Another day, another sync test. Well, except today was not just a sync test. Ritsuko was having them do it in the nude. "You've got to be kidding me!" Asuka cried, arms crossed.

"I don't kid," Ritsuko deadpanned, "This is an important experiment."

Asuka grumbled, "Perverts, the lot of you!"

She could handle the Angels but she drew the line at personal humiliation! Ritsuko sighed, "Asuka, the faster you get undressed and the sooner we can get this done."

She pointed out the doorway, eyes steely. She wasn't backing down on this. Kaworu fidgeted from the side, where he was standing with Shinji and Rei, the trio waiting for Asuka to stop trying to get Ritsuko to back down. He spoke up, "Does this include me, Doctor Akagi?"

"Hmmm," Ritsuko consulted her monitor, "I could have sworn I had you included in this experiment but I guess not. So you can stay up here with us, if you'd like."

Kaworu bowed his head in acknowledgment and pulled an empty computer chair aside to sit down in it. Asuka stuck her tongue out at him, "Lucky!" and left.

He chuckled as she left, watching Ritsuko turn back to her monitor and tap a few commands in it. There had been an annoying buzzing in the peripheral of his awareness since he came in today. It was hard to explain and no doubt impossible to explain to a Lilim. It was the tug of another Angelic AT Field, begging his attention. Maybe not on purpose but it was there. And it was making him antsy.

Maya called Ritsuko over to look at her screen, "Just got the final preliminary calculations done, Senpai."

Ritsuko looked it over with a critical eye and nodded, "Way to go Maya. That was fast."

Maya ducked her head ever so slightly away, "Of course, you're the one who trained me."

"Hmmm," Ritsuko's eyes narrowed, "Wait a second. This would be more accurate. Let me see."

She tapped furiously on the keyboard, numbers and calculations scrolling by almost faster than the eye can see. Ritsuko paused, scanning the final calculations, "There we go."

Maya beamed, "Impressive as ever, Ma'am!"

Misato came strolling through, pausing to wave at Kaworu, then stopping by Ritsuko, "Everything ready?"

Ritsuko nodded, "Had to wrangle Asuka into cooperating."

Misato snickered, "Told you you'd have to."

She glanced at Ritsuko's screen, "And today was the Magi's checkup too, huh?"

"Mhm," Ritsuko hummed, looking back over the calculations.

Misato picked up a stray coffee mug, "Asuka's right. You need a break."

"I did the other night at your party. Also that's cold."

Her warning came too late and Misato forced herself to not spat it out. She swallowed forcefully and set it down, "That woke me up. Still. You should try to fit in some more time for yourself," she shrugged.

Ritsuko frowned, "It's a nice thought."

Asuka's voice came from one of the speakers, "Alright, we're all undressed and at the place you told us to go to!"

"You showered off and aren't clothed?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes..." she grumbled.

"Alright, go ahead into the next room. It's an ultra-clean room environment. We need to make sure there's no possibility of contamination."

"'No possibility of contamination'," Asuka mocked quietly.

Ritsuko smiled slightly in amusement, "Heard that. Asuka, this is very important. It's for an autopilot we're designing."

Asuka's next complaint died in her throat. Memories of Shinji shrieking in horror while she lay in her Eva, incapacitated by the parasite Angel came unbidden to her. She shook herself out of it and walked forward with no more responses.

"Autopilot?" Misato asked.

"It's in the works but hopefully, it will take the Children out of the fight," Ritsuko raised her eyebrow, "It's what you wanted, right?"

Misato raised her eyebrow back, "Are you insinuating I'd want them to fight?"

Ritsuko shrugged, "Just making sure. I never know."

Misato eyed her, wondering if this was an attempt to get a rise out of her. To say Ritsuko had a mask like the Commander's would not be a lie. She brushed the thought off. No point in arguing. She didn't like the idea of staying mad at her friend anyway. Their relationship was fraying nowadays. No sense in making it worse.

Ritsuko turned back to talk to the trio, "Anyways, you three should be done with the decontamination, right?"

Asuka gave a grunt of affirmation. "Then go on ahead to the entry plugs. We have all the cameras switched off for your personal privacy," Ritsuko explained.

"Wait, no plugsuits?" Shinji asked.

"Yes," Ritsuko answered, "The test's purpose is to remove the support of your plugsuits and conduct harmonics directly from your bodies. Think of it as finding a raw and pure reading."

Shinji sighed but did not complain as they went forward to the entry plugs.

Kaworu waited a few moments until Ritsuko, Misato and the other techs were distracted. He said softly, "It may be a while so I'm going to step out and get something from a vending machine."

Misato waved him off, "We'll be here," too focused on the experiment to even look over.

He smiled, even though she couldn't see it, and slipped out and down the hallway.

Ritsuko said to her techs, "Alright, start the experiment."

The chamber seemed to hum as the entry plugs were inserted into the simulation bodies. The bodies were truly gruesome things, like an unarmored Evangelion sans legs and head. A ding came from the computers once they were in. "The simulation plugs are now under Magi control," Maya reported.

Misato whistled, impressed, "That took no time at all! Hard to believe the first test took a week."

Ritsuko let herself smile, "And it's all because the Magi."

She spoke to the pilots, "So how does it feel, you three?"

Rei said softly, "A little different."

Shinji agreed, "Yes, it's different than usual."

Asuka flexed the fingers on her right hand then her left, "Other than my right arm, everything's fuzzy. It's weird."

"Alright, Rei. Try imagining moving your right hand."

"Yes, ma'am." Rei willed herself to keep her arm still while she imagined wiggling her fingers. The simulation body responded in kind.

"There seems to be no problems so far. Return the Magi to their normal state," Ritsuko ordered.

By Misato, the screen switched from text to a diagram of the three components of the Magi. Two were lit up. It switched to only one being lit up. It declared, 'Resolving Dilemma."

"A dilemma?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko answered, "They're trying to figure something out. You can really see the personality of the creator, right?"

Misato raised an eyebrow, "The personality? They don't seem anything like you."

Ritsuko let out a sigh, "You don't know anything, do you?"

Misato bit back a remark of 'Well, no one tells me!'. Instead she tilted her head, "You want to mock me or educate me? It's not like you talk about yourself."

Ritsuko seemed to mull over her response, glancing at Misato then the screen, her eyebrows furrowed. "I'll give you that," she agreed, "I just brought it up. The one who truly created it, who developed the fundamental theory and the mainframe is my mother."

Misato opened her mouth to ask further when a small orange box popped up on the main screen that also acted as a window into the simulation chamber. "Another water leak?" Ritsuko asked.

Maya answered, "No, it's apparently some kind of corrosion in the protein wall above us."

Ritsuko sighed, "Wonderful. Will it have any effect on this test?"

"No, at least not at the moment."

"Then we continue. This is only a minor technical issue and we can't abort it over that. Else we'd never hear the end of it from Commander Ikari," Ritsuko turned away.

She could see it now; the Commander telling her that she was delaying the scenario topped with a threat that he could give her job to anyone. Not that she believed that. But she also wouldn't risk it.

Kaworu walked through the hallways, counting to himself as he did. He still headed for the vending machines, looking at each sign as he did. After all, he hadn't been here long enough to warrant knowing things that well! At least, that's what he wanted the cameras watching him to think. He swept his gaze over them, too seemingly focused on making sure he was going the right way. Then he stepped into a side hallway, where a blind spot for the security cameras was. He counted to himself silently. At thirty, the Angel alarm began to shriek.

Ritsuko was jolted from her thoughts as the Angel alarm began to go off. Behind her, the techs were in a buzz. Maya cried, "Corrosion area of the protein wall increasing at an explosive rate!"

The diagram on screen showed the corrosion rapidly eating through the wall. Ritsuko turned and cried, "Abort the experiment! Initiate emergency shutoff by the sixth pipe!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Ritsuko went back to watching the diagram as Maya worked. Even though she didn't show it, adrenaline was pumping through her system.

"No effect! Corrosion is spreading along the walls!"

Ritsuko hissed under her breath. "Prepare the polysomes," she ordered.

From the wall came a series of drones that approached the corrosion along the wall. "Set laser power at maximum. Fire upon contact."

Blue light illuminated the room and a high whine came from the drones. Behind Ritsuko, Maya cried, "Corrosion has reached 6-58. It's coming! Rei's body is moving!"

The body closest to them shuddered and Ritsuko snapped her attention to it, "Rei!"

The arm from it twitched and came down from where it was floating, suspended in the liquid. "Impossible," Ritsuko hissed, backing off from the window and beside Maya, "Why is it moving?"

"The corrosion is spreading further. It's invading the simulation bodies' suspension system."

Ritsuko's eyes widened a fraction. It was no Eva but no good came of anything in control of something derived from it. From the corner of her eye, she say Misato go stiff as the arm of the simulation body reached out. She broke the glass on lever on Maya's desk labeled, 'Pull in Case of Emergency' and pulled it.

The chamber shuddered as the arm was blown off into the window. It cracked but held. Misato cried, "Wait, how's Rei?!"

Maya reported, "She's alright. She barely would have felt it."

Ritsuko said, "All plugs emergency eject. Hurry up with those lasers!"

The drones started to whine again, blue light illuminating them. They shot their lasers which hit the wall, it shimmering orange in response. The lasers bounced off, harmless. "An AT Field!" Misato cried.

Ritsuko's eyes widened fully this time, "It can't be!"

Misato turned to them, "Then it's an Angel?"

Ritsuko looked at her monitor then at Misato and nodded, "The pattern analysis confirms it. It's an Angel."

She went over to her own desk and picked up the phone. When it connected, she said, "An Angel has been confirmed inside the Pribnow Box."

She winced, "I'm sorry, sir. I know there's no excuses."

She turned back to her team, "Physically isolate Central Dogma. Quarantine it from Sigma Unit."

Misato listened to the background chatter, eying the chamber. The severed arm still shimmered ominously. Then the glass cracked. Misato's eyes widened and she turned away with a cry of, "Abandon the Box! All personnel evacuate!"

As if to punctuate her command, the glass cracked again. The techs abandoned their posts but Ritsuko sat there, eying the cracking glass with a critical eye. "What are you doing?!" Misato cried, running back to her and grabbing her arm, "Hurry!"

Ritsuko snapped from her trance and was half-dragged, half-ran behind Misato. The door snapped closed behind them followed by a crash of water. She didn't look back and Misato didn't quit running. Only when they turned the corner did Misato let go and paused, bending over with her hands on her knees and panting. Ritsuko glanced back, if only to confirm there was indeed no water rushing their way. She spoke into the silence, "Let's get to the command center."

As they ran, the alarm system continued to blare, overlaid with a woman's voice announcing the quarantine of Sigma. Then, with no fanfare, it went silent. Misato raised an eyebrow, "Surely the Angel hasn't been defeated already?"

Ritsuko shook her head but offered no insight on it. She saw Misato even look at her for theories so she stared ahead, focused on her objective. Inside her thoughts, it wasn't as simple. She supposed the Commander had a reason for it, he even suggested they attempt to keep knowledge from the old men by concealing evidence of an Angel. This would be the perfect one. She sighed internally, already seeing the work ahead of her that night—that is, if they made it. The Commander made it so simple to believe the end would come his way but an end from the Angels never left Ritsuko's thoughts. After all, to do such would be prideful and the Commander would surely tell her pride comes before the fall.

Back in the Command Center, the Commander had told Aoba coolly to cut the alarm. The man shot a confused glance at him but nevertheless did what he was told. As the alarm stopped, Gendo said, "This is a malfunction, an error in the alarm system. A false alarm, if you will. Report that to the Japanese government and the committee."

That seemed to be enough for Aoba for he relaxed and barked back, "Yes, sir!" and began on his job dutifully.

Another one of the techs, Hyuga who seemed to be Misato's favored, reported in, "The contaminated area is descending further. It's spreading all over Sigma Unit from the Pribnow Box!"

Fuyutski leaned in, voice low, "That's a bad area."

"Too close to Adam, yes," Gendo replied back.

Without pausing, he began to relay orders, "Stop the corrosion within Sigma Unit! If necessary, sacrifice the Geofront. What's the Evas' status?"

Hyuga was the one to reply, "Standing by in cage seven. We can launch them as soon as the pilots are recovered."

"There's no need to wait for the pilots. Launch them immediately. Unit One has top priority. Sacrifice the other two if necessary."

That got some glances around of confusion. Aoba voiced this, "Unit One? But sir, we cannot physically destroy the Angel without the Evas."

Gendo raised his voice, only slightly, "If the Evas are contaminated first, it'll be over. Hurry!"

That got them back into gear. There was no need for them to question further. But indeed, how did one destroy an Angel without the Evas? Unless they wanted the Evas to rip apart the Geofront too, then this Angel needed...unique measures. He glanced downwards. When would Ritsuko arrive? This was her area of specialty.

Fuyutski must have been picking up on his wavelength, "Well now, how do we defeat an Angel without the Evas?"

Ritsuko had just arrived along with Misato. She got into gear immediately, walking to the techs and ordering, "Bring up a graphic of Sigma Unit."

Aoba did as ordered and she leaned in, studying it. She then gestured, "Look, this is the border between heavy water and normal water."

The diagram almost looked like a honeycomb, dyed in sections with red. Above the heavy water, the contaminated zones proliferated. In it, there was none. Maya commented, "There's a higher level of oxygen here."

Aoba nodded, "The area where ozone is vented in to maintain aseptic conditions isn't contaminated."

Misato followed it to its logical conclusion, "So its weakness is oxygen?"

Ritsuko nodded, "Seems so, correct. Try injecting some ozone."

Hyuga started tapping away, "Injecting ozone. Concentration is increasing."

The red sections began to blink out and Aoba grinned, "It's working alright."

Fuyutski didn't seem convinced, "Will this work?"

The Commander offered no reply.

Kaworu closed his eyes and unfolded his AT Field, keeping it as small as he could. When no second alarm went off, he pictured it growing in strength until it was indistinguishable from the other AT Field in the vicinity. Said AT Field was writhing in pain and rapidly attempting to warp into a different shape.

He reached out for that second Field and gently poked it. A confused curiosity came from it.

TABRIS? MY SIBLING?

Hello, Iruel, Kaworu greeted.

WHAT HAS BROUGHT YOU HERE?

Kaworu stayed silent, prodding Iruel's field to test it. Iruel had stopped shaping it, curiosity having gotten the best of her.

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?

I do not have any particular plan.

WHAT WILL YOU DO TO THE LILIM? YOU COULD HELP ME. LET ME BLOW THE FACILITY THEN YOU CAN LOOK FOR OUR MOTHER.

I cannot do that. I will not do that.

Anger and betrayal washed over him across his Field.

YOU WOULD BETRAY YOUR FAMILY FOR THE LILIM? THEY'RE HURTING ME!

Iruel's Field began to prod back with a furious tenacity that wanted to puncture his field. There was no way she planned to break through his own Field. Kaworu frowned and closed his eyes.

I apologize, Iruel. But I love the Lilim and cannot betray them.

He pressed with his AT Field, her own Field shredding to pieces in its wake. He pictured it slicing down, right through her core and her form dissipating from existence. She died with a strangled cry.

He waited for a few moments more then folded his AT Field back onto itself. He counted to five then bolted down the hallway, trying to look like a frantic pilot coming to do his job.

Ritsuko's eyes widened as the corrosion blinked out of existence, "Blue pattern destroyed. Huh, it must have worked."

Misato arched an eyebrow, "That seemed easy."

"Too easy," Ritsuko grumbled, taking seat at an empty terminal and beginning to type away.

Misato sighed, "I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"Let me check for my own benefit—"

"Doctor Akagi,"

Ritsuko bolted up and turned around, "Commander Ikari."

He stood, "Run checks on all parts of the Geofront and the Magi. I want to make certain the Angel is dead. Then wipe away all evidence of it being there."

She nodded stiffly and turned back around, typing away. The Commander departed. Kaworu bolted in, an opened bag of chips in his hands. He skidded to a halt, "What happened?! What about Shinji, Asuka and Rei?!" he cried.

Misato paused and Ritsuko answered for her, "We're not exactly sure. As for them, they got ejected once the peculiarities happened. Maybe you want to go with the recovery team?"

Kaworu nodded, "Where would that be?"

"Geofront lake."

Kaworu nodded and left. Misato shot a glare at Ritsuko once he was gone, "Why did you lie to him?!"

Ritsuko answered, "I was ordered to clear all evidence. As the other Children don't know of this, I figured no reason for Kaworu to not know."

"That's no reason!"

Ritsuko turned to face her and said in a low voice, "Listen. As of right now, Kaworu is only a backup to the Commander and even worse, we have next to no information on him. You should know that."

Misato nodded slowly. She didn't get Ritsuko's point. Ritsuko beckoned her over. When Misato came over, she said even quieter, "I don't believe the Commander trusts him. So I won't paint a target on his back."

Misato frowned and nodded before walking back to her post in the middle of the Center. She didn't know what to think of Ritsuko nowadays. But she was at least glad she harbored some form of caring for Kaworu and hopefully the other kids in extension.

Ritsuko called Maya over, "Maya, come help me with this."

Maya nodded quickly and went over, "Yes, Doctor?"

"I just want a second set of eyes for this, if that's alright."

Maya nodded, perhaps more excitedly than she meant to and sat down in her terminal. She called over, "What would you like me to do?"

"Just look over the areas after I do. I've judged Sigma Unit is clean so please look that over while I look over the other areas."

Maya nodded, "Yes, ma'am!" and started her work.

Ritsuko let the machine scan the next Unit. As far as Sigma Unit was clean, she supposed that the Angel was truly dead. On a whim, she opened the security cameras for the Pribnow Box. A murky picture came in, the severed arm of the simulation body floating with shimmering red spots on it. Holes in the wall opened, letting ozone into the chamber. The red flickered and grew. It did this for a few moments then stopped, shimmering orange. It tried to use an AT Field? Ritsuko wondered. It shimmered orange more then died, the red spots blinking out of existence.

It appeared the Angel tried to adapt, deploying an AT Field as it did. However, it either didn't have enough time to do so or was too weak. She pulled up the data on its AT Field, watching the properties of it fluctuate. It appears to not deploy it often but when it did, it was in defense. Curiously, it appeared to have doubled in strength before it perished. Ritsuko arched an eyebrow. Surely such a simple solution was not what happened? But still, there was a possibility this Angel was extremely weak to ozone.

She copied the data and sent it to her personal private profile, deleting the evidence of it before she purged the data entirely. She would comb over it in her own time. She then pulled up the security footage and began to work.

They worked in silence as Ritsuko let the system scan the facility and edited the footage to be a loop of the Childrens' test. Maya followed dutifully along and for not the first or last time, Ritsuko found herself grateful for the girl's help.

It had only been a few years before this year, Maya joined NERV. Like Ritsuko herself, Maya was of a more technology-oriented mind. Unlike Ritsuko, she was optimistic. She didn't see it as a flaw, however. It was a cheery change from the doom that constantly dogged Ritsuko since she joined and got roped into Ikari's scheme. This was part of the reason Ritsuko took her as her protege. And the fact she was the fastest programmer other than herself.

"Maya, only a few more sections then I'll put you on something else."

Maya nodded happily. Ritsuko let herself smile. Misato dragged a chair by her and offered her a cup of coffee that she accepted. She said, "Kids are fine though I suppose Kaworu didn't realize they'd be in the nude when he was there."

Ritsuko snorted, "How'd that go?"

"As far as I heard, Shinji nearly fainted on the spot, Asuka got back in the entry plug and Rei, well, she just stood there."

She couldn't help but chuckle, "Sounds about right."

"So what are you doing now?"

"Starting to scan the Magi. A safety measure mostly."

Misato nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. "So, could you tell me some more about the Magi? You were going to earlier but...y'know."

Ritsuko shrugged, "It's a long story and not even an interesting one at that."

When Misato didn't complain, she internally sighed and began, "Do you know about personality transplant OS?"

Misato nodded, "Yes, it's a system that implants an individual's personality into a seventh generation organic computer so it can think. It's the same technology used for operating the Evas, right?" she beamed like a child who answered a question right. It was cute.

Ritsuko shook her head to clear it of that particular thought, "I've heard the Magi was the first time this system was used effectively and was even why we were able to get the Evas running. So basically, yes. My mother was the one to develop the technology."

"So it was her personality that was implanted?"

"Right," Ritsuko nodded, watching as the system almost finished scanning Caspar. No bugs of the sort.

"In a real sense," Ritsuko continued, "The Magi is the brains of my mother. "

Misato tilted her head, "Is that why you wanted to protect the Magi?"

Ritsuko shrugged, "I don't think so. I didn't like my mother very much."

But the idea of losing the Magi, even in a scenario where it ultimately didn't matter, was a frightening prospect. She assured herself it was strictly because the loss of technology. "It was my decision as a scientist to protect it," she added.

She sighed, "You know. The night before she died, my mother told me something about the Magi."

Misato leaned in, intrigued. Ritsuko continued, "She said the Magi are the three aspects of herself. Herself as a scientist, herself as a woman and herself as a mother. The Magi is those three aspects struggling for dominance. She intentionally left in the dilemmas of human experience. So each is slightly different."

Misato looked down from there perch, "It makes them almost human."

Ritsuko shrugged, "You can think of it that way."

Misato looked back, "If it was you who had created the Magi, would you have done it that way?"

The idea of doing it like her mother, following in her footsteps was revolting. Ritsuko shook her head, "I don't think so. I don't think I'll ever be a mother anyways. It's why I didn't understand my mother as a mother. But I respected her as a scientist...," she paused, "...as a woman, I hated her. So no, it wouldn't be anything like her Magi."

Misato nodded then said, "You're awfully talkative today."

"It's been known to happen."

"No," Misato smiled, "But I'm glad we're talking. It's like the old days, when we were in college."

Dwelling on that thought was painful. Not because she didn't want to return to that time. But because she couldn't return to that time. She turned to Maya, "Maya!" she called, "Once you're done scanning the Geofront, start scanning Caspar, then Balthalsar then Melchior!"

"Right, ma'am!"

Misato grinned, unfazed,"You guys are really close."

Ritsuko didn't look up. This wasn't the first time Misato did this, "You've noted this before."

"Yes, but I wouldn't have unless I kept noticing it!"

Ritsuko sighed, "Say, don't you have a pair of children to be watching over?"

Misato blinked, "Well...yeah..."

"So why don't you go do that?"

Misato sheepishly nodded, "I will. See you around, Ritsuko!" she waved and departed.

Ritsuko waved back and returned to her terminal. She sighed. She wasn't looking forward to yet another all-nighter. But such was her job.

Author's Note:

Ya'll are getting two chapters today. Why? Because somehow when I uploaded the document here, I updated SC on Ao3 but...not here. Enjoy, courtesy of my mistake!

I'm really proud of this chapter! And a good chapter for Ritsuko's development here. I want to make her more likeable and there will be at least one more chapter that has her in it more heavily.

Also Kaworu and stuff about the AT Field! And Kaworu being useful! And Angel stuff! A few notes on the AT Field. The AT Field in canon is defined as "the barrier between each other" but the Angels are seen using it in some funky ways, especially Kaworu in his episode. So not only is canon Kaworu good at using his, SC Kaworu is exceptional with it. There's also the idea that the Angels can sense each other with them I've come up with. It is hinted the Angels are a hive mind, as each builds on the previous so it makes sense to me that they can sense each other's Fields.