Author's note: If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review! It really motivates the author to write more.

While most newly fabricated buildings in Tokyo-3 can burrow underground for protection, a large number of older installations remain from the days of Ubako town and Sengokuhara city. The necessity of providing equal shelter to every resident, should an emergency occur, implores us to construct fallout bunkers around schools, commercial spaces and other area of high population density. Unfortunately, it is currently impossible to assess the threat that we might face, which makes designing shelters up to spec somewhat problematic. Given that lives are at stake, however, we recommend that the utmost caution be exercised. It is acceptable to spend too much and lose money. It is not acceptable to spend too little and lose lives.

- Classified Information File#0000017-C, item 85. "Proposal: GEO-Shelter"; Security clearance level 2: Internally Disclosed Information

In the event of an emergency, students are to proceed cautiously to the nearest shelter in a calm and orderly fashion. The GEO-shelter provided by Tokyo-3 is bomb-safe, radiation proof, well ventilated and provides protection against chemical and biological agents. Sufficient food is provided to sustain the maximum number of recommended occupancy for up to two month, and an industrial-grade purification system ensures potable water is available indefinitely. The protection provided by these GEO-shelters are unmatched in Tokyo-3; students should seek refuge in them with complete confidence. The nearest shelter to our school is GEO-Shelter 334.

- Classified Information File#0055512-A, item 25. "What you need to know about the GEO-Shelter"; Security clearance level 1: Publicly Released Information

The scorching sun beat down upon the wave of teenagers, marching slowly through the gates of Tokyo-3's First. The warning sirens have been triggered, and the well-trained student steadily made way towards the nearest shelter.

From the walkway above the main foyer, Hikari Horaki watched her classmates flee towards safety. She'll be joining them soon enough, but for now it was the class-rep's duty to make sure no one was left behind. The girl checked off names as familiar faces flowed passed; there were only a couple blanks left – and those were for good reasons.

"You should probably go them soon," a familiar voice spoke out, and Hikari turned to find Toji – along with Asuka and Maria – approaching down the hall. It goes without saying that the Children will not be bunkering down with everyone else.

"What about you three?" Hikari asked. "Shouldn't you be hurrying over to NERV?"

"They're sending someone to pick us up," Asuka answered. "Our ride should be here soon. For now, there's nothing we can do except wait patiently."

The German girl walked up to the railings, and grinned as she looked upon the crowd heading for cover. "Times like these, they should consider themselves lucky we're protecting them. After all, we're the best in the business. This will be over in a flash."

「Watch them go like sheep to the slaughter,」 Maria Vincennes haughtily remarked; stepping up to join Asuka. 「Minutes ago, they were dreaming of revolution! Now that their lives are threaten, they hurry back to the protection of the organization they despise. Pathetic.」

Hikari understood some of those words but, before she could respond, Asuka interjected. 「What do you expect them to do? Start a fight with the Angel using torches and pitchfork? There's a limit to what they can do, and that's why they turn to us for help.」

「They can go to good ol' Shinji and his JSSDF for help,」 Maria retorted. 「Of course they won't, though. Shinji was all talk, and they know it.」

With an aside glance, the American girl shrugged her shoulders and pointed down the hall. 「Look, here he comes now. Maybe we can get another statement from the great reformer while he's unoccupied.」

Footsteps down the corridor signaled the arrival of Shinji Ikari, along with Mana Kirishima behind him. Their sweat and ragged looks made it clear they had sprinted over from the athletic complex.

"I got the phone call as well," Shinji said to the group. "What's NERV going to do?"

「Asking about NERV? That's rich coming from you!」 Maria sneered. 「Why don't you tell us how you plan to resolve this situation? Does your JSSDF think they can handle the Angel?」

Shinji had no answer. The boy merely gritted his teeth, before glancing from his accuser to the girl behind him.

「The JSSDF is ready to provide aid and succor to anyone who needs them,」 Mana Kirishima answered. 「The rapid-response squadron will engage the enemy as soon as it lands on Japanese soil, and we will fight to the last man if we have to. I have no doubt when it comes to our dedication for our nation and countrymen.」

「And what good, exactly, will that do?」 Maria scoffed. 「Lay down the life of your last man, but do you expect the Angel to have mercy? Just admit already that, when all is said and done, it's us Titans that will save the day.」

「Maria, stop!」 Toji exclaimed. 「Before, Shinji stupid. Now, you stupid. We fight Angel. Must have teamwork!」

「Teamwork? With him?」 the American girl stated with disbelief. 「Mr. Samurai, I know trust your friend, but do you know what they call people who continues to cooperate after the other side has stabbed you in the back and declared war on you? Irrational! Ask Fräulein here if you don't believe me.」

Everyone turned to look at Asuka who, after a second of surprise, nodded in agreement.

「There you go,」 Maria glanced back at Shinji. 「I'm afraid you've made your bed; now it's time to lie in it. Let's go, people. I see our ride arriving now.」

At that moment, a van emblazoned with the NERV logo rolled up through the gates. Without hesitation, Maria started for the staircase – leaving the other Children behind to catch up. Asuka hesitated, while Toji's gaze swung rapidly between Shinji, Hikari, and the bodacious American girl that went ahead.

Shinji, on the other hand, gritted his teeth and avoided everyone's gaze. For a moment, no one dared break the silence.

"Yeah, she's right," Shinji finally spoke.

The boy looked up, forced a smile across his face, and stared defiantly at his friends before him.

"She's completely right!" the boy continued. "I spoke of changing NERV; of making NERV a better organization than it is. But guess what? Right now, as it stands, there is one thing the current NERV is completely peerless at."

Shinji stepped up to Toji and Asuka, and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"That thing is Angel-slaying," he concluded. "Toji, Asuka, remind me please. Why do you pilot the Evangelion?"

"I…" Asuka stammered, "I pilot… because…"

"I pilot the Eva to protect those dear to me," Toji interrupted.

"Thank you, Toji," Shinji smiled, before looking Asuka straight in the eyes. "What about you, Asuka? Why do you pilot the Eva?"

"I…" Asuka hesitated, before steeling her expression. "I do it to show the world I'm the best, of course!"

"Thank you," Shinji said, before lowering his hand and taking a step back.

The boy raised his finger, and pointed at his friend. "As of this moment, right now, humanity is threatened once more. It is high time for our protector to rise up. It is time for us to send forth our best. That's the two of you. That's why you pilot the Eva."

Turning his hand around, Shinji pointed towards himself. "As for what I do? What I do only counts after you win. It only counts after you do your job. On this one point, I have no contest. Do you hear that?"

With a snap, the boy turned towards Mana; an intent focus in his eyes. "I will never hinder those who try to save the human race. I will never undermine the people who fight for mankind. I might have beef against the way NERV is managed, but I will always support what the Children are trying to accomplish. Come, Mana. We must not interfere with the saviors of humanity."

Grabbing Mana's hand, Shinji marched off down the corridor.

Hikari's glance darted between the boy and girl, before finally stopping on her boyfriend. Oddly enough, a wide smile was on his face.

"That's that, I guess," Toji spoke. "Oh well. I guess since he asked so nicely, there's nothing I can do about it. Time to go save the world!"

Abruptly, Toji pulled Hikari into a hug. The girl, stunned, could only let out a small squeak.

"I'm off to work," Toji said. "You should probably head to the shelters too. See you later tonight; I expect an extra-large meal, ok?"

"O..Ok…" Hikari stammered as Toji released his grip. "T… Try your best out there."

"Sure thing," Toji replied, before beckoning towards Asuka. "C'mon, Ace, let's go. Can't start the show without our best fighter now, can we?"

"That's right," Asuka replied, taking in the fervor. "Try to keep up now. I don't need you getting in my way!"

"You betcha!"

And with a wink at each other, the two remaining pilots darted off down the stairs; impatient to reenter the fray.

"What's the status, and where the hell is everybody?"

Misato Katsuragi stepped onto the command bridge of Central Dogma; a poised look on her face. All around, the elite officers of NERV prepared their stations for combat. Hanging ominously above the chamber, the primary screen depicted a large black opilionoid-like monster with eerily long legs. Slowly but steadily, the latest Angel marched upon the citadel of Tokyo-3 – eager to threaten humanity once more.

The three operator chairs spun around in unison, revealing the cosplay brigade. "Major Katsuragi," Aoi Mogami saluted. "Makoto is off to pick-up the pilots from school, Maya is visiting JHCI in Old Tokyo, and Shigeru is with the R&D group in Gotenba. For now, the three of us are at your service."

Misato nodded, and motioned for the three to continue their work. The Chief of Operation watched as the command center completed their final diagnostics, her keen eyes noting the flashes of relevant information as it appeared on the main screen. The Angel still had sometime before it made landfall; from his check-out time, Makoto Hyuga should be back with the Eva pilots with time to spare.

"What's the status of the Eva themselves?" Misato asked the bunnies.

As if on cue, a video-feed to the Eva cage, as well as maintenance schematics, shot up onto the main-screen. "Thanks," said the Major.

As soon as she took in the data, however, Misato couldn't help being less enthusiastic. Unit-00, 02, 03 and 04 had suffered serious damage from the N2-bomb during Operation Izanagi and, despite using the newer production model chassis, repairs have been sluggish in light of recent supply-chain slowdown. As it stands, only Unit-02 was fighting fit; while the rest can be deployed, they risk of catastrophic failure if their core was damaged.

"Less than ideal," Misato remarked, "but I'll take what you can give me. No monkey business this time: I want Unit-02 ready for deployment as soon as Asuka arrives, and I want the Spear of Longinus airlifted in immediately."

"Roger!" the bunnies saluted.

Misato shifted her attention back to the maintenance schematics, and contemplated their odds. Generally speaking, unless something goes terribly wrong, Unit-02 should be able to take an Angel one-on-one with no back-up. The fighting capability of the Eva is respectably high, and Asuka has proven herself many times over. With the Spear's imminent arrival, they should refrain from taking unnecessary risk with the other Evas.

Speaking of other Evas…

"Aoi, what's the status of Unit-01?"

"Unit-01 is operational if we want to deploy it," the bunny-eared operator answered. "Now that the Dummy System is complete, quarantine has been lifted and the Unit is cleared for launch with either the primary pilot, the secondary pilot or the Dummy Plug. But-"

"But what?"

"The Dummy System is still limited to basic action. The secondary pilot, Rei, has always had much better sync ratio with Unit-00. As for the primary pilot, well, he's-"

"Shinji Ikari," a voice answered from behind, and Misato turned around to face the grinning visage of Ryoji Kaji. "Now that's one boy who won't be getting into an Eva anytime soon. In light of recent events, Section Two will make sure of that."

Misato groaned. She was there when the Security Chief received the call about Shinji's broadcast. What a pain.

"The Dummy System is too unreliable," the Major finally said, "so have Rei in her plug-suit just in case. Deploying her in Unit-01 is risky, but I want the option to do so if that risk ever becomes worth it. Rei's been helping out Commander Fuyutsuki, so she should already be on base."

"Yes, ma'am," the operators replied, "we'll have her geared up immediately."

"The moment has come at last."

"The city is poised. The soldiers are rallied. The flag of revolution is planted, and all the players are on stage."

"Gendo has no more moves to make. No matter where he flee, only dead ends await him now."

"Let the Angel spark his funeral pyre. His downfall will be a lesson to all who defy SELEE."

The dark monoliths floated above the face of the water. The chamber surrounding them was dimly lit; a massive hangar covering an artificial lake. The blue underwater searchlights, reflecting against the wall of the Pribnow Bow, traced the headless outline of the simulation bodies. A jumbled mess of cables, joining to the bodies at the neck, snaked chaotically out of the pool into the walls and ceiling. Signaling lights lined the side of the water tank, carefully indicating the shutters behind which maintenance robots were kept.

Atop a catwalk that extended across the pool, a paunchy man wearing a lab coat stood alone amidst the gather monoliths; the red glow of a holographic-visor covered his eyes. The man reached inside his coat, and pulled out a test-tube filled with amber-colored fluid.

"Still, this isn't exactly risk-free, you know?" the man said. "What if NERV can't handle a fight on two fronts? We could be seriously endangering ourselves here."

"A battle on two fronts is exactly what we want," the first speaker, the obelisk marked 00, reassured the man. "The point is to overwhelm Gendo, and force him to concede."

"We already have the resources to neutralize both situation," said another obelisk. "There is no risk to us."

"In the face of true adversity, SELEE's might will crush what artificial resistance our pawn could muster."

"Rest assured, when we finally move our own hands, we get what we want."

The man snorted. "That's easy for you to say when you're a disembodied voice floating in the sky, looking down from above. Do you know what it feels like – what it really feels like – when you hide amongst the victims you're about to betray? For goodness sake, I was having breakfast with Kozo this morning."

"It's not betrayal if you were never really on their side."

"Getting cold feet? It was your idea to infect the simulation body with extracted Angel cells. When you pitched the scheme, you were quite confident of its diversionary qualities."

"Diversionary," the man protested. "In the same sense that, if they fail to deal with it, it will blow them up to kingdom come."

"Do not fear for your own safety," the first speaker said again. "You are one of us, and we do not betray our own. That is the covenant we made many years ago, when you ceased being an observer in the world and joined the ranks of its manipulators. Hesitate no longer."

"Hesitate?" the man muttered. "No. No more hesitation from me. I hesitated 13-years ago, but back then I was just an insignificant scholar; learning the secrets of the world. I hesitated when I was invited to manipulate the world, but today… today I hesitate no more."

The man uncorked his test-tube, and flung it into the pool beneath him.

"It is done!" He shouted. "Time has come at last, and we shall not tardy our strike lest the whole battle be lost. Today and tomorrow, now and forever. SELEE shall prevail."

"SELEE shall prevail," the monolith echoed.

With a smile on his face, the man took off his holo-visor; at the same time causing the floating monoliths to vanish. After a moment's contemplation he threw the visor into the pool too, before breaking into a run for the exit.

Just before the safety door slid shut, Seymour Nunn spared the chamber and its content one last glance. "Shame I wont to complete my secondary mission," the foreign scholar spoke. "But oh well. With the Dummy System and the Mass-production Eva, who cares how the Marduk Children were selected?"

"Anomalous signal detected!" Kaede yelled. "Blood pattern: Blue! It's an Angel!"

Misato eyed the main-screen, before leering matter-of-factly at the dog-eared operator. "Of course it's an Angel. We've reached that consensus half-an-hour ago."

"No, Major," Aoi interjected. "From the location of the signal…"

With a flick on her keyboard, two beacons began pulsing on the holographic map. One, as expected, was off in Suruga Bay – slowly approaching the main land.

The second beacon, however-

"It appears an Angel is inside the Geofront itself," Aoi Mogami relayed.

"What? Impossible!" Misato screamed. "Inside the Geofront? How did that happen? How did it get in?"

"Sensors show the Angel in close proximity to the Sigma Unit," Satsuki reported. "The same facility that houses the Pribnow Box. Major Katsuragi, should we send a decontamination team?"

"Do it," the Chief of Operation commanded, before glancing back towards the main-screen. There, in vivid HD color, was a video of the long-legged Angel, still some distance away from making landfall. "What on earth is going on? Why are there two Angels? That can't be right. Tell the decon team to check-in every 30-seconds. If the Angel is messing with our sensors, there's no telling what they might find-"

A loud clearing of the throat interrupted Misato, who immediately did a 180. There, high up on the command post, was the Senior Commander of NERV; his hand clasped before him as always. To his side, the Second Commander – Fuyutsuki Kozo – was busy dialing numbers into a telephone.

"Major Katsuragi," Gendo said, "stop for a moment and think. Why is it so inconceivable to have two Angels in the picture at once? Furthermore, why is it so inconceivable that there exist an Angel in the Geofront?"

Misato was about to blurt out an answer, but checked herself. The last time she was hasty with the Senior Commander, things didn't end well.

"Commander," the Chief of Operations finally said, "we've always fought the Angels one at a time; even when they appeared to be two, they were in fact just one. To suddenly send two of their numbers against us, that would be unnatural! That would be like…like…"

"Like cheating?" Gendo finished her sentence. "Major Katsuragi, if there's one thing we've learned so far, it's that the Angel obeys a completely different concept of fair play. Besides, if you consider everything you knew, you'd realize there had been an Angel inside the Geofront for a while now."

It didn't take a second for comprehension to strike her.

"Foundry 4!" Misato exclaimed. "Someone give foundry 4 a call. If they fucked up and let their Angel loose, I swear I'm going to murder Seymour."

"No need," Fuyutsuki said, hanging up his phone. "I just got off the line with them, and they say the captured Angel is inert as usual."

Misato frowned. "But, in that case, how could there be-"

"But, in that case, there could be a 3rd Angel" Gendo interjected once more. "I've made my point, Major. Treat the prospect of a concurrent Angel invasion as a real possibility."

"Yes, Commander," Misato saluted. "As soon as our decon team confirms the-"

"Major, if the prospect of a concurrent Angel attack is a real, why the hell are you sending lightly armed janitors to take a look?"

Misato Katsuragi froze, color draining from her face. Realization hit her like a bus.

"Kaede, seal all access to Sigma Unit," the Chief of Operations ordered. "If there's also an Angel in the Geofront, then that's a sensitive issue and we need to divide-and-conquer on two fronts. Tell the decon team to hold back and wait for security to set up a perimeter. If sealing Sigma Unit alone is enough to buy time, we defeat the long-legged Angel first. Otherwise, containment breach confirms a second Angel and we pray the bulkheads stalls the other one while we deal with the imminent threat."

Having said that, Misato couldn't help looking towards the Senior Commander; curious to his opinion.

"A bold move," Gendo finally said, "but better than reckless abandon. Do it."

"Roger that," Kaede immediately started typing away at her terminal. The floating main-screen flickered for a moment, before a schematic diagram of the Sigma Unit appeared – red crosses marked off access route that had been sealed. "Isolation is complete. Turning on security cameras to monitor entryway. Video feed in 5…4…3...2…1…"

Suddenly, the main-screen cut to static.

"What the…" Kaede said. "We're supposed to get a video feed. Why're the sensors picking up nothing but white noise?"

Then all hell broke loose.

"Incoming cyber-attack!" Aoi Mogami yelled. "Major, they've already passed our external firewall. Ghosting countermeasures are deployed, but they're quickly guessing all of our key-phrases!"

"Opening decoy ports," Satsuki chimed in, madly typing away at her terminal. "Routing all connections to dummy channel… failure! They're injecting packets into all I/O data streams!"

"What's going on?" Misato exclaimed.

"Running IP trace on the origin," Aoi reported. "Pinging source, response in 3… 2… 1… Major, they're in Sigma Unit! The Pribnow Box!"

In the Commander's box, Gendo tightened his clasped. "The Angel bares its teeth. No tact or subtlety in this attack; it strikes us head on with sheer brute force."

"The Angel must be specialized for electronic warfare," Misato bellowed. "No human could do this without a supercomputer. Satsuki, cut all physical lines from the unit!"

"Negative, ma'am!" the operator replied. "No response from the physical junction. We can't get through!"

"A.T. Field detected surrounding the Pribnow Box!" Kaede chimed in. "My god, can they block off electrical signals too?"

"The attacker has reached our security bank," Aoi shouted. "They're hashing through our passwords. 256-bit encryption, gone! 512-bit, gone! They're hitting the 1024-bit barrier right now!"

"Activate self-destruct sequence in Sigma Unit," the Major roared. "Blow up everything. If we cave in the entire section, even the Angel should slow down."

"That'll be useless," Fuyutsuki said. "We can't touch the Angel while its A.T. Field is up."

"Major Katsuragi, they're through!" Aoi reported again. "The access permission… my god! It's going for the Magi!"

There was a slamming noise as Gendo kicked back his chair and stood up. "Shut down all I/O interface," the Commander ordered. "Isolate the Magi. Now!"

"Yessir!" Satsuki responded, pulling out a security key and plugging it into her terminal.

"Secondary authorization confirmed," Aoi inserted her key as well. "Severing all I/O in three, two, one…"

The two operator turned their keys, but nothing happened.

"No response! I/O port termination failed! The Magi is naked!"

"The Angel is in Melchior! Kernal is compromised. We're losing access to our system!"

Misato can only watch in horror as, on screen, a schematic of the three Magi computers slowly started turning red; the sectors loss to the Angel expanding steadily inward.

"Do something," the Major muttered. "Do something! Would somebody please do something?!"

Running up to the operator nearest to her, Misato grabbed Aoi Mogami by the ear-band – eliciting a cry of pain. "Do something! You three were formerly technicians under Ritsuko, right? You have to do something!"

"Major…Katsuragi…" Aoi squawked, clutching desperately to her ears. "We cannot… deploy… the type-666 firewall… Dr. Akagi's… personal authorization… is required."

With a huff of defeat, Misato let go of Aoi's ear – who silently slid back down her chair. Pounding her fist against her forehead, Misato turned face the other two operator. "So what can you three do?"

"We can…" Kaede stammered. "We can… Waah! We can't do anything! Waah!"

"Shut up!" Satsuki shouted – smacking her colleague over the head. "We can emergency shut-down the Magi: pull the plugs, so to speak."

"But the Magi aren't meant to be shut-down," Aoi added. "If we throw the main switch, redundancies kick in. Even if we cut all auxiliary power afterwards, the Magi enters a hibernation state and survives for up to another 24-hours."

Misato almost jumped. "Yes! That! Do that! If the Magi hibernates, the Angel can't hurt us and we'd have bought 24-hours!"

For a moment, all three operator held their mouth.

"Major Katsuragi," Kaede finally broke the silence. "Hibernation is a system critical state; it's like rebooting the Magi and, without Dr. Akagi or Maya, there's no way we can guarantee the Magi will come back the same way – if it comes back at all."

"We also lose all compute capabilities," Aoi added. "This means no holo-maps, no simulations, no control over Tokyo-3's weapon battery and no database access. Most importantly, though, no Magi means no sync-assist for the Evangelion."

"Our record for synchronization is only in the mid-80s, and that was under lab conditions!" Satsuki explained. "The missing percentages are vital. It's hard enough on our pilots already – they can't fight while maintaining homeostasis in the Eva! Lose the Magi for 24-hours and, even if we've bought time against the hacking Angel, we'd be sitting ducks against the long-legged one!"

Abruptly, the sound of blaring sirens stole their attention back to the main-screen. The sectors belonging to Melchior have turned completely red, and the invasion had started eating into Balthazar.

Perhaps more upsetting than the erosion, however, were the streams of output rolling by. Innumerable lines shot pass the monitor, all showing the same repeating strings:

'Self-destruct sequence requested. Consensus required. 2 Veto. Request denied.'

"Hibernate the Magi!" Misato bellowed. "Do it now! Every second we hesitate is one more for the Angel to mount its attack! When it get all three, it will self-destruct Central Dogma; that means we die, and then we lose the Magi anyways!"

"Belay that order!"

Misato spun around, and looked to the source of the voice with dread. The Supreme Commander of NERV, Gendo Ikari, stood stoically as he passed his decree.

"Commander," Misato protested, "we have no time to waste! We have to hibernate the Magi now!"

"Priority orders," Gendo commanded. "Emergency launch of all Eva units. Destination omega."

"What?" Misato checked. "Commander, this is no time to-"

"If the Magi is compromised, it'll get the Evas too. Even if we hibernate the Magi, the Angel might try to hack into the Eva anyways, and we won't have a functioning launch mechanism at that point! We can't let that happen. The Eva units must be scattered, now!"

Misato stared, stunned. "What about the pilots? Only Rei is on standby right now; the rest are still en route!"

"Then I don't care about the rest," Gendo retorted. "If the Evas survive, they can regroup later – but we're doomed if the Evas are trapped right now. Cut all Magi-aided synchro, and scatter to the four winds. Immediate execution!"

"Yes, sir," Kaede answered. "Terminating connections to the Magi. Beginning emergency launch procedure for all Eva with destination code Omega!"

"Balthazar is gone!" Aoi said "The Angel has veto rights over all system command. Caspar won't hold for long!"

"Launch the goddamned Evas!" Gendo roared. "Make Caspar disregard its defenses if you have to. This isn't hard, people! Make it happen!"

"Yes, sir!"

The rumbling of machines, mixed with clattering of footsteps, echoed deafeningly through the Evangelion cage. Mounts and railing detach from the robot while mechanics run for the safety of solid ground. Sporadic orders are shouted across the chamber as maintenance officers abandon their work in wake of the emergency launch sequence.

Without waiting for the restrains to finish contraction, 5 Evangelion slid hastily onto their launch elevators. With a flash of ignition, the boosters sparked alive; jets of combusted rocket fuel infuse the air – before dispersing in the vacuum left behind in the cyborgs sudden departure.

Up went the Evangelion, final ace of NERV. The labyrinthine elevator system will take them somewhere safe, far from the clutches of the Angel. They shall be a factor in this fight no more.

Across the chamber, atop a level of railings, a blue-haired girl watched the chaos unfold. She was told to get in Unit-01 but, apparently, it was too late for that now. Oh well. Guess there's nothing to do except wait around for the next order.

The personal elevator came to a stop, and Ryoji Kaji stepped off the platform into the command center's entryway. Looking around to confirm that no one was watching, Kaji inhaled a deep breath, took out his phone, then broke into a breakneck sprint.

The echo of footsteps, resonating through the hallway, mixed discordantly with a dial tone.

"C'mon, c'mon," the rugged man muttered. "Connect, dammit. Connect!"

A soft clicking sound confirmed that the other speaker had finally picked up.

"Hate to interrupt you," Kaji spoke between ragged breaths, "but I figured you'd want to know. Gendo just scattered the Eva, and they're shutting down the Magi as I speak. Pardon me if I suddenly rudely disconnect."

Above the running man, ceiling lights slowly turned off one by one. Shadows stretched, elongated, and then merged into the darkness.

"Yes," Kaji continued. "Quite an impressive show this morning. I'm sure most of Tokyo-3 have heard it by now. They won't react while there's an Angel about, but I'm sure the silent majority is now a convert."

Red safety lights clicked on to replace the extinguished neon bulbs – bathing the landscape in an eerie crimson glow.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm not in any immediate danger right now. I'll stay in the Geofront to provide support – I'm sure you'll come to appreciate it down the line. Don't mind if I'm a little hard to contact sometimes, though."

Finally, the running man arrived at his destination – a door demarked with the universal symbol of an emergency stairwell. Before entering, however, Kaji paused just long enough to complete his phone call.

"Yes, Mr. Prime-Minister. Until next time. I patiently await your move."

Without hanging up, Kaji toss the phone into the nearest recycling bin; and then he was gone.

"Launch sequences complete! The Evangelions have been dispersed."

"Magi system hibernation started. Bypassing all safety protocols. Cutting power to auxiliary system."

"What's the ETA?"

"We're expected to finish 1-second before complete system takeover."

"1-second?!"

"At least it's not zero or negative."

Gendo Ikari looked down upon chaotic command center, and motioned for his second to come closer.

"Things look pretty bad," Fuyutsuki spoke in confidence. "You do have a way out of this one, right?"

"I am not a magician, Kozo. Even I can't pull a rabbit out of an empty hat."

Just as he said so, the world around them turned dark. The only source of light remaining in Central Dogma was the main screen. Despite the minor celebrations from below, the reddening sectors of the Magi – stopped mere pixels from completely taking over Caspar – reminded them that the only thing they've won was time.

"What happens now?" the second commander asked. "We have 24-hours before the Magi goes offline, possibly permanently. Even if they come back online, the hacking Angel is more than poised to take another stab at us."

"I wouldn't worry about the Magi for now," Gendo countered. "Just before the power cut, I noticed our other Angel has made landfall. We stand to suffer quite a bit of damage if it goes unchecked for 24-hours."

Fuyutsuki blinked, then glanced back towards the lower levels of Central Dogma. "You seem unfazed as usual."

"I'm shaking in my shoes, actually," the Commander replied. "With no Eva, no Magi and a battle on two fronts, our chances have never looked worse. In fact, our position is so bad, I can't help but suspect it's been engineered."

"Engineered?!" Fuyutsuki gasped. "You mean there's someone intentionally setting us up? That's insane! No one can control the Angel!"

Gendo nodded. "You'd think that'd be the case, but who're we to speak when we have a live specimen in foundry-4? Anyways, I'm desperately hoping there's another scheme at play because, otherwise, I don't see us getting out of this one without some heavy losses."

"You've never been bothered by losses in the past," Fuyutsuki remarked.

"The only loss that matters is the one that kills us," Gendo answered, "anything else we can survive. Unfortunately, though, NERV is getting precariously close to that point. I might need to use our trump card soon but, while we might win the battle that way, I suspect I will lose my war."

"Why are you hoping there's another scheme? Doesn't that make our situation worse?"

Gendo let out a wry smile. "If there's another plan, Fuyutsuki, it means another man has entered the arena; and no man will ever enact a strategy that ends with the Angel winning. The plan is not against humanity – it is against NERV or, more likely, against me myself. Wouldn't that be grand?"

Standing up, Gendo crossed his arm and turned toward his trusted advisor. "If we're on our own against the Angel this time, I suspect we will suffer irrecoverable loss. On the other hand, if there's another actor on stage, if there's someone out there planning to attack me, then…"

Fuyutsuki eyed the great manipulator. "Then what?"

"Well then we win – possibly more gloriously than we have ever won before."

Shinji Ikari lead, and Mana Kirishima followed. Down the hallway, down the stairs, out the door, across the yard. It wasn't until they reached the back entrance, where the truck they'd brought their equipment in this morning was parked, that the pair finally took a rest.

"So much for our big talk," Shinji said after catching his breath. "Here's hoping Asuka and co manages to pull through."

"Are you really ok with that?" Mana asked, leaning back against a pole. "Shouldn't you have gone with them to Central Dogma?"

"And get jailed by Section Two? Not a chance!" Shinji laughed it off. "In all seriousness, though, I really do wish them the best. We're trying to make NERV a better organization but, right now, it hinges on the shoulders of the remaining Children. There's really nothing more we can do."

As he said that, Shinji bit his lips and walked over to truck; giving its tire a mighty kick. "Ow!"

"Shinji, what are you doing?" Mana asked, alarmed. Shinji, however, wasn't stopping his assault. Rather, the boy was only increasing in intensity.

"Shinji, stop! Stop it!" The defense force girl leapt to her feet, before circling around Shinji to restrain him. "Stop it right now, Shinji!"

"Arrgh!" Shinji roared, and slammed his fist on the truck bed with a mighty thud. "Again! It happened again! Goddammit, it happened again."

"Shinji," Mana spoke, watching as the boy finally eased off. "Please, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm powerless," Shinji answered, turning around and putting his weight against the truck. "Again, I'm powerless. I have nothing. Every time I try to make a difference, every time I try start something new. Every single time, something goes wrong and I fail."

Shinji swung his arm once more and hammered the truck with all his might. A loud clunk echoed through the summer morning. Over the truck's camo-green paint, a thin red smear of blood.

"I thought the momentum was shifting," the boy explained. "I thought my father was on his last leg; that he had extended too far. I thought we might've converted some people to our cause, but right after I make my move – right after we broadcasted our speech – an Angel turns up! Now everyone is back depending on NERV. Dammit!"

Shinji raised his arm to vent his frustration once again but, before he could bring it down, something charged into him full sprint. In shock, the boy raised his guard to soften the blow, but no agony ever came; only the soft embrace of Mana Kirishima.

"You have me," the girl said, her head pressed against the side of his. "You say you have nothing, but you still have me."

Shinji didn't reply. Couldn't reply. His body was stunned. His vocal cords frozen. His arms raised up like an idiot.

"I was powerless, too," Mana continued. "I looked on as my teammates perish before the Angel. I watched helplessly as the Japanese government conceded to every demand of NERV. I stayed quiet as my countrymen died, and I cheered as the mass-murderer was hailed a hero. I hated myself."

Slowly, Mana drew back her head until she could look Shinji in the eyes.

"But you're different, Shinji. I knew it as soon as I talked to you," the girl said tenderly. "You're always looking at the bigger picture; always seeing past the now and imagining what could be. You were driven; firm in your destination and confident in your values. You fought for the change that you wanted to see, and I envied that you had the power to do so."

The defense force girl took a couple steps back. Her hands behind her back; a soft smile on her face.

"This time, Shinji, just for once, I want to you to trust that you're not powerless. I want you to trust that the friends you've made aren't incompetent, and I want you to trust in me. Can you do that?"

"But…" Shinji stammered. "But Mana, it's the Angel! They've got an A.T. Field! What are you planning to-"

Mana pressed her finger to his lips, gently cutting him off.

"Shh. No protesting now," the girl whispered. "Just sit tight, alright? Leave this one to Mana! It's time I show you there's some steel in me after all."

Before Shinji could object, Mana pulled out her cellphone and pressed the dial button.

"Hello? Yes, it's me. I already got the recall, and I'm waiting at our truck right now. Ok. See you soon."

Hanging up, Mana slid her phone back in her pocket.

"What are you doing?" Shinji asked. "Mana, who was that? What's going on?"

"I'm going to fight, and that Keita and Musashi," Mana answered. "As for what's going on, a girl's gotta have some secrets too, you know? Here's a hint: it's got to do with my real job."

With that, Mana skipped to the driver's door of the truck, before climbing in, inserting the key and starting the engine. Noticing movement in the corner of her eyes, she quickly locked the passenger's door, just as Shinji was pulling the handle to join her.

Grinning as she rolled down the window, Mana poked relentlessly at the boy.

"Oy, let me in!" Shinji complained. "Where ever it is you're going, I'm going too."

"Denied," Mana denied. "JSSDF business, and you're not quite one of us yet."

"I thought you trusted me!"

"I do, but I'm not making the decisions here. Blame the higher ups."

"But seriously now-"

"No buts!"

Shinji twisted his face in frustration, before frowning with acceptance. "Ok, but promise me something, alright?"

Mana smiled. "No promises until I hear them."

"One: don't do anything stupid."

"Do I look like Toji?"

"Two: succeed."

"I repeat myself: do I look like Toji?"

"Touché. Last one: come back alive, ok? I already told you I need you, and that situation hasn't changed."

That earned him another poke in the forehead. "Ow!"

"I see I haven't punished you enough last time," Mana spoke, then tilted her head in thought. After a moment's contemplation, she reached around her neck and removed a necklace with a red gemstone pendant.

"Here," said the girl, and tried to tie the pendant around Shinji's neck. The boy, however, instantly leapt 2 meters backwards.

"No!" Shinji shouted. "Jewelry bad! Jewelry is a death flag. Death flags are bad before a mission."

Mana stared with confusion. "I was only going to make you wear it until I get back."

"No Jewelry!"

"You're weird sometimes, you know?"

"Just take my word for it," Shinji made it clear there was no further discussion. "If you really want me to have that pendant, I'll take it when you come back. For now, keep it to yourself."

"Ok," Mana replied, before looking past Shinji into the schoolyard. There, kicking up a plume of dust as they ran, Keita and Musashi rapidly approached the truck. "Looks like the rest of us are here, so it's time for me to go. You keep a low profile now."

"Sure thing. I'll head to the shelter and see if they'll still have me. Give 'em hell, Mana."

"Will do!"