Ayanami was taught and raised from birth perfectly – though unlike other methods of teaching, the manner she was taught did not provide her knowledge, but rather denied it.

To others, she appeared expressionless and aloof, and it was this manner she adopted when she came out of the hospital, to find the Third Child waiting for her.

"Ayanami," he said with a smile. "I'm happy to see you're feeling better!"

Ikari Shinji. The Third Child. She had received direct orders from Commander Ikari regarding him, and would comply, as he had ordered.

Rei simply walked past him, getting into the taxi waiting behind him. The Third followed soon after, and they drove to their new apartment in silence.

As Rei walked in her eyes widened imperceptibly as she viewed her new apartment.

Unlike her former one, which was in one of the older districts and was considerably run-down, this apartment, like the rest of the building, had been newly built and as such was modern and incredibly clean.

"I've got the air conditioner on since it's been a little hot outside – oh, and I forgot! Your things were dropped off a day ago! They're in your room – here, let me show you!" Shinji grinned, leading Rei through the apartment, and opening the door into a room that was more than twice the size of the bedroom in her former apartment. There were a couple of bags on the floor, containing her clothes and belongings.

As Rei inspected her belongings, she noticed there were several things missing. "I owned several books on science and genetics," she said – the first thing she had said to him since they had met.
"Oh, those old things?" Shinji smiled. "There's a large bookcase in the living room with the updated editions of your books."

Rei paused, contemplating all this. Her new apartment was bigger, and considerably more comfortable than her older one had ever been. Ikari had also taken the liberty of going down to the hospital to greet her and guide her here. In all her life, she had never received this much kindness in such a single day. So naturally, she was confused. "I... see."
"It's my pleasure," Shinji said, interpreting her response as that of gratitude. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to say."

Rei had taken a shower after that. To her surprise, the shower possessed both 'hot' and 'cold' taps (she had once requested for hot water for her showers, but Commander Ikari claimed it to be an unnecessary luxury).

As soon as she had finished, it was time for dinner. Shinji had been cooking, and as soon as she smelt the delicious aromas her stomach involuntarily growled.

"You're a vegetarian, right?" At her nod, he grinned, setting down her plate of hot food.

Once again, Rei was taken aback, this time at the taste of the meal and the flavours dancing in her mouth.

"Do you like it?" Shinji asked, to which Rei responded in the affirmative. "That's good."

After they had finished eating, Shinji had insisted on doing the dishes also, considering that she needed to heal and this was her first night. "After all," he told her, "you're home now! This is as much your place as it is mine!"

That night, Rei lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling as she pondered this unusual day.

Her first reaction, was, naturally, a reaction of confusion. Rei wondered why Ikari, who she had never met before, was showing her such great kindness.

Commander Ikari had ordered her to report on the Third's actions, especially if he was undergoing unusual activity. Was it unusual, then, for the Third to be showing her such kindness? Or was it a custom of society, that he did so? Rei felt incredibly conflicted.

The next day, happened in very much the same way. Ikari insisted on walking with her to school, talking and discussing the finer points of genetics. He offered to sit with her at lunch, an invitation Rei declined, and they had parted ways for the rest of the day, though not before he gave her the meal he had prepared.

At the end of the day, Ikari was waiting for her by the school gate and offered to walk with her home. Since they lived together, Rei was not disagreeable to this.

What she was initially disagreeable to, however, was when he had stopped to buy her some ice-cream, only taking it at his insistence. Her mind changed, however, when she tasted it, and as they walked the rest of the way home the Third once again engaged her in cordial conversation, one that was neither distant nor intrusive.

Again, as Rei lay in her bed that night, her hand on Gendo's glasses, she was confused, and no answers were coming to her. There seemed to be no strain of reasoning to the Third's actions, and it was indeed troubling, but what was troubling, however, was this strange feeling in her heart.

She closed her eyes, putting her hand over it. The feeling was alien, yet familiar to something she felt when she was with the Commander. However, unlike with the Commander, this feeling seemed to swell and bubble, making her light. Rei also felt the urge to smile for some unknown reason.

The rest of the week carried on much in the same manner. Every day Shinji invited Rei to sit with him at lunch, and every day Rei declined. However, it was on Friday that Rei finally agreed, finding him on the school roof. "Ikari."

Shinji turned to her, his face warm but surprised. "Oh hey Ayanami! I'm happy you finally accepted my invitation!"

Happiness. It was a term Rei was familiar with, but in this context, she did not know how it applied. "Why are you happy?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Why are you happy that I have accepted your invitation?"

"It's simple really – people are happy when they spend time with a friend or loved one," Shinji gently explained.

Friend. Loved one. Again, Rei was familiar with those terms, and again, she did not know how they applied. The Commander had told her she had no use for friends nor for loved ones, so why was it that he was using this term? "A friend or loved one? Why are you happy then, that you spend time with me?"

"Isn't it obvious... you're my friend."

Friend. Rei blinked her eyes in shock. "You consider me... a friend?"
"Yes," Shinji said with a gentle smile. "That is, if you'll have me as one."

This week, Rei had found nothing but warmth – warmth in her new apartment, warmth from the Third... however, at his offering, she did not go for the instinctual response, and tried, as she was taught, to reason, to think on his offer, but as she closed her eyes in thought, no solution came. "I'm sorry. I do not know how to respond adequately to your request."

"Human interactions – are not something that can be reasoned or explained, but something that you have to experience, since they're deep within you. Since you are human, Rei... feel what you have to do."

Rei was confused by his explanation. Then her thoughts returned to that moment when she had first encountered the Third Child, when he had touched her forehead and done... something to her.

It was a moment that she had not shared with even the Commander, because it had confused her greatly, and in a small part... made her afraid. The energy that she felt washing through her, bringing a myriad of emotions that the girl had never experienced... things that roused something inside of her.

And in their absence, Rei felt a great void, an emptiness in her heart, though she did not know what it was. In their absence... Rei missed them.

And as she remembered that moment, Rei knew what to do. "I will... have you as a friend, Third."

"And since we're friends, we can be more intimate in addressing each other. You can call me Shinji, and I in turn will call you, Rei," Shinji answered, his eyes sparkling.

It was that moment that things started to change for Rei. Psychologists have debated exactly what happen, but even the notion of having someone intimate, someone to call your 'friend', can make changes in the connections and the chemistry of your brain, especially when you have been apart from it your whole life.

That night, Gendo's cracked glasses were left alone by her bedside table.

-SW-

"Good morning, Shinji. No problems in piloting the Eva?"

"Good morning Dr. Akagi," Shinji smiled. "Nope, she runs like a dream."

"That's good to hear. Have you memorised the position of all the Eva emergence points, emergency power junctions, armament equipment sites and recovery zones?"

"Piece of cake," Shinji said confidently. "So when are we killing another Angel?"

"Enthusiastic, aren't you? But let's review it now. As you know, an Eva runs off electricity provided by an umbilical cable, and in emergencies, it can switch to a built-in battery, with an active life of one minute at full power, and no more than five minutes in the minimal activity gain mode, due to our current limits in battery capacity technology."

"That's too bad, isn't it? An umbilical cable is cumbersome for close range battles, and if it's lost we only have a minute left to kill the enemy."

"Unfortunately that's the case. Now let's begin from where we left off. Initiate Induction mode!"

There was a hum as the simulator activated, and Shinji watched as the screen in front of him showed a visage of the Third Angel. "Don't worry, I got it from here," he answered with a sigh, and with a burst of fire he easily destroyed the Angel.

Back in the command centre Ritsuko sighed. "He didn't even need to use the Eva's targeting system for that."

"You know... I wonder why Shinji agreed to pilot for us?" Maya asked from her seat.

"He's getting paid a considerable salary to do so. Which is a perfectly adequate request considering he's risking his life for the sake of humanity every time he goes out," Ritsuko answered. "All the pilots have the option of taking a salary, of course, but only Shinji opted to do so." There was a beep from the console, and Ritsuko frowned in annoyance as she activated the intercom. "Take it easy, will you? You're doing more damage to the city than you are to the Angel."

"But this is boring!" Shinji complained. "It's the worst shooting game I've ever played."

Maya suppressed a giggle as Ritsuko rubbed her temples in exasperation. "It's not meant to a game, Shinji!"

"If it was, no one would buy it, because there wouldn't be any challenge," he answered sarcastically. "I mean, I thought these things have an AT Field to protect from weapons like this! And who's to say the Angel will attack in exactly the same way as it did last time?"

Misato piped up. "He has a point you know, Rits. If the Angels are smart they won't try to attack the same way again."
Ritsuko gave her a glare of annoyance. "And what do you suggest we do, Shinji?"

"Well, for the first thing, this weapon really sucks. If this were human-sized the military would never have used it. The pellets are equivalent to a very low-calibre bullet. What we need is something a lot heavier with more of a punch."

"I... will file that away with all the other requests you've made, Shinji," Ritsuko answered with a sigh. Why do I even bother. Since the boy had joined up, he had been making a lot of requests – a progressive sword, a high-powered long-ranged rifle, a heavy machine gun, twin axes... "I'm glad to see you're being so enthusiastic. Anything we can do now?"
"You should add greatly to the list of capabilities an Angel could possess – flight, long-ranged attack ability, high-density skin – and have it randomly spawn a different type of Angel from the one I kill. In addition, you should make it so the Angel can make adjustments based on my previous performances – for example, if an aerial attack failed, it'll try close-range tactics."

Ritsuko blinked. "That would take a lot of time to program..."

"Do it. He's right, no Angel would attack in the same way," Misato answered.

The blonde sighed, seeing a lot more work ahead of her. "Fine. What kind of abilities should I add?"

"Just as many as you can think of. Seriously, we have no idea what the Angels are capable of, or even if they have a limit to how big or how small they can become."

Misato chuckle. "Just say it, Rits. You like him, don't you?"

Truthfully Ritsuko couldn't disagree. She knew that Shinji was, on all accounts a talented academic, and often when he was at NERV he would come to Ritsuko's office, asking a variety of questions about not only the Evangelions but also the data they had gathered on the Angel.

Thanks to Shinji's efforts in the previous battle, they had managed to recover a near-perfect sample of the Angel. He had frequently popped into her office, checking if there were any new developments. Since she worked long hours and often those hours were late with no one around she couldn't say the interruptions were bad. At the very least, someone was interested in what she was passionate about.

-SW-

Shinji sighed as he sat in the classroom. His attention was nowhere near what they were learning about, instead, his thoughts revolved around the mysterious girl who he was now living with. It wasn't like they were learning anything useful – from Dr Akagi, he already knew that the Second Impact was caused by an Angel instead of a meteorite.

He turned around to see Rei was looking out the window, before, sensing someone watching her, turned. Shinji gave her a smile, and she turned back to the window – though not before hiding her blush of embarrassment.

It was a work in progress, but Shinji had spared no effort for her comfort. All his father considered her to be was a tool, and that was how she was treated. Nobody had ever treated her like an actual human being.

However slow it seemed, Rei would open up to him, one way or another.

There was a beep from his laptop. Shinji turned to the screen, frowning as a message had popped up.

ARE YOU THE PILOT OF THAT ROBOT? Y/N

Shinji narrowed his eyes, even as another message soon popped up.

IT'S TRUE, ISN'T IT?

He wasn't under any order not to talk about the Evangelions, but Terros knew that if he admitted it, there could be some unwanted problems in the future. Having said that, he also knew that the identity of the pilots wasn't as secretive as it could've been, and any serious attackers would have easily acquired the information anyway. It could even be useful.

YES.

Shinji mentally groaned as a collective cry came from the students, and everyone turned towards him.

-SW-

WHAM!

Toji gave off a grunt off pain as his punch cleanly miss Shinji's face. The Sith had easily slipped underneath it and stepped back, grabbing the taller boy's arm and using his own velocity against him by pulling him into his knee, smashing into his ribs.

"Sorry, but I don't let anybody hit me for a useless reason," he answered. "And you're lucky I softened that hit otherwise that blow would've easily cracked your ribs."

"Shut up!" Toji pulled himself up. "You're the reason my sister's in hospital!"

"Would you rather I have let her die instead?" Shinji asked coolly, sidestepping another sloppy punch. "Because that's what would've happened had I not piloted. Both of you, and your families would be dead. Scratch that – everybody in this city would be dead. It's funny how people are narrow-minded sometimes."
"Screw you! You know nothing!" Toji growled, hunching down and launching into a tackle.

Shinji leapt back, using his leg to swiftly sweep him off his feet, making him land on the ground unceremoniously. "And besides, isn't your sister your responsibility? Doesn't that mean that you're trying to blame me for your own failings? Next time, be a man and take responsibility for your own actions."

"Shinji."

Terros turned around to see Rei. "There is a situation. We are required to be at Headquarters immediately."

"Okay, let's go!"

Kensuke sighed, lowering his camera with which he had filmed the entire event. "You know, the new kid's got a point. He did save our lives."

"Sh-shut up!" Toji stood dizzily. "It's like you're on his side!"

"...Maybe I am," Kensuke muttered, helping the older boy inside.

-SW-

"Type blue blood pattern confirmed! It's an Angel," Makoto stated at his position in the command bridge.

"And they had to do it while the Commander's away," Misato mused as she stared at the large screen of the now designated Fourth Angel.

"I don't understand it. The last time they gave us fifteen years… it's been barely three weeks!"

"They don't care for our situation at all. They're the type we women hate the most." The Captain complained, crossing her arms.

They watched on the screen as it made its way into the city with impressive speed, uninhibited by the numerous defensive measures put in place.

Fuyutsuki sighed. "What a waste of taxpayers' money."

"The committee is demanding we launch an Evangelion again!"

Misato smirked. "They really get on my nerves sometimes. As it is, I would've launched one anyway."

From within the entry plug, Terros had his eyes closed, his senses stretched out as once again, he communed with the Evangelion.

It gave a soft growl as it acknowledged him once more. Yet again, he could feel the Unit's bloodlust, its anger, its power.

"EVA LAUNCH!"

Once he reached the surface, Shinji smirked. He leapt out of the building, firing a barrage of bullets.

"Idiot! You hid the enemy in your own smoke!"

"And whose fault is that for not giving the Evangelion an infrared or thermal scanner?" Shinji retorted. "Don't worry, it can't see me either."

Misato, from her post in the Command Centre merely groaned. "In the middle of battle and he still manages to be snarky..."

"Sempai! It's happening again! Shinji's sync ratio is skyrocketing!" Maya yelled.

Ritsuko's eyes widened. "Once could have been just a fluke, but twice? So he can enter into a controlled berserker state whenever he wants?"

"Could this be a problem?" Misato demanded.

"It doesn't appear to be. For some unknown reason, Shinji is able to trigger the Evangelion to go berserk whenever he pleases. The amount of willpower to do something like this... let alone the level of synchronisation with the Evangelion, and without any mental contamination..." Ritsuko's eyes narrowed. Though, I still haven't figured out what that strange anomaly in the harmonics chart is. Is this your doing... Yui?

The Evangelion gave a roar as it dropped its rifle, the progressive knife sliding out of its shoulder plate and into its hand as it leapt to the side, narrowly dodging the whips that suddenly came out of the smoke.

"No way! How did he know it was going to attack?" Misato cried in astonishment.

Naturally, what she didn't know was that Angel's were literal shockwaves in the Force, massive intrusions that bent the current around it, like someone dropping a boulder into the middle of a river. Though he physically couldn't see where it was – Shinji could still sense it just fine.

Let's end this in a single move, Shinji thought. The Evangelion growled in agreement as it charged forward, bursting through the remnants of the smoke before the Angel could withdraw its whips to attack once again. "Take this!" He shouted, and the Evangelion gave off a spine-chilling bellow as it gripped its progressive knife tightly, thrusting into the core.

And with a single blow, it was all over.

The entire bridge crew was shocked, to say the least.

Aoba was gaping in astonishment. "No way..."

"H-He killed it... in a single blow," Maya gasped.

"Shinji... you can return to base," Misato said, her face in similar amazement. It's like he's the perfect soldier...

Shinji relaxed, though he could feel his Evangelion's dissatisfaction at how quickly it ended. "Don't worry... there'll be bigger and better battles than this," he promised, even as he headed back.

Unbeknownst to him, two boys were sitting on the top of the hill, and they had just watch the entire battle, as short as it was.

And, naturally, like the NERV crew, Kensuke was speechless. "That... was... so awesome!"

Toji however huffed. "Pfft, killing that thing looked easy!"

"As if you could pilot a giant robot like that," the geeky boy snorted, checking his camera to see if he had gotten the entire thing – and much to his delight, he had. "You gotta admit though, that new kid's got skills."

"...I'll give him that. But I still hate his guts!" Toji yelled.

-SW-

The day after the battle, Shinji headed to Ritsuko's office, knocking on the door. "Are you busy, Dr. Akagi?"

The blonde doctor looked up in surprise, putting down her coffee. "Oh, no..." she yawned. "I'm just summarising the data we gathered in battle against the Fourth Angel, and compiling it in a report for the Commander. Again, I'm pleased that you managed to retrieve an almost perfect sample. Nice work, Shinji!"

"Thank you," he said, inclining his head in a slight bow before raising a bag. "I brought you some brownies. Figured you might be hungry from working so hard."

Ritsuko looked at him in surprise, even as her stomach growled from the chocolate smell wafting from his bag. "Really? Oh, Shinji, you didn't need..."
"I made a whole bundle of them for Misato, since all she seems to eat is instant curry and noodles," he said, gaining a slightly ill look. "And since I had quite a few leftover, I figured I might as well bring some here, you know, to thank the bridge crew and all that for working hard." Shinji finished sheepishly.

Well... you're certainly a lot more considerate of other people than you are of your old man. Too bad you're so cheeky. "Well then, thank you," she said with a smile, taking the small paper bag of warm brownies he offered her. This would certainly make writing her report a lot more comfortable!

"Hey, Dr. Akagi, I was wondering – now that we've got two samples of an Angel, do we have any idea how to replicate their power source?" Shinji asked curiously.

"Their S2 core – both remains of the Angels will be sent over to the NERV Third Branch's Energy Analysis Unit, in Germany, once we have finished a complete analysis. Unfortunately, we don't have the required instruments, not to mention manpower, to even try to replicate one," Ritsuko answered, taking a bite into one of the brownies. Immediately her eyes brightened. "My God, Shinji – this is amazing! Did you make it?"
"Yes, I did, it's my favourite recipe in fact. So there's no possibility that it could be replicated here, in Tokyo-3?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "The Energy Analysis Unit is far better equipped to handle something like this, not to mention the potential risks in experimenting with an S2 engine in a city of all places. You remember the battle with the Third Angel where it moved to try and engulf the Evangelion, clearly in a kamikaze move. Theoretically at critical mass, the energy output would be enough to wipe out half, if not the entirety, of the city and the Geo-Front."

"Well, that certainly poses a problem," Shinji said sarcastically, before sighing. "I just don't like the fact we're giving away such important resources. The Geo-Front's the most secure fortress in the world. Not to mention there must be a lot of people out there who want a potentially unlimited power source."
"I can understand your concerns, Shinji. But unfortunately, as you can see our hands are tied."

-SW-

Shinji huffed as he left NERV headquarters. Well that certainly told me alot, he thought cynically even as he hailed a taxi, directing it to go back home.

It looked like he had learnt all he could from Ritsuko Akagi – that is, learnt all that she was willing to tell him. As the Chairman and Director of Project E however, not to mention the best scientist in the entirety of NERV's sphere of influence there was no way she didn't know what was going on.

He certainly wasn't an idiot. Master Bane had rigorously drilled into him the importance of an eye for attention, for seeing the minute details and reading between the lines, and Terros knew even this early in the game that there was clearly a more nefarious purpose to NERV than 'defending humanity', or whatever their PR department came up with.

However, in order to be certain he needed to be patient until more elements began to reveal themselves. More importantly, Terros needed resources. Allies. And people with the same mutual interests.

Giving the taxi driver his money, Terros went back into his apartment, knowing Rei was most like out at HQ, perhaps getting briefed by his father on more ways to keep an eye on him.

As soon as he walked into his apartment, he went to the stereo and turned it on, playing it at maximum volume as classical music blasted out the speakers. When Rei was here, he'd turn the air conditioner on full blast or kept the TV on in the background – anything in order to generate background noise, and make it difficult for NERV to track him through the microphones they had placed.

Furthermore, he had found a bug on both the telephone in the living room and the one in his bedroom. Since he had a mobile phone, this was hardly a problem. What was a problem, however, were the discreet cameras his paranoid father had also placed.

Since none of the monitoring devices could be removed without arousing suspicion, Shinji merely adjusted them so they were at opposite angles, creating little "pockets" of space where the cameras could not see. You have plenty of money to spend on monitoring me... but none on actually making me fight better against the Angels. How is that supposed to work? He mused as he stepped into his walk-in closet, pulling a locked case out of its hiding place.

The case was internally locked and made of tough plastic, making it difficult to open unless through blunt physical force. Only Shinji, who could use his Force powers to open the locks from the inside, could access it, which was indeed thankful since if this ever got in the hands of his father or even Rei he would be prosecuted and thrown in jail faster than one could say 'Angel'.

Inside the case, were several beakers and a stack of plastic slides – but it was what was in those beakers and slides that mattered.

Within one of the sealed beakers, filled with preservative, was floating a chunk of the Third Angel. In another sealed beaker was a shard from the Angel's S2 core, and as Shinji smirked as he looked down, proud of stealing a piece of them, he pulled another sealed beaker from his pocket, containing a sample from the Fourth Angel as well as another shard from its S2 core.

It certainly didn't seem like much considering the gargantuan size of the Angels. But if there were more of them, then Shinji would possess quite the collection. All he needed were samples, since the answers he was looking for were in the DNA, and with the addition of the Force... well, anything was possible.

Terros felt a warm buzzing feel in the back of his neck as he felt Rei's Force signature come within range of his senses. Due to their accidental melding whenever Rei came into his proximity he got that same buzzing feeling in the back of his neck, indicating that she was near. And soon enough, a minute later he could hear a click as the door opened and Rei walked in.

Terros stepped out onto the balcony, the only area of their apartment that wasn't actively bugged, looking out to the city. He could sense Rei pause, before heading out towards him. "Hello, Rei," he said calmly, and didn't need to use the Force to know she was surprised. He had his back turned, and was facing the city. "How is my father? Doing well, still?"

He could feel her involuntarily tense up. Rei was the ultimate test of his skill in reading people, a skill he had been honing from a very early age even before his training in the Force. Her subtle gestures, minute twitches and micro-expressions had taken him at least a week of constant interaction before he got many of her characteristic quirks down. Now what will you do, Rei? Will you lie, as my father most likely ordered?

"I do not understand what you're talking about, Shinji," she answered, so impassively he was almost impressed.

Shinji sighed, turning to her with a sad, disappointed look on his face. "What did my father do, in order to inspire such loyalty in you, Rei?"

Silence. Rei had reverted completely to her aloof persona, the one he had first encountered.

He continued. "I heard about the incident with Unit-00. I heard about what he did. Tell me... did he do it for your sake? Or for the sake of his agenda?" Terros closed his eyes. "Are we truly friends Rei? Let me ask you a question, and if you truly believe in our friendship, then answer. Would you hurt me if the Commander asked you to?"

Rei... frowned. It was an odd question. To her, this entire conversation probably seemed strange and meaningless. Nevertheless, she answered, truthfully. "If I am ordered to... I will." Even out of her mouth, the words sounded hollow and lifeless.

"That was the answer I thought," Shinji sighed. "Are you happy with this arrangement? That you will do what my father orders you to do... even if you die?"

"I am not afraid of death," she responded flatly.

"But you are," Shinji hissed in a low, almost Sith-like way as he raised his hand to stroke her cheek. She shivered at his touch. "Perhaps, before all this, you were not afraid. After all, you came into this world naked and with nothing, and out of this world, you will go, naked, and with nothing. It wouldn't matter so much, if, between those two points, you have nothing – therefore, you enter this world with nothing, you are nothing in it, and you leave with nothing. And that was your life, Rei, was it not?" He closed his eyes. "You used to wish for death. How does dying feel, Rei?"

At that, the unflappable Rei looked at him with someone akin to shock. Her eyes widened slightly, her breathing became marginally quicker and shallower. She blinked twice, an expression Shinji had come to associate with her experiencing some form of emotion.

Rei Ayanami... people assume that since you are expressionless, you are incapable of emotion. But that is not true. You are merely incapable of expressing it.

To think, that all it took was one week, one simple week, of treating the girl as a human being, as one that got angry, that got sad, that could cry, or laugh, or smile. Even a Sith Lord would not deny any of their underlings that which made them the most powerful, the capacity to feel, and in that, Terros found Gendo abhorrent, to suppress and squash Rei, to dehumanise her completely until she was merely a doll to be used and cast aside. At the very least, even he treated his tools with value.

"People think that since you are expressionless, you do not feel, but you know what it is to feel. When you look up at my father... in the deepest, darkest recesses of your heart, over all your child-like adoration, you feel fear don't you? You wanted to die, but he brought you back, and will likely keep bringing you back until your task is done." Shinji said. He had gathered at least that much from the girl's memories. How his father brought her back, and for what purpose, he still had no clue. "But now that you have experienced merely a fraction of what life has to offer, what will you do now? Now that you have experienced emotion, experienced attachment, can you really live once more without them? Can you really die and leave them?" With that, Terros walked past her. "I'm going out soon. Dinner's in the oven, if it goes cold, microwave it for a minute. And the next time we talk, Rei... please, don't deceive me."

-SW-

The Section Two agent on duty that night barely had any time to gasp as a hand burst out from the darkness behind him, wrapping tightly around his mouth. Another hand found its way to the top of his head.

Darth Terros calmly held the man in place with impossible strength, even as he used the Force to go through his mind, rapidly assimilating what he wanted by ripping the knowledge straight out of his brain. The process was, naturally, quite painful, and all though out the several minutes this occurred, the man screamed his throat hoarse, muffled by Terros' hand, as his limbs flailed around uselessly, before finally falling unconscious in a fit of spasms, foam gathering at the mouth.

Terros dusted himself off, before setting the man back in his previous sitting position. The agent's mind had already been wiped blank of the last hour, and for all intents and purposes, he merely fell asleep from tiredness. A Section Two agent, after all, couldn't exactly 'disappear' without the wrong people noticing.

Nevertheless, it looked like he got what he wanted. The Section Two agent was ex-law enforcement, Japanese special branch to be precise, and he had more than his fair share of dirty contacts. Terros was thankful he didn't need to go ripping the knowledge from anyone else's head that night – it left him with a mild headache afterwards.

Dressed in a set of dark shirt and pants, he still hardly cut an intimidating figure. That was fine – as he made his way to the Old Tokai District, Terros didn't plan on being seen.

Anton was sitting at his desk, beer open, going through stacks of shipment manifests and blueprints before he suddenly felt an oppressive presence make itself known directly behind him.

"Don't turn around," Terros stated in a gravelly voice, augmented by the Force. "Are you Anton Lukyanenko?"

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Anton demanded in a thick, brutish tone, with a clipped Russian accent. The man wasn't exactly the kind of person you would want to get into a fight with. He looked like what you'd expect from a Russian gangster – heavily muscled, with his arms literally bathed in tattoos. "I can make things very difficult for you. Have you come to kill me?"

Though he seemed to be no more than a brute, a thug, in reality Anton was scheming, wily and clever. The Russian ex-gangster was wondering how this person had known who he was, but more importantly, how he had found his safehouse.

"No, on the other hand, I'm here to offer you a business deal, from my employer," Terros said.

Anton's hand, which had been hovering slowly towards the firearm in the open drawer below the desk, stop. "Who?"

"Nobody you'd know. Someone who pulls the strings and knows how to stay under the radar. Nevertheless, he's heard of your particular talents and connections... he's very impressed, and would like to pay you for your services in making a series of shipments."

The world after Second Impact was a world of chaos and strife. Many Governments had buckled under the weight of near economic collapse, and in order to survive, many had begun to deal with less... reputable elements. Civil wars and riots had drastically increased, and in order to accommodate them arms dealers and high-profit criminal organisations had begun to rise. For those Governments less fortunate, much like USSR Russia had done towards its collapse, they had begun to sell off stockpiles of weapons, ammunitions, and explosives, not only legitimately but on the black market. Many dealers were all too happy to get their hands on them.

At his request, Anton smirked. "Well, you came to see the right guy! What we talking about?"

"We're talking about armaments, and not just the budget AK-47 models. We're talking about shipments of the real good stuff here, the hi-tech stuff. And not just firearms. Heavy weaponry, armour, equipment, schematics, vehicles... my employer needs you to utilise the entirety of your network in order to locate enough for a small country."

At this, Anton got a greedy glint in his eye. It had been a while since he had done something as big as what the mystery man was asking him to do.

Anton was no stranger to financing armies. He was nearing middle-aged now, and he had certainly been around. Ever since he had been busted several years ago however, the most he could do was small jobs, mainly local stuff even, in order to put some food on his table and keep a roof over his head. However, what this man was asking to do... it would be enough to retire on. And, with no living relations, Anton had nothing to lose.

"I do have a couple of contacts in the Government... but, let me tell you, it's going to take a while to sort all that out. In addition to keeping it hush-hush, the money required for this will be considerable."

"Money is no object," Terros dismissed. "Just provide the manpower yourself and my employer will pay for it."

Anton laughed. "Now we talkin' my language. But... how do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know this ain't some elaborate set-up?"

"19, 25, 36, 12, 54," Terros recited. At Anton's confusion he explained. "That's the private off-shore account number of the business whose assets you seized sixteen years ago. To my understanding, all of it was returned when you were caught... and I'm guessing you want some payback."
At this, the man began to cackle, his voice harsh and mad. "Well! Tell your employer he has a deal! Man, I thought only the special agents involved in that case knew the guy's number. If you guys are this good then I know I won't get ripped off. So, how am I going to be able to contact you people?"
"Don't worry... we'll contact you. And my employers name is... Terros." With that, Shinji turned around, his form melting into the shadows. "Darth Terros."

-SW-

A/N: One reviewer has pointed out the concerns of the Rule of Two. Naturally, as a Sith, Shinji/Terros knows it is essential to Sith philosophy. However it is also a literal mandate of being a Sith that one must take an apprentice, especially in Shinji's case since he is the only Sith on his entire planet – someone to act out his will and be a personal assassin, and do the dirty work, which Shinji now is forced to do since he doesn't have one. Also, if he dies, at the very least, his apprentice can carry on with his plans.

From Evangelion we see two potentially very powerful Sith – Asuka and Rei, literal opposites. Since Rei has already accidentally moulded with Shinji, she is his original target. For the purposes of this story, only Rei or Asuka are viable candidates to be Shinji's apprentice, and Shinji may eventually even regret his original decision since it is difficult to picture the docile Rei as ambitious or desiring power.

However, Rei, since she is the key to Instrumentality, may offer a key to ascending to heights beyond what even Sith could dream of – something Shinji will become aware of later. Because of this the Rule of Two may even become irrelevant to Shinji, something which can be a plot device later – after all, is Darth Bane really gone from Terros' head?

Furthermore in terms of Sith hierarchy we've also seen plenty of underlings, Sith inquisitors, people below the traditional Master-Apprentice relationship. However we also have a history of apprentices training their own apprentices to try and overthrow their master – Vader in an attempt to convert Luke, for example, or Count Dooku with Asajj Ventress. Lucas has previous mentioned that Asajj and Dooku would have been killed by Palpatine had he known the extent of Ventress' training in the dark side.

The point of this big long author's note is that Shinji may not interpret the Rule of Two as strictly as his master did and may be slightly more liberal. This doesn't mean he'll be stupid however. Also, if people are concerned about Shinji's strength he is way underqualified to be the Dark Lord of the Sith. He will get stronger as he goes, but once he reaches his peak... he will be VERY powerful. Right now Shinji is in terms of pure strength slightly below or equal to Anakin's level in Episode II. His main advantage is his cunning and broad knowledge of many Sith techniques, and the fact that people are underestimating him. But again, when he peaks... remember that Palpatine was able to use the Force to call massive storms that could rip through the fabric of time and space, and Naga Sadow was able to use Sith sorcery to create powerful illusions that could literally mind-rape millions.

Shinji has one such devastating technique in his arsenal, learnt from Darth Bane – the thought bomb. However as many of you know, it is a suicide technique. He will eventually become stronger as the story goes on.