Novum Corpus Evangelion

Interlude I: The Two of Wands

Sakura walked out of her bedroom with a yawn. As usual, she'd gotten up early; it was one of her habits that she didn't care to think too much about and served her well enough anyway. She made her way to the kitchen and opened one cupboard, finding…

…nothing. Nothing except for an empty box of Pop-Tarts and crumbs.

Sakura sighed. She didn't know how large Misato's breakfasts were, and she didn't want to know. When they ate together, she practically inhaled her food. It made living with her rather difficult.

"I guess I can get something on the way to work," Sakura muttered.

"Work?"

Sakura spun around - reaching for a sidearm that wasn't there - and saw Misato standing in the hallway, still in her pajamas.

"Christ, Misato," she said. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Misato ignored her. "Can I come with you? I want to see what it is you people do all the time."

"You have school," Sakura said drily.

Misato shrugged. "School's a bore."

Sakura laughed. "You're gutsy," she said. "I appreciate that. Alright, you can come along if you want - but just once, okay?"

Misato nodded.

"You have my word," she said, and did a mock salute.

"Just get dressed," Sakura mumbled. And if you think I'm paying for your breakfast…


"I can't believe this," said Misato. "We've walked by this lift at least three times now!"

"You're the one who asked to follow me to work," Sakura said. "Damn it, this map's useless."

Reaching Ultima Thule headquarters in the Geofront was no problem, but navigating the place itself seemed beyond both their capabilities.

"Tell you what," said Sakura. "Let's double back to that one stairwell. I'm pretty sure I can find the way from there - "

At that moment, the elevator doors opened. Rei Ayanami entered the corridor in an instant when Sakura and Misato were on opposite sides of it, and the unfortunate lieutenant walked right into her with a squeak.

"Ah, Lieutenant Suzuhara," she said as the younger woman jumped back meekly. "You were meant to report to my office at seven - have you been wandering around for an entire hour?"

Sakura desperately sought an excuse, but found none. "That's correct, miss."

Rei glanced at Misato. "Why did you bring the Third Child along?"

"She asked," Sakura said plaintively.

The Lieutenant General sighed, then turned back to the lift. "Come with me, then," she said. "And in future, Miss Katsuragi, avoid playing hooky…we aren't paying your school fees for nothing, you know."

Misato and Sakura followed Rei into the elevator, where the two adults immediately launched into conversation about some arcane subject. Misato watched the floors tick away on the dial above the door, thinking to herself: Why would they be paying my school fees?


"You seem to be settling in well," Kaworu observed as he walked into Shinji's office. The General was sitting at a desk on the far side of the room, his chin resting on his knuckles. As Kaworu walked towards him, each step echoed in the vast space.

"It's more than adequate," Shinji grunted. "It's just like it was all those years ago - with the exception of a few refurbishments, of course."

He flicked a switch, and Kaworu jumped. The floor beneath him had lit up, revealing the image of a massive cross divided into four sections. Each section was colored differently, and displayed several symbols even he didn't know the meaning of - though he recognized the symbol as a whole immediately.

"The Rosy Cross," Kaworu said. "Amusing…but aren't such grandiose monuments likely to cause us more harm than good?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're the splitting image of the last man to use this office," Kaworu said, turning towards the door. "Just make sure you don't repeat his mistakes."


With a grunt, Rei dropped a final stack of papers onto Sakura's desk. She then stood back, admiring her work for a moment, and launched into commands.

"I need all these forms filled out and addressed to the proper departments," she said, "except for that pile, which you should give back to me once you've finished. Is that clear?"

"Yes, miss," Sakura replied, saluting. With an affirmative nod, Rei walked off, leaving Misato alone with a very plaintive Sakura.

"That's a lot," was all the younger girl could say. 'Can I help?' seemed too risky, somehow.

"You don't have to tell me," Sakura said, burying her face in the papers. "Look, Misato - there's a vending machine down the hall. Take some yen from my desk and go get me five - no, ten cans of coffee."

"Yes, miss!" Misato pulled a few notes out of a cabinet - barely resisting the urge to pocket a few - and set off, a bit worried about what kind of state her guardian would be in when she returned.


Left to her own devices, Rei Ayanami had wandered away from her office and gone down, deep below - intto the oldest chambers of headquarters, untouched for years.

She now stood in front of a large tube, filled with orange liquid, that was attached to the floor and ceiling by a mechanical apparatus. The room was unlit, but she had a lantern - it was enough to see directly in front of her, and nowhere else.

She placed a hand on the tube. When she drew it back, it had a thin layer of dust.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it," interjected a voice from behind her. She whipped around and saw a man in a beige uniform - a man with messy brown hair and glasses. He was older, but she could still recognize him immediately.

"Aida," Rei said, and bowed.

"Ayanami," he replied. "Why did you come down here?"

"I might ask the same thing of you," she said, turning back to the tube. "How did you even know this place existed?"

"I may not have spoken to you in fifteen years, but I never lost contact with Ikari," he said. "He thought - but didn't know - that this place might still exist." He smirked at her. "You know what this room is, right, Rei? This is the room where you - "

"Shut up."

Kensuke flinched.

"I don't know how much Shinji told you, but I advise you to forget about it. You have no place here, Aida. Good day."

She walked out of the room silently, glaring at Kensuke with a fury that could melt glass. When she was gone, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Jeez, he thought. She turned into a real bitch, huh?


Misato noticed Sakura was beginning to bite the tip of her pen again. Each of the two times before that had happened, Sakura had soon begun to lecture her about some minutiae in the latest document. This time, Misato wanted to strike first.

"What're you reading?" she asked, looking over the lieutenant's shoulder.

"It's from the American branch," Sakura said. "Something about funds for 'Project R' being insufficient - I have no idea what that is, and you don't either, do you?"

Misato shrugged. "Sounds official, though. Why don't you ask Ayanami?"

"In case you didn't notice, she's no longer here," Sakura said. "Don't worry about it, though; she always wanders off like this."

"Wonder what she's doing," Misato murmured.

"I just need to get more information on this before I can fill it out," Sakura said. "Misato, get America on the line - ask for Doctor Langley."

Rolling her eyes, Misato reached for the phone.

Within a few minutes, Sakura was rubbing her forehead as she tried to talk to this 'Dr. Langley', whoever she was.

"Yes, I understand the meaning of the words 'top secret.' It's just that a budget of this much…I'm only following procedure, doctor. You don't have to tell me anything, just…oh, you'll talk to General Ikari? That's fine, do that."

She hung up the receiver with a sigh and picked up the document in question. Then she smiled.

"I wish I could see the general put her in her place," she said.


"Yes, that sounds reasonable," Shinji said. "Do you want a time extension as well? It's no problem - I'll inform the committee as soon as I can."

"Thank you," said the voice on the other end of the line. "That woman whom I was talking to before was no help at all. Nice to see you've grown up a bit."

"Oh, I haven't changed at all," Shinji said, reclining in his chair. "If anyone's changed, it'd be you."

"Hush," the other speaker said. "Don't you know this line is being monitored?"

"Of course it is," replied Shinji. "I'm the one monitoring it."

For a moment, there was silence on the other end.

"When can I see you again?"

"I'll make time for it," said Shinji. "And thank you, Asuka."

"Heh. No need to thank me - I do it because it's fun."

Shinji hung up, then looked across his desk. Kensuke was smirking.

"What happened to the Asuka I used to know?" he said. "Ayanami's gone sour, and she so sweet…it's like the world's gone topsy-turvy."

"We've all changed, in some ways," Shinji said. "Even you, Aida."

Kensuke laughed. "So when will the Rebis Project be completed?"

"It shall be done before Capricorn shines in the night sky," Shinji intoned. "Of course, by then, schedules and budgets won't matter."

"Indeed." Kensuke stood up. "Shall we proceed to the ceremony?"

"If you'd like," Shinji said, standing in turn, "but I'm warning you, Ayanami will be there as well."

Kensuke shot him a grin.

"You think I'd mind seeing her naked?"


Misato had never liked trains. In America, that had been fine, since hardly anyone used them. But in Japan, they were practically a way of life. She had a feeling this might be the hardest part of Japanese living to acclimate to - especially since everyone else was completely nonchalant about the whole thing.

"So, Misato," said Sakura, leaning over to speak to her charge over the noise of the train, "what did you think of today?"

Misato thought for a moment - about all she'd seen, and what was happening that she hadn't seen.

"People at Ultima Thule are weirdos."

Sakura sighed. "I guess I can't argue with that," she said.

The train trundled on, like a snake desperately seeking its own tail.