AN: This chapter is relatively short and is meant to act as an arc between the previous chapter and the next one.

The loud clanking of industrial hardware slammed against a metal surface, a ringing sound resonating through the air. A thick, coagulated liquid sloshed against the sides of a glass tube. A woman's voice cut through the banging.

"Commander, are you sure this operation is stable? We've tried this almost five times now with no success."

"Yes!" A man shouted, sounding distressed and enraged. "It has to work, it's our only option...it's my only option."

The sound of machinery could be heard snapping into place and a current filtering through a pressurized air tank. Someone's heeled shoes tapped slowly across the floor. The room was cold and damp-it smelled of mold, dust, chlorine and bleach. Dim orange lights burned from monitors, hooked up to the walls by millions of cables and the hum of a large computer could be heard. A waft of fresh blood filled the air. On a metal tray laid a pile of wet, hot carcasses, electric currents buzzing through them, but the object otherwise lifeless on the table. Bloodied implements lined the table in a neat row.

"Everything is in place, Sir. Preparing for high voltage electricity. Stand back, Commander."

A large, heavy switch was flipped with a loud "bang." A machine roared like an engine coming to life.

"Commander, I said step back!"

The woman yelled, covering her eyes.

A huge, intensely bright beam of light shot through the air. The sound of static filled the room-popping and hissing wildly. A man screamed out in pain and the woman gasped, flipping the switch back, deactivating the machine.

Another man walked out from the shadows, his heavy footsteps the only sound in the room, save for heavy breathing. A pressurized air tank popped open, a thick bubbling sound vomiting into the room.

"Was it a failure?" The Commander growled, clutching his arm that had been singed.

"No...a success," the other man responded.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the tiny glowing capsule. Inside the tube, floating among the concoction of flesh and blood, was an unimaginably small twitching bean. This "bean" had tiny arms and legs, a thin neck, small webbed fingers and toes.

It was alive.

The hatch on the machine was quickly sealed shut. The Commander walked over to the main monitor and stared into it, his eyes narrowing sharply under the reflection in his glasses.

"Pattern blue...it's more alien than human. Get rid of it."

"Commander, the only way you're going to get a more human vessel than this one is just...to move on."

"No!" He howled, slamming his fist down onto the table, rattling the instruments on it.

The other man responded.

"This is the closest we have come. It's alive. It's healthy. It has incredible potential."

The Commander was silent for a long moment, seeming to be lost in thought. The only sound that could be heard was the soft humming of machinery. The Commander looked up at the life form in the glowing tube across the room, staring at it intensely for a long moment.

"Fine, keep it. I will work with it," he stated, turning and walking out of the room, a hand clutched over his wounded arm.

"This is it…" the other man spoke, "This is the closest replica of Yui in existence."

"Closest artificial replica. The Commander has a son."

"Indeed… and for that comes his greatest downfall… a man, so obsessed with a woman he cares more about recreating her than

fathering the child that he had with her….oh Yui, how you must be loathing us right now. We have committed the greatest sin against you."

Shinji awoke with a gasp, startling himself awake, covered in his own sweat. He was laying in a bathtub, lined with towels and a pillow.

For a long moment he simply stared up at the ceiling, in shock from what he had witnessed in his dream. He remembered the tiny life form twitching in the orange liquid.

"Rei…" he said absently, speaking without thinking.

After a while, he decided to pull himself up, groaning as he climbed out of the bathtub. His neck and spinal cord felt incredibly sore. He rotated his neck around in slow circles, feeling the pain in his joints. He couldn't spend another night sleeping like this.

He walked into the next room, yawning and scratching his head. Rei was curled up on the couch in the room, under a thin blanket and Asuka was a small lump on the far left side of the queen-sized bed. Why Asuka couldn't even have the decency to share such a huge bed with Rei so that Shinji could sleep on the couch was beyond him. He walked over to the countertop and sifted through the plastic bags, looking for something to eat and drink. Still half awake, he didn't hear Rei sliding off of the couch and walking over to him.

"Good morning," her soft voice came, loudly in Shinji's right ear.

He jumped, rocking his whole body with a hard jolt. He looked over his shoulder at Rei with a wide-eyed expression and then, realizing who it was, turned to face her, his expression softening.

"Oh, Good Morning Rei," he chuckled softly, "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry."

"N-no it's okay! I just wasn't expecting you to wake up so fast."

She stared at him and said nothing, then looked down at the snack bag Shinji had been struggling to open and reached for it.

"Let me help you," She said.

Shinji started to respond but his voice was caught in his throat. Rei took the bag and ripped it open, handing it back to him.

"Thanks…" He said, looking down at it.

He looked up. Rei was staring back at him and he thought he caught the hint of a smile on her lips and the slight squinting of her eyes. He felt himself smiling back at her, before looking away, rubbing his hand through his hair. An image of that tiny, beady head from the small creature in his dream popped into his mind. He remembered Ritsuko showing him and Misato a room at the basement of Nerv and saying that this is where Rei was born. Was that small lifeform from his dream, Rei? Maybe it wasn't just a dream… he thought, staring at the floor.

He heard the bed covers behind him shifting and heard Asuka groan.

He watched as Asuka slowly pulled herself upright, her face scrunching in pain at something.

She realized Rei and Shinji were both staring at her after a couple of seconds. She shot them an irritated look, but said nothing.

Both Shinji and Rei turned away and surprisingly Asuka dropped it. She climbed out of bed and hobbled over to the counter, rummaging through the bags for food.

She stretched and yawned, while she ate and then sighed loudly.

"I have to bathe today."

"Yeah, we should go look for some fresh water somewhere. I could use a bath too," Shinji said, running his fingers through his hair.

Asuka glanced at him sharply, narrowing her eyes threateningly. Shinji felt a chill run up his spine and quickly looked down at his feet, trying to escape her gaze.

She's still mad at me, Shinji thought. Why though? What did I do to make her so mad? Asuka has always had a short temper but she's never held a grudge against me for this long before…

Not long after the three former Eva pilots were on their way to find clean water. They were walking through the small neighborhood surrounding their temporary shelter.

Asuka hadn't spoken a word or even looked in the direction of either Shinji or Rei for the entirety of their walk. Shinji was staring at Asuka, who was watching the buildings as they passed them. It was really bothering him that Asuka was acting so strange and worse that he didn't know what to do about it. Was it her mother? Did he say something that reminded her of something from her past? Shinji thought back to as much conversation as he could remember having with her yesterday and couldn't think of anything that he found to be particularly outlandish.

Rei slowed her pace so that she was walking beside Shinji. She could tell he was upset about the way Asuka was acting. Rei always knew that Asuka was a very easily aggravated person-she didn't particularly care for this trait or how loud and conceited Asuka always sounded, though she knew most of it was a cover and that, in truth, she had a very fragile heart. Rei felt like Asuka did most of the damage to herself however, and felt little empathy towards her situation because of it. But, Rei was concerned at how Asuka's selfish attitude was upsetting Shinji.

She looked down at his hand, swinging by his side as he walked. She wanted to comfort him somehow or distract him. Without thinking, Rei reached for Shinji's hand and slipped her fingers into his. She had seen Yui do this with the Commander in her memories which visited her in the form of dreams, and it always seemed to bring him great pleasure.

It's nice to be held, Rei reminded herself.

Shinji gasped quietly and then caught himself, quickly looking down at his hand, joined with Rei's and then back up at her. His eyes were wide and full of questioning. Rei felt her cheeks burn as she made eye contact with him, looking away and biting her bottom lip, unsure as to what she should say or do. She felt Shinji's arm relax and his fingers tighten around her hand. Rei felt an intense warmth fill her chest. Shinji's hand was soft and warm but also a little damp, though it didn't bother her. She smiled softly in response to the feeling.

Is this happiness? She wondered.

Behind them, Asuka was watching as Rei held hands with Shinji. She saw the way he looked at her and how she looked at him. She saw that Shinji tightened his hand around Rei's. Asuka felt her stomach turning-it made her feel nauseous. She grit her teeth, making her mouth into a firm line and tightened her fists at her sides. Their happiness together disgusted her. Why did Shinji react this way to Rei now but had rejected her so offensively when she had tried to kiss him, back when they lived together in Misato's apartment? Asuka glared at Rei, feeling a hot, twisting anger rising within her. She wanted to jump out and strangle Rei.

'What does she have that I don't?' She thought, finding it increasingly harder to resist snapping and lashing out on her. 'After everything Shinji and I have been through together, he wants some boring bitch like her? I bet she's just jumping for joy right about now… I bet she's happy Shinji is paying more attention to her than he is to me. She probably thinks she's going to win him over and leave me to rot. Well, not so easy wondercunt, I am the embodiment of your worst fucking nightmares and there's hell to pay, just you wait.'

(To Be Continued...)