The man called Jacob smirked.

"An open and transparent administration. Isn't that what we all should aspire to be in times such as these?"

Gendo Ikari blinked. It was the first time he had talked to the man in a private transmission, let alone the man responsible for the capture of his top agent. If Keel Lorenz knew that he had agreed to a private transmission with the Succesors... Gendo pushed the thought from his mind.

The man was dressed rather flamboyantly for a man of his position, garnishing a general attire that might be more akin to Victorian era commanders. Perhaps for pomp and circumstance?

"We thank you dearly for sending Kaji to us. There is much we can learn from him, and he from us. The successors believe that partnership and mutual trust are the only things that can abound if we aim to mend this war-torn world. We trust that you are treating the boy and our entourage well?"

So a game of words is it? Gendo thought.

This branch of Americans had a knack for calling themselves the Successor State to the United States of the American Republic , or the Successors for short. It had been rumored that the Successors claimed a Reagan family member leader in their service, fresh with cold war mentalities of a bygone era. How much of this was true or not, no-one could really say. Anything from the information black hole of the former United States of America was scarce, and considering that there were so many factions vying for power…

Gendo was not fooled by a second by the warm interaction on Jacob's part. Jacob had abducted his agent. The man he was talking to knew it and he knew that he knew it. Yet he continued playing the hospitable role, as if Gendo had sent Kaji over to train at NERV-02 base. He could play that game too.

"Yes. Your pilot acted admirably in the defense of Tokyo-3. He saved us all from the Angels and he truly is a good pilot. We are thankful that you sent him to us."

That brought an amused look to Jacob's face.

"Oh we knew that he would be of service to you. Tell me is the boy well?"

Gendo blinked away yet another frustration. The day after his last encounter with William, it was revealed to him that Michaels had brought him to the American quarters in Tokyo-3 without his knowledge. It was bad enough that the man went by his authority in NERV, but to be truthful he had no idea where the boy was at the moment."

"Well, he was in a recovery phase after the battle, but his recovery has come along well and we have provided due quarters for his training."

"Excellent, just see that you keep him under… close watch. We wouldn't want anything to happen." Jacob replied.

How long must this farce go on? Thought Gendo.

This was not how people acted when they discovered that you were attempting to spy on them and had your agent intercepted. Where was the threat? There was obviously a threat there, since they had Kaji, but it was unnerving just how transparent and friendly he was being. In fact, the man called Jacob had even given a brief tour of the NERV-02 facility, showing the chambers filled with LCL where EVA Units could be kept, showing the quarters for officers, their communications. Open and transparent…

"Open and Transparent." Gendo thought.

What was perhaps most unnerving…

"Kaji, have you enjoyed your stay with us?" Jacob said.

In the background throughout this whole transmission, Kaji stood in the background with a blank look on his face.

"I have enjoyed my stay."

There was something… off about Kaji. There were no signs of threat or distress on his face, yet his mannerism was slightly off. None of the warm, confident personality that Kaji would display even in daunting situations was present. He was just… neutral. Also absent was subtle body motions that Kaji had been trained in to indicate hidden messages, signals of distress, a blink, a turn of the head, a hand in his pocket, no attempt at communication nothing.

Almost blank… Thought Gendo.

Jacob spoke up.

"We are grateful that you sent him to us." He grinned.

Just than an officer appeared on the holographic transmission and spoke to Jacob in a quick hushed voice.

From what he overheard, Gendo heard the man mention something about a Lone Star faction.

Jacob suddenly turned angry.

"What did you THINK my response would be!?"

He glanced back at Gendo.

"Please excuse me for a brief moment… there is something I must attend to."

Jacob and the man hurried off the screen, leaving the transmission still running. Kaji remained in the room looking at the transmission.

Is this some sort of trap? Gendo thought. He knew better than to outright talk to him about his motives over the transmission, after all they could be watching or recording, or just planning this to trap him.

Gendo raised a glass of water to his lips and took a long sip. Kaji looked on without any visible changes or recognitions.

What did they do to you… he thought.

Gendo frowned.

Jacob said something fast off-camera, and after the sound of his orders and men rushing to and fro, he returned after a moment.

"I must apologize for that… interruption." He resumed his calm demeanor.

Gendo was going to reply, but Jacob continued.

"It is beneficial to exchange men and information between our nations. There is something I should probably tell you. Don't get to close with Keel Lorenz. Goodbye Commander."With that Jacob ended the transmission, leaving a befuddled Gendo staring at nothing in a dark room.

Gendo became angry and squeezed his hands.

Gendo didn't trust Keel Lorenz at all, he never did, and that was not hard to do. In fact he loathed the man. But he did not exactly trust this Jacob person who he just met who held his operative hostage either. So many things rushed through his head. Who did Gendo trust at this time?

Just then Fuyutsuki knocked on the door.

"Sir, can I come in?"

Gendo waited a few seconds to compose himself before saying

"Yes come in."

"Sir, I…" Fuyutsuki paused upon seeing the Commander's demeanor.

"Sir is something…"

"It's nothing. What is it Kozo?" Gendo replied.

"Well, the UN representatives will be arriving shortly."

Gendo Ikari glanced at his watch. 12:00. He had lost track of time

Well speak of the devil…

"I will meet them on the tarmac in half an hour. Summon Minato and Ritsuko… and the three pilots."

"Yes sir." He said, as he turned to leave.

Gendo finished his water. Even the purifying attributes of water could not quell the uneasiness that he felt inside after that conversation.

Keel Lorenz… my old friend.


The transmission ended.

Jacob turned to look at his subordinate, the anger becoming visible on his face.

"What… was that?"

The man looked visibly nervous. It was never a good thing when Jacob was angry.

"Sorry for the interruption… but the…"

Jacob cut him off.

"Oh I know what the rebels did. But what makes you think that you can interrupt me in an important conversation with Gendo?"

"I'm.. I-I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again." The man sputtered.

Jacob looked in his eyes.

"No… it won't. But that was the least of my concerns. Come, follow me."

He started to walk out of the room, and his subordinate knew to follow at once. As Jacob passed Kaji, he paused in front of him and said.

"Not you… Kaji. You did good."

Kaji looked at Jacob.

"I did good."

Jacob than left the room with his subordinate hot on his heels.

Kaji continued to look at the blank wall where Gendo had been a moment before. His mouth began to form a grin.

The two men boarded an elevator that appeared to go down a huge, metallic shaft in the ground. Jacob pressed on floor -40.

They stood in silence for a while. The subordinate knew that it was not good to question where they were going, he was just to obey orders. After a long silence Jacob spoke.

"David, I was told that the… preparations were complete?"

"Yes sir, they were completed thoroughly." He mentioned. Davis knew what his assignment was. He was to clean and decontaminate the excess and bad LCL left over from experiments in the EVA lower chambers. He had been tasked as the head of a cleaning crew, responsible for making the inner base look pristine for just the occasion.

"Thoroughly, you say?..."

Davis began to feel nervous.

Uh-oh that tone of his…

"Yes sir… I cleaned and re-cleaned several times. It was decontaminated as well, it should be spotless. The chamber was pristine for your call, just as you said."

They arrived at a floor well underground, and the huge elevator door swung open.

"You know" Jacob began

"I noticed something, and I wonder if Gendo noticed as well…"

They stood before a vault filled with reddish-orange LCL.

Davis looked out over the immense storage tank.

"What is it? I don't…" Davis' eyes went wide at that moment and the words caught in his throat.

OH SHIT!

Jacob waded out knee-deep into the amber colored liquid, even in his high-quality leather boots.

A decapitated arm waded along near the surface of the LCL.

Davis now trembled slightly.

"Sir, I swear to you I… I. d-don't know how that got there. It was clean I promise. I don't how how that slipped by us… I…"

Jacob stopped near the human arm, and Davis saw the look in his eye. His eyes began to look almost… blood-shot, he focused intently on the arm. It held his attention.

Suddenly Jacob's lips curled into a wide smile and the look in his eyes…

Davis knew this wasn't good.

"Sir… it's a huge vault. M-maybe he didn't see, no-one could see something so small in here on the camera…" He was prepared to say anything that came to his mind that would perhaps alleviate his Commander's fury.

"Leave." Jacob said abruptly.

In that moment Davis was shocked, but thankful.

"Y-yes sir. I'll take the stairs." He literally ran to the emergency stairway that hung 20 feet above the massive space and ran up. He knew better than to linger, less his Commander change his mind.

Jacob took a few steps closer. His mouth filled with saliva. He picked up the arm and held it above his head, LCL trickled off of the mangled limb.

"Well look at you." He said. His eyes gleamed with anticipation.

Jacob let out a smile and laughed, a sound that echoed off of the metallic holding tank's walls.

Suddenly, the image of an officer appeared on the screen near the ceiling.

"Sir, incoming transmission."

The annoyance was palpable on Jacob's face.

"What did I just tell someone else about interrupting me!?"

And I was just in a good mood

"It's… them sir."

Jacob's eyes widened. Something akin to fear might have passed in front of them for a second. He assumed a very serious tone as he flung the arm 20 feet back into the LCL

You will have to wait.

He walked outside of the LCL and back onto dry, metallic surface and he looked up his officer on the screen. He would not have time to clean himself of this LCL, but he had to make do. He was usually extra careful about his appearance, and his LCL-stained gloves and boots would not do. But they did not like being waited upon. He breathed slowly to himself.

"I'm ready. Send me through."


The day was unpleasantly warm, in fact sweltering. Since the cataclysmic Second Impact in the year 2000, the seasons became muddled and climate change took place across the earth. It truly had been a long summer for the residents of Tokyo-3, for both the weather and the Angel attacks.

Shinji wiped the sweat off his brow and turned to look at the large procession of people that had gathered near the landing strip close to NERV-HQ. It seemed as if at least half of the NERV attendants were gathered there, awaiting the arrival of the UN delegates and pilots, and NERV personnel from other branches. Shinji overheard his father say during a briefing that some of these NERV locations were classified, even to various NERV personnel. From what he heard there would be UN people and pilots present from France, Spain, Russia, the UK, and Austria. Also there would be UN and NERV personnel present from Germany, Australia, China, and from other classified locations. Many were arriving today and some later, but a multitude of people was heading their way either from their respective countries/territories or from aircraft carriers on the ocean.

Even more new pilots… he thought. Right now, the other EVA pilots were scheduled to arrive.

Shinji turned to his left and looked at his fellow pilots, Rei and Asuka.

"Why are you looking at me?" Asuka quipped.

"Oh, I'm just…" he trailed off. She was kind of obstructing his view of Rei, but he thought it best not to tell her that. She was already in an irritable mood, which might not make the best impression upon the other pilots. Then again it was Asuka. It may be best for them to see her like this upfront in her bravado, to get an idea of how the red-haired beauty could act. She could get into these moods easily. Shinji blinked away the thought than looked at Rei.

Rei gave him an assuring nod and looked into his eyes. Shinji looked away, back towards the other people, partly to hide his obvious staring, and partly not to look at Asuka, who gave him an eye that said "I know what you're doing, it's so obvious."

Ahead of the crowd of NERV attendants stood Gendo Ikari, Kozo Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko Akagi, and Misato Katsuragi, awaiting the guests.

However, Shinji felt strange that another pilot wasn't with them. He had dwelled over William's cryptic words over and over in his head. He had felt uneasy ever since hearing them, and a bit paranoid.

Why isn't he here? Thought Shinji.

It seemed like everyone was here that needed to be here… besides any of the Americans.

First they take William to a new location, than they ignore NERV summons to be here… These already problematic Americans were just becoming more problematic. Gendo would have to deal with them soon, and at least make it known that they are not to go against orders from the Commander of NERV-HQ. If anything, the American's absence would send a statement to the UN personnel. Perhaps some sort of harsh reprimand was in their near future… And Gendo knew what harsh entailed.

However, Gendo had other matters on hand at the moment.

"There!" pointed Shinji, as a multitude of aircraft appeared as specks on the horizon. As the plains grew nearer, the assembled people witnessed just how many there were. There were Su-34 Fullback jets. There were Mig-35 jets. There were Bell Boeing V-22 Ospreys. There were CH-53 helicopters. Multitudes of them. What drew everyone's attention, however, were the menacingly large Lockheed C-5 galaxy transport planes and several B-2 looking transport aircraft that were almost as large as the Lockheeds.

This is a fleet… thought Shinji. It was more planes than he had ever seen in his life.

So they come thought Gendo. The planes grew ever larger as they approached and glistened in the sun, forcing many people to turn away as the air fleet was blinding to the eye. They shone in the sun, all displaying proud United Nations' regalia.

"Finally some Deutsch Menschen!" said Asuka in delight. She was excited at the prospect of other Germans that were coming to Tokyo-3.

I wonder what these pilots are like. Thought Shinji.

The planes finally landed, and were truly a force to behold. They took up the entirety of the runway, in addition to other side runways for the planned landing.

A multitude of people departed off of the largest Lockheed in the center of the formation, which appeared to be the UN flagship. Among them was Keel Lorenz.

Other people from various nations were also disembarking as Lorenz and his group were the first to meet them near the runway.

Lorenz smiled, his iconic visors and green outfit donned.

"Gendo, my old friend." were his first words.

Keel Lorenz…

"It's been a long time." Gendo remarked. The two men shook hands. Something about his visor had always seemed strange to Gendo, but it had been that way for many years.

"Too long indeed."

Lorenz looked at the gathered crowd.

"I see that your pilots are here."

"Pleased to meet you." Shinji said politely.

Asuka stepped in front of him. "Asuka Langley Sohryu reporting for duty!"

Rei looked at him and smiled.

"Well Gendo, I have to say, you certainly have some … spirited pilots."

At that point Ritsuko said

"I'm glad you've made it alright sir."

Misato grinned.

"I look forward to some training!" she exclaimed.

Lorenz looked back at Gendo.

"Where is your other pilot?"

A slight wave of irritation passed through his mind. This was not like to go unnoticed.

"He is occupied at the moment… Shall I show you to your quarters?"

He tactfully changed the subject.

Lorenz laughed.

"I came all this way to see you, Gendo, there's no time for rest. Make way for the preparations! There is much to discuss."

That brought a smile to even Gendo's lips as they walked together towards the hanger.

Always straight to the point, even after flying half a world away. For as long as he could remember, Lorenz was like this. Even with all of the mounting… tensions, Gendo Ikari found solace in a moment of remembrance from their past friendship.

The group began to make their way towards NERV-HQ. By this time, UN personnel were everywhere.

"Wow…" was all Shinji could say at the magnitude of the procession. There were vast transport vehicles taking cargo from the Lockheeds and from the large B-2 aircrafts. Much of it was sealed up, but Shinji caught a glimpse of a couple enormous EVA Units being transported out of the planes.

"We will debrief at NERV." Lorenz said.

Gendo felt that gnawing irritation come back.

Just who is in charge here?

Keel Lorenz slapped him on the back.

"Lighten up, you look like you've seen a ghost or something."

That… may not have been so far off as far as Gendo was concerned, judging from the transmission and the look on Kaji's face he had just previously witnessed.

"Lorenz…" Gendo began, than he smirked.

"You'll have to tell me how you… organized this huge group."

Lorenz laughed.

"There it is! I knew that somewhere under that stiff exterior, you still had that famous humor in you! It was a nightmare to be sure…"

They trailed off in conversation as they walked towards NERV-HQ.


A ways off, further on down the runway, Kaworu Nagisa stood near the Lockheed that had transported him and his EVA-Unit 09.

Tokyo-3… It is hot here. was his first impression. Nonetheless, he was finally here, and something… it could have been excitement welled within him. Something he had waited for for a while.

Finally.

Kaworu Nagisa spied in the distance Keel Lorenz meeting with Gendo Ikari.

He also spied a boy who was looking all around at the unloading EVAs.

Shinji.

Shinji glanced his way, yet was really looking beyond him. It did not matter to Kaworu.

I see you clearly He smiled.

I can't wait to meet you…

However, in his direction, he noticed the blue-haired girl with the same crimson eyes as his, looking at him with what appeared to be a look of recognition… and a frown.

He glanced at the girl that could be considered a beauty.

And you're here… but no matter. I know what I am going to do. He grinned as she turned back the other way and continued walking with the pilots.

"Kaworu!" a voice behind him to the right caught his attention and he looked back. Alice Beaumont rushed to his side, in front of other French UN delegates.

"Alice. It's good to see you."

The girl was obviously smitten with him, seeing as how she rushed to his side.

She smiled and looked at him shyly.

"It's… good to see you too. I'm excited to meet the other pilots."

"Shall I escort you there?" Kaworu interjected, as he put an arm through hers and began to lead her towards NERV.

She instantly flushed and could only comply with Kaworu and his pace.

Kaworu smiled at her.

"This will be fun." He said.

Let her think what she will about me. There's only one EVA pilot here that concerns me in this lot.