A/N: CrossFaded: "Evangel" is a... call it a nickname. It was adapted because it was slightly more... complete than "Eva", and "Evangelion" is too many syllables to be commonly used.

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Ch2

THE THRESHOLD

X-X-X

2004

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Though his white gloves were perhaps slightly odd, everyone wore sunglasses in Tokyo-3's perma-summer. Almost nothing about the man seemed exceptional. Nothing about him would make someone look twice.

However, to those that knew him, Gendo Ikari was anything but ordinary. Behind those mirrored orange sunglasses ticked a mind on par with Einstein and Tesla combined, but his genius lay not in any science. Though he was hardly ignorant of the biotechnology they worked on he knew well enough to leave the true intricacies to his wife, or Dr. Naoko Akagi.

No, Gendo's real talent lay in strategy, tactics, and the mechanics of power. He was the unanimous leader of Eden for that very reason: they knew he was best equipped to subvert SEELE and their apocalyptic vision of paradise.

His hidden earpiece beeped. "Shit. You were right, Ikari, SEELE are well and truly suspicious of you and Yui. I can see at least two characters watching her out of a little more than regular interest. A little rat tells me that your own route is clear, though. He's coming back here to take over this side of the operation."

"You trust your son's talent quite implicitly, Simon," muttered Gendo. "I suppose you're bringing him up to take over the trade? Family business, as it were?"

"Hey, Kaji's better than half the mice I have running around for you, and in a few years he'll be better than all of them." Simon Ryoji sounded peeved. "Don't underestimate people just because they're young."

"Heh. If you say so," replied Gendo. "I want your best eyes on the café, hear me? Yui's been rocking the boat and I don't know how much my smoothing efforts have helped. I've been getting veiled hints from SEELE."

"I'll do my best, Ikari. But remember my men are mice, not cats. We can't be soldiers for you." The voice vanished.

Gendo turned the corner onto a busy street. He could see the café where his wife was waiting just ahead. Good. Crowds. Crowds were far safer than isolation.

Upon reaching the café, Gendo sat down. "It is lovely to see you, dear," he said.

"Mm." She looked up. "I caught another tech asking about the setups around Her. Kim, this time. I had him transferred out. You might want to have Simon investigate him."

"Sure you're not becoming paranoid, Yui?" Gendo said neutrally. "That's two in one month. SEELE can't be employing everyone."

Yui raised an eyebrow. "You should know better than to say that, Gendo. Any one of them could afford to employ almost the entire U.N. military."

"Regardless. It would be both counterproductive and extremely difficult for them to pocket all our staff." Gendo poured himself a cup of the tea Yui was drinking. "So, given your frustration with dismissing Kim, I surmise you're saying that you need a lab tech that can effectively be trusted as a member of Eden."

"Well..." Yui paused. "It would be useful to have a tech who I could tell about Her. Working solo or with just Fuyutsuki and Naoko is difficult. But you know that SEELE can't be allowed to learn of Her existence. That's why we only talk about her in loud, crowded places like this."

"Heh. No problem." Gendo leaned back. "I know just the girl for you."

Yui's other eyebrow raised. "You're joking."

"No joke. Naoko's daughter, Ritsuko Akagi. According to Simon's report, Ritsuko is both a prime asset and trustworthy enough to join Eden. She's clever enough for the job; hell, you might find her giving you advice sometime."

Yui smiled. "This is why I put up with you, isn't it?" She said playfully. "Whenever I come across a problem, you just snap your gloved fingers and make it vanish."

Gendo sipped his tea, unfazed. "I like to think it's more than just my problem-solving ability that attracted you to me. But I guess I'll take what I can get."

"Oh you." Yui looked around nervously. "Look, there's a problem bigger than my lab techs. It's Shungouki. Using DNA from her allowed the contact to initiate with a human pilot, but... You know they have a threshold synchronicity for activation? In the tests, we can't get past it with her. None of our methods for aiding synchronization are allowing the test pilots to pass the threshold. They just reach about 15% and stop, unable to move the Evangel."

"And you can't force synchronicity?"

Yui's eyes narrowed, and she shook her head. "Forcing it runs unacceptable risks. At best it would likely cause psychological trauma or minor brain damage, like it did with Nigouki. At worst... it could spike the synchrograph to above 400%."

"Hmm. You're quite right; that's not an acceptable risk." Gendo's fingers laced in his iconic brooding pose. "I don't suppose a finer integration grid between the entry plug and socket would help?"

"That was the first thing we tried, but it has no visible effect past 100 contacts per square centimeter, even below 15%." Yui leaned back. "I have... a theory, but it almost raises more problems than it solves - "

"Yui! Gendo! We just spotted a sharpshooter! Get the fuck dow-"

They both heard Kaji's voice, but Yui was a microsecond too slow to react. She pushed herself backwards, purposefully overbalancing the chair, just as the first gunshot rang out. A white-hot lance of pain ripped through her ribcage, entering on the left and travelling clean through.

Two more shots fired. Gendo heard one of them whistle past, inches from his ear, as he dived forward off his chair.

And then it was over, and there were screaming civilians everywhere.

"You're clear! I got the fucker!" Said Kaji. "Fuckin' idiot didn't watch his escape route!"

Gendo stood, rushing over to his wife. "Yui," he said desperately. "Yui, don't leave me. Shake it off. Please. I can't win this alone..."

Yui coughed, and blood trickled from her mouth. "I'm... I'm sorry, Gendo. I think the bullet messed up some... unfixables," she managed. "Get... you want me to stay with you? I've got... a little time left. Get... get me into Simon's car and... get me to Shungouki's cage..."

"I... okay." Gendo picked up Yui as carefully as he could. "It's all right, everyone! I'm a doctor! Now please clear a path to the door!"

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Simon Ryoji's car, 9 minutes after the attack on Yui Ikari

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Had the car been any faster, its tires would have caught fire. Kaji was driving at the absolute limit of maintaining control.

Simon slammed his phone shut. "Well done plugging the fucker, Kaji. Gendo, I've just been talking to Red. We know this cat; red confirmed it with our Canary in SEELE's black ops section. This was definitely their doing - not that we didn't know that already."

From the back seat, Gendo looked up. "How good was he? Like, reputation-wise. Also, what kind of gear?"

"Good. He was very good, one of their best. Don't know why he made an amateur mistake like that, though maybe he just slipped. Kaji?"

The boy swerved to avoid a collision - at fifteen years old, it wouldn't be good for his licence to be checked. "Standard issue for JSSDF special forces, looked like. Even his clothes were U.N. I almost didn't ask Red to check him - I already assumed he was with them."

"This is good," Gendo said, though his smile was bitter. "If he wasn't elite, this would have been a warning. But they wanted you to think he was U.N., which means they don't want to send a threat. That means they think Yui and I are working on our own. They don't know about Eden, they don't know about Her, and now I know a little more about what scares them. Also, they wanted me and Yui gone without getting their hands dirty... so I bet they also want to plant their own spies where we work, dear."

Yui laughed, more blood trickling from her mouth. "If... if Ritsuko's as good as you said, she might... be the ideal to plug the gap. We can't let one of their people replace me." She winced, then continued. "Listen... about this plan of mine... I think... I think the pilots can't interface be... because the... the Evangel soul is too alien. The flesh is compatible, except for Zerogouki, but... but the soul... there's no... no base human there, j... just her and Adam... remember what Zerogouki said, that first time?"

"I remember." Gendo clenched his teeth. Yui, the woman he loved, was dying by inches and all she could talk about was science. How delightfully typical of her... "And you, you can let them touch? You've got an answer to that problem?"

"Y... yes." She shifted and her breath hitched. "Before I bleed out... load me into Shungouki... force the synchronization at maximum... assimilate me into her. Her... her soul will be my soul... her mind... my mind... Human and Angel." She coughed again. "But just as She is the eternal mother... I think our... our combined soul will only 'touch' our children."

Gendo gasped. "You don't mean... you don't mean that Shina would have to pilot it? Or little Asuka, for Nigouki? But... they're children, not yet five years old! They can't... I can't ask them to be soldiers..."

Yui gave a sad smile. "They will not have... have to fight... yet, Gendo... not for perhaps... ten, eleven years... right?" She coughed again. The blood was brighter this time. "Just... promise me this... let Shina live normally... make her as happy as you can... because... because I know you'll... you'll be asking the impossible... the unforgivable... of her..."

Yui's eyes closed. Her pulse was weak.

"Kaji?" Gendo yelled.

"We're here! We're here!" The car screeched to a halt. They were, indeed, right outside the Evangel laboratory.

"Just hold on, Yui..."

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Evangelion Shungouki's containment cage, Gehirn facility, 37 minutes after the attack on Yui Ikari

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"Father?"

Gendo's attention snapped downwards. Of course. I left her here with Fuyutsuki when I went to meet Yui... a whole lifetime ago, now... "Shina! Shina, baby, come here."

Shina grabbed her father's leg. "What's wrong with Mom?" She asked. "It's like she's asleep, but she isn't, is she? There's blood. Is she hurt? Why are they carrying her into the tube? She normally walks."

Shina didn't like blood. She had fallen and scraped a knee about a month previously, and despite the pain it must have caused, all she could focus on was the blood... she was shuddering and sobbing 'there's blood, there's blood on me' over and over.

Gendo had never believed in lying to people to preserve happy illusions, but he could not bring himself to tell Shina that her mother was dead. He got down on one knee.

"Your mother is..." He gritted his teeth. "Yes, she's hurt. She's going to have to... go away for a while."

"Are you sure she'll be alright?"

Shina's wide eyes stabbed Gendo's heart deeper than even the Lance of Longinus could have, as he told the largest lie he hoped he'd ever tell:

"Yes."

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Gendo Ikari's office, Gehirn facility, 6 hours after the attack on Yui Ikari

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The remaining members of Eden had convened in Gendo's office, Yui's former workspace being cordoned off by police detectives.

"Simon, I want you to get at least one more Canary in SEELE," said Gendo. He had returned to his legendary robot mode; his laced fingers and tinted glasses showing no emotion. "We cannot allow them to make moves like this without warning. Get on it."

"You bet," said Simon determinedly. "Come on, Kaji." The pair exited the room.

"Right. Fuyutsuki?" Said Gendo. "Difficult times are coming for the Evangelion project and Eden. An hour ago, SEELE informed me that Gehirn is being dissolved, and all former members are going to become U.N. Military staff under a new organization labelled 'NERV', and the branch we will operate under will be here in the geofront. Now... Shina's already confused over Yui... and with the organization shifting, new staff and such, there will be a lot of risk in it for us. I can't allow her to be in danger. Fuyutsuki... is there anywhere we could send her, where she'd be safe? Somewhere isolated and forgotten?"

Fuyutsuki half-smiled. "I can think of one. An old acquaintance of mine, back when I was a professor, took off into the mountains to live like a hermit when he decided to retire. He's still up there, living a little ways from a village named... oh, what was it... well, anyway, that's about as far afield as I can think of. I'm sure he'd be happy to care for her."

"Mm. Make the arrangements. I want her on her way by sunset tomorrow." He removed his glasses, and sighed. "Now that I've dealt with the murder of my wife and arranged to have my firstborn child deported like a criminal, what's left on my agenda? Ah, yes. Ritsuko. Is she here?"

"She should be. I'll send her in." Fuyutsuki left the room.

Presently, Ritsuko Akagi entered the office. "You sent for me, sir?"

"Mmh, yes. Sit down, please." Gendo put his glasses back on, keeping absolute poise.

"I'm sorry about Yui, sir, I heard - " She began, but Gendo cut her off.

"I will dwell on that later. In the now, there is important business to attend to."

"I- yes, sir. Sorry."

Gendo regarded her for a minute, then stood, clasping his hands behind his back. "What do you know about Adam and... Lilith, Dr. Akagi?" he finally asked.

Ritsuko's eyes went wide. "I - I - I've been working with my mother on samples from Adam, but... Lilith? Working on her is far above my level of clearance, sir. I thought you had her locked under maximum security... even her name is practically taboo amongst us under-staff."

"Yes indeed." Gendo's head cocked for a minute. "Dr. Akagi... I have a proposition for you. Have you ever heard of SEELE?"

Ritsuko looked confused. "No, I don't think so..."

"Quite correct. In fact, if you had heard of them, I would have known it. Simon is very thorough in that regard. The fact you have no ties to SEELE was one of the qualifiers." His gaze turned back to her. "This is one of the few rooms I am certain is not bugged, so I can safely speak here. SEELE is an organization of very old, very rich, very powerful men. If I am not mistaken - and I rarely am - there are twelve in all. They view themselves as... as an Illuminati of sorts, harbingers of a new world order. Ironically, in creating their vision of a perfect world, they would destroy humanity... crowning themselves kings of a mountain of skulls."

Ritsuko's expression had gone from confused to worried. "Why... why are you telling me this?"

"Because, Ritsuko..." he paused. "Did you know you work for SEELE? Of course you didn't. But yes, Gehirn was founded by SEELE, and they control it. The Evangelions we work on are weapons - you knew that already - but they are also keystone pieces in SEELE's 'instrumentality' project."

He took off his glasses again, though his expression was still hard as steel. "The reason I am telling you this is, SEELE has an enemy. For the purposes of this meeting, I represent a resistance cabal. We seek to prevent SEELE's instrumentality, and to truly defend humanity from the invading Angels."

Ritsuko's eyes narrowed. "Do you have any evidence of this... conspiracy?"

Gendo opened a hidden panel on his desk, and produced a folder. "How about the original photographs and research data from the contact experiment? The real contact experiment, not whatever you were told was going on in Antarctica. The experiment that triggered second impact and started luring the Angels here."

Ritsuko opened the folder, blinking in shock. "This... these results... Adam?" She gasped. "These A.T. field readings... my god... this was what killed so many people?"

"Yes. That was the real second impact. And that was corrupted, an error; a mismatched union between human flesh and Adam... far weaker than the purge would normally have been." Gendo took his glasses off again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What SEELE seek to initiate is third impact... and a true version of it. A merging of Adam and Lilith... but a chained, controlled Lilith. You know who I mean by that."

Ritsuko paled. "I... But what would that do?"

"Well, if it were Adam merging with one of the attacking Angels, it would eradicate all life on earth down to the cellular level. Adam's A.T. field would erase all traces of life that another lifeseed had spawned." Gendo slid his glasses back onto his nose. "I believe they intend to merge Adam with Lilith, in fact, since she... eh, she was our lifeseed."He cleared his throat and continued. "What would happen then is... hard to say. I believe the predicted result is the merging of all humankind into one omni-soul figure... a god born of the coalition of man. To my mind such a thing is an anathema. A destruction of the very things that define humankind."

Gendo's eyes narrowed. "I will not let that happen. I will not suffer the Angels to purge humanity, and I will not suffer the megalomaniac schemes of those power-mad fossils. All I have left to ask you is... are you on board?"

Ritsuko hesitated, still looking at the file. Then her own eyes narrowed, and she looked up, meeting Gendo's gaze. "Yes. Yes I am."

Gendo smiled. "I'm glad. Welcome to Eden, Ritsuko Akagi."

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That's enough exposition for now. Next up: first day of school...