Money

by goatherder

Asuka and Shinji suddenly find themselves very wealthy. Asuka has one great idea what to do with the money, but is it really that simple? -- light hearted, mindless stuff.

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis: Evangelion, Gainax does.



Money




Chapter 1




Shinji Ikari, the self loathing pilot of the infamous biomechanical beast -
Evangelion Unit One - was currently trying to find somewhere to feel sorry for
himself. Keeping to the back streets and quiet trains, he was desperately
avoiding people, not wanting to take the chance that someone would come and
tell him that it would all be ok, if he would just let it. That would just
ruin his day.

As he stepped onto a train, he didn't even take the time to look at the
line he was about to venture down. His entrance to the train was obstructed by
something, or someone, as he suddenly found himself pressing up tightly against
an unmoving object. Suffering a barrage of hits and curses, he instantly knew
who he had slammed into. Quickly shuffling around the girl and into the train
to avoid the sliding doors, he continued staring at the ground, fully accepting
the tongue lashing from the victim of his ignorant steps.

Once the cursing had died down to a guttural murmur, he looked up briefly and
was blessed, or cursed depending on what mood one was in, with the radiant
sight of the beautiful Asuka Langley Sohryu; the eccentric, boisterous and
arrogant pilot of Evangelion Unit Two. For a brief moment he stared at her
passively, but as her expression slowly worked its way into his consciousness,
he felt a little scared.

"What the hell are you doing on this train." The girl said loudly, making sure
that everyone else on the train knew that she certainly didn't want this 14
year old boy in her presence. Just to make sure they all got the point, she
folded her arms and pouted her lips, and although it didn't seem possible to
the mere bystander, intensified her glare.

"Ummm. Nothing, I just needed to get out for a walk." Speaking in a voice just
above a squeak, his self loathing intensified as he heard the blatantly obvious
weakness in his voice. The other commuters who had nothing better to do and
were somewhat interested in this little event cursed the boy as they had to
lean in closer, disposing of all inconspicuousness in their eavesdropping.

"Well, third child. Don't you dare use the train's jarring as an excuse to rub
up against me, or-" as her teeth were bared, a few small children gasped, "I
will kill you."

Gulping to himself, he sunk his chin into his neck and muttered an apology to
the girl.

Asuka dropped her arms to her sides, and began to move away. "I'm going to stand
over-"

Before the boy had time to listen to the cries and plea's of his self
preservation instincts, he cut her off. "What are you doing on this train?"

Her face contorted into a vicious scowl as she looked away, drilling holes into
a window. Realizing the boy could still see the reflection of her face, she
quickly merged into the crowd of people. Shinji stood dumbfounded, his 
confusion at the girls actions left him replaying her words over and over,
trying to find the hidden message. What he had found really worrying was the
fact that she hadn't she hadn't bothered to assure herself the final word in
their discussion.

Shinji shrugged as he resigned his attention down to the floor. As he raised
the volume on his S-DAT player, the familiar melancholic tunes entered his ears
reflecting his mood, or, his intended state of mood. It wasn't that Shinji
needed to be inspired into depression, as that was his inertial state. Days
like these tended to require further lamentations and he felt like digging
himself into a deeper and darker pit of misery. It felt much safer in this
hole of self loathing, as he didn't have far to fall during the next stumble.

Shinji's traumatic past was partly responsible for his gloomy moods, and it was
something he could never simply let go of. If he could remember, he would
clearly be able to trace the peak of his downhill slide to the age of four.
His mother disappeared at this time which drove his father insane. So insane
that he tossed the boy aside, leaving him to pursue his own objectives at NERV,
or Gehirn as it was known as in those days. The boy then spent the larger
portion of his life in the care of others who never really paid him the
attention a growing child requires. It was a lonely existence, one that bred
self doubt and insecurities that plague him even to this day. At fourteen, the
initial cause of his struggle reared its head and struck out at him again, 
pulling the boy back into the same entangled mess where it had spawned. He was
thrust back into a scheme created by a powerful organization, commanded by his
father and core parts conceived by his mother.

Shinji was now ordered - or manipulated, he thought bitterly - to pilot a forty
meter tall monstrosity. The bio-mechanical humanoid beast he piloted to defend
Tokyo-3 against the Angels terrified him. He sat inside a capsule filled with
some kind of liquid that he could breath, but always instilled him with a
sense of nausea. This vessel would then be inserted into the rear of the
Evangelion's neck, and then he would be connected mentally with the machine.
The shapes of the devices and the processes used would have Dr Sigmund Freud
nodding in triumph, if he were alive to bare witness. Especially if he knew
that the soul inside the EVA belonged to Shinji's mother.

Shinji would command his leg to move, which at the same time caused the robot's
leg to move. It was an odd sensation, and as the sync was two way, he could
feel all of the sensations experienced by the Evangelion. Prolonged exposure
to this activity left his nerves in a jumbled mess. He didn't like it one bit,
but he felt he didn't have much of a choice anymore.

Gendo Ikari, an odious man with many secrets of the worst kind; the kind that
only he knew about, and any others that were cursed with the same knowledge had
better keep themselves useful, lest they become land fill. The man had quickly
thrown aside any traces of his humanity when Yui Ikari, his wife, had
disappeared during the first evangelion activation tests. Unbeknownst to
everyone else, save for the people high up in the NERV command hierarchy, this
woman's creation had been her undoing. Evangelion Unit One had absorbed her
into itself and all attempts to salvage her body were fruitless. Although
Shinji had been present during this day, the images and sounds had been locked 
safely away in his subconscious, waiting for the day when he would be lying on
a nice leather couch in an office with someone asking him to describe ink
blots. Gendo Ikari had simply tossed the boy aside, but ordered him back again
when he had a use for him. He had manipulated Shinji into piloting by using a
badly hurt Rei Ayanami as a catalyst in his decision making. Social Services
would definitely have words with this man, if they could survive the glares he
was notorious for.

Shinji's current living arrangements would be considered a small piece of heaven
to most outside observers. He and Asuka shared the apartment with one Major
Misato Katsuragi, a gorgeous woman of 29 who was both a pleasing sight and
an enjoyable experience to behold. Her living habits would be described as
extravagant to say the least; her morning breakfast consists of several beers
consumed without a pause for breath, her diet comprises predominantly of
instant curry and her sense of humor is irrefutably unlike that of any other
woman of her age. She is still a child in behavior, untainted by the staleness
of age and career. Yet, if she wanted, she could be a menacing foe. As the
operations manager of NERV, she is responsible for all the planning and
outcomes of the battles that take place between the Evangelions and the Angels.
But her favorite pastime is still getting Shinji to blush.

His other roommate was the aforementioned Asuka. The fourteen year old girl was
part Japanese, part German. Her bright red hair seemed to reflect her
fiery nature, contradicted by her deep blue eyes which hinted at a deep sadness
but were usually hidden behind a cold icy wall. If anyone managed to break
through the surface, somehow reaching the inner girl that desperately sought
kindness and comfort but had been locked up within the self constructed prison,
they would be rewarded with a glimpse at the person who sat in the shadow of
her vicious defender; still full of confidence, but lacking the hurtful,
cynical attacks which were more of a defense than an offense. Her past had
been of a similar nature to Shinji's and the very same organization had been
involved. The only difference is, the locks on Asuka's suppressed memories
were starting to crack and the vivid image of her mother hanging from the
ceiling flickered in the back of her mind frequently, distracting her from her
every day activities and causing her to lash out at others, to keep them at a
distance before they caught sight of her weakness.

As the train car pulled to another halt, the fourth or fifth since he had 
bumped into Asuka, he saw a brief glimpse of red hair in the mass of departing
people. There was an urge to follow her that he couldn't act on straight away.
He was worried about her, ever since he saw her EVA head crash through the
shelter he had been in. He knew she was depressed too; her synch score had
fallen to a terribly low value, barely registering above the minimal amount
required to synchronize with an Evangelion. The last battle had seen her
defeated with ease, almost destroying her confidence and diminishing the
value she saw in herself. 

Feeling absolutely positive that he didn't want to follow her, he convinced 
himself that this would be a nice place to get off and begin his walk, to
resume his brooding. Glancing about to make sure no one suspicious was 
watching him, he set off down the stairs and walked into the forest of the
concrete jungle before him.

Not far away, a man in a white suit was pacing around a white limousine parked
precariously in a vacant building lot. His receding hair was slicked back
tightly into a long pony tail that hung down his back. On his right hand were
several large gold rings with various different colored gems set into each. In
his right hand was a small silver mobile phone that he was currently speaking
quietly into. His face was narrow and dark, having high cheekbones and a
pointed chin and his narrow nose supported a large set of dark glasses with a
thin gold rim. Beads of sweat were currently forming on the mans knotted brow
as he began raising his voice into the phone.

Slowly and cautiously, a large and heavily armed man approached. He was not 
attempting to sneak up on him - on the contrary - he was just unwilling to 
startle him, for fear of incurring the mans wrath. He stood nearby, waiting 
patiently for the conversation to end. He had news that he didn't want to 
give, but since he had drawn the short straw with the other guards.

"You don't ever send me out on one of your errands again, you hear me?! After I
take care of this, I'm coming to take care of you! I hope for your sake that 
this isn't some kind of setup!" The man spat at the ground as he threw the 
phone at a nearby brick wall, smiling to himself as he watched the small pieces
of plastic and electronic components fly through the air. He grunted to 
acknowledge the guard behind him, whose presence he had been aware of before
the guard would have suspected.

Shuffling forward a step, the large lumbering guard spoke slowly and quietly.
"Ummm, boss. The guy wants more gear. He said-" Gulping, he reached up and
scratched his shoulder nervously. "He said it's not enough. We threatened him
a few times, but, you know... we didn't want to do any more threatening without 
your word."

The air between the two solidified. Not even the breeze could penetrate the icy
connection that had been established. The guards heart almost stopped as his
boss slowly turned around, and then did as he noticed the smile he wore.

"Good. I needed this." The white suited man muttered as he clenched his right
hand, releasing a few cracking sounds.

Sighing with relief, the guard considered his deed to have been a good thing 
and expected himself to be in the bosses good books. He was disappointed 
however when the foot connected to his groin.

As the white suited man approached the crowd surrounding a small suit case
wielding person, his day got even brighter as he saw how cruel the beating would
be on such a defenseless looking man. Straightening his tie, he spoke loudly
as he approached. "So, changing deals on us at this late a stage are we? Very
un-professional. You give us the money, and we give you the product. The
terms are non-negotiable. It has been agreed on!"

"Ahh, Mr. Yushitoko, It is good of you to finally grace us with your presence." 
The small man adjusted his glasses and looked him up and down, his small wide
face retaining a calm passive expression. "Yes, I am afraid things have
changed. My advisor has told me the quality of the product is below the grade
you promised us. We hope this is not too much an inconvenience."

Sneering, Yushitoko folded his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Are you telling me
that our gear is not good enough for you? This is the best in Japan, and
probably the world. Tokyo-3 is so unregulated due to the angel attacks, we can
make anything up here and take our time with it. So its always top quality."

"You refuse to bargain?"

"There is nothing to bargain!" His malicious smile contorted into a frown,
putting his silver canine on display as he bent his head back, trying to give
the man a good view up his nostrils and still watching him intently through the
thin slits of his narrowed eyes. With a wave of his hand, Yushitoko signalled
for several men behind him to train their weapons on the man. This was replied
to with a similar action by the opposing men.

"Very well. This has happened too many times and we cannot keep doing business
like this. We apologize for this having to happen." Yushitoko's eyes widened
in surprise, as with a single motion, the man had managed to retrieve a small
gun hidden in the handle of his case and fire off a bullet. He blinked as he
felt the impact on his chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him
backwards. Collapsing to the ground, he felt a thickening in the back of his
throat, which at first he thought was phlegm, but then as the taste became
clearer and the liquid trickled from his mouth, he realized it was blood.
Breathing was quickly becoming torture and he could have sworn there was
someone standing on his chest. All he could do was watch in awe as guns gave
off large, brief jets of flame as they sent bullets onwards to their intended
targets. The sounds seemed so surreal and slow, strangely muffled and at times
they echoed in his head. He smiled to himself as he heard the other cars pull
up behind him, followed shortly by intensified gun fire. He had expected 
something like this and he was prepared. Yushitoko was a firm believer in
paranoia being a virtue in this business.

Time seemed to pass slowly. He didn't have a recounting of his life, he didn't
see a white light or a bright tunnel approaching him; but he knew he didn't
have long to go. The world around him was starting to darken, colors were
changing and shifting to give the impression he was watching the world on
a negative film. His chest erupted into flames at the slightest movement, his
face was starting to go numb and his head felt like it was bobbing around in a
bucket of water. As he was beginning to black out, he managed to catch one
last glimpse of the battle field. Corpses lay strewn about him. No one was
left standing, save for the short fat man slowly limping away with a badly
disfigured suitcase. The man was obviously wounded, large patches of blood
stained his brown suit and he was struggling to stay on his feet. Cursing,
Yushitoko passed out.

Asuka was currently walking slowly down a street staring blankly at her shoes
as they rhythmically passed in and out of her vision. Her current objective was
to disappear for a while so she could shrug off her falsified layers of strength
and arrogance to wallow in a bit of self pity. It wasn't often she did this,
as it was something she despised more than anything.

Asuka wasn't one to ever give up on something she had begun. EVA was no
exception as it was an integral part of her life. She had been trained to be
an EVA pilot since her mother's death and therefore it was all she knew and had.
It was also a good distraction to keep the darker memories at bay. But since
things had been going bad, she started to realize she couldn't keep it up for
much longer. Her failures began showing her the horrible truth that she may
not be the person she thought she was, but she wasn't about to admit that to
anyone, least of all herself.

Suddenly she stopped as she saw a man stumbling round a corner in front of her.
Her legs froze and worry overwhelmed her thoughts as she noticed the man's
blood soaked clothing. Asuka was now faced with conflicting emotions, wanting
to stay and help the man and at the same time she wanted to flee. Since her
legs had decided to disobey her commands, she opted for the former.

As the man drew closer to her, he looked up and smiled. "Ahh, this is your 
lucky day young lady." Shoving the suitcase out towards the girl, he
collapsed to the ground. 

Asuka gasped as the case came into contact with her hands. Absently, she
gripped the handle tightly and stared down at the man laying motionlessly
on the ground. She jumped back as the man coughed up a small amount of blood.

"Hey, are you ok?" Asuka asked, almost tempted to prod him with her foot.

At that moment Shinji rounded the corner, feigning surprise to find Asuka. 
He instantly felt a rush of adrenaline as he noticed the body laying at Asuka's
feet.

"Asuka! Are you ok?" Shinji spoke with trepidation as he ran towards the girl.

Snapping out of her daze, Asuka looked around quickly and frowned at the 
approaching boy. "What the hell are you doing here? Have you been following
me?!"

"W-What? No! I just went out for a walk." Looking down at the body and
occasionally glancing at Asuka out of the corner of his eye, he resisted the
urge to prod the body with his foot. "Who is this guy? Shouldn't we get him
some help? Is he dead?" He immediately jumped back as the body stirred briefly,
letting out another blood laced cough.

"You kids, get outta here. Take that case, it should give you a bunch of fun. 
I'm done with this game." Coughing up some more blood, the man had a serene 
smile on his face as his eyes softened.

Asuka and Shinji watched silently as the man's breathing slowed down, and then 
stopped. Deciding there was nothing they could do, except maybe prod the corpse
with their feet, Shinji phoned for an ambulance as Asuka continued to stare at
the body.


------


As Asuka and Shinji stepped through the doorway to their apartment, they were 
greeted by a frantic penguin flapping its wings and letting lose an awful din
of squawks. Shinji recognized the tone; this bird was hungry and he was mad. 
With Misato constantly at work and Asuka lacking any interest in the bird,
Penpen had to rely solely on Shinji being there to feed him.

Asuka watched Shinji go about the penguin feeding routine which he usually
performed every day. She was still lost in a daze as being interrogated by
police officers had been a daunting experience for the both of them. She had
taken charge of the interview at times and scared several police officers, but
she still felt worn out as the constant barrage of questions had left her brain
feeling numb. A small smile crept across her face as she realized they still
claimed the prize. After manufacturing a story about the suitcase belonging to
her and giving a few menacing glares to the third child, he unwillingly became
her accomplice in this act of deception. Patting the suitcase, she strode off
towards the lounge room preparing to examine the contents.

After the bird had been well fed and appeared to be content, Shinji solemnly
walked towards the lounge room in hopes of being welcomed by a soft comfortable
couch. He had been terrified during the police interview. Like a scared
rabbit, his eyes bounced back and forth between the interrogators and Asuka, as
one would be demanding answers and the other would be demanding allegiance.
Shinji and Asuka had shared all the information they knew with the police
officers and although they hadn't made a big deal over the case, he still felt
the guilt; the paranoia that there were now going to be further inquiries and
he was going to get found out. Asuka had coaxed him into playing along with
her lie. At times, Shinji didn't know which he feared more out of the police
or Asuka. Her body language was enough to beat him into submission.

A strange thought occurred to him, causing him to pause his thoughts. One of
the police officers had watched the suitcase at times, causing Shinji to panic
as he thought the man would get up and open it. But for some reason, they had
let Asuka take it. At the time he was too nervous to give it any extra
thought, but now, it struck him as very odd. He was just glad they didn't get
NERV involved, although, little to his knowledge and even the regular police
officer, the local authorities were mostly run and owned by NERV.

Upon entering the lounge room, he was not surprised to find Asuka sitting on 
the floor with the suitcase in front of her. She scratched her head and
frowned at the case.

"Probably thinking of how to shout it open" he muttered to himself bitterly.

Shinji deliberately fell back into the couch, enjoying the feeling of the brief
free fall and rush of wind. Plunging into the cushions, he shifted a little to
get into a comfortable position, then began searching the many crevices of the
couch for the remote control. Both children now mirrored each others quizzical
looks.

After several minutes of mutual frustrated grunting, Asuka stood up and gave
the case a kick. She looked over towards her fellow puzzle solver. "Hey
idiot. Give me a hand with this."

Much to the annoyance of Asuka, he took several moments to respond as he was
still engrossed with his search for the television remote.

"Huh?"

"Go find something to pry this open with!"

"What? Why should I? Your the one that wanted to keep it. I can't believe you
lied to the police for it!"

"Oh come on. That guy gave me this case, you saw that. Made it sound like
there was something good inside, don't ya think? Aren't you even a little
curious?"

"No! You made me lie! I can't belie-"

Asuka thrust her hands onto her hips and shouted "Oh shut up! Why do you have
to be so moralistic about everything! God, after all we do for this city,
don't you think we deserve a little fun? When was the last time you did
anything you enjoyed!?"

Briefly, Shinji recalled a memory of a kiss he had shared with Asuka, but he
did not mention this to the girl, as he feared for his life. He was still
confused by the event, and her motive, unsure if she actually liked him or if
it had just been a cruel trick. It had been quite painful to endure, as the
girl had held his nose tightly shut, rendering him unable to breath. But he
held out for as long as he could. Although he was hurt by her claiming disgust
at the kiss, he couldn't stop thinking about it. The warmth he felt from the
close proximity to her face, the extra detail of her features he was able to
observe, her warm breath brushing lightly across his cheek and the contact of
her soft lips; it harassed his mind constantly and he couldn't help but enjoy
the experience, even if it wasn't without some pain.

"Ummm. I don't know." He lied.

"See? So, let's open it up. Might have a load of drugs in it, wouldn't that be
fun?!"

"Asuka!"

"I'm kidding, jeez. You're really boring you know." Rolling her eyes, she
looked down at the case. "I bet it's money anyway."

About an hour later, Shinji watched as the lid was finally starting to move.
Asuka had the case wedged tightly between her legs, holding it firmly to keep
it still as she continued to pry at it with the metal bar. Shinji noted for a
moment that it seemed the case was currently the luckiest object in the world,
but then feeling ashamed, he started thinking about Angels and Evangelions to
take his mind off his impure thoughts and to chase off the blush that was
quickly forming on his cheeks.

With a loud crack, the lid of the case snapped open and the bar Asuka had been
using went flying out of her hands. Quickly removing her leg from the top
of the case to allow it to fully open, she grabbed the sides of the case and
gazed upon its contents.

"Yes! So. What..... Oh. My. God!"

Asuka's eyes widened as she took in the beautiful sight of hundreds of tightly
bound wads of cash. Running her finger along the edges of the notes, a large 
grin appeared on her face accompanied by a twinkle in her eye. 

"Shinji. There has got to be, I don't know how much, but its allot. I mean, a
hell of allot. My god. We're rich!"

Noticing a lack of response from her lesser partner in fortune, she turned
around to determine why he wasn't shrieking like a little school girl, as she
had anticipated. There lying on the ground unconscious was the third child
with the thin slab of metal lying next to his head. It didn't take her long to
deduce the reasons behind his lack of consciousness, after she noticed the small
trickle of blood coming from a small cut to the boys forehead. Feeling a
little panicked, she reached out to grab his hand, but upon seeing that he was
still breathing and emitting a small groan, she shrugged and went back to
counting the money.


------


"Ohhhh, my head." Shinji lightly rubbed the sore spot on his head as he slowly
followed Asuka down a pathway through the city. Looking up at her, he noticed
she seemed very happy, and although seeing her smile brought a sense of comfort
to him, he still wondered if she had a conscience. "Asuka, what are you going
to do with the money?"

"I already told you, we're putting it into the bank. Idiot!" She looked over
her shoulder. "Come on, hurry up!"

Shinji flinched as she yelled at him. "Ahh! Don't yell at me so loud. My 
head really hurts Asuka." Gripping his head a little tighter to try and keep
it from bursting, he gave the ground a pleading look and began to walk a little
faster, trying to express his pain and disinterest in their venture with every
step.

"Don't be such a baby. It was just a little smack to the head. Now, listen. I
have a brilliant idea that will save us so much work and give us time to do
allot of other fun stuff. I'm still pissed at missing the school trip." She
smiled brightly. "We could have our own trip to Okinawa."

It took Shinji a little while to figure out what the girl was saying, as she
had spoken so fast and without pause. He began to wonder if there had indeed
been drugs inside the case. Once his mind had interpreted the onslaught of 
words, he was surprised. Shinji thought the girl would never consider anything
else more interesting than piloting her EVA and battling Angels. Rubbing his
throbbing head a little more, he couldn't help but feel a little curious. He 
didn't want to pilot the EVA's, he had even tried to run away several times. 
Any idea of getting out of piloting had to be a good thing, so with some
reluctance and fear, he decided to go along with her plans. 

"What did you have in mind?" he asked with as much hesitation as possible.

Smiling brightly, which inadvertently caused Shinji's muscles to liquefy and
spawned a hoard of rampaging butterflies within his stomach, Asuka replied.
"You'll see." Stopping outside of a large building, she nodded to Shinji and
then to the building. "This is it."

Almost skipping through the door, she grabbed the boys hand and dragged him 
along, causing him to trip several times as they entered the quiet room. Guilt
began to seep back into Shinji's body as he saw the large overweight security
guard watching the pair. Having second thoughts, he tugged on Asuka's hand. 
Slapping his hand away, Asuka instantly realized the folly of her ignorance.

"You! Keep your hands off me!"

"But. But you-"

She quickly silenced him with a light smack across the head, igniting several
tons of explosives within his skull. The girl knew she had done wrong as she
watched him fall to the ground, clutching at his head. Briefly she felt
regret, but instantly recovered. "Get up and stop causing a scene!"

"Mghhphhhh!" He spluttered from the floor, rocking back and forth.

Rolling her eyes, she joined the queue for the bank tellers. Looking around, 
she was overwhelmed with boredom at the bland aesthetics of the bank. The
carpet was a light shade of blue and felt thin and solid under her feat. The
smooth rounded contours of the benches rendered them indistinguishable from the
walls. Even the employees matched the apathetic theme. The bank tellers all
donned horribly boring grey jackets and looked uninterested with everything
they were doing and everything the customer had to say. Customers were filing
in, and filing out, barely uttering a word except for a simple request.

Yawning, her eyes began to feel heavy. Looking behind her, she noticed her
roommate dragging himself up off the floor which brought a new train careening
through her current stagnant set of thoughts. Events of the day had certainly
changed things. This morning, she was outright ignoring Shinji, like she had
been doing allot lately. Asuka was adamantly going out of her way to make sure
he knew she didn't want anything to do with him. Lately, he had really been
getting on her nerves; the way he captivated everyone else's attention without
trying, the way he ignored her when she would tease him, the way he made her
look so weak and useless at piloting an Evangelion. Deep down somewhere, there
was a hope that it was just temporary. She found him amusing at times, fun to
tease and sometimes even his company did appeal to her. But since things
started falling apart again, any chances of a friendship quickly diminished as
she put her vicious defenses on high alert. However, that hope had been
rewarded a little since the case. It was a distraction she needed.

Something had gone right for Asuka and she remembered what it was like when she
was happy. It changed her perspective on things substantially, plainly showing
her how silly it was to mope around and that it was quite easy to be happy. 
Her feelings of self loathing, that Shinji and many others suffered for, were
silenced for now, all thanks to the bundle of joy attached to her arm. It
wasn't the thought of what she would spend the money on, or the fact that she
was rich. Simply, it was the fact that after all the recent things going
wrong, something had turned to her favor, which meant that it could happen
again.

"Next."

Even though the voice was plain and monotonous, it startled Asuka from her dream
state. Glancing over at the source of the voice, she strode with strong 
determination towards the bank teller.

"I'd like to make a deposit please." Asuka beamed at the older woman behind the
glass.

The woman regarded Asuka and her case indignantly. As Asuka lifted the case
lid, her eyes widened. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Asuka, being a very intelligent fourteen year old, expected this "No, its not
a joke. We're from NERV." She quickly handed over her identification card to
give the woman proof.

Nodding, the woman took the case from her. "You want this deposited to your 
account?"

"Nah, put a quarter of it into jerk faces account." A quick gesture with her 
thumb indicated she was referring to Shinji, who was now standing behind 
her "Go on, give her your card!"

Shinji reluctantly handed his card over to the woman. Glancing from the card to
the boy several times, she placed it on top of Asuka's card and picked up a 
phone beside her. "This will just take a moment."

Asuka nodded. Her vision wandered about the room, staring vacantly around the
bank as the lady spoke quietly into the phone. Suddenly, she was aware of a
man standing beside her. Looking over, she became a little nervous as she
noticed he was dressed in a sharp black suit. Her fears were alleviated when
she saw the flower sticking out of his jacket pocket, and the smile the man had
on display.

"Please madam and sir, if you will follow me."

They were led into a large room filled with expensive looking furniture.
Several leather couches circling a low glass table sat on top of a large,
extravagantly patterned rug. About the rim of the table were deeply set
computer terminals each giving access to the bank's online services. A large
screen hung from a wall as it gave the latest financial news and the current
share prices flowed along the bottom of the screen. About the television sat
several high ferns in clear glass pots, set low into the shiny wooden floor. As
if to help the plants counter the technological theme of this room, several old
and expensive paintings adorned the walls.


"Please, make yourselves comfortable here while we process your deposit. Feel 
free to let me know if there's anything I can get you while you wait, and we 
thank you for your business." The man bowed and walked out of the room.

"Wonder what this room is for?" Asuka muttered to herself.

Shinji instantly sat down on a couch rubbing his head as it throbbed angrily at
him. Like most times when he was surrounded with silence and nothing to keep
his mind busy, he began thinking about the angels again. The last angel attack
was interesting, to say the least. Shinji had tried to run away, but when he
saw the decapitated Evangelion belonging to Asuka, followed by Rei's selfless
kamikaze style attack, he found a new resolve to return and fight harder than
he had ever fought before, even if it meant hurting others. Following in his
mother's footsteps, Shinji had been absorbed during this battle when his
Evangelion went berserk. Unlike his mother though, he had returned a month
later. To him, the time spent in his state of questionable existence was over
in an instant, like going to sleep and waking from a dream. The only things
he could remember were emotions, and a particular scent that seemed very
familiar.

Asuka wandered about the room, running her finger along the frames of several 
paintings, vacantly examining their shapes and colors.

"Shinji, you have always wanted to leave NERV, haven't you?" Asuka tried to 
use as little emotion possible in the question, but it was such a personal 
topic that he couldn't help but feel she was suddenly digging into his soul.

Slowly, he masticated her question with a grim determination to compose a
response that lacked stupidity. "I guess". He mentally kicked himself 
hard at his failure.

"Oh come on. You have run away a few times now, haven't you?" As he nodded
slowly, avoiding her gaze, she folded her arms and continued "Your father is
an asshole, you almost killed your best friend-" Noticing the pained
expression developing on his face, she rolled her eyes and spoke louder,
quickly interrupting any depressing thoughts that were forming "Not that it was
your fault! Stupid. And you were stuck inside your EVA for a month! Don't you
get sick of being messed up like this all the time?"

Shinji's gaze remained transfixed on the floor as his face was overcome with
sadness. He suddenly looked like a child who had just been caught drawing on a
wall with crayons.

"Well, I'll let you know my plan to get us out of piloting for a while ok? I
will need your help to pull it off, so you get to be part of it too. What do
you say?"

"Umm, Asuka?" Slowly, he raised his head up and looked at her with eyes that
were still hinting at some sadness, but were also slowly becoming curious.
"Why don't you want to pilot anymore? I thought-"

Asuka quickly cut him off. "Are you in, or not?!"

Taking a moment to try and figure out what she could be hiding, he decided her
reasons to be beyond his comprehension, so he threw any further queries out the
window. "Fine"

Asuka smiled proudly, infecting Shinji with a small, yet nervous smile of his
own. "Right, lets go over a few things."


------


"You have got to be joking. Dummy plugs, based on you two?" Dr. Ritsuko was
on the verge of calling security and having the two children tossed out into
the streets. Things had been going bad for the woman lately. With her lover
paying her very little attention, she was distracted from her work. Even her
best friend had been nagging at her, trying to pry secrets that kept her own
job and life safe. Her lack of sleep also added to the stress, so furiously
stubbing out her cigarette into an overflowing ash tray, the woman glared at
the children.

"Look, I shouldn't even be having this conversation with you kids. And just
where did you get that kind of information? What makes you think dummy plugs
are based on anyone?"

Asuka frowned a little. "I've read all about them and how they work. It was
within my security clearance. You transfer personalities to them right? We
want you to use ours."

Ritsuko sighed lightly. She had forgotten about the falsified reports on that
particular technology that they had released for their own personnel to read
after the last terrible incident involving the dummy plug system.

"Well, what the hell do you think this is. If we could just make dummy plugs
to pilot EVA, don't you think we would have done it by now? I mean, you saw
what happened with the prototype." She gave Shinji a look, which she regretted
as she saw the pain laying openly on his face.

Shinji had been strongly against Asuka's plan. The instant she mentioned dummy
plugs to replace them as pilots, he became so livid with anger he was barely
able to continue the conversation. Asuka had convinced him by mentioning that
if it were their own personalities in the dummy plugs, they would be more
humane towards their targets, instead of the monster that was unleashed that
day and almost destroyed Shinji's friend, Touji Suzahara.

"Look, I am not going to dignify this preposterous request with any further
discussion. You two, get out." Pointing at the doorway, Ritsuko's attention
was suddenly caught by the small case Asuka had quickly placed in front of her.

"What's this?"

"A little incentive?" Asuka wasn't totally unfamiliar with bribery. Having 
never actually tried with money before, the concepts were not foreign. After 
all, she had managed to get a host of boys to submit to her will many times in
the past. She saw it as the same equation, with her beauty replaced by the 
briefcase, and the boys substituted with a very suspicious scientist.

Opening the case up, Ritsuko's eyes widened in wonder at the small hoard of
cash before her.

"What-" She paused her sentence to pick up a wad of cash, turning it over
in her hand, scrutinizing it with all her powers of suspicion and paranoia. 
"Asuka, what the hell is this. Where did you kids get this money from?"

Asuka didn't hesitate with her lie. "A relative just passed away and I
received allot of money as my inheritance."

Ritsuko blinked as the doubt renewed itself in her mind. Although she
was oblivious to most things going on with the rest of the world due to
her obsessive devotion to her job, she knew that money wasn't really all
that common amongst the general public. After second impact, the population
had been cut by several billion and hence, there weren't many people to make
money off anymore. Of course, she knew there were a few exceptions to the
rule.

Ritsuko tried to sound as doubtful as possible. "Really?" 

Asuka simply nodded. Shinji remained silent, fidgeting with a shirt button. 
Ritsuko could have sworn he had moved closer to the door since she last looked
at him. For a brief moment, Ritsuko thought she might actually check into
Asuka's lineage, but after thinking about how little she got paid for how much
she was doing at NERV, that information quickly became irrelevant.

Staring at the money, it seemed to fill her vision, the surrounding images
replaced with darkness and then being padded out by the recurring pattern of
the notes. Suddenly, the realization hit her. Ritsuko hated her job. She
felt like she was just being used in her current position and her treatment
by the Commander as a side mistress was infuriating. Before her now lay the
ticket out of here to enjoy the remainder of her life, even if it were to be
shortened by the commander's plans. As images of herself sitting on a beach
somewhere far away crossed her mind, her resolve strengthened.

Calling Ritsuko a genius was an insult to the woman. Her mental capacity was
immeasurable, her ability to look at a situation and come up with a solution -
that sometimes seemed so absurd that it didn't belong in a cartoon - was
uncanny. Before her lay just another problem. It was obvious to her what
Asuka and Shinji were asking for. This particular puzzle was a trivial matter
compared with other things she was faced with in her line of work, so quickly
putting together a small abstract plan, she nodded to the pair.

"I have just the thing. We can forget about the dummy plugs." Although, she
was amused at the similarity between the two ideas which no one else was aware
of. "I hope you two don't hold too strongly to those old ethics on cloning or
soul synthesis." Not usually one to have a problem with self confidence when
it came to her work, Ritsuko felt strangely uncomfortable. The ideas were so
simple to her, but they had never been attempted due to a lack of funds for
research filed under 'other'.

Asuka's mind slowly worked away as she frowned hard at the floor, trying to 
contemplate the doctors not too subtle hint. It didn't take her long to
realize what she was insinuating. Shinji just heard the word ethics and
decided he would rather stick to the old saying 'ignorance is bliss'. His
objections at participating in their plans were renewed as he saw the grins on
the two women, who now appeared before him as witches plotting his own moral
demise.

"You mean you can actually do that? But, wouldn't that take years or
something?" Asuka spoke with clear disappointment.

Ritsuko took a mouthful of coffee before replying. "Not necessarily. I
have a few... things I have already been working on. I could have some ready
in a week or so."

"That would be great!"

"Right." Taking another look at the cash and rubbing the wad of notes in her
hand, she nodded. "I accept. But, I need to get a few things straight with
you two first. This conversation never took place. You have never given me any
money. If anyone comes asking anything about me, you claim ignorance. And do
not ask me any questions about anything. The less you know, the easier this
will be to pull off." Watching with a concerned look, she nodded after
deciding they had absorbed her words long enough.

"Come with me, lets get started"


------


Asuka groaned loudly "We've been walking forever! How much further is it?"

Ritsuko took her glasses off and gently rubbed her eyes. Asuka's constant
nagging had been gnawing on her frayed nerves and were verging on breaking
through the surface to receive a nasty shock. Forcing down the mounting 
tension yet again, she sighed. "Not far."

"Hmmph, that's what you said 3 hours ago" Asuka glared at the back of the 
woman's head, hoping it may have an effect on the woman to either extract 
the truth, or to hurry her up.

Shinji looked up to see why the pair had stopped. He felt a little nervous
as Ritsuko tapped a combination into a keypad beside a door in front of them.
Any time they passed a camera, Shinji couldn't help but feel that he was being
watched. The blue and red lights in some corridors appeared to him as police
lights and he was constantly expecting to be arrested.

"Finally!" Asuka said, as the door slid open.

Stepping inside, the three were engulfed in stuffy darkness, which was further
made uncomfortable as the door closed behind them. Shinji noted the air was
musty and stale, but there was a vague odor that resembled LCL. Suddenly,
dull orange lights flickered to life in various locations about the room,
followed by an assortment of computer screens flashing login prompts. Cables,
tubes and circuit boards littered the floors and benches. It was the large
object in the center that captured their attention the most. There before them
was a large cylindrical tube, standing vertically. It appeared large enough to
contain a small adult and was filled with liquid that looked like LCL. Above
the tube were attached many large pipes that trailed off in various directions
to be absorbed by the ceiling. Along the walls were several similar tubes, but
the attachments were smaller and less in number, except for several larger
pipes around the base, which the central tube had lacked.

"What is this place?" Shinji had been the first to break the silence.

Ritsuko looked up at him from the computer she was working feverishly at.
"This is just one of my experimental labs. Allot of cloning technology
was started here, but we don't use it much anymore." She didn't bother
to mention the production lab that was deeper down within NERV headquarters.

Realizing he was getting no further responses from the woman, his eyes
began to wander about the room again. Looking over to his side, he noticed
Asuka was silently doing the same.

"Ok, now this is going to take a little while." Ritsuko took her glasses
off and began to rub them with her lab coat. "First, Asuka, take off your
clothes."

The instant she finished speaking, Asuka's face went bright red. "What the
hell is it with you guys wanting to get us naked?! It's sick!" Folding her
arms and closing her eyes, she turned her nose up and away from Shinji "He
better not be looking! Can't he wait outside or something?"

Sighing as she put her glasses back on, and having her desires to never have
children reaffirmed, she replied impatiently "Yes yes. Shinji, wait outside.
I'll come and get you when its your turn".

"Ok" Shinji slowly walked out of the room and stood next to the closing door,
leaning up against the wall. Fear struck him as he thought about his father
discovering their plan. His conviction to help Asuka was beginning to waiver
as the paranoid thoughts of all the possible negative outcomes sat burning
inside his head.

After both children had taken turns at being put inside the tube while Ritsuko
ran a series of commands through several computers, they were ushered out 
towards the exit. All three appeared a little nervous every time a guard
passed them, or each time they would spot a camera in the ceiling.

"Right, I'll call back as soon as they are ready. As long as there are no
angel attacks between now and then, it shouldn't take too long. Some of these
techniques are a little experimental, and the materials.... Never mind, just
get out of here and do not talk to anyone about this. I mean this very
seriously when I say, your lives and mine could be in danger if any of this 
were to slip."

Ritsuko watched the pair leave. Frowning, she realized how much extra work
she had just created for herself and how dangerous it was going to be. Her
hand's dropped into her pockets as she decided it would all be worth it with
the amount of money currently sitting in her office. It had been a relatively
easy decision to make, as she had been feeling rather apathetic towards NERV
and her assigned projects lately. Her desires to do something drastic to make
a point or to expose some of the commanders secrets were going to be fulfilled
and she would be making a profit out of it too. "Ha, bastard. This is going
to be perfect. You're going to regret choosing her over me."


------


Misato Katusragi slumped against the steering wheel of her car as its engine
became silent. She let out a small groan as the silence and lack of movement
inside the car seemed to magnify the fatigue she was feeling, bringing about a
ringing in her ears. Spending several minutes like this, she finally got out
of her car and slowly walked towards the elevator towards her apartment, until
a familiar black car caught her attention off in the distance.

"What are they doing here?" She muttered to herself as she altered her
direction and began a brisk pace towards the car.

As she got close to the vehicle, she noticed it was empty and both of the doors
were open. Stopping abruptly and frowning, she retrieved a gun from under her
jacket and started glancing about. Spotting something, she ran towards a patch
of dense grass and stopped as she came upon a body dressed in a black suit,
wearing black glasses. The man's neck had been cut in a neat arc that went
right around the front, just below his chin.

"Damn. Who would want...Shit! The children!"

Frantically, Misato ran back towards the apartment and took the stairs up to
her floor. Noticing the door to her unit was shut, she cursed as she
fumbled through her pockets for her swipe card. Finally locating it, she
ran the card through the slot by the door. The sound from the electronic
devices disposed of any chances of a furtive entrance, so she ran without
hesitation into the apartment, quickly checking around corners for would be
attackers.

The first door she stopped at belonged to Shinji. Standing still for a brief
moment to compose herself and steady her gun, she slammed the door open and 
stepped into the room with her gun drawn and ready to fire.

Shinji had heard the front door open and since he didn't hear anyone call out,
he had grown a little nervous. When the door was thrown open and the gun
wielding woman stepped in, his first reaction had been to back up into the
corner on his bed where he had been laying.

Shinji panicked. "I'm sorry! You can have it back, I didn't... I... Misato?"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Misato lowered her gun.

"Sorry. Where's Asuka?" Misato began hurriedly walking out of the room, but
lingered as she awaited a response from the boy.

"She's in her room I think. Or out with Hikari again. I'm not sure."

"Shit." Misato quickly ran to Asuka's room.

Slamming her door open, Misato quickly stepped into Asuka's room and was
instantly relieved to see the girl laying on her bed reading a magazine.

Without looking up, Asuka spoke calmly while flipping a page in her magazine
roughly. "Oh, please come in Misato. Don't worry about knocking."

"What's going on Misato?" Shinji spoke timidly from behind the woman. Slowly,
he took a step into the girls room to see what the woman was so excited about.

"Don't mind me you guys, just make yourselves at home. It is just my room."
Anger was starting to build up in the red haired girl as the intruders were
failing to register the sarcasm she was laying on as thickly as she could.

Slamming the magazine shut, she glared at the pair. "Idiots! What are you
doing in my room?!"

Misato spoke as she left the room hurriedly. "Something's happened kids. I
need to make a phone call."

Quickly dialing a number, Misato paced around her room as the phone rang.
Pausing a moment, she stared sadly at the answering machine sitting on her desk
that still contained a single message. It never failed to bring about the
stinging sensation from the threat of tears.

Misato's concentration turned back to the phone call she was attempting to
make as she heard a click, followed by a deep monotonous voice. "Section 2."

"This is Major Katsuragi. What the hell are you guys doing?! We have one man
down by my apartment and he's from your section. I don't know the location of
the his partner, but I need extra men down here right away."

"Status of the attackers?"

"Unknown. I didn't see anyone. We will need to beef up security on the
children right away, this could have been an attempt on their lives."

"Backup is on the way."

Breathing out again to relief some of the tension, Misato made one last demand
before hanging up. "I want no less than four men on guard, twenty four hour
watch, ok? Bye."

"Misato? What's going on?" Shinji stood in her doorway, looking a little
confused.

Misato started to question the worth of letting Shinji know about the death
of a security guard outside their apartment. Her feelings were that he was
under enough stress as it is, so she considered just keeping it a secret from
the boy. It was a tough choice for the woman though, as it was the secrets
she had kept from Shinji that were tearing at the thinning strands of their
relationship.

"Someone from section 2 got hurt. I'm not sure who did it, but it wasn't
good."

"Oh. Are they ok?"

The silence from the woman was enough of a response for him. "Oh."

"Listen Shinji, you guys need to be careful. I don't know who did that, but
just keep an eye open for anything out of the ordinary, and don't do anything
stupid."

"Like that's hard for him to do." Asuka rudely interrupted the conversation,
barging into the room and pushing past Shinji. "So, what's going on. Why are
you running around waving your gun at teenagers?"

"Someone killed an agent outside." As Misato finished her sentence, Asuka's
eyes widened a little. "We're going to step up security a bit. I have no
idea what's going on, but you kids need to be careful."

"What ever." Asuka began leaving the room.

"Asuka, this is serious. Someone is dead!"

Once the area had been searched and the guard's took up their new positions,
Misato walked back into the apartment and groaned. "God, more paper work. 
There is just no end to it. Kids, I'm going to do some work in my room."

With that, Misato stepped into her room and shut the door behind her.
"May as well get a little sleep first." She muttered. Falling face forward
onto the bed, she let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes and went to
sleep.

------

Asuka had found it difficult to restrain herself from spending recklessly with
her money, but she and Shinji had agreed to keep their new found wealth a
secret, mainly to keep any unwanted attention at bay while they were involved
with Ritsuko and the cloning plan, especially now that section two were
watching them closely. Regardless of their agreement, Asuka had been spoiling
herself quite often when she knew no one was watching. She went out
occasionally for an expensive meal, sometimes taking Hikari along and telling
her it was Misato's payment for being such a good pilot. Her wardrobe was
bulging dangerously, but she hardly wore her new clothing, feeling it would
definately give her away. Shinji's constant battle with his conscience was put
on hold momentarily when he managed to subdue the nagging voice long enough to
purchase a new album for his SDAT player.

Asuka tapped her foot impatiently, the look on her face was mixed between
excitement and annoyance. Shinji stood silently next to her, staring at the
floor of the dark passage. A low humming sound of equipment hidden away within
the depths of the NERV base could be heard, which Shinji found strangely
unsettling. He was still waiting for the police to come and take him away and 
charge him for grand theft.

"Ok, come in."

Asuka instantly jumped through the doorway and gasped as she saw herself
floating motionlessly in a tube. Besides having shorter hair than Asuka, the
clone was a perfect match. Continuing to scrutinize the Dr's handy work, she
noted their figures were identical; legs, arms, shoulders, breasts. The last
realization hit her like a brick against the head and she quickly reacted by
jumping on Shinji, knocking him to the floor as she slapped her hand over his
eyes.

"They're naked!" Asuka shouted at Ritsuko.

"Hey, get off me! I wasn't looking" Shinji squirmed under the girls weight,
but his efforts were futile. "Mine is naked too you know!"

Asuka had already noticed this and was still noticing as she absently punched 
the boy in the arm. "You better not stare at her, you pervert!"

"I promise, now get off me please?"

Ritsuko shook her head as she watched the pair get up off the floor. Both
seemed to be concealing a blush. "Kids" she muttered to herself.

"Right, now help me get them out and onto the tables."

"What!? You're not thinking of letting this pervert get his hands all over my 
body are you?" Asuka was glaring furiously at the blond woman.

"Asuka. Could you please just stop acting like a-" Ritsuko rolled her eyes
and began walking towards the tube containing Asuka's clone. "Never mind. Just
come over here and help me will you? Shinji-" Pausing her steps and frowning,
she took a few seconds to consider the red heads requests "Push that table over
here. And avert your eyes or something, ok?"

Shinji nodded and slowly began pushing a silver table on wheels towards the
tube. He was taking every precaution to ensure he didn't catch sight of the
naked Asuka floating in the orange liquid. It took allot of willpower, but the
thoughts of what she would do to him helped. Seeking a distraction, he began
examining the shiny metallic table he was pushing. Attached to its side were
several electronic devices and poles. Swinging gently from the tops of the
poles were several bags filled with various liquids. Each had a small tube
which trailed down the attached pole and came to an end on the table. Shinji
was no stranger to this type of equipment, as he often woke up amongst the same
devices after each Angel attack.

A loud swooshing sound permeated the air as the LCL was drained out of the
tube, causing the body to slump to the bottom of the tube with a wet thud.
Ritsuko tapped carelessly away on another computer, causing the glass
surrounding the body to recede into the floor. Finally, she walked over and
examined the unconscious girl. Asuka stood perfectly still as she watched the
doctor examine the pale, limp body. 

"Is...Is she dead?" Asuka whispered.

After poking at the body with several instruments, Dr. Akagi propped the
unconscious girl up into a sitting position. Asuka immediately walked over,
trying to stand in between the naked girl and Shinji. She was entranced by the
girl before her, wondering what she would be like when awake. It felt eerily
surreal to watch; she felt a little detached from the scene as she watched the
doctor handling what looked like her own corpse.

"She's fine. Now, grab her legs and lets get her up onto the table."

With that, they both effortlessly hauled the girl up and onto the table.
Several minutes passed as the doctor attached many cables and tubes to the
clone. Meanwhile, Asuka located a large green sheet from underneath the table
and covered up the naked girl's more sensitive areas. She was still lost for
words and had a look of awe on her face as she continued to watch.

"What will she be like?" Asuka inquired.

Ritsuko was heavily engrossed in her work and took a few moments to respond.
"Well, I didn't do a very thorough transfer. They will only recollect recent
memories. Deeper, subconscious areas of the mind are a bit trickier and
require allot of time. So, it will be just memories that you two have been
experiencing over the last few years, as a rough guess. There is no real way to
tell, until they wake up. It's not an exact science."

Connecting a few more cables to devices strewn about the area, Ritsuko
continued. "For a while, these two will be very." Pausing, she glanced at
the ceiling as if it would give her the words she sought. " They could be
very emotional. Well, I mean. They are loaded with hormones at the moment,
so they will probably be a little hard to control at times."

Asuka frowned as she pondered the implications of the Doctor's words. Ritsuko
leaned over the unconscious girl and flicked a series of switches, then brought
out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. 

"Right, here we go. Asuka, get ready to hold her down."

Slowly, she brought the needle up to a tube attached to the girls chest.
Ritsuko flicked a switch, causing the girls body to spasm a little as she
inserted the needle into the end of the tube. She closed her eyes and grimaced
as she sent the clear liquid on its way to the girls blood stream.

"Hope this works" she thought silently to herself as she depressed a switch on
one of the devices hooked up to the girl.

Suddenly, the girl woke up with a loud, drawn out gasp for air. Asuka panicked
and slammed her back down onto the gurney with unintentional force. Realizing
what she had done, Asuka put a hand to her mouth as she watched the clone stare
at the roof, motionless.

"Did I kill her?" she whispered.

Ritsuko was busy typing in a series of commands into a nearby terminal. Looking
up at the equipment, she shook her head in response. Shinji was currently
pleading with a patch of wall to hold his attention and thus save him from the
girls wrath. Asuka wasn't paying him an ounce of attention however, she was
still gaping at the catatonic girl and hoping it wasn't broken.

Asuka let out a small yelp as the eyes she had been staring into blinked. 
Ritsuko quickly came across to the table and began adjusting a clamp on one of
the tubes attached to the girls arms. Slowly, the doctor took her hands away
from all of the equipment, and watched as her creation gained consciousness.

Slowly, the pale girl's eyes began blinking and turning about in their sockets,
testing their limits and trying to focus on the ceiling. Moments later, the
female clone's head began to turn about awkwardly, as though it were trying to
roll away.

Ritsuko noticed the curious look on Asuka's face. "They may be a little stupid
at first. But it won't take long for them to learn things." She added a silent
prayer that this wouldn't turn out to be a lie.

Shinji could no longer contain his curiosity. Deciding he would just take a
small peek at the events taking place behind him. A little fear crossed his
mind as he saw the girl struggling to move. Small gurgling sounds escaped her
mouth as her head was still slowly turning back and forth with eyes rolling
back into her head every now and again.

"What the hell is this? I didn't pay you good money to create a couple of
retards!" Asuka had now lost her interest in the clone and was staring
murderously at Ritsuko.

"Asuka, calm down. I am sure that her brain is functional. The readings
I am getting show some fairly standard activity." Ritsuko tapped a monitor with
her pen. "Just give her some more time." Sighing to herself, Ritsuko was a
little worried. The technology she had based her experiment on was
experimental itself. It was a miracle she had even gotten this to work at all,
and being the paranoid type, this concerned her. She wasn't totally sure how
it would turn out in the long run, but she was certain that problems would have
to show up sooner or later. Especially if the Commander found out, which she
knew was just a matter of time.

"While she is waking up, lets get Shinji's clone up and going."

Minutes later, the same process was repeated for the male figure floating in
the liquid filled tube. Asuka's attention was focused solely on her clone as
Ritsuko and Shinji worked on a separate table to revive the unconscious boy.

"Whhhhheerrr."

All heads instantly locked onto the source of the noise. The female clone had
sat up and was currently struggling to speak.

"Whhherrrreee. Am." Finding it difficult to continue, she slowly tapped
herself on the chest and shivered slightly.

It took Asuka several moments to get over the initial shock, until she finally
spoke "Your in a lab. Don't worry, we will be out of here soon. As soon as
moron and his stupid clone are done."

Shinji looked down at his clone, who was currently trying to form different
shapes with his mouth. Every now and again a sound would escape, but no words
were coming yet.

"Well, its obvious these clones take after their originals. See how smart mine
is? And Shinji's hasn't even worked out how to sit up yet! Ha!"

"Shinnnnji?" The clone turned her head and was now staring intently at the pair
of boys. The sheet that had been covering her fell down, revealing her upper 
body. Blushing, Asuka quickly covered her back over. Ritsuko chuckled as she
saw Shinji quickly look away and blush.

Narrowing her eyes at Shinji, Asuka spoke to her clone "Yeh, that's him. But
you can call him idiot."

Asuka became a little nervous as a faint smile began forming on the naked
girl's mouth. She became furious the longer her clone continued to stare at
the boy. Quickly, she snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Hey! I was talking to you." Once she had the girls attention, Asuka crossed
her arms and spoke with a haughty air. "Now look. We have to get out of here
soon, so you better figure out how to walk, ok?"

"Asuka? Sorry?"

Both Asuka and Dr Akagi were stunned as they turned their heads towards the
pair of boys. It wasn't Shinji who had spoken, but Shinji's clone.

"What the hell?! His spoke much quicker than mine! Great, you really did give 
mine a mental disorder, didn't you! Is this because of that time I hid your 
cigarettes?"

"Asuka, I told you. They are both perfectly healthy. It just looks like
Shinji's has remembered how to speak allot quicker than yours."

"Shinji?" the red haired clone again began staring over at the boys.

"Stop staring and stop saying his name. You call him Ideeeeot! Ok?"

"No. It is Shinji." She shook her head slowly.

"Well, at least their memory seems in order." Ritsuko said brightly, with a
smirk present on her face.

"Arggh!" Asuka balled her fists up as her face went red with anger.

Ritsuko chuckled to herself and began attaching a system of cables with pins on
the ends to clones' arms and legs.

"What's this for?" both Shinji and Asuka asked in unison.

The clones merely watched the pins being pushed through their skin, not showing
any hint of discomfort.

"Just going to give their muscles a little more incentive to move." Pressing
a switch, Shinji gasped as he saw his clone's leg spasm. "Don't worry, this
process isn't anything new to them. I used a similar procedure on them all
through out their growth, to help develop their muscles. This is just the 
finishing touch."

Several hours passed as Ritsuko worked hard with the children to get the clones
on their own feet. Her stress levels were mounting as the minutes ticked by.
She knew she had to hurry as although she was one of the more important people
around NERV, no one was allowed to go around the depths of the installation for
too long unchecked.

"There. Now, this is so important, I can't stress it enough. Do not" she
paused for emphasis "Do not get caught together, without one of you wearing
these." Handing each a mask, one male and one female, she placed her hands
deep in her pockets to admire her handiwork one last time. "I will be keeping
an eye on you children. You don't realize what a risk I am taking by doing
all of this. I just hope you can keep them hidden from Misato. She has been
extra nosey lately."

Ritsuko began entering commands into a terminal, then quickly began walking
towards the exit. "I should be able to keep security out of our way so you can
exit the base. But we have to hurry, The camera's will go back on soon."

To give further ammunition to her plan for revenge on the Commander, Ritsuko
decided to give the children information that would steer his plans in a
different direction.

On their way through the labyrinth, Ritsuko gave a very cryptic explanation of
hypothetical situations that may take place in the future, regarding angels and
the commander's plans. A more detailed explanation of the SEELE organization
was given however, and how it had a stranglehold on NERV that the commander
was doing his best to remove on his own. Ritsuko didn't tell them about the
commanders own motives however. Both SEELE and Ikari required the use of
the same devices to manifest their plans, stopping one essentially meant
stopping the other.

"Why are you telling us all this?" Shinji asked. "I thought the less we knew,
the better off we would be?"

Ritsuko grinned evilly. Her conscience remained silent, as both her and the
children would benefit from the commander's loss. "Oh no, I haven't even
begun to tell you anything. That was just a little bit of advice, to maybe
allow you two a chance at stopping... something tragic from happening." 

Deciding the exit was clear, they began to prepare for the walk home. Shinji
watched the girl as she placed her mask on. Examining his own mask, he rubbed
it between his fingers to feel the smooth latex feel, admiring how lifelike it
appeared, and yet how cold and slimy it was to touch. Quickly, they slipped
out the doors and ran off into the city, each dragging their clone along with
them.

Ritsuko watched with a blank face as the four children left, the full
realization of what she had done finally hitting her. Shaking her head, she
slowly walked back into the darkness, muttering. "What the hell have I done?"



To be continued......


-----------------------------


goatherder