Chapter 10:

After everything is over, we are fully debriefed back in our quarantine quarters.

Misato: "Let me get this straight. Asuka, while you were synced with unit 01, you were speaking with a woman in a lab coat, but can't tell me much more than that, like distinguishing features?"

Asuka: "No. I can tell you how tall she was compared to myself, that she has brown hair, but the rest of her features were too blurry to make out. It's like trying to identify someone in a film that's way out of focus, through a fog."

Misato: "I see. And you, Shinji, met a 'little girl' who is a near spitting image of Rei? And that's the voice we all heard ?"

Shinji: "Yes. That's it exactly."

Rei: "..."

Misato: "Rits, care explaining what that's about?"

Ritsuko: "Now Major, Pilots, what I'm about to say next absolutely can not go anywhere beyond the five of us, and what I can tell you is going to be very, very limited as it touches on some seriously and highly classified material."

Misato: "That's deep and dark, Rits. What's going on?"

Ritsuko: "My mother was a murderess. She never went to trial because she committed suicide immediately after, and I saw it all."

Misato: "Oh holy fucking shit!"

Ritsuko: "Yeah. In a fit of jealousy, she strangled a 4-year-old that looked and sounded very much like Rei Ayanami, and after realizing what she did, took a dive right over the MAGI super-computer, bashing her brains out on impact."

Shinji: "So... um... how does that relate to what just happened today?"

Ritsuko: "Well, when I saw 'Rei' the very next day, I initially thought she somehow survived being strangled and thought nothing more of it. Now, I know different, very different."

Rei: "I see."

Ritsuko: "Now 'Rea' confuses me with my mother, and wants to kill me. I implore you, pilots. Don't dig any deeper into this. NERV's secrets are far, far deeper and darker than you can possibly imagine. Just because the three of you are Mankind's last line of defense doesn't mean NERV will hesitate to replace or dispose of you if you become inconvenient, or know too much."

Shinji: "..."

Asuka: "..."

Rei: "..."

Ritsuko: "I've said my piece. Major?"

Misato: "Yeah, we spoke with the Commander before coming here, and the official roster's been changed. Rei, you're going to be piloting Eva-01 from now on."

Rei: "Understood."

Misato: "Shinji. You're going to be piloting Eva-00."

Shinji: "May I ask why Eva-00 and not Eva-01 or Eva-02?"

Misato: "You're a victim of your own success. You've managed to connect with Eva-00's core consciousness, and came back alive, which is something nobody has ever done before. Until the phenomenon is fully understood, Eva-00 is going to be your ride. Furthermore, you're the only one who has ever reversed an Eva's berserk state and got it back under control."

Shinji: "I understand."

Misato: "Besides, 'Rea' likes you, and that solves a whole slew of problems."

Asuka: "I guess I'm staying with Eva-02 then?"

Misato: "Yes. For the time being. If you connect with the core consciousness as well, then everything will be … reconsidered."

Asuka: Sigh "Fine, I get it. Well, Third, aren't you going to boast about beating me out?"

Shinji: "No. It.. doesn't feel right."

Asuka: "Good. I'd hate to have to beat the shit out of you."

Misato: "Before I go, I'm sure you've noticed the new laptop in your quarters. Turn it on please."

After the laptop boots up, we are instructed to activate the two-way conference function, and an image of Lara Croft shows up on the monitor.

Lara Croft: "Hello, pilots. Eesh, I had heard your quarters are cramped, but... this is no joke. So much for keeping you in separate bedrooms! Ironic that the British archaeologist who has a bunch of fanservicey videogames based on her is the one most trying to keep you teenagers modest! (SIGH) Oh well, can't be helped, I guess. I've been told about your 'condition', and that the three of you have to be stuck together like glue for the foreseeable future, but without the hanky-panky... As if teens can be trusted to withstand that kind of temptation... yeah, I can see you. Well, I'm not going to let you lot use this as an excuse to fall behind in your studies, and since the military training I had in mind is now impossible, we're going to be focused on team-building exercises for the next week, minimum. I've already prepared an outline..."

...To understand how we got to this point, we have to rewind the story just a little bit. Eva-00 going "berserk" was its internal captured soul lashing out at the mistreatment she had been enduring for the last 10 years, stuck inside the Eva as a "disposable test subject." I'm not going to go into detail here, perhaps at a later point in these memoirs, but we managed to connect when that little perpetually 4-year-old little girl learned our pasts aren't so different, being abandoned by the "father" who claimed to love us and then thrown into darkness for 10 years, only to be called upon to be used as tools, our suffering and pain ignored.

She really is a sweet, and sensitive child, but it's Gendo's reaction that's relevant at the moment. To say he took the revelation poorly is an understatement of an epic degree.

Gendo: "So you're saying The Third Child made contact with the soul inside Eva-00?"

Ritusko: "There can be no other explanation, sir. The description he provided is an exact match for the 'donor,' and he described several things that he had no possible way to know otherwise."

Gendo: (Sigh) "It can't be helped. From now on, Eva-00 will be the Third's Eva while The First will be assigned to Eva-01. As for The Second, assign her to her original unit, after verifying the situation."

Ritsuko: "And what should I tell them?"

Gendo: "Reveal nothing classified, but do not attempt to deny anything The Third has experienced, even if this, regrettably, reveals the fate of the former head Eva scientist."

Ritsuko: "Yes, sir."

Gendo: "Dismissed."

Ritsuko leaves the office to carry out her orders.

As soon as she leaves the office, Gendo does not hesitate to share his true feelings with Fuyutsuki.

Gendo: "This. Is. UNNACCEPABLE! That brat must NOT 'awaken' her. NOT AGAIN! I won't let it take her from me again!"

Fuyutsuki: "Old friend, sadly, it's still too soon for that brat to have an 'accident.' The Angels are still coming."

Gendo: "Damn it! I know, but this is a wholly unacceptable level of risk to The Scenario."

Fuyutsuki: "For now, all we can do is lock them up in quarantine, and keep their contact with the EVA to a minimum, at least until a replacement can be found.."

Gendo: "We'd need a replacement Eva too, or at least a replacement core, and we just don't have the time, not anymore."

Fuyutsuki: "Well, will making The Children's lives... inconvenient suffice?"

Gendo: "For now, we have no choice, but the moment it becomes convenient..."

Fuyutsuki: "It will be done, old friend."

As for what was going on in our quarantine quarters,

Asuka: "Okay, I grant you some of this stuff makes perfect sense. Working on our schoolwork, playing FPS games like Gears of War and Call of Duty, and having us all work on our 'household' chores together as a team is quite reasonable. The rest? … Are you trying to synchronize every aspect of our lives?! Including the use of our... hygiene?"

Shinji: "That kind of thing sounds like something Misato-san would do.."

Misato: "Right-o, kiddo. It's official orders!"

Asuka: "You take some kind of sick delight in having us sync when we have to go to the shitter?"

Rei: "Asuka-chan... We can't be more than a meter or two apart, remember?"

Shinji:"... I … took the liberty to label the stalls to avoid any.. accidents."

Asuka:"You WOULD think about that, hentai-baka!"

Shinji: "Considering how many times you threaten to gouge my eyes out? HELL YEAH I THINK ABOUT IT!"

Asuka: "Have you forgotten what you did on 'The Over the Rainbow'?"

Shinji: "What I did? You dragged me into a tight, enclosed place and changed into your plug-suit in front of me, and forced me to change into one of your spare suits, which has cleavage! Then called me a 'perverted dork'!"

Asuka: "Yeah?! I caught you trying to sneak an eyeful! Be grateful the pending Angel attack didn't let me charge you the standard 'viewing fee'!"

Shinji: "Well, excuse me, Princeess, but if you were so shy, why did you drag me there in the first place?!"

Asuka: "You...!"

Rei suddenly grabs both of us and puts our necks under her armpits in a dual headlock. "Enough, Shinji-Kun, Asuka-chan. We are stuck in this situation, and must make the best of it. Besides, your bodies are nothing to be ashamed of. I wonder how often I'm going to have to say that before it sinks in."

Asuka and Shinji: "Sorry."

Rei: "As long as you understand. Lara-Sensei. I do have a question. How are we supposed to participate in this 'Dance Dance Revolution' synchronized dancing regiment? Our living space is quite.. restrictive, and we can't leave."

Lara: "Oh that has been prepared-for in advance. Try lifting the bed, everyone."

Asuka:"Whoa! The bed fords into the wall!"

Shinji: "And there's a slate blackboard as the base... Just what was NERV preparing to use this 'quarantine' area for?"

My question was treated as rhetorical and never answered. We spent, under orders, the next week practicing out ability to synchronize in everything, doing schoolwork, housework, practicing team-building tactics with FPS games, and even co-ordinating dance steps with dance-dance revolution!

While Rei and I managed to sync perfectly on the very first try, Asuka had to struggle, though she adamantly refused to admit fault.

Asuka: "Damn it! What's with you two? Can't you keep up with a simple Macarena dance?"

Rei: "We are scoring 'Perfect', Asuka-chan,. You're the one who's struggling."

Asuka: "What?! You dare impugn this great me?!"

Rei: (Holds Asuka very close and tight) "Yes."

Asuka and I both get nosebleeds and faint. The last thing I hear is Rei's little barb. "Well, you've managed to perfect synchronizing that! And it never, ever gets old."

Fortunately, we do manage to get our activities synchronized just in time for an angel attack, Israfael.

To be continued...