Chapter Text
Levi did his best not to look down and focused his attention instead on getting a firm grip on each new rung. It did not help matters that the rope ladder seemed to him to be in constant, sickening motion. Strictly speaking, Levi did not have to join Eren and Dr. Shadis in the treetops. In fact, if Eren fell, he would be just as useless thirty meters up as he would be on the ground, but that was beside the point. Eren had asked him to come, and as much as Levi’s work had nothing to do with the workings of military maneuver gear, he found himself agreeing to witness the momentous occasion of its first use in almost two millenia.
The event had been meticulously planned for for months. Dr. Shadis was the first to suggest it. He had contacted Levi introducing himself as a historical physicist. He and his team had apparently been working for a number of years on a fully-operation, historically-accurate Edenite Military Maneuvering Apparatus which they called EMMA for short. After getting their hands the real set that had survived with Eren, they had gone on to make some minor adjustments, and after extensive preliminary testing felt it may actually work. They sought Eren’s advice on the design, but it was Eren himself who excitedly asked if he could actually use it.
There was no dissuading him, and there were many voices piping up to say that this was not an opportunity to be passed up. And so it was that Levi now found himself in a wooded zipline course, being helped up onto one of its tallest platforms. Eren was abuzz with excitement, constantly adjusting his myriad of belts and running over to the edge to check on the pulley system hoisting up the EMMA. Finally, Dr. Shadis just let him pull the equipment up himself just to give the boy something with which to occupy his hands, and went to confirm that all cameras were operation. There were a number of them scattered throughout the treetops along Eren’s planned course to catch every movement, though calling it a course might be an overstatement. The finishing platform was visible from where Levi stood. It was a straight shot slightly above the platform they were on now, with plenty to hook into along the way, but something about it still nagged at the back of Levi’s mind despite all the math confirming it could be done.
Eren needed no assistance to strap on the EMMA.
“Are you ready?” Dr. Shadis asked him.
Eren gave the gas triggers a final test pull and nodded. His smile was threatening to split his face apart.
“Then just go as planned at the countdown” the physicist told him sternly before turning to his walkie talkie. “Roll cameras on ten. Starting at Twenty. Nineteen. Eighteen...”
Eren peered over the edge of the platform to the forest floor before turning to Levi and pointing downwards questioningly.
“Nets?” he whispered.
“In case you fall,” Levi answered. They were strung up especially for EMMA testing. Eren was much too valuable to lose, but protecting him was hard when the boy absolutely refused any other precautions. Even Dr. Shadis had to agree that safety wires and excess padding would do more to interfere with Eren’s ability to move as he naturally would than serve in keeping him safer.
Eren frowned, but there was a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Don’t try anything,” Levi warned.
Eren smiled. It looked too much like a smirk.
“Four,” Dr. Shadis counted. “Three. Two.”
Eren backed away from the edge. This was certainly not in the plan; he was to take off from standing, but there was no time to correct for it. At one, he broke into a sprint.
“Hey!” Dr. Shadis bellowed.
Eren leaped. Levi found himself at the edge in a split second, his fingers gripping the guard rail. Before he could so much as shout, two hooks flew from the foliage with a hiss of compressed gas. Eren flew back into sight like a blur, did a full flip, and shot away with a whoop of joy.
“Keep filming!” the physicist yelled into his handheld device. “Try and follow his movements.”
Levi’s vision tunneled. Eren wasn’t following the set course, but somehow Levi knew the course he would take. He couldn’t even begin to explain how he knew, but suddenly he wasn’t just looking at a random assortment of trees and branches, but at a mental map. All possible courses were clear. Eren hardly stuck to the optimal one, but this allowed him a number of impressive turns. Each time one of his hooks burrowed into the bark, Levi knew as if by instinct when he should add more gas, how fast he should turn a corner, how far he needed to lean to pull if off, when he should dislodge the grapple...
For a split second, something he couldn’t put his finger on became crystal clear. The epiphany struck like lightening and split his head with deafening pain. His vision momentarily blacked out and his knees weakened, but he remained standing with the guardrail for support. For a second he thought he might be sick, but the worst of it passed as quickly as it had come, leaving only a headache in its wake. Levi rubbed his temple and looked up to see Eren waving to him from the other platform. He raised a hand in greeting back.
“Use the zipline to return!” Dr. Shadis yelled to no avail. Eren saw no point to it when he could just use his EMMA. This time, at least, he took the prescribe path.
When he landed, the physicist was positively red in the face with rage, but there was little he could do. Eren was his only subject, so there was no dismissing him. Instead he uselessly sputtered questions at him as Eren skipped back over to Levi.
“Good?” he asked. He was like a child.
Levi gave him a curt nod. His headache was quickly spinning into a migraine. He wasn’t as good at hiding it at he might have hoped.
“Are you okay?” Eren said.
“Fine,” he replied. “Just very strong...” he wasn’t sure if there was a German equivalent. “...déjà vu. No, déjà connu.” Eren cocked his head. “It means—”
At that moment, Dr. Shadis stormed up behind Eren and, clamping a massive hand on the boy’s shoulder, turned him around to face him.
“Are you listening to me?” he boomed.
Eren swallowed and nodded. Levi looked away. On the nearest tree trunk, he spotted one of the holes made by the EMMA’s hooks.
Déjà connu. Already known.