Chapter 4

"Are you all ready?" asked Dr. Akagi.

"Yes, ma'am," I heard Shinji reply.

"Hai," came Ayanami's voice.

"Can we get this over with, already?" demanded a rather irritating female voice. I had to assume that it was the infamous Asuka.

I still hadn't met Soryu face-to-face. Ayanami and I arrived in the V.R. lab from the infirmary with just enough time to throw on our plug suits and jump into our entry plugs before we were late.

"Andrew, are you ready?" Akagi asked.

"Check," I replied.

"All right," said Misato, "Now, the way this team-synch test is going to work is like this: the four of you will be broken up into pairs and put into an obstacle course. It will be your jobs to complete that obstacle course as fast as possible without speaking to your partners."

"Sounds impossible," Asuka complained.

"Now, how can you say that?" Misato asked, "You're the great Asuka Langley Soryu, aren't you? You can do anything, can't you?"

"Yeah, by myself," said Asuka, "I don't think that anyone else here can keep up with me."

"Give it a rest, will you, Asuka?" Shinji snapped.

"What the hell's your problem, baka-Shinji?!" she snapped back.

"All right, break it up, you two," Misato said firmly, "Asuka, you're going to partner with Andrew for the first run through. Shinji, you and Rei will be together for this first run. You'll also be the first ones to go through the course. Asuka, you and Andrew won't be allowed to watch them go. It's only fair that way, you know?"

"That's fine," I answered.

"Whatever," Asuka grumbled.

"Rei, Shinji, are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am," Shinji answered.

"Hai," Ayanami said again.

I could still sense her feelings through our rapport, even though we were in separate Eva units, and right at that point, Rei had gone back to her apathetic, all-business personality. I couldn't see the course through her eyes, but I could sense some of her reactions to the obstacles. I marked them and at what time they occurred in the course. I also scanned a sense of satisfaction at how she and Shinji performed as a team, yet, at the same time, a sense of dissatisfaction at how slowly he reacted to some of the obstacles. About five or maybe six minutes later, I heard Shinji's voice:

"Done!"

"Six minutes and fifteen-point-six seconds," said Akagi, "Unit-02, Unit-04, are you ready?"

"Ready," I responded.

"Let's get this over with," said Asuka.

The simulator started up and our audio feeds went dead. I was looking at a long, military-like obstacle course. I knew that most of the obstacles would require some modicum of co-operation on the part of Asuka and me. However, co-operation was not on Asuka's mind as the starting whistle sounded. All that I could scan from her was an overwhelming urge to prove herself the best, as well as to squash everyone and anyone who stood in the way of realizing that goal. I knew that co-operating with her would be next to impossible for me.

The two of us took off from the starting line and ran towards the first obstacle: a wall. I knew that my Eva was 130 feet (40 m) tall and had the capacity to jump about fifty feet in the air. I judged that the wall in front of us was at least two hundred feet tall. That left, at a minimum, twenty feet of space that had yet to be cleared. I had a plan, and I hoped I could make the Second Child understand what I had in mind without speaking.

I pulled ahead of Unit-02 and crouched at the base of the wall with my hands cupped on my knee. To my great displeasure, Asuka ignored my motions and took a running leap at the wall. Not surprisingly, she did not succeed in clearing it. I again made my motion, more pointed and sharp this time, trying to signal the ignorant girl that I wanted to boost her up to the top of the wall. To my relief, Unit-02 gave the thumbs-up. She understood me.

Thank God, I thought, I was afraid that I'd have to spell it out for her.

Unit-02 backed up and took a running start towards me. She jumped into my hands and jumped again. I boosted my hands as she jumped, sending her sailing up into the air and onto the top of the wall. I looked up and saw Unit-02 lying on top of the wall extending her hand down to me. I smiled; she understood what needed to be done.

I stepped backward and took a short running start. I ran and jumped towards the wall, stretching myself as tall as my Eva could stretch. I felt Unit-02's hand grip my own and pull me up. The two of us jumped off the wall and crawled under a laser net. The next few obstacles were fairly standard to a military course: monkey bars, swinging rope, and a balance log (all Eva-sized, of course). The final obstacle was a doozy.

At first, I thought we had finished the course, since the two of us were standing in an empty, grassy field. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an Angel appeared and divided itself into two, identical twin bodies. I had read all of NERV America's files on the Angels up to the twelfth, and this opponent that now faced Unit-02 and me matched the description that I had read of the Seventh Angel.

Terrific, I groaned mentally, The one Angel that requires synchronization between the pilots to defeat, and here it is in a situation where we can't even talk to co-ordinate our efforts. I'm going to have to read Asuka carefully and follow her as fast as I can.

I focused my mind on reading Asuka's reactions and feelings about how to defeat the Angel. She started her attack. I mirrored it against the Angel's other half. I hated having to split my concentration during battle, but if I didn't read Asuka perfectly, our attack would never work. I got a strong sense of "I've done this before" coming from Asuka, and she performed admirably; executing a daring series of aerial flips and kicks before drawing her progressive knife and throwing it at the Angel's core. To tell the truth, it was almost hard to keep up with her. Asuka truly was a phenomenal pilot…if a tad bit conceited. However, I was no slouch when it came to piloting, either. I matched Asuka's pace to within a heartbeat, pushing my reflexes to their absolute breaking points. Finally, though, the Angels fell before us. I opened a comm. line to Misato.

"Done," I said, panting slightly from the effort it had taken to keep up with Asuka.

"Well done," I heard Dr. Akagi say, "Your time was five minutes on the dot."

"I could have done faster," said Asuka, "if this American twerp had been able to keep up with me on the balance log."

I could have made some searing comments of my own about Asuka's performance on the very first obstacle, but I bit down my retort. This, after all, was an exercise in teamwork. I instead chose to address Misato. However, she headed off any questions that I might have had by saying:

"Take a short break, you guys. When you come back, Shinji: you and Asuka will partner in a new arrangement of the obstacle course. Andrew, you and Rei will partner up. Everyone got that?"

"Yes, ma'am," we all said in unison. Then, we ejected our entry plugs and gathered in the V.R. lab's main room. I finally beheld the pilot of Unit-02 for the first time face-to-face. I had to admit, she was easy on the eyes. She was leaner in build than Ayanami, but she still had quite the figure. She took one look at me and I immediately sensed heated lust from her teenage mind.

It's times like this that I'm really glad that I keep in shape, I thought slyly. Then, I surreptitiously flexed myself out against my plug suit and watched Asuka squirm with absolute desire. I stopped when I felt Ayanami giving off waves of disapproval regarding my actions. I sent out feelings of apology and hoped she received them. I sat down next to Ayanami along the wall and tried to strike up quiet conversation with her.

"So…what did you think of the simulator run?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Do not try to fool me," said Ayanami, her voice quiet and cold again, "I know that you were showing off for pilot Soryu. How typically male of you."

"Touché," I countered, smirking, "And how typically female of you to disapprove of a man being proud enough of his body to want to show it off in front of a woman…or two…or three. I didn't scan you disapproving of the view, however."

"No," replied Ayanami levelly, "just the fact that you were making a fool out of yourself in front of a girl who is not worth your effort to try and impress. She has strong feelings for Ikari, and I do not think that your juvenile antics will change that."

"I'm not trying to change how she feels about Shinji," I responded, "I'm just messing with her a little bit. She was a bitch in the simulator run. She was right, though. We could have shaved off a few more seconds from our course time, if she'd have watched me and paid attention on the wall climb."

"Ikari and I were permitted to watch your run through the course," Ayanami stated, "and I did sense your frustration with Pilot Soryu at that particular point, as well as several others along the way. I do not believe that the two of you would make an effective team in battle."

"Oh, ya think?" I asked sarcastically.

"Sarcasm is uncalled for," Ayanami reprimanded, "I was merely stating an observation."

"What do you think our chances are for being an effective team in battle?" I asked.

"Perhaps better than your chances with Pilot Soryu," she replied.

"Hey!" Asuka shouted, "If you two love-birds are through whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears, we're due back in our entry plugs!"

"Okay," I sighed back, trying my best not to sound overly annoyed or frustrated.

"What's your problem, dümkoft?" the red-head asked hotly.

"Maybe I'm just sick of your attitude," I retorted, "And that's pretty bad, since I've only just met you, you prissy, little—,"

"We are going to be late for our test," Ayanami interrupted, walking past us into the lab.

I suppose it's a good thing that Ayanami interrupted when she did. Asuka and I were looking serious daggers at each other. I tell you, if looks could kill, NERV would have been short two more pilots. I couldn't understand why one person had to be as prissy, bitchy and downright irritating as Asuka was. I stormed past the Second Child and into the lab. As Asuka entered behind me, her face just as black with anger as mine, Misato seemed to sense that there was something very wrong among the pilots.

"What's the matter?" she asked, sounding more serious than concerned.

"Nothing," I answered, somewhat unconvincingly, I'll admit. Asuka mirrored my answer. The major cocked an unbelieving eyebrow towards us.

"Pilot Soryu and Pilot Hildreth had a small altercation out in the lobby," said Ayanami, "They are still unhappy with each other."

"Thank you, Rei," said Misato. Then, she turned to me and Asuka and said sternly: "You two need to get past it and grow up a little. Asuka, you can't keep antagonizing every new person that you meet. How do you ever expect to make any friends?"

"I don't need friends," the red-head snapped.

"Andrew," said Misato, turning to me, "I know your psychological history. I know you've got a very quick temper and that it's gotten you into several fights before. You've got to get over it and cool your head. Out here, we can't afford to have our pilots fighting each other, when they're supposed to be fighting the Angels! You got that?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied quietly, staring at the floor.

I couldn't believe it. Misato was bitching at me, when it was Soryu who had the attitude problem. Despite trying to keep a cool exterior, I fumed and raged on the inside at the complete unfairness of it all. When I climbed back into my entry plug and synched with my Eva, I heard one of the techs gasp with shock.

"What is it?" I heard Akagi ask.

"The pilot of Unit-04's synch ratio just spiked to 89 percent!" the tech said.

"How?" Akagi demanded.

"We don't know!" the tech replied anxiously, "It just happened."

"These things don't 'just happen'," said Akagi, "Something triggered this spike. I want to know what triggered it, and I want to know now!"

"Yes, ma'am!" the tech replied briskly.

"Andrew, you and Rei are going to go first this time," said Misato, taking a cue from Dr. Akagi, "We want to see just what this spike in your synch ratio means."

I grunted in reply, still steaming over Misato's unjust reprisal of me over Asuka. I looked over and nodded to Ayanami. She nodded back and the simulation was started back up. I could feel Ayanami stretching out with her feelings, trying to contact with me as the starting whistle sounded.

The two of us took off from the starting line, easily clearing a rope swing followed by a laser net crawl. Next in line was a battle with the Seventh Angel. Now, I reached out to contact with Ayanami, sending feelings of wanting to lead this attack. I received feelings that said "lead on".

I leapt at the Angel. Ayanami reacted with the speed of thought, since she could read my feelings on how to attack as soon as I felt them. With this added advantage, our synchronization was automatically laser-precise. We defeated the Angel in a matter of a few seconds, where Asuka and I working together required nearly a full minute to defeat the opponent.

Next up was the wall climb. Ayanami understood my idea perfectly, reading my feelings and assuming a boost position. I leapt into the air towards the wall as she moved, knowing and trusting that she would be ready to catch and boost me as soon as I came down. I was right. I contacted with Unit-00's hands and she boosted me up to the top of the wall.

As I sailed up through the air, Unit-00 quickly backed up and took a running start. I sensed her leap as I landed on the top of the wall. Instantly, my hand was stretched down as far as it would reach. As soon as my arm was fully extended, I felt Unit-00 grasp hold. I hauled hard and pulled her up.

Our next obstacle was the log balance; with a new twist. I saw pendulum hammers swinging at intervals all across the beam. I also saw switches on the logs. My mind worked furiously, trying to decipher the puzzle. Ayanami's mind was quicker. She sent me images of our two Evas playing a sort of leap-frog game across the log, landing on alternating switches to freeze the pendulum arms. I was slightly confused by this choice of strategies, but I received feelings of assurance that it would work. I had no choice but to trust Ayanami's word.

We moved to act and I jumped onto the first switch, dodging the first pendulum in the process. The first two pendulums froze in place. Ayanami leaped and vaulted over my back as though I was a vault horse in a gymnasium. With cat-like agility, she landed on the second switch. The third pendulum froze.

I leaped off of the first switch and vaulted over Unit-00, landing on the third switch. While the first arm began to swing again, the fourth one, the one in front of me, froze. Ayanami again leapt overtop of me and sailed onto the fifth and final switch. The pendulum behind me resumed its motion as I propelled myself into the air and overtop of Unit-00, landing safely on the other side of the log. Rei was right behind me, and as she landed, I was already in motion, bound for the final obstacle: a rope swing.

This one's gonna be tough, I thought, taking in the obstacle.

The rope swing consisted of a series of two ropes. One was up high enough in the air that I knew one of us would have to boost the other into the air in order to grab it. Dimly in the distance, I spied a second rope that looked like it was longer and hung lower. Making the obstacle threatening was a pit of red-hot lava that bubbled underneath the ropes. My mind was made up. Ayanami read my plans and moved to a position herself to boost me up into the air. I was amazed.

She's showing an awful lot of trust in my abilities to analyze the situation, I thought seriously, all the while racing towards her and preparing to jump.

Ayanami reached her position and set up to boost me. I quickly gauged the distance and jumped into Ayanami's hands. She must have done some calculations of her own, because she boosted me perfectly through the air and up to the rope. I stretched out and gripped the rope and started my swing across the lava pool. I saw the other rope coming quickly into range and let go with one hand to grab it. As the first rope reached the other end of its arc, I felt my grip slipping. Frantically, I grabbed for the other rope and just managed to grab it with my left hand as my right hand painfully lost its grip.

My Eva wrapped both of its hands tightly around the second rope as I started to swing back towards Rei. I realized that I was too high on the rope for Unit-00 to grab a hold of my hand, so I slid down the rope until I was satisfied that I could grab Unit-00 and keep her above the surface of the lava. I sent a mental image depicting the next step of the puzzle to Rei and waited for her to follow through.

Ayanami sent me back reassuring thoughts as she jumped into the air from the shore of the lake. Our giant machines locked hands once again and held tightly. The rope began its return trip to the far side of the lava lake. I sensed feelings of anxious coming from Ayanami. Suddenly I realized why; her hand was slipping from my grip. I sent a mental image that depicted Rei grabbing on with her other hand. I saw Unit-00 shaking its head.

My mind raced furiously. I was running out of clever ideas, and we weren't quite across the lava pool. If I dropped Ayanami now, not only would we fail the test, I'd feel absolutely shitty. I would have failed to keep a teammate alive simply because I couldn't keep a hold of her hand because of a dumb shoulder injury.

No! I thought resolutely, There has to be a way of keep a grip on Ayanami's hand. Come on, big brother, help me out!

I wasn't really pleading with anyone, but my Eva seemed to respond to me, feeding its own thoughts into mine. I saw its thoughts depicting me pulling Unit-00 up and the blue Eva wrapping its arms around my neck.

Brilliant, I thought, barely believing that my Eva was giving me ideas, That might just work.

Quickly, I relayed the thoughts to my teammate, who sent me feelings of agreement and began to climb up my arm as I pulled it up. I almost dropped Ayanami when her grip slipped on my Eva's upper arm. My Eva reacted of its own accord, catching Unit-00 around the waist and holding tightly with its right arm. A heartbeat later, the rope reached the opposite shore and I let go. As we touched down on the bank, I opened my comm. line to Misato and said:

"Done!"

"That…was…amazing!" Misato said slowly, "How the hell did you two move so perfectly together? It was like you could read each other's thoughts!"

"That was impressive, indeed."

"C-commander…Ikari?" I stammered, totally shocked, "When…when did you arrive, sir?"

"In enough time to see your performance on the pendulum log," said the older man in his cold voice, "Your co-ordination is impressive, Fifth Child, as is your sense of timing. Is the other pair ready to begin their simulation?"

"Yes, Commander," said Dr. Akagi.

"Then get them started," the cold man ordered.

"Shinji, Asuka, are you ready?" asked Misato.

I saw the two Eva pilots nod in unison through our in-cockpit video feed before it went dead. Now, sitting in my entry plug, I felt incredibly confined and sore. My shoulder throbbed painfully and my brain hurt terribly. I had the beginnings of a massive migraine and I couldn't figure out why.

"Misato, permission to eject from my Eva," I said, straining slightly.

"Granted," Misato replied, "Rei, you can eject, too. You two are finished."

My video feeds went dead as my plug screwed up out of my Eva's back. As soon as I climbed out of the metal tube and removed my neural links, my headache lost some of its edge. It still hurt, just…not as bad. I looked around at the other Evas in the V.R. bay. Unit-00, I noticed, was missing an arm.

"That's funny," I muttered, "She had both arms in the simulator. I wonder what happened."

"It was disconnected during our battle with the Thirteenth Angel," said Ayanami, coming up behind me, "They have not been able to repair it yet."

"I'm…sorry to hear that," I replied.

"It can still be deployed if an emergency should arise," Ayanami said with a shrug, "There is no cause for concern."

"You'd willingly pilot a one-armed Eva?" I asked, amazed at the level of this girl's dedication, "Even though it would almost certainly leave you at a disadvantage and possibly get you killed?"

"If I die, I can be replaced," Ayanami replied.

I couldn't believe my ears…or my empathic senses! The girl was completely serious! She actually believed that she was totally expendable.

"No one is expendable, Ayanami," I said, "No one."

"Rei," said the Commander, "It's time to leave now."

"Yes, sir," Ayanami replied, "Goodbye, Pilot Hildreth, I will see you later."

"Yeah," I said, stunned at her devotion to this cold man, "Yeah, see you…"

Reviews are welcome and helpful, but please, no flamers! I'll accept genuine, constructive criticism, but that's it. Thanks for understanding!