Fuyutsuki continued to stare daggers at the three young pilots before him as he awaited an answer. His words still echoed in the children's ears, and their eyes betrayed a bit of fear; the sub-commander had never been this angry. Fuming, he shouted again.

"I want an answer for this! What on God's green earth compelled you to carry out this…this…ATROCITY?"

Behind him, a screen flickered with an odd video. In the streets of Tokyo-3, Unit 01 spun rapidly on its back, limbs at garish angles, as Units 02 and 00 knelt nearby. Commander Ikari spoke quietly from behind his folded hands.

"Shinji," he asked, "what is this I am looking at?"

Shinji looked nervously at his feet, trembling as he answered his father.

"Unit 01 is…b-breakdancing?" The commander smiled slightly.

"Clearly. But why? Perhaps the pilot of Unit 01 would know."

"It was all Asuka's idea! She laid down a challenge, and I had no choice."

"Pilot Sohryu, is this true?"

Asuka smirked and crossed her arms defiantly as she spoke.

"Yeah, and the punk got smoked."

Withdrawing his palm from his forehead, Fuyutsuki turned to the silent Rei.

"I expect nonsense from those two, but how did they involve you too?"

She replied matter-of-factly, "I went along to observe the Evangelions' utility in such a capacity. The system's ability to breakdance has never been accurately tested."

A quiet ringing cut through the new silence, from the phone atop the commander's desk. He answered, and was soon finished.

"The UN called. They want us to ensure that "pilot error" will never again factor into losses or damages they incur. Fuyutsuki, implement plan PI-75."

Fuyutsuki reached for a folder from the commander's desk, read through it, and turned to face the three children.

"As of this moment you are relieved of your positions as Evangelion pilots. All missions will now be conducted by the dummy plug systems. You will leave on the next available flight to the US at NERV's expense for training by their military forces."

He looked up from the folder, scowling at the confused ex-pilots.

"Military? But we're pilots, not soldiers," Asuka whined. "Why do we need to learn to be soldiers?"

"You may have been relieved as a pilot, but you are still in NERV's employ, and you take orders from us. This is your mission now, so get used to it."

Asuka sighed sharply, and looked away in defiance. The commander put up a hand to silence Fuyutsuki, and spoke.

"Your flight leaves in twenty minutes. You won't be needing any baggage. Move out."

The three children made their way through NERV's halls, saying goodbyes to the staff. Misato stopped them on the tarmac, pulling them aside before they embarked.

"Listen, you may not like this, but they're right when they say it's your mission, and you need to honor that fact. Believe me when I say that you three really do need this. Shinji, I'm glad to finally say this: you are a spineless little kid who's never going to become much of a man without a kick in the ass that we're too concerned for your well-being to give. You need this confidence that they'll give you. Asuka, you need to fix that haughty attitude of yours before it gets you or someone you know killed, and the superiority complex needs killing too. And Rei… Rei, you… you need to stop whispering all the time, and stand up for yourself. Kind of like Shinji over there, but not so pathetic. Now get on that plane, and don't come back until you're done with the training! Also, take these."

She reached into her jacket pocket, and pulled out something small and yellow. She gave one to Asuka, who held it up quizzically.

"What's this? A…is this supposed to be a fish? It's just plastic, right?"

"That's a little something Dr. Akagi cooked up especially for plan PI-75. I've got one for each of you; be careful, these are the only ones in the world that we know of."

"So what is it?"

"Ritsuko called it a 'Babel Fish' apparatus, I think. It's so you can understand and speak to the personnel in the US."

"So do you just speak into it, or what?"

"No, actually; you stick it in your ear. The other half is a small implant we installed in your brains when you joined. Makes sense?"

"Yeah, I guess so. So we just…" She wedged the small yellow stub into her ear. "You just talk?"

"That's right. The earpiece will translate incoming messages, and the brain chip will translate your outgoing messages without you even knowing. Now get on that plane; PI-75 is a time-sensitive operation!"

The three entered the belly of the tilt-rotor aircraft, but Shinji turned back to face Misato as the hatch slowly rose.

"Misato, what does the PI in PI 75 stand for?"

She smiled sadly as she waved goodbye. "Parris Island."

Shinji was puzzled, and went to his seat, contemplating what it could be. He had heard the name before, but where? He looked at the seats facing his, where Asuka and Rei sat, looking back at him.

"Saying goodbye again? So sad, little Shinji, so far from home…"

"That's not it… Asuka, what's Parris Island?"

Her eye twitched as she heard the words. "Verdammten Scheiss…" Her eyes glazed over as she seemed to imagine something disturbing.

"Asuka? … Asuka? What's the matter? What is it?"