Tokyo-3

Together Gendo and Vice Commander Futsuyuki entered the cavernous Dummy Plug Plant room. Once they saw the LCL tank in the back of the room Futsuyuki nearly gagged while Gendo remained silent.

"Oh, my God," Futsuyuki gasped. Floating in the LCL tank were fragments of human bodies. Normally the tank was closed from view and for good reason: inside were contained nearly one hundred biological copies of the First Child, each identical in appearance to her but lacking the spark of life. The clones formed the basis for the Evangelion's Dummy Plug (or artificial pilot), as well as other uses that the command staff didn't care to disclose to anyone else. Now the bodies of the clones were just pieces floating together in the glowing orange glare of the giant tank, as dozens of arms, legs, torsos and heads all floated in an aquarium of the macabre. Both men walked closer to the tank as they noticed that several agents from Section Two in black suits were also investigating inside the large chamber.

The vice commander sighed. "Hell hath no vengeance..."

"At least we still have the one left," Gendo responded. "Stupid woman. Just like her mother."

Futsuyuki looked at the tank as a severed head floated by him, the eyes still wide open and the mouth smiling. "Without the dummy plug we won't be able to control Unit 01 during Instrumentality."

Gendo pushed up his glasses with his forefinger. "There's still an alternative method left open to us."

One of the Section Two agents approached the commander. "Sir!"
"Where is Dr. Akagi now?" Gendo asked.
"In a holding cell. She was reported to us by Major Katsuragi."

"Did anyone else see this?"
"The Third Child was summoned down here by the director. Major Katsuragi followed him here and then brought Dr. Akagi to us directly and informed us of what happened."

"I see."

"It's problematic that they both saw this," Futsuyuki commented.
The commander was stern. "By this time it no longer matters." He addressed the senior agent standing next to them. "Continue to allow the First Child freedom of movement but double her security."
"Yes, sir."

Gendo looked at one of the Section Two agents in the room, a very tall, muscular man in his 20s who was poking around the plant control terminal. He was an unfamiliar face to the commander. "Who is that?"
"It's Kikuchi, sir. He replaces Sato. Don't worry, he's very trustworthy."
"What happened to Sato?"
"Died in an auto accident yesterday, sir."

"Tell him to not be too nosy and remind him of what happens to cats who get too curious."

"Yes, sir." The senior agent went to speak to his subordinate at the two commanders continue to look at the silently drifting pieces of Rei inside the storage tank.

Australia

The following evening...

Patrick stood outside on the desert floor and watched aircraft buzz overhead in the night. Pine Gap and Alice Springs were now crowded with soldiers, airplanes, and all sorts of war-making equipment. The nearby runways were lined up and down with fighters, bombers and others. He walked over to the giant tarp that was laid out by one of the runways. Patrick passed the armed sentries, who let him through with only a cursory glance, ducked underneath the tarp and saw the silver-white Unit 04, his own EVA, lying face up on the ground.

The boy walked along the length of the EVA, occasionally letting his hand slide across the surface of its legs. As he walked alongside Unit 04 he could feel the warmth of the Evangelion. The EVA hadn't had that sensation before. Up until now the EVA had felt cold, like a statue that came to life for bits at a time. Now with the S2 installed the surface of the EVA was warm and radiating and it felt to Patrick to even be slightly quivering. It was as if now she was truly alive.

I'll still be here for you, she had said to him. As he slowly caressed his comparatively tiny hand in a crevice of the EVA's left hand he wondered if she could feel him there, if she knew his presence. If he were suddenly put in danger, would she react? He squeezed the hand a little and felt, just so subtly, a pulsing where his hand was. Patrick stood there for a moment, thinking she did know. How could she not?

The pilot kept walking and noticed standing outside the tarp was Dr. Foch, dressed as always in his white lab coat. Foch wasn't doing anything but just staring at the nighttime sky. Patrick left the EVA and walked over to join him. Foch turned his head when he noticed the boy standing next to him. "Oh, you're up and about?"

"Yeah, I wanted to see my EVA."

"She's all right," Foch replied. Patrick nodded in agreement and smiled a little to himself. They both went back to watching the skies. After a few minutes, Patrick said "I don't recognize anything up there."

"That's because we're in the Southern Hemisphere. The constellations are completely different here. If you see there a bit to the left, low in the sky," Foch pointed it out. "There is the Southern Cross."

"Oh. It's not very large..."
"But it's bright. Right above it is Centauri, and you can see Alpha Centauri low and to the left of the constellation."
"I see it."
"Yes. That's our closest neighbor, Alpha Centauri is. You wouldn't know it by just looking at it, would you?"

"That's true..." They were both silent again for a few more moments.

Foch took off his glasses and rubbed them. "When I was a young doctor in the French military, I was once stationed in New Caledonia. It was an island just northeast of Australia. It's not there anymore – the ocean swallowed it during Second Impact, but I remember when I was there every night I'd go out of my bungalow and look up at the sky and I'd wonder if they have all of the same problems up there we do down here." Patrick just looked at the old scientist as he cleaned his glasses and put them back on again. Foch didn't look back at him but continued on.

"I put fifteen years of my life into EVA, trying to claw my way to the top of the ladder of scientific prowess. Eventually I found my way to Second Branch and your father. Let's just say it wasn't a happy relationship." Patrick laughed a little to himself on hearing that. "But we needed each other if his plan to one-up the Japanese was to succeed. Finally he found himself at the head of Second Branch and having no further use for me I was promptly put on a one-way plane trip to the East Coast."

Dr Foch folded his hands behind his back as he scanned the skies. "After being so unceremoniously booted out, I thought my entire world had come to an end. All my important efforts on this project and there I was suddenly without work, tossed aside like so much garbage. I felt quite horrible, so horrible that I momentarily considered opening the airplane door and flinging myself outside." The scientist took a deep breath. "And then when I got out of the plane and saw the television with the reports of the disaster in Nevada, I knew that at that moment I was the luckiest man alive!"

"On that day I suddenly had a new perspective on life, thanks to you I should say," Foch turned to Patrick and smiled. "If it hadn't been for what you did I wouldn't be part of this, perhaps better endeavor."

Patrick didn't smile back but looked down on the ground, digging at the dirt with this shoes. "I don't really feel good about what happened."

"That's to be expected, I'm sure," Foch told him. "And it is true that it's a tragedy for many, but your father had no business screwing around with something he didn't comprehend. He was a second-rate scientist and a first-rate hacker, I always told him. He of all people should have understood the lengths the EVA would go to defend the pilot inside of her."

Foch looked back at the stars again. "Not long from now if things don't go right, there may not be anyone left on Earth to appreciate what we're seeing now." Foch put his hands in his pockets and started to walk back to the EVA. Turning again to Patrick, he said "I could certainly understand that you wouldn't want to be anyone's pawn, but I think now you've got the freedom to choose just what you want to be. That is, if you know what it is that you want." Foch then continued to walk to the tarp-covered EVA.

Patrick watched Foch walk back and crawl underneath the tarp, and then turned his attention again to the nighttime sky. If you know what it is that you want. Well, Patrick thought, I do know, don't I?

On one level he admitted to himself he was very weary of the burden that EVA had given him. His complete understanding of he was doing, who and what he was struggling for, had been destroyed when his father admitted it was he who had set up Vance and the Alliance for disaster. Patrick had been spared but only to complete his part in concluding his father's gotterdammerung. Finally at that moment Patrick had found his strength and with thoughts of Rei Ayanami in his head he called on the complete power of the EVA. EVA had come through, but at a horrible price.

Unfortunately now Rei was also dead. Somehow he couldn't get his mind wrapped around that, even though he had seen the video of EVA-00 self-destructing. Not her of all people, he had hoped. There was something special about her, something untouchable. Surely this was all some sort of joke and he knew he'd show up at Tokyo-3 and see her sitting in someplace quiet with her nose in a book.

That's not going to happen, he told himself.

She had died protecting Shinji. Rei, who Patrick's father had told him was herself cloned from Shinji's mother, had gave herself up for the other pilot. Patrick thought that Shinji, as soft-spoken and gentle as he was, could not have taken Rei's death well at all Now Shinji was all alone and God knows what was coming next.

Patrick thought about Vance. Double-V, you asshole! Why didn't you freaking tell me what you were up to? He knew the answer to that already: as Vance had told him earlier Patrick's value was that he was the secret pilot, the fail-safe to everything. It was the reason why his mother had placed him with his uncle and they lived so remotely, and why his childhood had been so hard, so that he'd be there when he was really needed. I guess I'm really needed now.

I wished there be a way I could go back in time and stop everything from happening at Tokyo-3, but it's too late for that now.

Vance didn't go to Tokyo-3 to kill Rei. She just followed orders and got in the way. He had really gone to stop Third Impact. And just like Rei, he also sacrificed himself for who he was protecting.

Now Shinji's all by himself. Sheffield said there might be as many as nine other EVAs, all against one. There's no way I can let him face that alone, with or without the Alliance.

A few hundred yards from the tarp-covered EVA, there was another large tent with a large crowd inside. Patrick could hear from a loudspeaker the voices of Admiral Vinson and General Sheffield going over their attack plan with the rest of the commanders inside.

Vance died trying to stop Third Impact. Rei died trying to protect Shinji. This time, protecting Shinji and stopping Third Impact are actually the same thing. The pieces are falling into place...

Patrick walked into the large tent from the back and saw rows of military officers seated on folding chairs. Up in the front was a large display with a map, timetables and code names. Japan was at the center of the map, with arrows pointing at Tokyo-3 from Australia, Alaska, and from the Sea of Japan.

I guess it's my turn now, because somewhere my twin Erin is still out there and I want her to still have the chance to look up at the stars at night.

The pilot walked along an aisle as Vinson went over the plan with the other officers. "...Task Force Ares comes from our other base in Alaska, while Task Forces Apollo and Hercules will come in from Oz. Task Force Poseidon, positioned off the coast, has two Marine battlegroups that will also assault in conjunction. Prior to the air assault our air wings will launch a Time-On-Target missile wave over the battlespace, with the aim of destroying as many enemy vehicles and air defense units as possible before our units arrive on the field. "

Vinson saw the boy in the distance but continued his briefing. "Opposition at NERV is estimated to be light, perhaps only a few companies of security personnel. They have Evangelions but it's expected they may not engage immediately. On the other hand, we know the Japanese government is gearing up for an assault with their Strategic Self Defense Force and they are coming in with a reinforced mechanized division and most of their special operations units. Our goal is to put our forces between the Japanese and NERV while we work out control of NERV and their Geo Front, one way or another."

Vinson changed the map to an image of one of SEELE's bat-wing like aircraft in flight, with a humanoid figure mounted underneath it. "Now a spoiler in all this is what you see here: It's highly likely that we will meet up with this thing, which is a mass-production Evangelion unit. Unfortunately we don't know much about these but we can assume that their combat performance is equivalent to the EVAs we know. That means AT fields, so conventional weapons are useless and only N2s may slow them down."

Colonel Burke, seated in the front row of the briefing, spoke up. "If conventional weapons are useless, how the hell are we supposed to stop these things if they show up?"

"As you probably know we have obtained special assets to deal with this threat. Special asset #1, code-named MANTIS, is already in theater. The availability of Special asset #2," Vinson eyed Patrick as he walked up to the front of the briefing tent, "is still being determined." As Vinson looked at Forrestal everyone else in the tent was silent, nearly all of them staring at the boy. Patrick just stood there.

"Can I help you with something, son?"

Patrick looked down at the ground for a moment and took a deep breath. Feeling the heavy weight of the gaze of the others, he spoke weakly. "They said you needed help", he said, looking at the admiral. "I...we...can help."

Vinson didn't smile but breathed just a little easier. "Thank you."

"I have a condition!" Patrick blurted out.

"What is it?"

"I won't attack Shinji!" he stammered. "Er, I mean I won't fight EVA-01. Or any of the other NERV EVAs. But I'll do whatever else you need me to do."

Vinson looked at Sheffield, who gave a nod and a slight smile. "If we do this right," the admiral told him, "it won't come to that. Agreed?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well, welcome aboard. Please have a seat." Vinson motioned to the front row of the most senior commanders. Patrick looked for a seat but didn't see an open one until Colonel Burke stood up and gave Patrick his own. Burke then stood next to him with his arms folded. The rest of the commanders in the row gave him just a quick glance and then focused their attention back to Admiral Vinson on the podium. Someone handed Patrick a blue binder that contained a variety of maps, charts and plans. On the cover of the binder were the words OPERATION OLYMPIC and an image of the Alliance's red Phoenix logo. Patrick looked up at Admiral Vinson as he continued.

"Special Asset #2," the commander glanced again at Patrick, "code-name GABRIEL, will arrive along with Task Force Apollo. Now, there is a chance that JSSDF may beat us to the Geo Front In that situation we will call audible RED PHOENIX and implement the alternative assault plan here..."