There was the soft sound of a silenced round, then a groan and a thud as the orderly fell to his knees. The blonde woman and her comrade, a tall, dark, imposing figure in a long green coat, stepped over the corpse, and stood before the blood-splattered keypad. The white-washed corridors stretched out in either direction, some suited men standing guard for the two. The blonde took out a laptop and hooked up to the keypad. Her fingers flew across the keys, and, moments later, the electronic lock slid open and the door swung inwards. Inside was a bed, a desk, and a lonely window twenty feet above the floor. Lying upon the bed was a youth, perhaps fourteen, with buzz-cut dark hair and harsh grey eyes. He was watching the green-coated man intently.
"Mr. Isanov," said the coated man, coldly.
"Invaders…" murmured the boy. His voice was hostile and gravelly.
"SEELE requires your assistance," said green-coat, coldly.
"I don't trust murders…"
"You respect violence. What more do you need?"
"A lot of people cry for my blood… You thirst for my blood, I can see it…"
The man remained silent.
"Or someone else's?" There was another silence. "Yes… I see it… in your eyes… I am a means to an end… death… but who?"
"SEELE requires your assistance. If you complete the task laid out for you, you will be given both your freedom and a generous sum of money."
"Ah… I see it… I'm another tool… no, a weapon…"
The man put on a rare show of patience waiting for a response.
"I'll kill something… destroy someone… for this… now who do you hate?
"Very good, Mr. Isanov. You may address me as Commander Ikari. Gendo Ikari. This is my associate, Dr. Akagi." The blonde bowed.
As Isanov was led out of his room and down the corridor, Ritsuko muttered, "Now all we need is Unit 06."
"It is already taken care of," said Gendo.
---
Shinji was sitting at his desk. Nothing existed, save him, the table, the piece of paper upon it, and the pen at his side. He picked up the pen and stared at it, fascinated. Then, he lowered the pen to the page and started to drag its point across the paper. Lines appeared; some smooth and flowing, others straight and sharp. The hair… that was the hardest part. He drew a few sharp lines, then a circle around the crown of the head, with the occasional jagged line to take into account the chaotic hair. To his great surprise, the picture turned out quite nicely. He reached for colored pens, and picked out a grey color. He meticulously colored in each corner of the drawing, careful not to draw over the black lines. He colored in red next… then he reached for the blue. Then he remembered.
There is no blue anymore.
Shinji was the only person who remembered the concept of 'blue'. The water was the orange-red of LCL, Asuka's eyes were red; Shinji's eyes were grey… but no blue. He was surprised neither of them remembered 'blue'. When he tried to describe it to them, they simply looked at him pityingly and offered to take him to the beach. Shinji loved the beach.
His eyes returned to the picture. No blue… it would have to do. He picked up the picture and hung it above his bed. It was a decent likeness. Shinji sat on the edge of his bed, dawning the headphones of his SDAT. There was one song… slow, sad piano solo, it reminded him of the days before…
Asuka was outside Shinji's door, peaking inside. She waited for Shinji to finish his latest work of art, then stepped inside. Just like every day, it was a picture of Rei, her hair absent of color. The pictures were almost all the same, with backgrounds varying wildly. This one lacked a background, only depicting Rei's austere features. Shinji ignored her as she looked at the drawing; she then sat before him.
"Shinji?"
"Yes?" His voice had become soft and emotionless, just like Rei's.
"Do you feel like some breakfast?" asked Asuka. She had to be careful around Shinji; he was unstable.
Shinji turned over and looked away. Asuka sighed and stepped out. Misato was waiting at the table, scarfing down some toast, looking worried.
"How's Shinji?" she asked.
"Same as always," Asuka sighed. "I never thought I'd feel sorry for that dummkopf…"
Misato cocked her head to one side. "You've changed, Asuka."
Asuka shrugged before swallowing some toast. Suddenly, Misato's phone rang. Groaning, Misato reached for the cell and opened it with a flick.
"Major Katsuragi here." There was a silence. Misato spat out the toast she was eating. "HOW? HOW IS SOMETHING LIKE THAT STOLEN!" Misato jumped to her feat and headed out the door. Asuka followed.
"What's going on?" the redhead demanded.
"Eva Unit 06 was just stolen!" said Misato, dawning her coat.
Asuka's gagged, shocked and amused at the same time. "How in hell do you steal an Eva?" she demanded.
"How should I know? I'll call you when I find out," said Misato, grumpily. "It's your turn to take care of Shinji, anyway."
As the Major hurried out to her car, Asuka grumbled something along the lines of 'It's been my turn for the last week'. Inside, Shinji had eaten half a piece of toast and returned to his room. He's wasting away… thought Asuka, as the sad strains of a cello filled the air.
---
Meanwhile, where something interesting was happening…
"An entire NERV branch, wiped out…" murmured Misato. She was flying over Tokyo-2 to the North of Japan, to examine the ruins of the small research facility that had been developing Unit 06.
"As of Two-Hundred Hours this morning, all communications with Base 7 was lost," Maya Ibuki was saying, examining a folder. "Five minutes later, the closed-circuit camera system suffered a critical failure, but the base did not go into lockdown, per regulation. A team was sent to investigate, but by the time they arrived, Unit 06 had already been taken and the base personnel killed."
"How many casualties, total?"
"Fifty guards, one hundred seventy scientists and secondary personnel reported dead. There were no survivors."
Someone really wanted that Eva… but who? There weren't any terrorists who were in a position to infiltrate any NERV facility, much less one that housed an Eva. Unless… could another country be behind this? But who? There weren't many options. Japan's relations with most of the UN member nations were fair, except one…
"Ma'am, landing in five minutes." The ruined base, built on a hill, was in sight. Most of it was underground, leaving only a few squat, concrete buildings above ground.
"How'd they get it out?" asked Misato. A few NERV men wearing body armor and carrying weapons lead Misato and Ibuki around the base. Misato's jaw fell open.
Something had crashed through the side of the elevation, ripping through the base's steel walls and fifty feet of soil. Inside, they saw the twisted ruins of the Eva's restraints, and the corpses of the base's previous occupants.
"They must have activated the Eva to do something like this…" Maya said, shocked.
"How? Where would the find the pilot?"
"The dummy plug system?" offered Maya.
"The clones were destroyed," Misato responded. There was a silence. "Maya, I want you to run a search through the old file system. Did NERV find a potential Sixth Child?"
"Ma'am, the only people who would have access to files of that nature would have been Dr. Akagi and Commander Ikari."
"Just do it."
Further investigation of the base yielded nothing. The security system had been completely destroyed, the computers wiped, and the staff killed with nice, clean headshots. The only evidence found was a used cigarette, crushed beneath a boot heel.
---
Asuka took Shinji down to the beach, the same beach they were returned to after Human Instrumentality. There was a wooden cross stuck in the very spot where they arrived; Asuka had hammered it there a week after Third Impact. He liked this place, even if the orange LCL Sea had shrunk over the years. Still, blue had disappeared for good, even the ocean had turned green. Drinking green water was unsettling, but he hid his disgust… they already thought he was insane.
He stood on the shore, watching the orange waves wash between his feet. Strange… soothing… Staring into the liquid, he wondered if there were any fish, far beneath the surface… Suddenly, something compelled him to fall into the water. There was something in the LCL, no, something was the LCL. He felt its touch, there was sentience there. He just allowed himself to fall forward. There was a cry of 'SHINJI!' in the distance, but he ignored it. Something was in the LCL… Yes! He saw it… her! Blue… yes, there was still blue… he saw it at the heart of the LCL, a few strands of Blue.
Suddenly, someone grabbed him and dragged him out of the LCL.
Asuka had been in the sand dunes when she saw Shinji fall into the water. After that, it was a blur of motion as she rushed down to the beach and dragged the Third Child out of the LCL mess. Shinji looked longingly at the fluid as she pulled him out, then neutral. Asuka sighed, relieved. She never told anyone about this incident, but she watched him even closer than usual for a few weeks after.
---
"Another bright morning," said Misato, watching TV as Asuka walked out of her room, "The birds are singing, the insects buzzing, and the world going to hell in a hand basket!" On the television were scenes of violence, a newscast from Moscow, where people were demanding higher wages and lower taxes. UN peacekeeping forces and Russian riot police rushed in to keep order, but were met with small arms fire and rocks. The shot was replaced by a solemn anchorman, who mentioned a death toll approaching one hundred. They cut to a story about a mental institution escapee.
"You never told me what happened with the missing Eva," said Asuka. By the time Misato had returned from work the previous night, the two children had already gone to bed.
"Oh," said Misato. "That. Well, a group of people broke in late at night. Somehow, they crippled the security system, jammed communication, and slaughtered the staff in under fifteen minutes. Then, they activated the Eva and dug out. Asuka wrinkled her nose.
"How did they activate it in fifteen minutes?"
"That took another two hours, but they had reactivated comm. and were putting out false reports every fifteen minutes. We didn't know anything was wrong until they rather abruptly stopped."
"So there are terrorists with an Eva on the loose?"
"If they are terrorists, they aren't garden variety fanatics. These guys were pros; we think either mercenaries or-" Misato broke off abruptly.
"Or what?" Asuka put on her 'imposing' look. Misato was several feet taller then her, but one might not have guessed it. The elder recoiled.
"Or a hostile nation." There was a silence.
"What nation?" asked Asuka, seriously.
"The only country we know of that is both unfriendly towards us and capable of this kind of theft is Russia."
That was a serious moment. "Fuyutski wants you on full alert at NERV HQ in the event of an attack."
"Who'll take care of Shinji?" Asuka asked. Misato cocked her head to one side.
"You really care about him, don't you?"
Asuka blushed. "I care for him like a brother."
"You wouldn't have said that before Third Impact."
"We all changed during Third Impact."
---
Gendo was lurking on the bridge of a submersible aircraft carrier, several miles off the coast of Osaka, Japan.
"Ah, the wonders of technology," said a dry voice, from the corners. It belonged to a tall man with no distinguishing traits beyond a Van Dyke beard and a pair of sharp, green eyes. He stood about six feet tall, and wore a long, black trench coat.
"Technology is man's defense against nature," said Gendo, darkly.
"I'm under the impression that this was built to defend man against other men, but that's OK with me," the trench-coated figure said. Neither his accent nor appearance was Japanese. "I hope you realize that this was pricey, Commander," he said, "Certain people won't be happy about your expenditures."
"If this is a success, they will be pleased."
Ritsuko was sitting at a console a short distance away, surrounded by her staff. "And if this is a failure, we're all going to jail for treason and mass murder." Turning to a microphone, she said, "Pilot Isanov! Deploying Eva Unit 06, now!"