on the sofa though his name eludes her.
There are three other ways out of the room. One is down a hall, the other to a bedroom, and a final to a porch. Despite the beer cans, the apartment is in much better shape than her dwelling. It almost appears to be a normal apartment.Rei creeps down the hall. She hears the slightest of sounds, music.
The melody emanates behind another door, so she slides it open. Shinji is lying in a bed with his headphones on and eyes closed. The melody ends, and the SDAT player doesn’t give any more music.“You are broken,” states Rei. The boy looks pale like Asuka.
Rings lie under his eyes from a lack of sleep. His hair is unkempt.“Go away,” he says. “Why?” She steps closer. “Leave me alone.” “You look like Asuka.”Shinji sits up and opens his eyes. He pulls off his headphones and says to Rei, “When have you seen her last?
How is she?” “I saw her today. She tried to punch me and called me Gendo’s doll.” “Don’t say that name. Leave, please.”Shinji lies down again.
His face shows pain, though he is not wounded. The boy looks beaten. How could this be the one who saved the day countless times?“Misery enjoys company.
You should see Asuka.” “Leave.”A a reaction stirs up inside Rei. Her chest sinks within itself. It is not pleasant, but it gives her the motivation to say her thoughts.She whispers, “I am not a doll, Shinji Ikari. Your father may treat me like one, Asuka may call me one, you may discard me like one; however, I am alive.”Shinji says nothing.“Don’t you feel? I I was the one you knew.
Didn’t you care about her?” “Yes, but she’s dead.” “I feel some of what she felt.” Rei looks at the ground. “I know she loved you.
You were her brother, and she died for you out of emotion, love. I don’t understand, but I desire those feelings.
I am not the one you knew, but I am like her. What do you see?” The boy looks at her for a moment before turning his head away in pain. “I see Rei, a reminder of how I failed her. Leave, please.”Rei recognizes no point in staying. She walks out the door, but before she closes it she states, “Rei would say you are still failing, especially Asuka.”Shinji is left alone.
He cries.It has been three days, and Shinji Ikari has finally done something. He can’t face Asuka, for he will never forgive himself for those thoughts She needed love, but he gave none. No, the Third Child is at school again. Misato forced him, and Shinji had to do something. Yet, school is not the same.As he is sitting in his seat, he can’t help but notice Toji’s is empty.
Kensuke’s words still ring in his ears. “Toji was transferred to another hospital with his sister. He has only one leg.” Yes, the athletic Toji has been robbed of his body by none other than Shinji. Why did Toji’s eva have to be possessed by an angel?Hikari won’t look the Third Child in his eyes. She glances at him, but her masked rage shines through. The class president never showed such animosity. “You finally see me for what I am,” he thinks.Rei is staring out of the window instead of listening to the professor's lecture, but Shinji wishes she wasn’t here.
She is a gravestone of Rei never letting him forget the moment of her death. No one else wants her here either, though they are unjustified. Shinji’s Rei killed the angel, but the result was Tokyo-3 flooding. The ocean took back mankind’s greatest efforts, and the civilian casualties were massive. They all think this is the same Rei who caused their friends and families’ death.Asuka’s empty chair forces the image of her exposure to the boy.
Behind all of her anger and her attitude is a girl. “Asuka,” he wonders, “Are you hurt like me?” Yes, she is. If Shinji was brave like her, then he’d try to kill himself too.The bell rings. The class leaves for lunch, and Shinji tries to hide in the crowd. His head hangs low; his shoulders slouch. He eats lunch away from everyone else wallowing in his own misery and self-hatred. The boy’s body may be at the school sitting at a bench, but his mind is still closed off.Over the babble of schoolboys and schoolgirls, Shinji hears a grunt, Rei’s voice.
He looks up.Not twenty meters ahead of Shinji Rei is lying on the ground. Blood oozes from her head. She grabs her book and stands.
Three boys circle her. One holds a wood club. Another one kicks her, but Rei doesn’t fall this time.“Hey!” shouts Shinji. He runs to them. The gazes of other students move to the brawl.
All three boys are tall like Toji, and Shinji is weak from his miserable state; however, Shinji slams his body into the boy holding the club.He misses and falls to the pavement. He feels the blood dripping from his scraped arms. The predators laugh.“Not so tough without your monsters,” sneers one.
He pushes Rei down. Her face refuses to move from its blank stare. Shinji stands. His body tells him to run, but this is a fight.
He only runs before fights.He sees only white. It takes a moment to realize that he’s been clubbed in the back of his head. Shinji drops to his hands and knees.Shinji hears cheering. Other voices shout.
The boy rises as his legs wobble. The three boys are held back by other students and a professor, but Shinji cannot tell if the crowd cheers at the restraint or at his blood.“Aoi is dead!” shouts the boy who kicked Rei. Somebody takes Rei. The Third Child feels somebody steady him.“Let’s get you to the nurse,” says Kensuke.
They walk together meters behind Rei and Hikari. Shinji’s mind drifts.He opens his eyes. He’s in a car, Misato’s car. She’s driving, so every bump or swerve she makes causes spikes of pain to be driven into the back of his head.“Shinji Ikari is awake,” says Rei. Shinji realizes that his head is lying on her legs. Fearful, he tries to move himself away, but her grip is firm. “Stay there,” she says.
Her hands are warm.“I’m taking you both to NERV, Shinji,” Misato says, “You’re fine, but the nurse was a dick.” “Misato, I-I’m sorry.” “Don’t be.”The car’s engine roars, but Shinji can still hear the girl breathing. She asks, “Why did you help?”Why did he help? Did he think this was Rei? He wants nothing to do with this thing, but he fought to protect her and now his head is lying in her lap. Shinji does not respond, for he has no answer.“I could’ve protected myself,” she continues, “if I desired, but their emotions were justified.
They thought I was the Rei who flooded Japan and killed their families. The nurse told me two were released from the hospital today. I hoped that my suffering would ease their pain.” “They could’ve killed you,” Shinji says. He looks up at her. Her head is wrapped with a bandage. “I am tougher than I appear, but your words are kind. Why can you not be caring towards me otherwise?”Shinji looks away.
No, this is Rei. By trying to protect himself, wrapping himself up in a cocoon, he hurt this girl who cares for him.“I am sorry, Rei,” says Shinji. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I want to be friends.” “I have no friends.” “No, you have me.”“While this is great,” says Misato, “Save your strength, both of you.
You are friends now, but you’re both hurt.”Shinji closes his eyes. He reaches out his hand and touches Rei’s arm. Then she takes hold of his hand.The Evangelions almost seem to appear out of thin air. One moment, the general populace knows about two, then in the next there are three. For such giants, the units are almost like ghosts from another world.Evangelions aren’t the only giant robots. The Eva is by definition a flawed creature, for it is organic and relies on a pilot; one who’s a child no less.
The Jet Alone program was the herald to a new era, but their prototype was sabotaged. That much the company figured out, and they suspected it was NERV. Moreover, NERV came to the rescue with an Eva Unit and stopped the Jet Alone prototype for going into nuclear meltdown. The N2 engine was the safe option at this point.Now, the Jet Alone project was defunded.
Who could trust a robot that acts crazier than the organic death machines with their insane child-pilots? Though, two visionaries funded the project in secret. Russia and China could look to the future. There will be a day where the Angels are defeated leaving NERV with the Evas. Like the Atom Bomb or the Abrams tank of time long ago, these were weapons that are unmatched on the battlefield. What could possibly stand against the Eva?Jet Alone.Now, the first model of the series, Jet Alone Prime, hides underground waiting to be used. Neither of the two countries desired for the robot to be given to just one, so they agreed to wait until the second was created.
What could go wrong? The project is beyond classified.“SEELE knows,” Kiel Lorenz thinks. “Gendo is stalling or incompetent, but it doesn’t matter. We are ready.”The true head of SEELE knows this is a wonderfully strategic move.
Infect Jet Alone Prime with a virus, for it was done once before. Then, send it at Tokyo-3. NERV has to deploy Unit 01, their only functioning unit. Then, SEELE would find if the unit is up to its task. Kiel's body decays steadily. Already, he has more machinery than old, decrepit flesh.If the Evangelion Unit 01 wins, then SEELE should have its moment to strike. If Jet Alone Prime wins, then NERV will be mocked and shut down.
SEELE will take the pieces, including the remnants of Unit 01, and cause the Third Impact. The Human Instrumentality Project is near completion either way.Asuka Langley is standing.
Her legs wobble, for her body has deteriorated from being in the hospital so long. The girl does not care. A doctor mentioned Misato entered the hospital which can mean only one thing. She is taking her. Everyone be damned if they try to stop the spitfire.The redhead must act as though she is fine.
Only then she could have her chance. The Second Child knows her self revulsion for failing. She hasn't healed, but piloting Unit 02 will heal her. It has to, for nothing else could improve her worth.“Can you walk?” Misato asks, marching into the room. The woman looks drained.
Her eyes are sullen, and her uniform could’ve been through a warzone. “Yes,” Asuka answers. “Then put this on.” The woman takes off her military jacket, revealing a t-shirt underneath. She tosses the jacket onto the bed. “This is all you have to give me!” Asuka exclaims. “I matter so little that you make me dress like a girl who had a one night stand with a soldier?” “I meant to get your clothes, but I had to take Shinji to the hospital.”The rage in Asuka ends.
Her stomach sinks. Did he try to kill himself as well? No, she shouldn’t worry about that idiot.Misato continues, “Some kid bashed the back of Shinji’s head with a club. It’s just a small concussion. Promise me not to be loud around him, and you can go home.” “Fine.” She crosses her arms and huffs to make the point. The major smiles. “That’s my girl.
Let’s go.”Asuka rips off the hospital gown. She already wears her undergarments, but she hasn’t seen the rest of her clothes after arriving. The coat will do, so she buttons it up. It barely covers her rear.She hobbles after Misato. She feels the cramps in her legs, but this does not stop the Great Asuka Langley. She has done everything she could in the last three days to regain her strength.
Her efforts come to fruition now.They wind through a few halls until Misato opens another door.Shinji looks up at them. A bandage is wrapped around the back of his head and his elbows. Wondergirl sits next to Shinji.“What are you doing here?” asks Asuka. She glares at the doll. “I was injured,” Rei replies, “I will go home now. Shinji missed you.”She bows in front of Misato and Asuka, then she walks away. “If Shinji missed me, then he’d see me,” thinks Asuka.
“Instead, I come to him.”“I-I’m sorry, Asuka,” whimpers the boy. “I couldn’t protect you.” He buries his face in his hands. As always, the child snivels around her. Almost nothing else irks her more. The more assertive Shinji is tolerable, but this person is the very thing she hates the most. If it wasn’t for the promise, Asuka would yell at him.“What were you doing with Wondergirl?” “Talking.” “Ha, you two were playing doctor I’d say.” Shinji becomes embarrassed. “No, she was being beaten.
I couldn’t let someone else be hurt.” “But you let me.” “I” “That’s enough from both of you,” orders Misato. “We are going home. No arguing or I’ll leave both of you overnight.”The children are silent, and they remain that way on the ride home.
Asuka expects the boy to steel glances at her legs, or her panties if he is lucky, but Shinji does not do so. He falls asleep, so Asuka sleeps as well.When they arrive home, Misato leaves. She tells them, “I’m getting takeout.” It is a relief.
Without Shinji’s cooking, this is the only way to eat anything not poisonous.Pen Pen greets her before wandering off to his icebox. The penguin at least seems to like her presence. Shinji, on the other hand, sits awkwardly on the couch.
He sat there when Asuka changed into her own clothes. He sat there when she used the bathroom. He sits there now.“You’re different,” states Shinji. The boy looks more asleep than awake. “How?” She frowns. “You don’t yell at me.” “I promised Misato I wouldn't, because of your head.” “Oh.”Asuka sits on the opposite end of the couch.
She’s tired, far too tired. Sleep calls out to her.“Misato told me you wanted to pilot again. You’re braver than me. I never could.” “I’m better than” No, Asuka can’t say it.
Shinji killed more Angels. Shinji didn’t collapse to the same despair as she. “You would.” “What?” Shinji yawns. “If Wondergirl needed saving, you’d pilot.” “But, we won’t ever have to do that.
But if we did, then I’d die saving you as well.” “You didn’t before. Ariel destroyed my mind while you did nothing.' “I won’t again. I saw you in the hospital. You were broken. I think you still are.”The words drive into Asuka.
How dare he see her in such weakness! But, this is Shinji.
He doesn’t say these things, for he whimpers. Why did he say that?“Are you on painkillers?” “Yes.” “That explains your words.”Asuka yawns and closes her eyes. Shinji does the same.The girl asks in a peaceful state, “I’ll hit you and yell at you when I feel better.” “Please do.”Misato returns with the food, but her two children are asleep on the couch.
Evangelion Red Cross Book Pdf 2017
The woman smiles, for their sleep is peaceful. She covers each of them with a blanket and kisses both of their foreheads. She spends the rest of the night drinking beer.
Author:Catherine MerridaleISBN:939Genre:HistoryFile Size:76.80 MBFormat:PDF, KindleDownload:496Read:516THE TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND ECONOMIST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2016 'Twice I missed my stop on the Tube reading this book. This is a jewel among histories' David Aaronovitch, The Times 'The suberb, funny, fascinating story of Lenin's trans-European rail journey to power and how it shook the world' - Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard Books of the Year A gripping account of how, in the depths of the First World War, Russia's greatest revolutionary was taken in a 'sealed train' across Europe and changed the history of the world By 1917 the European war seemed to be endless. Both sides in the fighting looked to new weapons, tactics and ideas to break a stalemate that was itself destroying Europe. In the German government a small group of men had a brilliant idea: why not sow further confusion in an increasingly chaotic Russia by arranging for Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the most notorious of revolutionary extremists, currently safely bottled up in neutral Switzerland, to go home? Catherine Merridale's Lenin on the Train recreates Lenin's extraordinary journey from harmless exile in Zurich, across a Germany falling to pieces from the war's deprivations, and northwards to the edge of Lapland to his eventual ecstatic reception by the revolutionary crowds at Petrograd's Finland Station. With great skill and insight Merridale weaves the story of the train and its uniquely strange group of passengers with a gripping account of the now half-forgotten liberal Russian revolution and shows how these events intersected.
She brilliantly uses a huge range of contemporary eyewitnesses, observing Lenin as he travelled back to a country he had not seen for many years. Many thought he was a mere 'useful idiot', others thought he would rapidly be imprisoned or killed, others that Lenin had in practice few followers and even less influence. They would all prove to be quite wrong. Author:Mizuma LeninISBN:224Genre:FictionFile Size:70.37 MBFormat:PDF, ePub, DocsDownload:756Read:761Vibes takes us on a beautiful journey called life. This book talks about numerous train journeys that the author embarked upon when she was very young. The main attraction of a train journey is the journey itself, which is as important as the destination. Train journeys are always a great source of fascination for most of us as it affords us a chance to see new places and meet the most interesting people.
The explicit life experiences, the lessons she has learnt, all form the essence of this book. Travelling by train is a quintessential part of the Indian experience; one as memorable as the food you’ll indulge in and the landmarks that will leave you in awe. There’s always something magical about train journeys. Sometimes the magic is inside—on a train you can meet people and listen to the sound of wheels whooshing on the rails beneath you.
Sometimes the magic is outside, in the scenery that traverses by an adventure, an experience, and an insight into the heart of a place. A myriad of things are made to happen, impossible events become a reality, and unexpected phenomenon takes place at any given time. Where will the magic take you?
Be inspired to meet the enthused people and the scintillating world as seen through the eyes of the author in her new book Vibes. Author:Nina TumarkinISBN:Genre:Political ScienceFile Size:37.42 MBFormat:PDF, ePub, DocsDownload:818Read:165Was the deification of Lenin a show of spontaneous affection-or a planned political operation designed to solidify the revolution with the masses? This book provides a startling answer. Exploring the cult's mystical, historical, and political aspects, Tumarkin demonstrates the galvanizing power of ritual in the establishment of the post-revolutionary regime.
In a new Preface and Postscript, she brings the story up to date, considering the fall of the Soviet Union and Russia's new democracy. Author:Robert ServiceISBN:331Genre:Biography & AutobiographyFile Size:34.85 MBFormat:PDF, MobiDownload:969Read:754Lenin is a colossal figure whose influence on twentieth-century history cannot be underestimated. Robert Service has written a calmly authoritative biography on this seemingly unknowable figure.
Making use of recently opened archives, he has been able to piece together the private as well as the public life, giving the first complete picture of Lenin. This biography simultaneously provides an account of one of the greatest turning points in modern history. Through the prism of Lenin's career, Service examines events such as the October Revolution and the ideas of Marxism-Leninism, the one-party state, economic modernisation, dictatorship, and the politics of inter-war Europe. In discovering the origins of the USSR, he casts light on the nature of the state and society which Lenin left behind and which have not entirely disappeared after the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991. 'Immensely scholarly but also vivid and readable.
This is a splendid book, much the best that I have ever read about Lenin.I was overwhelmed by the power and vividness of this portrait.' Dominic Lieven, Sunday Telegraph 'He has managed skilfully to depict the surreal life of an obsessive, brilliant and stubborn individual' Guardian 'Lenin's life was politics, but Service has succeeded in keeping Lenin the man in focus throughout.
This book deserves a place among the best studies of one of the most fascinating figures in modern history' Harold Shukman, The Times. Author:Vladimir BrovkinISBN:573Genre:HistoryFile Size:66.67 MBFormat:PDF, KindleDownload:390Read:343Following the Russian Revolution, the cultural and political landscape of Russia was strewn with contradictions. The dictatorship, censorship and repression of the Communist party existed alongside private enterprise, the black market and open debates on Socialism. In Russian Society and politics 1921-1929 Vladimir Brovkin offers a comprehensive cultural, political, economic and social history of developments in Russia in the 1920's. By examining the contrast between Bolshevik propaganda claims and social reality, the author explains how Communist representations were variously received and resisted by workers, peasants, students, women, teachers and party officials. He presents a picture of cultural diversity and rejection of Communist constraints through many means including unauthorised protest, religion, jazz music and poetry.
In Russian Society and Politics 1921-1929 Vladimir Brovkin argues that these trends, if left unchecked, endangered the Communist Party's monopoly on political power. The Stalinist revolution can thus be seen as a pre-emptive strike against this independent and vibrant society as well as a product of Stalin's personality and communist ideology. Author:Sean McMeekinISBN:974Genre:HistoryFile Size:67.7 MBFormat:PDF, KindleDownload:876Read:234The definitive, single-volume history of the Russian Revolution, from an award-winning scholar In The Russian Revolution, acclaimed historian Sean McMeekin traces the events which ended Romanov rule, ushered the Bolsheviks into power, and introduced Communism to the world. Between 1917 and 1922, Russia underwent a complete and irreversible transformation. Taking advantage of the collapse of the Tsarist regime in the middle of World War I, the Bolsheviks staged a hostile takeover of the Russian Imperial Army, promoting mutinies and mass desertions of men in order to fulfill Lenin's program of turning the 'imperialist war' into civil war. By the time the Bolsheviks had snuffed out the last resistance five years later, over 20 million people had died, and the Russian economy had collapsed so completely that Communism had to be temporarily abandoned. Still, Bolshevik rule was secure, owing to the new regime's monopoly on force, enabled by illicit arms deals signed with capitalist neighbors such as Germany and Sweden who sought to benefit-politically and economically-from the revolutionary chaos in Russia.
Drawing on scores of previously untapped files from Russian archives and a range of other repositories in Europe, Turkey, and the United States, McMeekin delivers exciting, groundbreaking research about this turbulent era. The first comprehensive history of these momentous events in two decades, The Russian Revolution combines cutting-edge scholarship and a fast-paced narrative to shed new light on one of the most significant turning points of the twentieth century. Author:Stephen KotkinISBN:100Genre:Biography & AutobiographyFile Size:56.65 MBFormat:PDF, ePub, DocsDownload:354Read:1223A magnificent new biography that revolutionizes our understanding of Stalin and his world It has the quality of myth: a poor cobbler’s son, a seminarian from an oppressed outer province of the Russian empire, reinvents himself as a top leader in a band of revolutionary zealots. When the band seizes control of the country in the aftermath of total world war, the former seminarian ruthlessly dominates the new regime until he stands as absolute ruler of a vast and terrible state apparatus, with dominion over Eurasia. While still building his power base within the Bolshevik dictatorship, he embarks upon the greatest gamble of his political life and the largest program of social reengineering ever attempted: the collectivization of all agriculture and industry across one sixth of the earth. Millions will die, and many more millions will suffer, but the man will push through to the end against all resistance and doubts. Where did such power come from?
In Stalin, Stephen Kotkin offers a biography that, at long last, is equal to this shrewd, sociopathic, charismatic dictator in all his dimensions. The character of Stalin emerges as both astute and blinkered, cynical and true believing, people oriented and vicious, canny enough to see through people but prone to nonsensical beliefs. We see a man inclined to despotism who could be utterly charming, a pragmatic ideologue, a leader who obsessed over slights yet was a precocious geostrategic thinker—unique among Bolsheviks—and yet who made egregious strategic blunders. Through it all, we see Stalin’s unflinching persistence, his sheer force of will—perhaps the ultimate key to understanding his indelible mark on history. Stalin gives an intimate view of the Bolshevik regime’s inner geography of power, bringing to the fore fresh materials from Soviet military intelligence and the secret police. Kotkin rejects the inherited wisdom about Stalin’s psychological makeup, showing us instead how Stalin’s near paranoia was fundamentally political, and closely tracks the Bolshevik revolution’s structural paranoia, the predicament of a Communist regime in an overwhelmingly capitalist world, surrounded and penetrated by enemies. At the same time, Kotkin demonstrates the impossibility of understanding Stalin’s momentous decisions outside of the context of the tragic history of imperial Russia.
The product of a decade of intrepid research, Stalin is a landmark achievement, a work that recasts the way we think about the Soviet Union, revolution, dictatorship, the twentieth century, and indeed the art of history itself. Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941 will be published by Penguin Press in October 2017. Author:Holger H.
HerwigISBN:815Genre:HistoryFile Size:57.33 MBFormat:PDF, ePubDownload:517Read:198The Great War toppled four empires, cost the world 24 million dead, and sowed the seeds of another worldwide conflict 20 years later. This is the only book in the English language to offer comprehensive coverage of how Germany and Austria-Hungary, two of the key belligerents, conducted the war and what defeat meant to them. This new edition has been thoroughly updated throughout, including new developments in the historiography and, in particular, addressing new work on the cultural history of the war.
This edition also includes: - New material on the domestic front, covering Austria-Hungary's internal political frictions and ethnic fissures - More on Austria-Hungary and Germany's position within the wider geopolitical framework - Increased coverage of the Eastern front The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary, 1914-1918 offers an authoritative and well-researched survey of the role of the Central powers that will be an invaluable text for all those studying the First World War and the development of modern warfare.