Doctor Who: The Evangelion Error (Book One)

E7 Part 1: I don't want to be with you

The Geofront. Under Tokyo-3. Early October 2015.

The Doctor was being followed, of course. Three or four of your standard man-in-black types. They'd been at it for at least the past half-hour. They seemed content to keep their distance, though, at least for the moment. He wasn't about to let it worry him.

Besides, how could he possibly focus on petty little details when he was surrounded by all this? This masterwork of twenty-first century engineering and ingenuity? He stood within an immense underground chamber, at least five kilometers in diameter. Nine hundred meters or so above him, the buildings of the city sat suspended in the midst of a vast ceiling of metal and glass. (The tensile strength required to pull that off alone! Breathtaking!) And then there were the contents of the chamber: a complete self-contained ecosystem, utilizing reflected sunlight piped down from the surface, featuring plant and animal species from all over the planet. God, he loved it when humans got serious! He'd have to find out the name of the architect -- send them a thank-you note or something.

For the moment, though, his attention was otherwise occupied by a rock. Or, more specifically, a type of rock. He'd found a park at the very edge of the Geofront where -- unless he was mistaken (and he wasn't, 'cause Doctor) -- a bit of the chamber's interior wall had been left exposed. So this material had to be holding up the sides of the chamber and the weight of the city above. It looked like ordinary basalt, but it couldn't be... He sniffed the wall experimentally. He was getting this odd, tingly sort of feeling from it... what could that be about...

"Forgive me for interrupting, but I believe that fern is from an endangered species."

The Doctor glanced back at the unremarkable man sitting on a nearby park bench. Then he looked down at the plant he was standing on. Angiopteris fokienssis. Right.

"Quite right. Well spotted." The Doctor carefully stepped back onto the path. "Just -- ah -- testing the general public knowledge of botany. Never can be too careful."

"I see." The man scattered a handful of kernels from a small bag of popcorn to a small crowd of birds by his feet. Not just any old birds, either -- passenger pigeons. Probably clone stock. Fantastic.

"All right if I join you?" the Doctor asked.

"Please feel free."

The Doctor sat down on the other side of the bench. He had barely noticed before, but the park really did have a gorgeous view of the rest of the chamber. The big steel pyramid at the center -- NERV headquarters, he supposed -- glowed in the morning sun, while one of the skyscrapers above slowly shifted downward. The Doctor grinned. "Awww, brilliant."

"Is it?" Another kernel dropped to a waiting pigeon. "One gets used to it after a while, I'm afraid."

The Doctor glanced back at the wall. "Don't suppose you know anything about the rock over there? I've never seen anything quite like it before."

"A little." The man adjusted his glasses. "In Japanese mythology, the stone of this region was traditionally held in high regard."

"Really."

"According to legend, the native rock was blessed by Konohanasakuya-hime, the goddess of Mount Fuji, and held significant spiritual properties. If properly treated, it was said to be able to deflect arrows and stop any sword, no matter how sharp. There's still a significant trade in amulets and talismans to this day."

"You don't say." The Doctor's smile deepened. "Now isn't that interesting."

"It is just a story, of course."